ALLAHABAD: The trauma of 9/11 was the turning point in the life of a US-based investment banker from Japan. Her spiritual quest brought her to India and she embraced ‘sanatan dharma’ to discover peace. After little more than a decade, the 57-year-old American banker, now rechristened Rajeswari Dasi, will be elevated as a mahamandeleshwar at the Shakti Dham camp at the Kumbh.Not just Dasi, eight others from Israel, the US and France who became Hindu ascetics, will be ordained as high priests of the monastic order on February 8, four days after Mauni Amawasvya. All foreign hermits took ‘deeksha’ decades ago and prefer to be addressed by the name of their guru, Sai Maa.“I was in New Jersey when the US was wracked by terror attacks. The pain, fear and the overwhelming sadness drew me towards spirituality. I met Sai Maa at an event and learned about healing and practical spirituality,” said Rajeshwari Dasi, who like other monks of the order, refused to share their original names. “I will spend my life teaching and healing through spirituality,” she said.The 57-year-old American banker, now rechristened Rajeswari DasiIn search of peace and expand the threshold of pain and fill the vacuum within, these sadhus left behind high-profile careers as psychologists, doctors, writers, social workers, counsellors to embrace ‘sanatan dharma’.A doctorate in psychology from New York University, 69-year-old Parmeshwarananda from Arizona, gave up his 25-year-old career as a counsellor to tread the spiritual path. “In a one-year span, I lost my mother, brother and also got divorced. I was sinking when Jagadguru Sai Maa showed me the path of transformation and healing,” said Swami Parameshwarananda. After becoming a mahamandaleshwar, I will help people overcome depression and anxiety,” he said. He met his guru in 2003 at a programme in the US. Since then he practised meditation and led a spartan life. Helping teens struggling with depression and drug abuse, Jivananda Das from Colorado, US, confessed that even after a successful career as a counsellor, he battled his own maggots in the mind. In 2007, he quit his career to become a ‘guru’ to serve mankind. “I am a graduate in mathematics and physics and worked as a counsellor. An autobiography of a Hindu ascetic inspired me to renounce the world,” said Jivananda.Lalita Shree Dasi, 33, from America, became a disciple of Sai Maa at the age 19. After 14 years leading an austere life, she will be among three women to become mahamandaleshwars. “I pray for global peace and moksha for souls. I will work for humanity for the rest of my life,” said Lalita. The third woman to be ordained at the Kumbh camp is Shree Devi, 23, from Chille, south America, who was a social worker with a bachelor’s degree in women’s studies. She met her guru at a healing event in Tulahuen and took celibacy vows.

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