of milk appeared on the lips of a murti of "Thakorji", a small metal idol of Swaminarayan, while Mulji was himself drinking a glass of milk. In response to his mother's surprise at this, Mulji had explained, "Mother! Thakorji is always present in my heart. When I eat, Thakorji eats with me". As Mulji approached adolescence, his sacred thread ceremony was performed on 13 June 1793 in anticipation of his pursuit of a religious education. After this event, Mulji immersed himself in learning about the various religious beliefs that were prevalent in Gujarat at the time. He openly told others that Narayan (God) would eventually visit his village and hence he had no reason to travel to Kashi, as was traditionally done for one who wished to pursue a serious religious education. Mulji began visiting prominent religious personalities and learnt from them the various religious and social nuances associated with each sect. By the time he was in his early teens, he had grasped the principles of Shuddhadvaita from Acharya Gosai Narsinhlalji of the Vaishnav Sampradaya and learnt about the Pranami sect. Ramanand Swami's Bhagvat Dharma appealed to him the most due to its teachings and practices and he accepted him as his first guru. Mulji would often travel to the village of Shekhpat to visit Ramanand Swami and listen to his religious discourses. He formed a lasting friendship with Lalji Suthar, a native of Shekhpat who shared Mulji's zeal for Ramanand Swami's philosophies and who would later become Nishkulanand Swami, one of Swaminarayan's prominent swami disciples. For a period, they would meet every evening at a small shrine to Shiva on a stepwell in the village of Kiri between their respective villages and discuss various religious matters. Meeting With Swaminarayan Mulji’s first meeting with Swaminarayan Bhagwan occurred in the village of Piplana. Ramanand Swami invited Mulji and Lalji Suthar amongst others to the Bhagvati Diksha ceremony of Neelkanth Varni (Swaminarayan) to be held on 28 October 1800. Upon seeing Mulji, Neelkanth Varni had remarked, "This Mulji (Gunatitanand Swami) is the incarnation of Akshar Brahman, my abode, and will in the future profusely display by his talk and discourses the greatness of my form." On subsequent visits to Bhadra (Gunatitanand Swami's hometown) and throughout his association with Gunatitanand Swami, Swaminarayan had alluded to the former's standing as Akshar in the theology of the sect. One such revelation was made to