• What goes on on the other side of the planet.
• Government choices.
• Your neighbour's beliefs.
• Your partner's choices.
• Your parent's or friend's attitudes.
• Etc.

Trouble arises when you try to control what is not yours.

Someone else's thoughts are not yours.

They were born with the right to decide for themselves what they want to think.

Investing your energy into trying to change them is usually a waste of time.

Of course, in some isolated cases, they want to change and are open for what you have to say.

However in most situations, judging or trying to control someone else's actions will simply create conflict.

Again, the dynamics are very simple.

You just have to let go.

Don't take responsibility for someone else's actions.

This is the base from which you can function.

Functioning from that mind set already clears 80% of the conflicts you might face:

• Respect someone else's actions beliefs or thoughts.
• Don't take responsibility for someone else's actions.
• Use your power to control your own life, not someone else's.
• You own the right to control you own actions, time, beliefs, emotions, personal space, etc. If someone tries to steal these from you, they are violating one of your most basic human rights.
• Etc.

These mind sets can already solve many of the conflicts you might be facing.

In other words: refocus your power on yourself!

It is essential to master the way you use your "controlling power".

There are some exceptions in society where a conscious transfer of power and autonomy is performed.

We'll cover that in another post.

http://vitalcoaching.com/babaji.htm

To your power!

vitalcoach

posted by vitalcoach  # 12:58 AM 0 Comments

In a previous post we said:

• You are born with the right for self determination. You have the right to control your thoughts, actions, emotions, beliefs, time, personal space, etc.
• If someone tries to control these for you they steal one of your most basic human rights.
• Respect someone else's freedom and right for self determination.

These are the basic mind sets which already solve 80% of the conflicts you might face.

Now in some situations, you will function with slightly different mind sets.

We call these exceptions "agreed power transfers".

This means that there are some "exceptions" in society where a conscious transfer of power and autonomy is performed.

Here are 3 examples:

• Children --> Parents

Because parents need to educate their children, nature and society perform a power transfer fro m the child to its parents. This means that parents are legally responsible for what the child does. They take the role of educating and directing a child's behavior until it reaches maturity and autonomy.

• Individual --> Organization

When you work for an organization, you give up part of your freedom (time) in exchange of a financial reward. In other terms, you accept that a boss will sometimes tell you what to or not to do.

• Individual --> Society

When you are born in a country, you adhere to a set of laws. These laws are there to protect society's peace and make sure that individuals can function harmoniously with each other

• Etc

These are only 3 examples. There are more of them of course.

Now, we call these "exceptions" because the default position of an individual is a state of freedom.

More on this and why it matters to you!

http://vitalcoaching.com/babaji.htm

To your Yoga!

vitalcoach

posted by vitalcoach  # 11:54 PM 0 Comments

IMMORTAL ENIGMA

By Amodini Gaganavir www.lifepositive.com/spirit/traditional-paths/kriya-yoga/mahayogi.asp

Mahavatar Babaji, a Himalayan mahayogi said to be about 1,800 years old, is the founder of kriya yoga. The world first heard about him courtesy Paramahansa Yogananda's Autobiography of a Yogi. Today, many cults are growing around his enigmatic persona. Mumbai-based Dr Ram Bhosle claims to have lived with him for six years.

Legend has it that the remote parts of the Himalayas are home to many rishis, tapasvis and siddhayogis-Eternal Masters engaged in singular methods of sadhana or disciplined practice dedicated to cosmic exploration and in guiding the destiny of humanity through the ages. They live in rough-hewn natural caves under glacial conditions. Some have ashrams amidst verdant greenery, located at a vibrational frequency at variance with the 'normal' three-dimensional one to keep intruders at bay. Their abode has been verily named Shambala, Gyan Ganj, or Siddha Loka.

In this phantasmagorical world of accomplished yogis, anything is possible. A siddha sadhak (realized master) may simply choose to take the form of an ancient tree to meditate undisturbed for hundreds of years. Others, when they venture beyond the confines of their rarefied sanctuaries, may fly through the air as themselves, or change into swans, geese, eagles, or even into animals, fish and insects. There are many creative ideas for teleportation, with some just traveling on beams of light from one place to another!

Exalted as these beings are, a distinct feature common to all is their complete identification with India and her Vedic heritage. When people attain a certain level in their sadhana, they automatically lose their narrow personal bonds of family, language, caste or province. Then the old terrain of the Motherland takes over, so that it matters not whether it is Kabir, Lahiri Mahasaya, Shirdi Sai Baba or Ramana Maharshi, they all belong to India. And they converse with each other using an argot common to the wandering sadhus (monks).

Thus it is that the venerable heritage of Gorakhnath and Machhindranath is claimed for its own by Garhwal, Konkan, Bundelkhand, Mewar and Coorg, and many a little girl in the remotest village of India is put to sleep to the refrain of "Chalo Machhinder, Gorakh Aaya...."

With his lithe and youthful figure, Mahavatar Babaji (whose feats have been reported by Paramahansa Yogananda in his Autobiography of a Yogi) is one such eternal master. He is the man with the 1,800-year-old immortal body. He's also the founder of kriya yoga, a discipline involving purification of the body-mind organism through breath control techniques to aid longevity and spiritual evolution. 'Mahavatar' means 'great incarnation'. He is also known as Mahakaya Babaji, the word 'Mahakaya' describing his immortal body. In some circles the Hare Khan Baba being referred to sounds suspiciously similar to Mahavatar Baba's persona.

TAMIL INCARNATION

Babaji comes with sanitized packaging shorn of ash, rudraksha or kumkum tilak. Of course, there have been many Babajis over the decades claiming to be the Mahavatar. There's a free-for-all on the Internet with the various Babaji Web pages multiplying rapidly to a current count of several thousand. Yet, the Self-Realization Fellowship established by Yogananda in California almost sounds as if it holds patent rights over the 'Babaji lineage'.

After conquering the West within decades, it's time for Babaji to return home to capture the interest of Indians who are still obsessed with pot-bellied gurus. A new international group called the Babaji's Kriya Yoga Order of Acharyas with a base of sorts in Pondicherry recently held kriya yoga seminars in major metropolitan cities across India. The Babaji they're selling is the same kriya yogi, but he's now positioned in a new Tamil incarnation as Babaji Nagaraj and never mind that he's been a permanent resident of the Himalayas for 1,800 years.

A book claiming to present new information about Babaji, written by the Canadian guru and chief of the Kriya Yoga Order, Marshall Govindan, presents startling claims about the Tamil origins of many ancient rishis and siddhas, including Macchindranath and Gorakhnath. Welcome to the club! Tibet too claims them for its own, and the Gorkhas of Nepal and India claim to be the original descendants of Gorakhnath.

The seminar is a casual affair, particularly since the group of two conducting it has no organizational set up. There is very little planning. In two days, you are to learn 144 kriyas or breathing techniques, 18 yogasanas and numerous chants. That's instant evolution. Devote 20 minutes daily to this and you zip past 50 lives' worth of karmic atonement and time! Or so claims the venerable lady acharya from California. The 60 participants in Mumbai are administered a battery of short written assignments, duly checked by the acharya, or head, in the course of the seminar. Gleanings of wisdom pepper the proceedings. Participants are told that Sri Aurobindo was close to attaining an immortal body during his lifetime, but for the fact that he did not practice yogasanas.

The acharya presents charts on the macrobiotic diet, the staple no-nos of which are chocolates and meat. All this and more is discussed over a period of two days, inaugurating the advent of yet another New Age cult in India.

MASTER OF MASTERS

Thankfully, there's a lot more than that to Mahavatar Baba, who never left the shores of India and who's way beyond the reach of puny intellectual property rights. He's a patriotic yogi and keeper of ancient faith, whose mission for ages has been to stem the tide of barbaric conquerors overrunning India. He has often changed the course of Indian history, guided by otherwise immortal rishis, working way above insidious parochial divisions.

Babaji's influence as a guru is said to have prevailed over the ages from Adi Shankaracharya and Kabir to more recent saints like Sai Baba of Shirdi, Gajanan Maharaj of Shegaon and Swami Samartha of Akkalkot. The last three were reportedly firebrand revolutionaries who were given up for dead in the First War of Indian Independence in 1857. It is said that the first was a Muslim, while the other two were Hindus. They escaped to the Himalayas for sanctuary and were later given a spiritual initiation by Babaji. They eventually returned as illumined leaders of humanity.

Babaji mostly works in obscurity, even while serving as a spiritual mentor to scores of masters. He has guided the destiny of India and her people, yet he is perhaps one of the most accessible of siddhayogis to walk in our midst in recent times. Over two millennia, Babaji has continued to nurture hundreds of accomplished disciples.

One such disciple is an ageing healer, Dr Ram Bhosle, who lives and works in Mumbai. He is a world-renowned massage therapist who has treated illustrious patients like Mahatma Gandhi and Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, among others. He has witnessed almost the entire 20th century, traveling abroad 160 times. A freedom fighter, he had several arrest warrants issued against him by the British during Mahatma Gandhi's Quit India Movement and was forced to flee to the Himalayas. His escape route cut a long swathe across Maharashtra, Gujarat, Saurashtra, Sindh, Baluchistan, Afghanistan and the Hindu Kush mountains, before he finally reached the Himalayas.

MAN OF MIRACLES

It was there that he chanced upon Mahavatar Babaji. He ended up giving massage to Babaji, the latter offering him safe house initially for three months, and ultimately for a period of nearly six years to-date, spread over the intervening period. Dr Bhosle's stories throw considerable light on the immortal master.

Once, when the two had taken shelter in a cave for the night, Babaji asked him to go and fetch milk. A fierce snowstorm was raging outside and Dr Bhosle thought the sage had gone mad. But when he gingerly walked a few paces beyond the cave's entrance, merely out of deference to his host, he was surprised to find a pitcher of fresh milk, still warm to the touch, positioned on a ledge!

On another occasion, Babaji solicitously asked if he wanted a book to read. Unbelieving, Dr Bhosle asked for Bharatmuni's ancient opus on dance, Natyashastra, which was procured for him. Babaji remarked that deep within the womb of the Himalayas was an unimaginable storehouse of ancient texts. He also revealed that four rooms in that great edifice were entirely devoted to astrology. Babaji also predicted that from 2001 onwards India would gradually return to supremacy in world affairs. Several decades ago, he had also forecast the end of all the political isms of the 20th century.

Like great yogis, Babaji can supposedly materialize, dematerialize and take on any form at will. He may choose to present himself as an old man, an animal or a bird. He once promised a devotee that he would attend a feast at the man's house, but seemingly did not. When the man later questioned him, Babaji replied: "I was there. I was the dog whom you fed the leftovers."

Babaji can travel anywhere in the universe. When he is too busy to do so, he sends specific instructions to his chosen disciples through birds. He's taught a chosen few how to discern birdcalls, and it may well be that the pigeon stridently cooing at your window is actually a messenger from the great seer!

WANDERING SOUL

The Mahayogi can be stern when the situation so demands, even while displaying a great sense of humor and rare devilry at other times. He once instructed Dr Bhosle to perform underwater meditation at midnight in the sea off the Mumbai coastline to purify his healing energy. Often, Babaji walked by to supervise his disciple's work, treading on the waves. He would chat for a while, and then walk away nonchalantly.

Babaji sometimes greeted his disciple with an unprintable epithet, as is often the custom in youth subcultures around the world. At one time, the ageing Dr Bhosle reacted with considerable anger, remonstrating that such swear words did not befit his status as a mahayogi. Babaji replied: "These words are just creations of grammar." Mostly, the language spoken by the Master is incredibly creative, drawing from a fount of inspiring, lyrical Sanskrit words lending themselves beautifully to new improvisations in Hindi.

Interestingly, Babaji's entourage of enlightened and immortal disciples includes yoginis who are over 600 years old. Babaji conveys the impression that he cherishes individuality and thoughtful dissension, rather than servile obedience.

The sage with the immortal body has walked the length and breadth of India and is inured to the ways of the seemingly berserk lone ascetics that are a law unto themselves. There is no field of knowledge that is beyond him and the transmutation of atoms is simply an entertaining pastime. One day, Babaji took his entourage to a crematorium. There, he picked up a skull and placing some faeces in it, he offered them to his disciples, ordering them to eat. All of them declined, except Dr Bhosle, who gingerly touched it with his tongue. To his amazement, the revolting stuff had transformed into the most delectable dish.

In the 1950s, Babaji had set up an ashram in the Himalayan heights above Badrinath. He eventually closed it down. A true wanderer, he is not to be found in any one place, whether in the Himalayas or elsewhere. Yet he is very much amongst us, in Mumbai or Delhi, as much as he is in Badrikashram. He encourages disciples to strive for their highest destiny. Neither God nor an angel, Babaji is more like the atmik guru, or the inner light.

Dr Bhosle sounds a note of caution-the masters are suprahuman, beyond the frailties of emotion, and they demand total commitment to the chosen path. It is of greatest importance to follow the light with determination, discernment and detachment. The wise doctor concludes: "There is no such thing in this world as miracles. Everything happens through science. Only a person who doesn't understand science calls it a miracle."

A special message from the author of this article (Amodini Gaganavir)

Dear Francisco,

  Came across your interesting site today, and I haven't finished browsing through it yet. 

First of all, thank you for reproducing my article on Babaji. 

Unfortunately, the editor of Life Positive chose to add his own interpolation, that 'Hare Khan Baba' sounds suspiciously similar to Babaji. 

I took serious objection, because they are 2 entirely different beings; moreover Babaji is immortal because he did not die, but instead transmuted his physical body into a light form that continues to this day, while Hare Khan Baba died quite a while back. 

They did publish a correction towards the end of the April 2000 print issue of Life Positive.    

Many foreigners are confused about Babaji, because in India, every revered person, especially a Saint is addressed as 'Baba', meaning father, and the honorific ji is added, mostly in N. India. 

Thus every Guru may be rightfullty addressed as Baba or Babaji!  On the other hand, every Guru is not Mahavatar Babaji, who is one of a kind in the entire universe!  He has at least hundreds of disciples all over the world and beyond, and continues to guide people in his own inimitable way, of his own choosing. 

The commonly available head and shoulders print by Eric Estep is an uncanny likeness, and there must be a great story waiting to be told, about how he did the painting, if only the man could be traced. 

It is more like Babaji than even the picture in Yogananda's Autobiography, which was a painting executed by the latter's brother, based on his description.   Secondly, in Indian mythology, Sanat Kumar is one name of Kartikeya - Murugan- Skanda - Subrahmanyam etc., who is the second son of Shiva (Kumara Guru), who leads the army of the Gods as Senapati! 

The correct way to write the names in Sanskrit is as follows:  (You can try these names, esp. Murugan on the Search engine also, and there is intereesting material on the Kataragama Murugan temple; this village in South Sri Lanka also includes a separate shrine to Mahavatar Baba.  

In His Love,  

Amodini Gaganavir

posted by vitalcoach  # 4:53 AM 0 Comments

The ultimate goal is not to follow a siddha, it is to be one

What's a siddha?

It is a perfected being.

The good news is that you don't need to move to a Himalayan cave to become one.

There is always this natural tendency to localize or reduce to a smaller expression something which is total and absolute.

Feeling total and complete as a human being does not belong to a stream or a tradition.

It is universal.

It is time to go beyond an ethnic connotation and express the full dimension of what is behind the idea of siddha.

You are a siddha. You are a perfected being.

Even if you might not yet know it or express it fully, this is your real potential

It is time to grow to your true potential and there is no need to surrender your power or limit your mind to become one.

Your potential is infinite and while some ideas and being might help you along the way, you are the center of attention.

It's in you that all this happens.

So, what's the goal? Personal glory?

Depends on what you feel is behind the word glory.

Glorification feels like a nice place to head to.

If you think of personal glory as a way of rising above others, well... You know what I mean.

The ultimate goal is the long term evolution of humankind and the planet.

The goal is to empower humankind as a whole.

Personal and universal freedom.

Perfect attunement with the forces of the planet and the cosmos.

Can you see where all this takes you? takes us?

Of course, when you think of your daily life, all this might sound far fetched.

You might have other priorities right now.

This is fine.

Success is not what people say it is.

You can redefine it in your own way.

Reducing success to some form of material or money race is a pitty because it is alienating.

At the end, it's never enough.

It can be of course part of the story but what you want is to have your priorities clear. Very clear!

If you don't know what a siddha is, here is a good place to start:

Remember, this is not about giving your power away.

You are master of your life and you are the designer.

You don't have to reinvent the full wheel though.

Sometimes, a little help can take you a long way.

Smile big!

vitalcoach

posted by vitalcoach  # 10:49 PM 0 Comments

• You tend to be emotionally abusive with your wife .
• Or in ongoing conflict with your neighbour.
• Or extremely intolerant to other religious systems.
• Etc.

If you are trapped in these "power abuse" mind sets and receive extra power, conflicts and tensions will naturally increase in your life.

You heard that before:

With greater power comes greater responsibility

This means that you need to be aligned with mind sets which really work for humankind on the long term.

Again, ask yourself:

What would be the impact on humankind if millions of people were performing what I am doing right now?

If the answer is "increased peace and harmony, respect and freedom...", it means that you are on the right track and are already expressing mind sets which are "sustainable" for humankind on the long term.

If the answer is "conflicts, tensions, wars...", it means that the patterns you express now don't work for humankind on the long term.

Keep in mind this long term perspective for humankind and the planet. It gives you direction and focus.

Do you believe that Babaji sponsors a harmonious line of evolution for the planet and humankind?

If yes, it is your role to express life patterns, actions and mind sets which stimulate vibrant harmony, peace and freedom on the long term

The key is in how you use your power and more specifically your "controlling power".

Makes sense, right?

http://vitalcoaching.com/babaji.htm

To your Yoga!

vitalcoach

posted by vitalcoach  # 9:33 PM 0 Comments

• Sit down and ask for help and guidance internally.

Answers to what to do next will come.

• Deepen or intensify what you already practice now.

This could mean retreating for a few days for instance, refocusing your technique, adding rhythm in the way you practice, etc.

• Find new techniques.

Be open to discover something new.

• Focus more on practical action or attitu de shifts rather than internal meditation.

Shift some key behaviors or attitudes which hold you back. I just covered some of this in these previous posts: What do power dynamics have to do with Babaji?, Power transfers, The key to resolve conflicts, Why it is essential to harmonize your mind

• Shift stream or system.

You might have reached a point where the system you follow no longer matches your long term evolution line. Time to look for a new master or system.

• Etc.

Take a white page and write down these options:

• Ask for guidance?
• Refocus your practice?
• New technique?
• Shift line of action?
• New System?

Keep this page somewhere you can see it.

Deep inside, you already know the answer. Focus on it for a couple of days.

After that, trust yourself and take action according to the answer you got internally.

Remember that every time you make a shift in your spiritual practices, you stretch your limits.

Even a set of practices can become a confortable space you get used to.

So, when you decide to explore new territories and stretch your limits, you take some risks and invite change.

http://vitalcoaching.com/babaji.htm

To your Yoga!

vitalcoach

posted by vitalcoach  # 8:40 PM 0 Comments

The fact that nothing spectacular is happening does not mean that your practice is not working.

It simply means that you reached a certain "speed" and are maintaining that speed.

Take this example:

When you take a flight, the thrilling moment is when you take off, right?

Why?

Because of the acceleration.

Acceleration is what creates thrill and excitement.

Once you are in the air and travel at a constant speed, it feels normal. You eat peanuts and chat with you neighbour as if you were sitting at home, even though you are still travelling at 1000 km/hour.

When you originally start meditating, you often feel this sense of acceleration. You feel bliss, greater awareness, peace, etc.

Once you reach a certain level, these experiences feel normal. They are still there. You simply got used to these new spiritual states.

It does not mean that your spiritual development stops. You still travel at a certain spe ed but might no longer feel the original thrill and acceleration.

Makes sense, right?

http://vitalcoaching.com/babaji.htm

To your Yoga!

vitalcoach

posted by vitalcoach  # 7:03 PM 0 Comments

To tell you the truth, I never came to a point where I felt I was at the end of a technique's potential.

At a certain moment, the technique might naturally "dissolve itself" though, because you reach a state of unity, inner peace or absolute awareness.

When this happens, you can let go of the technique and abide in this new state.

When this happens, it feels like the spirit "takes over". You feel like you are there.

Of course, you can come back to the technique if you feel like you loose focus again,

Remember that a technique is only a key, it is not the goal :)

http://vitalcoaching.com/babaji.htm

To your Yoga!

vitalcoach

posted by vitalcoach  # 5:56 PM 0 Comments

Babaji, the yogi-christ of modern India

From Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda

THE NORTHERN Himalayan crags near Badrinarayan are still blessed by the living presence of Babaji, guru of Lahiri Mahasaya. The secluded master has retained his physical form for centuries, perhaps for millenniums. The deathless Babaji is an avatara. This Sanskrit word means "descent"; its roots are ava, "down," and tri, "to pass." In the Hindu scriptures, avatara signifies the descent of Divinity into flesh.
       "Babaji's spiritual state is beyond human comprehension," Sri Yukteswar explained to me. "The dwarfed vision of men can't pierce to his transcendental star. One attempts in vain even to picture the avatar's attainment. It's inconceivable."
       The Upanishads have minutely classified every stage of spiritual advancement. A siddha ("perfected being") has progressed from the state of a jivanmukta ("freed while living") to that of a paramukta ("supremely free"—full power over death); the latter has completely escaped from the mayic thraldom and its reincarnational round. The paramukta therefore seldom returns to a physical body; if he does, he is an avatar, a divinely appointed medium of supernal blessings on the world.
       An avatar is not subject to the universal economy; his pure body, visible as a light image, is free from any debt to nature. The casual gaze may see nothing extraordinary in an avatar's form but it casts no shadow nor makes any footprint on the ground. These are outward symbolic proofs of an inward lack of darkness and material bondage. Such a God-man alone knows the Truth behind the relativities of life and death. Omar Khayyam, so grossly misunderstood, sang of this liberated man in his immortal scripture, the Rubaiyat:

"Ah, Moon of my Delight who know'st no wane,
The Moon of Heav'n is rising once again;
How oft hereafter rising shall she look
Through this same Garden after me—in vain!"

The "Moon of Delight" is God, eternal Polaris, anachronous never. The "Moon of Heav'n" is the outward cosmos, fettered to the law of periodic recurrence. Its chains had been dissolved forever by the Persian seer through his self-realisation. "How oft hereafter rising shall she look . . . after me—in vain!" What frustration of search by a frantic universe for an absolute omission!

The rendering of Scott-Fitzgerald is not so good. The mature translation by Dr. Roberb Graves and Omar Ali-Shah is far better. Terms found in Fitzgerald's version disappear in the better one. [Check]

Christ expressed his freedom in another way: "And a certain scribe came, and said to him, master, I'll follow you wherever you go. And Jesus said to him, The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the son of man has nowhere to lay his head." [1]
       Spacious with omnipresence, could Christ indeed be followed except in the overarching Spirit?
       Krishna, Rama, Buddha, and Patanjali were among the ancient Indian avatars. A considerable poetic literature in Tamil has grown up around Agastya, a South Indian avatar. He worked many miracles during the centuries preceding and following the Christian era, and is credited with retaining his physical form even to this day.
       Babaji's mission in India has been to assist prophets in carrying out their special dispensations. He thus qualifies for the scriptural classification of Mahavatar (Great Avatar). He has stated that he gave yoga initiation to Shankara, ancient founder of the swami order, and to Kabir, famous medieval saint. His chief nineteenth-century disciple was, as we know, Lahiri Mahasaya, revivalist of the lost Kriya art.
       The Mahavatar is in constant communion with Christ; together they send out vibrations of redemption, and have planned the spiritual technique of salvation for this age. The work of these two fully-illumined masters—one with the body, and one without it—is to inspire the nations to forsake suicidal wars, race hatreds, religious sectarianism, and the boomerang-evils of materialism. Babaji is well aware of the trend of modern times, especially of the influence and complexities of Western civilisation, and realises the necessity of spreading the self-liberations of yoga equally in the West and in the East.
       That there's no historical reference to Babaji need not surprise us. The great guru has never openly appeared in any century; the misinterpreting glare of publicity has no place in his millennial plans. Like the Creator, the sole but silent Power, Babaji works in a humble obscurity.
       Great prophets like Christ and Krishna come to earth for a specific and spectacular purpose; they depart as soon as it's accomplished. Other avatars, like Babaji, undertake work which is concerned more with the slow evolutionary progress of man during the centuries than with any one outstanding event of history. Such masters always veil themselves from the gross public gaze, and have the power to become invisible at will. For these reasons, and because they generally instruct their disciples to maintain silence about them, a number of towering spiritual figures remain world-unknown. I give in these pages on Babaji merely a hint of his life—only a few facts which he deems it fit and helpful to be publicly imparted.
       No limiting facts about Babaji's family or birthplace, dear to the annalist's heart, have ever been discovered. His speech is generally in Hindi, but he converses easily in any language. He has adopted the simple name of Babaji (revered father); other titles of respect given him by Lahiri Mahasaya's disciples are Mahamuni Babaji Maharaj (supreme ecstatic saint), Maha Yogi (greatest of yogis), Trambak Baba and Shiva Baba (titles of avatars of Shiva). Does it matter that we know not the patronymic of an earth-released master?
       "Whenever anyone utters with reverence the name of Babaji," Lahiri Mahasaya said, "that devotee attracts an instant spiritual blessing."
       The deathless guru bears no marks of age on his body; he appears to be no more than a youth of twenty-five. Fair-skinned, of medium build and height, Babaji's beautiful, strong body radiates a perceptible glow. His eyes are dark, calm, and tender; his long, lustrous hair is copper-coloured. A very strange fact is that Babaji bears an extraordinarily exact resemblance to his disciple Lahiri Mahasaya. The similarity is so striking that, in his later years, Lahiri Mahasaya might have passed as the father of the youthful-looking Babaji.
       Swami Kebalananda, my saintly Sanskrit tutor, spent some time with Babaji in the Himalayas.
       "The peerless master moves with his group from place to place in the mountains," Kebalananda told me. "His small band contains two highly advanced American disciples. After Babaji has been in one locality for some time, he says: 'Dera danda uthao.' ('Let's lift our camp and staff.') He carries a symbolic danda (bamboo staff). His words are the signal for moving with his group instantaneously to another place. He doesn't always employ this method of astral travel; sometimes he goes on foot from peak to peak.
       "Babaji can be seen or recognised by others only when he so desires. He is known to have appeared in many slightly different forms to various devotees—sometimes without beard and moustache, and sometimes with them. As his undecaying body requires no food, the master seldom eats. As a social courtesy to visiting disciples, he occasionally accepts fruits, or rice cooked in milk and clarified butter.
       "Two amazing incidents of Babaji's life are known to me," Kebalananda went on. "His disciples were sitting one night around a huge fire which was blazing for a sacred Vedic ceremony. The master suddenly seized a burning log and lightly struck the bare shoulder of a chela who was close to the fire.
       "'Sir, how cruel!' Lahiri Mahasaya, who was present, made this remonstrance.
       "'Would you rather have seen him burned to ashes before your eyes, according to the decree of his past karma?'
       "With these words Babaji placed his healing hand on the chela's disfigured shoulder. 'I've freed you tonight from painful death. The karmic law has been satisfied through your slight suffering by fire.'
       "On another occasion Babaji's sacred circle was disturbed by the arrival of a stranger. He had climbed with astonishing skill to the nearly inaccessible ledge near the camp of the master.
       "'Sir, you must be the great Babaji.' The man's face was lit with inexpressible reverence. 'For months I've pursued a ceaseless search for you among these forbidding crags. I implore you to accept me as a disciple.'
       "When the great guru made no response, the man pointed to the rocky chasm at his feet.
       "'If you refuse me, I'll jump from this mountain. Life has no further value if I can't win your guidance to the divine.'
       "'Jump then,' Babaji said unemotionally. 'I can't accept you in your present state of development.'
       "The man at once hurled himself over the cliff. Babaji instructed the shocked disciples to fetch the stranger's body. When they returned with the mangled form, the master placed his divine hand on the dead man. Lo! he opened his eyes and prostrated himself humbly before the omnipotent one.
       "'You're now ready for discipleship.' Babaji beamed lovingly on his resurrected chela. 'You've courageously passed a difficult test. Death shall not touch you again; now you're one of our immortal flock.' Then he spoke his usual words of departure, 'Dera danda uthao'; the whole group vanished from the mountain."
       An avatar lives in the omnipresent Spirit; for him there's no distance inverse to the square. Only one reason, therefore, can motivate Babaji in maintaining his physical form from century to century: the desire to furnish humanity with a concrete example of its own possibilities. Were man never vouchsafed a glimpse of Divinity in the flesh, he would remain oppressed by the heavy mayic delusion that he can't transcend his mortality.
       Jesus knew from the beginning the sequence of his life; he passed through each event not for himself, not from any karmic compulsion, but solely for the upliftment of reflective human beings. His four reporter-disciples—Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John—recorded the ineffable drama for the benefit of later generations.
       For Babaji, also, there's no relativity of past, present, future; from the beginning he has known all phases of his life. Yet, accommodating himself to the limited understanding of men, he has played many acts of his divine life in the presence of one or more witnesses. Thus it came about that a disciple of Lahiri Mahasaya was present when Babaji deemed the time to be ripe for him to proclaim the possibility of bodily immortality. He uttered this promise before Ram Gopal Muzumdar, that it might finally become known for the inspiration of other seeking hearts. The great ones speak their words and participate in the seemingly natural course of events, solely for the good of man, even as Christ said: "Father . . . I knew that you hear me always: but because of the people which stand by I said it, that they may believe that you've sent me." [2]
       During my visit at Ranbajpur with Ram Gopal, "the sleepless saint," [3] he related the wondrous story of his first meeting with Babaji.
       "I sometimes left my isolated cave to sit at Lahiri Mahasaya's feet in Varanasi," Ram Gopal told me. "One midnight as I was silently meditating in a group of his disciples, the master made a surprising request.
       "'Ram Gopal,' he said, 'go at once to the Dasasamedh bathing ghat.'
       "I soon reached the secluded spot. The night was bright with moonlight and the glittering stars. After I had sat in patient silence for awhile, my attention was drawn to a huge stone slab near my feet. It rose gradually, revealing an underground cave. As the stone remained balanced in some unknown manner, the draped form of a young and surpassingly lovely woman was levitated from the cave high into the air. Surrounded by a soft halo, she slowly descended in front of me and stood motionless, steeped in an inner state of ecstasy. She finally stirred, and spoke gently.
       "'I'm Mataji, [4] the sister of Babaji. I've asked him and also Lahiri Mahasaya to come to my cave tonight to discuss a matter of great importance.'
       "A nebulous light was rapidly floating over the Ganges; the strange luminescence was reflected in the opaque waters. It approached nearer and nearer till, with a blinding flash, it appeared by the side of Mataji and condensed itself instantly into the human form of Lahiri Mahasaya. He bowed humbly at the feet of the woman saint.
       "Before I had recovered from my bewilderment, I was further wonder-struck to behold a circling mass of mystical light travelling in the sky. Descending swiftly, the flaming whirlpool neared our group and materialised itself into the body of a beautiful youth who, I understood at once, was Babaji. He looked like Lahiri Mahasaya, the only difference being that Babaji appeared much younger, and had long, bright hair.
       "Lahiri Mahasaya, Mataji, and myself knelt at the guru's feet. An ethereal sensation of beatific glory thrilled every fibre of my being as I touched his divine flesh.
       "'Blessed sister,' Babaji said, 'I'm intending to shed my form and plunge into the infinite Current.'
       "'I have already glimpsed your plan, beloved Master. I wanted to discuss it with you tonight. Why should you leave your body?' The glorious woman looked at him beseechingly.
       "'What's the difference if I wear a visible or invisible wave on the ocean of my Spirit?'
       "Mataji replied with a quaint flash of wit. 'Deathless guru, if it makes no difference, then please don't ever relinquish your form.' [5]
       "'Be it so,' Babaji said solemnly. 'I'll never leave my physical body. It will always remain visible to at least a small number of people on this earth. The Lord has spoken His own wish through your lips.'
       "As I listened in awe to the conversation between these exalted beings, the great guru turned to me with a benign gesture.
       "'Fear not, Ram Gopal,' he said, 'you're blessed to be a witness at the scene of this immortal promise.'
       "As the sweet melody of Babaji's voice faded away, his form and that of Lahiri Mahasaya slowly levitated and moved backward over the Ganges. An aureole of dazzling light templed their bodies as they vanished into the night sky. Mataji's form floated to the cave and descended; the stone slab closed of itself, as if working on an invisible leverage.
       "Infinitely inspired, I wended my way back to Lahiri Mahasaya's place. As I bowed before him in the early dawn, my guru smiled at me understandingly.
       "'I'm happy for you, Ram Gopal,' he said. 'The desire of meeting Babaji and Mataji, which you've often expressed to me, has found at last a sacred fulfilment.'
       "My fellow disciples informed me that Lahiri Mahasaya had not moved from his dais since early the preceding evening.
       "'He gave a wonderful discourse on immortality after you had left for the Dasasamedh ghat,' one of the chelas told me. For the first time I fully realised the truth in the scriptural verses which state that a man of self-realisation can appear at different places in two or more bodies at the same time.
       "Lahiri Mahasaya later explained to me many metaphysical points concerning the hidden divine plan for this earth," Ram Gopal concluded. "Babaji has been chosen by God to remain in his body for the duration of this particular world cycle. Ages shall come and go—still the deathless master, [6] beholding the drama of the centuries, shall be present on this stage terrestrial."

For more, check

http://vitalcoaching.com/blogs/ba1/whoisbabaji.html

posted by vitalcoach  # 4:13 PM 0 Comments

• You can for instance enage in artistic expression which is a long term path in itself.
• You can focus on your own life and explore deeper levels of awareness.
• You can focus on positive impact on humankind through compassionate action.
• Etc.

What does it mean? that teaching is only one way to express yourself along your spiritual destiny line.

There are many more possible expressions.

Now, if you feel you reached this point of maturity and feel there is something essential you want to say, you can start right now!

Start with a little step and observe the response.

Function from a place of freedom.

You are only accountable to yourself and the line which sponsors your words.

If speach is not your favorite way of expression, don't limit yourself and use the other possible tools that were given to you.

http://vitalcoaching.com/babaji.htm

To your Yoga!

vitalcoach

posted by vitalcoach  # 12:22 PM 0 Comments