“Let’s begin with a moment of Silence.” We started a long conversation with Guruji by invoking the Great Spiritual Masters and requesting for their guidance. This last informal gathering of 2011 was full of anecdotes from Guruji’s interaction with Amara. Here’s how it started.

One of the students had an amazing mystical experience during a deep state of Meditation. While most feel expansion she felt contraction! Guruji had explained that she had experienced the Universe’s phases of contraction and expansion; she had actually felt this rare phenomenon. Based on this she had a question, “Guruji, I feel that all the deep mystical experiences show us that the Universe is in us. In fact, it is not just during Meditation but also during other Spiritual practices we can go very deep. It is that simple and natural. I feel that deep experiences can happen not only when we meditate but at all other times as well, it is just that we do not notice. This seems to be true for all things, like our soul, God, we do not notice that’s all. Isn’t it Guruji?”

“Yes, indeed, it is as simple as that,” a very elated Guruji declared, “We often speak about God; He has always been there from the very beginning. We have gotten too entangled with the details of life and so we have not paid attention.”

In a very sincere tone he said, “If you become aware of the processes that are happening within yourself then, you will notice many things which will be happening in the Universe.” It sounded more like an instruction from Guruji for all of us to try and experience for ourselves.

“Also, what you experienced many others would have as well, but again, they have not noticed. Expand your awareness, spend time alone, meditate. Open your eyes as they say. Then you will know many things.”

“Guruji, my next question is about knowledge. There are many kinds of knowledge, from building a car to cooking, and the higher realities. Now, when we say that God is knowledge are we saying that all knowing and learning is a reference to God?”

“All knowledge is with God, yes, God is knowledge. All the knowledge that we have gathered already and that we are going to gather in the future, in all areas, it is there with Him already. All inventions are in Him already and when we are ready we receive a little, and we feel great about the discovery. Which is fine really; it is an achievement after all.”

“Guruji, there’s another point I want to understand. When we say higher-self and soul, are they the same?”

While answering, Guruji taught us a very important lesson of humility, “Before I elaborate let me state this - we are in the process of understanding many things in greater clarity. From what we have already understood it is like this. You see, we passed through six planes of existences before we took birth on this seventh plane. In each of these six planes a part of our soul is left behind, which is called the higher-self. A part of our soul is here also. So we can say that our soul has seven known parts including the one which has manifested on this earth.

“Though the higher-selves are a part of our soul, we exist and experience life here independently. So the soul and higher-self are not different but they work independently. We can connect to any of our higher-selves. As I said a lot needs to be understood.”

“Can the soul make mistakes Guruji?

“Most certainly it can.”

“Even the higher-self?”

“We don’t know. Theoretically speaking yes, since we have freewill at all levels of existence we can chose anything….”

“…..our soul pitches in with its guidance in decision making. But I guess connecting with the Rishis is the best, we get a hundred percent correct guidance.”

“The Light Masters are here with us ready to guide us, our higher-self is somewhere in a different plane. It is easier and sensible to contact the Rishis.”

Another participant wanted to understand another aspect of God, “Guruji, since everything is in God and God is everything, so can we say that all experiences are already in God?”

“No. It is not in God. When we stretch logic this is what happens, we get confused. You see, when you drink coffee, the experience of the taste is with you. Logically speaking, one can say that we are a part of God so He also experiences. When you take birth and experience something it is in us, God will be aware of it.”

The same person continued, “Guruji, is total surrender possible? Without surrender is Spiritual progress possible?”

“It happens simultaneously. Meditation is in itself a part of surrender because you give up your thoughts, emotions and enter silence. Many Spiritual processes happen simultaneously.”

A student who is also a healer from another system had some rather interesting experiences. She had fever for about a week, the usual cough and cold. As she was lying in bed she could feel someone walking towards her; she assumed it would be her husband, but it was not. This happened twice. Once she even clearly felt someone tapping on her shoulder when no one was around. If this was not enough to get her concerned, she once heard muffled voices of two people talking. She could not figure out what was being spoken but she did hear when no one visible was around. She wanted to know from Guruji what this was all about, because she was already certain that it was real.

With an assuring smile Guruji told her, “These are all blessings. Yes, there is a Presence. It could be the Rishis or may be God’s way of letting you know that He is there. Let me share with all of you a very interesting incident which happened with my Guru, Amara’s wife. Since Mrs. Amara was not well Amara went to a chemist to get some medicine. He returned, kept the medicine on the table and asking her to take it he left. After ten minutes, hearing a knock on the door she opened, Amara entered with a bottle of medicine in his hand. Then she realized that earlier when he had come no one opened the door and now there were two bottles of medicine. We have to accept these incidents as gifts and Grace.”

Amazed at her luck the student exclaimed, “At one point I doubted that I was just imagining things though I was very alert and observant, but I am relieved now.”

“God and Rishis make their Presence felt differently in each case. Many have suddenly smelt fragrance out of nowhere. This is a very common experience. We cannot logically understand these phenomena. Keep the intellect out at such times.”

“Also, Guruji. I feel that I have been put through tests and I feel very miserable that I fail. I do ask for pardon from the Rishis and I feel that may be in their eyes I have stooped.”

With an even more assuring smile Guruji allayed her concern. “As I have often said, Rishis do not judge. Time and again we all fail in tests. What the Rishis are interested in is how we proceed after the failure. The failure is never important. It is not just a quote when it is said that failure is a part of success. I think failure makes us more alert and helps us progress faster. In a way it is good to experience failure. Let me reiterate God and Rishis do not judge…..”

“….but they do put us through tests….”

“Of course, everyone is, do not feel disappointed in yourself. If you are aware of your mistakes then do not repeat it that’s all. This should be your approach, just move on. Don’t dwell on it.”

With his inimitable signature smile, which is coupled with a gentle nod and a gentler blink he encouraged her to move on, “Don’t worry.”

Now that the load of emotions and self-doubt was gone, her voice ringed with strength and she asked about one of the healing cases she is attending to.

“This is regarding disabled children. There are normal looking children who are on the edge of mental disability. Can this be attributed to their parents’ or the child’s Karma? Also can the child be brought out of this situation?”

“Though is can be attributed to Karmas each case has to be probed into for a better analysis. In any case it is suffering so send Light and healing energies. Here’s something very interesting – the mental disability is due to some damage in the brain, the mind is fine. Once we revive the brain cells, the connection between the mind and the brain will get corrected and the blocks will be removed.”

“Guruji, won’t you be able to perform the healing better than us?”

“No, no, whether you send the Light and healing energies or I it is the same energy after all. Pray to the Rishis and Santoshi Devi, they know what to do. Believe me, I am not saying this out of humility; it is a fact that it makes no difference….”

“….Guruji, you will be able to talk to the child’s soul…”

“….why don’t you try. Everyone can do it.”

Continuing on the subject Mr. Rakesh Mishra wanted clarification on what he had read about disability. “Guruji, a past life regressionist explains that before we take birth we have an option to chose lives such that we could do some things which we could not in our previous lives. And we choose to have lives with disabilities for us to learn. So, it is almost like choosing a humbling experience. It is not like a punishment given to them, but they choose. Also Guruji, there is Karma from the past lives.

“My second question is that we took birth for experiencing life here. So are we still taking birth for the same initial reason or are we just stuck in the cycles of Karma?”

“Nobody chooses to be born with disabilities, it just Karma. For example, my Guru once mentioned that a person pierced into another person’s eyes and in the next life he was born blind. He did neither choose to be blind nor was he punished but he attracted the Spiritual effects of his actions.

“We took the first birth on this earth to experience life here, we took the second to experience more, but then we violated some laws and got Karmas and the got stuck in the cycles of life and death. Later lives have been more to clear Karmas not to just experience.”

“Guruji, accumulation of Karma is because we exercised our freewill. Does God also give us something that allows us to choose between right and wrong?”

“Of course yes, He gave us wisdom, the knowledge to differentiate between right and wrong. It is always the soul which chooses. Maybe the soul sometimes wants some innocent adventure or sometimes it just wants to defy and see what happens. Sometimes it could be just our ego. It is difficult to say why the soul chooses what it does. Choosing something wrong and undergoing the consequences is also an option. There is nothing wrong with it.

“Amara said that we have a right to choose even the wrong. Nobody will point and say that you made a mistake, just that there will be consequences. Despite this, God helps through his representatives – the Great Spiritual Masters. They have taught us Meditations to clear the Karmas, they give us energies and techniques to heal ourselves. They even love and console us and also show us ways to overcome our limitations.

“God is so kind, he allows us to choose anything and then again helps us to come out of it. Also, please understand that this life is a temporary phase; although from our perspective we spend hundreds of thousands of lifetimes, if we see from a Higher level this is nothing. As in many thousands of earth years is equal to a few moments there. We just descend to earth live, experience, get stuck, then free ourselves with all the help we receive and then just return to our Source.”

“Guruji, the soul has a choice to take birth into a particular family. Is this true for the first life only?” This was the next question.

“In the first birth the soul has a choice. By the time we have other births we already would have accrued Karmas, which in turn limits the choices we are given.”

There were follow-up questions on the same topic from Ms. Arundhati. “The soul carries wisdom and gathers more experiences over lifetimes, so can we understand that with each life the soul becomes more evolved?”

“All the experiences we gather over lifetimes will be stored as memories in our unconscious mind. When we take birth again our lives are influenced by the past. If a person was a musician in his previous life, in the next birth there will be an aptitude or tendency towards it. We carry that forward. We may not know consciously. Despite this we have choices. Although we may have strong tendencies we may choose to ignore them.”

“And do we have Astral connections with all those we meet in our lives?”

“It is very difficult to generalize. I believe that strong relations are not disconnected at any time. It could be with a Guru, a close friend, anyone actually. We may not meet every time but we do meet in some lifetime. Most of us who are in this Path have had associations over lifetimes. There is a soul with me over many lifetimes.”

“Does gender matter in the rebirth?”

“When we wish to take birth in the Material Cosmos we take up a mind or Mental Body. This sheath has a gender assigned to it. So you will have the same gender for all your lifetimes. If you want to change your gender in any lifetime then you have to first clear all your Karmas. There are Divine systems in place, there are higher beings and a hierarchy established to attend to such matters. Since we do not know all the details and the processes involved, we pray to the Light Masters or the Rishis. Once you make your wish known to them and are ready to return the Mental Body in impeccable condition, just as when you had taken it, then it will be replaced with another Mental Body with the gender you prefer.”

Having observed the surprised look on the students face Guruji said very calmly, “Yes, all this is possible.”

Ms. Jana Sumathi, a postal guidance student from Chennai always travels to Taponagara specially to attend the monthly informal conversations with Guruji. Her question – “Has the much anticipated Judgement Day already started. If yes, then has it intensified?”

Guruji sighed and said, “When I look at the life around me and the way people are struggling, I feel it has already started. Also, let us all understand very clearly that the Judgement Day is not a single day but a period of time. More importantly, it is not just about punishment there could be rewards also. Payback time will be wonderful times for those who have had good thoughts and have done good deeds.”

She also wanted to know if the Astral Classes are conducted on Saturdays alone or on other days as well.

“It happens on other days as well and we are not told about it because it is not important for us to know at this level.”

Ms. Vidya Viswamitra shared an observation. “I feel that Meditation can help us maintain positive thoughts, emotions and we can also be aligned with ourselves. I see people around me hold on to grudges for a very long period of time when they need not. By holding on to complaints they do not realize the kind of force they generate in themselves.”

“Most of us are stuck up in this horizontal world. We have to come out of this quagmire. When we dislike someone or are angry with them, when we are jealous, get over it. Surrender begins from here, give up on such extreme emotions. I think this is the biggest challenge we all are facing. As you said, when we meditate, we will have more awareness about the emotions we carry and generate. Somehow people are reluctant and want to hold on to their ego. Let go especially the negativity in others.

“There is so much beauty in this world so much more to do. Read, paint, dream, wonder. I came across an experience of a school child. Two girls had a squabble, they stopped talking to each other; so one sent Light to another and they became friends again. Nobody told them that Light could be used this way. What made her do this? What made her choose friendship over a grouse? It is only the adults who have problems.”

He paused for a moment recollecting something, “We invited an artist to sketch the Meditation Halls and other places in Taponagara and Antar-Manasa. I told him that he could sketch anything, from any angle. He drew the Cosmic Tower and I was amazed, I never thought that it could be viewed from that perspective. You see we gave him freedom to follow his inspiration. In freedom we expand, and our expression will be great. My point was there is so much beauty around us, that artist could capture it. In this world, in life there is so much beauty if one wants to experience such grandeur. Instead people chose to grumble about who said what and how it hurt them.”

The most difficult challenge good people face is when they are repeatedly hurt in this seemingly soulless world. Identifying and celebrating the beauty and positivity around will certainly help.

A sad voice spoke, “Guruji, whenever I do not meditate, a lot of anger and irritation surfaces.”

“Good, that will make you meditate,” Guruji said with a contained mischievous smile, “When you meditate you will be tuned-up to the Universe and hence you will be calm. And by Universe I do not mean the galaxies and inter-galactic space. I mean the Ocean of Stillness. When you tune-up to this Ocean of Light you automatically become silent. During your non-meditating hours practice Shambala Principle of spreading Ananda, you will be calm always. These practices will change your life.”

Mr. Karthik N. had a unique question based on a point Guruji had mentioned in a Sunday Class Lecture. “Guruji, you had mentioned that when we take good care of our Body, Mind and Intellect, these entities appreciate it and reciprocate with giving us good experiences. Now, since the Mind is already so intelligent, can it choose the experiences it gives us? Does it follow any particular law for this?”

“In Divine Love there is no law, the mind is not bound by any law to reward you and thank you for taking good care of it. It will choose the right experience at that moment.”

“There was a very beautiful revelation you had made that healing energies not only heal but they also aid in transformation, these energies can even help in getting rid of bad habits. Is it the same with the other healing practices like maybe, Reiki or Pranic? Do they have as much intelligence?”

“All energy comes from God, every healing energy also comes from Him. The Cosmic energies are the same in one form or another. No matter which healing method is used to treat a person they get relief. The patient is informed that his body is suffering due to, say, his bad temper. The same sentient energy also guides, teaches even protects, after all it is God’s energy. All such energies have their innate intelligence. All healers, whether Pranic or Reiki, draw energies from the same Source.”

A very satisfied Karthik thanked Guruji.

Mr. Ramesh Nadkar, a visiting postal guidance student shared his supernatural energy experience during his visit to Taponagara. “About five of us, some from Mumbai and others from Pune, had meditated in the Cosmic Tower. In about half an hour, I felt as if it was cloudy, a vision full of golden Light followed, so intense that it made me feel like I was sitting directly under the Sun. Almost immediately it turned to bright blue Light speckled with twinkling stars.

“Two months later, on a hill station, I was practising Light Channeling in the morning and again I saw the blue Light. Since then I have not had any visions of this magnitude….” He expressed his need to find out why in a gesture.

“It is difficult to explain why we have such visions sometimes and at others we don’t. What we can be sure of is that each experience of this kind is a blessing; it is a sign from the Heavens and its Beings that we are here with you.

There are many ways in which the Spiritual Masters and God send us their assuring support. Their blessings manifest in the most mundane as well. Mr. Nikhil shared one such event. “I had worked in the night shift for all of last week, for this gathering I wanted to get up early and be here on time. I could afford only an hour and a half’s sleep time; afraid that I would over-sleep I prayed to my body, mind and intellect so that I could be fresh enough when I get up. It worked and here I am.”

“That is wonderful really; I think we all should attempt to take help from Light in this manner. Try to interact with your own subtle bodies. Let me narrate an interesting anecdote from Amara’s times. He had a friend in Mysore who wanted to get up in the wee hours of the morning and meditate. Unfortunately he did not have an alarm clock, so he prayed to the Rishis. Every morning the tubelight in his bedroom would get switched on and that would wake him up. This went on for months. During one of his meetings with Amara, this person’s eyes welled-up as he told it to him. Such miracles happen to many people.”

Guruji told that it is good to have such experiences, not the same ones, but something to inspire us and strengthen our faith in the invisible hand of God.

“Let me now share my experience.” And this is a rare occurrence; Guruji never details his mystical visions so every mind in those gathered silenced and auditory senses were alert at full capacity so as to not miss a single word that he spoke. Yes, the deep silence of about a hundred is palpable; it has a different quality to it as compared to silence which fills solitude.

“I had a very busy and hectic day. Late night as I entered my bedroom, suddenly my iPod started playing, and that too Kishore Kumar songs. It was too obvious that some invisible entity had done this so I just thanked mentally. A few hours later I started my Meditations. I had a vision; I saw a huge Divine Personality who measured from ground to the sky. He smiled and said – ‘Take a break. Relax.’ It was he who had switched on the iPod. The strangest part is he spoke in English.”

A lady wanted to verify whether her temporary temper was justified under extenuating circumstances. Echoes of an argument with a family member reverberated in her voice. “Guruji, some families are very supportive about Spiritual pursuits. There are others who do not obstruct but they make unrealistic demands like we can never get angry no matter what they do or say. Can we never express our annoyance?”

“The world prefers to understand things in an over simplified way, especially when it comes to Meditation. Meditators can get angry as well, it depends on the situation. Even Amara had said that we can; Rishis and Avataras also got angry when it was needed. If you do not get angry when you see injustice, greed and unfair practices everywhere around you then that would be unspiritual. If you tell your family members that I say it is okay to be angry sometimes, then they will get angry with me,” Guruji joked for a moment, “That is fine, I can manage.”

When interacting directly with Guruji, I have observed that students not only see a father figure in him they also feel his unconditional love, so all unfairness they face in life which get pushed under the carpet of accommodation surfaces, no matter how tiny they are.

“My husband thinks that because I come to Manasa I always have to be calm no matter what happens. He habitually keeps misplacing things around the house and I have to perpetually go on searching.” Human ingenuity is such that even daily irritations can birth humour; the student’s next comment proved this, “We call ourselves the Google family, because we are always searching for things.”

The whole gathering guffawed. “That’s a nice expression, Google family. But seriously, when required you may pretend to be angry, sometimes it is needed. It is better to pretend rather than actually seethe with angry.

“How can one be calm when you hear news of child molestation, gangrapes, violent acts of terrorism? We should get angry and the vibrations of our anger should even touch the victimizer. We have to be fuming about rampant corruption and lack of proper civic amenities. The collective anger of masses will work, it will impact the wrong-doers. We may not be able to act against victimizers but we should be intolerant.

“Amara had said something very important – get angry with yourself as well when you do not meditate regularly, when you are too lazy, when you allow yourself to carry negative habits. Use anger for positive, constructive means.”

An act is defined by the intention behind it. Anger is not always negative; it can be likened to a knife. We can use it to chop vegetables and even cause wound.

A gentleman shared something that most of us were very unfamiliar with. “Guruji, I know of a healer who follows the Siddha system of medicine. He is guided by Spiritual Master Agastya. She says that the formula comes from him and not only does he help her find the right medicinal herbs, he also unlocks the subtle energy in it. The Rishi also warns that if someone else plucks the herbs the special energy will not operate. The healer claims that the Rishi comes in person to chose the herbs, energize them and this is how help humanity. Guruji, is this a way of clearing Karma through medicine?”

“Definitely. The Masters use every channel to help humanity. Karmas are cleared through Meditation directly, but this is also a way. The energies in the herbs give relief to the patient and also help him positivise. This methodology may take longer than Meditation does, but you see when the person transforms positively, the Karmas get cleared.

“What is interesting is that Rishis use every willing person to channel their blessings and support for humanity. Their projects are very complex. It is not very easy to understand all that they do, healing is just one part of their Work and there are many other areas in which they help.”

“Another aspect to this healing system is that sometimes patients are denied medicines if their Karmas are very heavy. The healer says that she meditates, connects with the Rishi and he guides her whether to take up the case or not. My question is that sometimes even when a solution is available the Rishis do not give it to individuals?”

“Nobody is denied a solution just that the patient might not be ready to receive the help being given. And whenever he is ready, it is possible that the Rishi will reach the solution to him.”

There is always more than what meets the eye. The eternal Spiritual Masters make many sacrifices absolutely unknown to us just so that they could help each and every one of us. They never ignore any prayer appeal made to them by anyone.

An eclipse was due on the day this informal gathering with Guruji was organized. A few quick queries followed before Ms. Jana Sumathi requested for an understanding of what the eclipse forebode.

“Are Light and Presence the same?”

“The Presence is beyond the Divine Light. Though there is a difference, for our understanding is suffices to know that Light is God and God is Presence.”

“Is an enlightened person also perfect?”

“An imperfect person cannot achieve enlightenment. So the answer is in your own question.”

“Guruji, do you talk to the Rishis when you meet then Astrally? Also, when you talk to Amaraji, do you speak in English or Kannada?”

“Our communication occurs in different ways. There isn’t always a direct conversation. I will know their messages by my intuition. Many times I have a non-visual direct perception of realities. I may not see an Astral visitor but I will know how they look. There is knowing beyond just seeing.”

“Even with Amaraji you converse in this manner?”

“With all Masters actually, when I pose a question and get an answer, it happens without the aid of words. Having said this, sometimes, verbal communication also happens; like in the case of the Divine Being who spoke to me in English!”

“This means that the Divine Beings and Rishis have knowledge of all languages?”

“Yes, of course.”

The eclipse was the second of a paired eclipse, the first of the two had occurred a fortnight before. Guruji detailed the event as follows.

“Today’s eclipse, as well as the last one, are very important. The energies they release have created a shift in consciousness. There will be more awakening amongst human beings about the higher realities. Those who are already awakened will progress further. The eclipse energies work at many levels, they heal and guide. More importantly they strengthen all the positive forces. They also strengthen the positivity in us and others; this naturally pushes negativity to the background.

“As I have said many times, each eclipse is a step towards the New Age.”

Mr. Venkatachenulu had some follow-up questions on the age old ritualistic beliefs around eclipses.

“Is it alright to have food during the eclipse period?”

Since this meditator has been Guruji’s student for a very long time, Guruji said humorously. “I am diabetic, I have to eat something to maintain my sugar levels. The eclipse period is for five long hours, so those want will have to eat. We will be arranging some short eats. So the answer is it is alright.”

Earlier Guruji had explained that when we eat a stomach full of meals, our digestive system gets busy and when we sit for Meditations it naturally induces sleep. Assimilation of the subtle energies is also impacted. Even for daily Meditations it is advisable, though not compulsory, to give a gap after consuming food.”

“Is it necessary to have a bath after the eclipse period is over?”

“I come from a very orthodox family. I have worked with the Spiritual Masters at very close quarters. With this background let me assure that it is not required. I am not advocating that all the traditional beliefs are incorrect. Many well-intentioned instructions from Spiritual Guides have been misconstrued throughout times immemorial. Today, we as meditators, deal directly with Spiritual energies and do not need rituals.”

On another note the next question was about the difference between meditating in the Cosmic Tower and linking-up while meditating from home.

Guruji explained that the physical body also absorbs a lot of energies. So meditating in the Cosmic Tower has its own benefits.

Ms. Vidya Vishwamitra shared some of her very unique Spiritual experiences. Every time she speaks about such things there is such innocence in her voice and purity in her intent that some even feel that they have had those wonderful visions themselves.

“During Meditations I do not want my body to move so that I can go deeper into Stillness. My hurt ankle however drew my attention. I tried to pull back from the depths, and then I saw huge chunks of energies come from nowhere and circle my whole leg for a few minutes. And the pain just vanished.”

“It is a very touching experience. We are always taken care of; since you wanted to meditate you were given relief. By who, we might wonder. Was it God or a Rishi? Some great loving Intelligence attended to it.”

“What amazes me Guruji is that though I knew I could connect with healing energies I chose not to because during Meditation we are supposed to be in surrender and silence. Yet I was healed….”

“This is exactly what I have said in many occasions. You do not have to pray specifically, you may of course. When you are aligned to God help comes to you automatically.”

Somehow in this session Guruji was exceptionally reminiscing anecdotes from his life, “It was 1978, around the time I had just met Amara. Around 8:30PM heavy rains had just slowed into a drizzle. I had to urgently get home. I was at the Indian Express circle hailing for an auto rickshaw, and so were some ladies nearby. Getting autos was not easy in those days and usually they would give preference to ladies. I was wondering what to do. Suddenly an auto pulled in, as the passengers got off, the driver pointed towards me and asked me to take the ride. When others approached him he declined!

“What worked here? I never prayed, but something was arranged. This Universe is full of love. God and Spiritual Masters help us in many ways; most don’t take cognizance. Be alert and you may see the hand of God.”

Continuing the discussion, Vidya presented some of her observations during Meditations. “Guruji, we try to hold on to God in Meditations and experience blue or white light. Do these energies lead us to God?”

“Light is God, so when you experience Light you are experiencing God. The right energies come to you during Meditations. But it is not that the energies connect you to God. Light itself is experienced.”

“Also after a certain point in Meditation my normal breathing stops and I feel like I am breathing from different points in my body. So, are there different stages of breathing?”

“Again it is a very unusual experience. You have seen the Prana at work in these areas. It is not breath, it is Prana.”

“When breathing stops how does the body manage?”

“The body requires Prana not breath. In fact, in deep Meditations, the breathing stops for a long time. When this happens Prana expands. At such times we don’t require breathing at all. But it is not easy to be in this period for a long time.”

“I feel that the seven chakras are activated after this stage is reached during Meditations.”

“I am happy that you are actually experiencing this, most do not. You see each Chakra has its own energy, it can be called Kundalini. This word however is strictly used to for the energy from Mooladhara or base Chakra. When you are at the peak of Meditations, energies from each of the Chakras rushes towards Sahasrara Chakra and not just the Kundalini from the base Chakra. This is a very important point. When these energies merge with the Sahasrara energy the fallout is an experience of Bliss. You will be filled with wonderful new energies.

“This is such a beautiful process actually. It is as if all the energies in Chakras rush upwards towards God, He smiles and blesses, His Love descends and we experience Samadhi.”

“Guruji, earlier I used to have a lot of thoughts. But when I enter the field of experience, without any effort the thoughts vanish. The energies are so powerful they dominate our system.”

“You are right. Energies from external sources as well as from within ourselves help our Meditations.”

It was well past 1:00PM. We entered a minute of Silence with Guruji and expressed our gratitude to God and the Spiritual Masters. What began in silence ended in it too.

Christmas evening was dinner night with Guruji at a restaurant. It was also Akhanda Dhyana – the last Sunday of the year when full day Meditations are conducted at Taponagara. We were catching up on the day’s events while choosing from the menu. Since one of our friends was an avid non-vegetarian he took longer to chose from the all-vegetarian menu. Strangely this triggered a full-length conversation with Guruji about the rationale behind proposed abstinence from consumption of meat cuisine.

Guruji mentioned that he recently encountered a case wherein a person’s life had been disturbed due to a black magic spell cast on them by someone. Since this person is an innately good-hearted, well-intentioned meditator there was protection, but only until the time he consumed meat. The reason – the dark energies can enter meat easily. When dark energies are sent to a person and if they cannot immediately enter and harm then they hover around and wait! Also, black magic targets only the person for whom it is meant. Even if it takes ten years they standby and at the first available opportunity they act.

Besides the targeted black magic there are also general negative emotional energies floating around in the environment. This explains why we feel low or uncomfortable in certain localities. When we channel Light to the whole world, one of the benefits is that it cleanses the environment of such fear based energies. We meditators have energy shields so we are safe until we literally bore holes in the shields with intense negative thinking or anger. At such times we let the negative energies in. It is also a commonly known fact that in a heavily inebriated state we become weak-minded and are more susceptible to psychic attacks. A strong minded person does not face such problems though.

The conversation continued and the food, all vegetarian of course, was served in the meanwhile. Even plants have life and we grow, harvest and eat them, does not this amount to aggression we asked. Guruji explained, “You see as per the laws of life applicable to our kind of Bhoo Loka earth, eating plants and vegetation is allowed. There are earths in the lower densities where different laws apply.”

To help us understand further Guruji narrated Amara Maharshi’s inter-dimensional travel experience. “Amara once visited a certain earth which is in a higher frequency. As he landed there, he had to take up a local body. While walking on the ground there he habitually walked on grass, like we do on our earth here. You won’t believe this but the grass and the trees around took offense and the trees even hurled fruits on him!

“Oh come take a seat; sorry we ordered food already, you took quite some time to reach here.” Guruji welcomed Kavindra and Sreedevi as they joined us for dinner.

We briefly told them about what we were discussing and then Guruji continued, “The point is, on that particular earth even vegetation cannot be consumed casually.”

The commotion of people talking in the restaurant did not seem to drown our conversation. Since it was Christmas the place was chock-a-block. “Also don’t forget that different Laws of Karma apply based on the soul’s origin. For some souls even killing and consuming animals is allowed.”

When wild predators like lions kill antelopes for sustenance it is perfectly fine because it is natural to that species.

On this Path there has never been any restriction of food or lifestyle habits. The pure Spiritual Energies that purify our five body system of Spiritual, Intellectual, Mental, Vital and Physical bodies, automatically cleanse denser patterns of lower energy. This results in a natural avoidance of anything that comes in the way of absorption of pure energy. Quite like dry leaves naturally falling off a tree. Only once, sometime in 2010, there was a request for abstinence from non-vegetarian food for a short period.

We had forgotten that we were at dinner so the dialogue halted for a while. Food preferences and some other small talk later something very interesting was revealed. I cannot recall how the topic came about but if I hold the tail and reach up to the other end there most certainly would be a snake’s head! Oh yes, a snake. There’s a popular folklore which warns that cobras remember their enemies for a period of twelve years. There’s even a well-known local movie song based on the ferocious twelve year vengefulness of a cobra.

Guruji confirmed that it was true! Snakes have a photographic memory which lasts in their minds for a period of exactly twelve years. He even evidenced this by telling us about a villager in Gollahalli (where Antar-Manasa is situated). This villager attacked a cobra on the way to his farm. The snake escaped alive. Elders in the village advised him to stay off that path to his farm. About four years later he let his guard down and while he was on the forbidden path he encountered the cobra, all set in attack mode.

A hot cup of coffee, sugarless for Guruji, warmed our spirits in the chill of the cold Christmas night, but it did not stimulate further discussion. I have often observed this interesting phenomenon - any conversation over food ends with the last morsel. A few pleasantries later we headed back to Taponagara.

After the New Year as the routine of life set in, some more questions popped-up from an inquisitive mind. What about eggs? Does it fall in the category of non-vegetarian food, because milk does not? As an animal product does it also attract any non-positive energy? Guruji’s answer - no.

What about the leather products we so often use, do they attract non-positive energy? Guruji’s answer – “Yes they do. But the energies they carry are from the respective animal or reptile groups, like tiger or snakes.”

Myths, legends, energies, there is always something new to explore, understand and experience. The journey continues.

An atheist’s best argument against the existence of God is this sharp question – if God exists then why does he allow evil? There are some sincere answers from believers, like – it is we human beings who manifest evil by degrading our values which is not God’s fault; another one – abusing our freewill attracts evil, it is completely our fault. These answers do not sit well when juxtaposed with the fact that Creation, and everything in it, not only came from God but is also a subset of Him. One wonders when everything is made of Light how is it that there is darkness anywhere at all.

There must have been many approaches to solving this inconvenient reality. With the background of what we have learnt in the book - Descent of Soul - once I presented my understanding of the topic to Guruji. Here’s the gist of what I had mentioned to him, along with some background for those who have not read the book.

“As souls when we came into Creation, and after we experienced life in the Divine Cosmoses, we wanted to experience more diversity in Manifestation. We wanted to live in the Material Cosmos or Brahmanda, because here in all the fourteen planes duality existed giving us ample variety to experience extremities of love and fear. Duality manifested in all aspects of the planes. The first plane of existence – Satya Loka – was the purest and highest in positivity, while the last – Patala Loka – was negative and lowest. From the first Loka onwards each consecutive Loka was lower on the purity quotient, providing diversity in the experiences we could choose from. Duality in every characteristic was an innate feature of Brahmanda – male/female, good/bad, hot/cold, etc.

“It is we who chose to take birth in the Brahmanda and experience duality to the hilt. It is we who chose to take the risk of getting caught in the Karmic wheel. In full awareness, as souls, we chose an adventurous descent further down into the planes of existences to experience even dark so that we could realize the value of Light.

“Without diluting the seriousness of the matter, this can be likened to a complex video game wherein the difficulty levels increase with each level of the game. We chose the difficulty level, which is, life in a Loka where a certain amount of dark exists.

“We cannot blame the video game’s difficulty level when we find winning difficult!”

In the net analysis, God did not create suffering; he only allowed dark energy and dark souls who could tempt us away from choosing Light in thought, emotion and deed. Simultaneously he gave us the strength to manifest more Light so as to overcome darkness. He made us co-creators. A collective human decision to avoid suffering can defeat all that is non-positive. Suffering is a choice.

On Bhoo Loka earths, where good and bad have equal opportunities, He allowed the non-positive forces lesser duration of time to manifest in full force, that is only 5000 years of Kali Yuga while Satya Yuga last for 20,000 odd years. Light always overpowers dark in every Yuga.

The Yuga defines the amount of Spiritual purity in the environment. The physical human bodies are denser in Kali Yuga and hence find it more difficult to manifest Divinity. This only means that the challenge increases and our adventure and experience seeking soul chooses to be born in this time period. Many are born due to their Karmic reasons also.

The greater wisdom of the Creator cannot be fully comprehended.

Guruji heard me completely and said that this is a level of understanding. It is perfectly fine to comprehend in this manner. Most importantly, he said that as we progress into the years to come, as our higher faculties open and after the intense Pralaya processes are done with, new and finer points will be revealed by God. There will be an expansion in our understanding of the journey of the soul – the one who experiences - and the mechanics of that which is being experienced, that is, the Creation.

There are some other points Guruji has mentioned in the last few years which help us sharpen our understanding. During Pralaya times humanity receives special energies to remove pending Karmas faster, like the Ra Energy, etc. A lot is pardoned. Also, it is easier to ascend from Bhoo Loka earth; that is why souls from many different origins take birth here. These reasons also explain why there is a population explosion; more souls want to experience the Shift of the Ages.
So, the next time we feel pessimistic about the state of humanity, and our suffering amidst such negativity, remember, it is we who chose this plane of existence, this difficulty level and this experience.

A dialogue from the famous movie – Avatar – comes to my mind. Netiri, the female protagonist, says about her tribe’s Goddess – “Our Mother Eywa does not take sides; she only maintains the balance.” And for this Eywa sends her wild creatures to fight the aggressor’s armed forces! God always helps us manifest Light no matter how dark it gets. Though we are co-creators, the Chief Game Designer always makes sure that we win.

“Remove fear. Have hope.” This is the main message from the Rishis at the dawn of this much anticipated year 2012. They say that though some destruction is a possibility, the explosion in human awareness due to increase in the New Age Spiritual Energies will help those who have actually chosen Love and Light. Choosing means we cannot hold on to grudges, non-love and anger towards anyone, and we have to constantly radiate love and peace.

Sounds difficult! Well, here’s some great news from Guruji. Last night as the clock struck midnight and the calendar date changed to January 1st, 2012, there was a Shift in Time. In the 20 odd hours since, Guruji said, there has been a Shift in each one of us. The impact of the change in Time is strong. He said, “I met so many people personally and spoke to them yesterday (1st January) and I could see the unexpected change in them.”

Guruji further added, “Those under the direct guidance from the Rishis have to manifest love irrespective of the situation. Nothing others do or say should dissuade us from doing so.”

After the Residents’ New Year get-together, Guruji spent considerable amount of time talking to some students till 3:30AM. He started his day earlier than usual because it was the day of Initiations; after the main Sunday Class he had a string of meetings which lasted till 7:45PM! Each meeting was a session of Spiritual guidance. With only a 30 minutes nap he again had a meeting, following which, even though he had settled for a relaxed comfortable evening to watch a movie, most of the time he gave us new messages from the Shoonya Masa Rishis (They are the Great Spiritual Masters who manage the affairs of this earth when the Saptarshis go into Tapas from December 15th to January 14th every year). Here are some of those points:

“By the end of 2012 the amount of evil on earth will be diminished. If anything is left over the year 2013 will clear it.

“Even those who resist positive change will transform. Those who have decided for sure to hold onto non-love will have to move to other earths with Kali Yuga like life.

“Everyone will go into instant self-review and introspection; the self-correction mechanism will become stronger. We will consciously choose not to repeat our mistakes, negative thought patterns, etc. Since we make the right choices we won’t be riddled with guilt and hence we will naturally be more tuned to God. Even our Karmas will guide us into being a better person! This is the power of the New Age Energies.

“The pace of transformation will be fast. For those who really want to positivise, it will take very little effort to bridge the gap between what we are and what we want to be, as all help required will be provided.

“Most importantly everyone and everything around us will also co-operate in mutual benefit. There will be more self-awareness amongst people.

“In this year all problems will find solutions.

“Conflict resolution will be such that eventually there will be no clashes. Not just us but even others give up for another and we all dissolve in love.

“If we feel that while resolving some problem we had to sacrifice something then the Universe somehow compensates.

“We will be able to see others in a new light without prejudices, irrespective of all their positives and negatives.

“The Shift in Time is approved by God Himself. The Saptarshis inform Master V (Vishwamitra Maharshi) out of courtesy before bringing about this change.

“We will all be channels of the Rishis, even like Rishis in the times to come.

It was well past 3am and Guruji was still fresh and energetic. While wishing us a good night he mentioned that he will catch-up with news on TV, read some magazines and finally meditate before he actually ends the day! Guruji is 72 years old and yet he was more vibrant with enthusiasm than the rest of us and was joyously looking forward to 2012.

A dialogue from the Hollywood movie – The Day The Earth Stood Still – starring Keanu Reeves is quite apt, “At the very end, at the very precipice, human beings do chose to change.”

It was the day after the Bangalore Book Festival 2011 ended. We wrapped up the stall set-up - the books, display items and racks. We wanted to meet Guruji and share with him all the details, significant or not, that happened over the ten day book-fest. We had met him earlier but it wasn’t enough to fill him on all the minutiae. As Somayaji and I drove back to Taponagara, we eagerly wanted to touch-base with Guruji and see if he was available that night. We finally decided to postpone till we reached home. En-route, Somayaji unexpectedly decided to finish a minor long-postponed mobile repair job.

The service centre happens to be in a narrow lane of small shops inside a busy shopping complex. The ceiling fans running at full speed could not ventilate the air; feeling stifled I walked out for a stroll. A few steps ahead I was stopped in my tracks as a car swerved right in front of me to enter a parking lot. And that made me happy. Why? It was Guruji’s car! As I followed it to find out that he was not in it, Somayaji called to inform that Guruji was with him. What a coincidence.

I went back to the claustrophobic shopping complex. Guruji was telling Somayaji about the cell phone he wanted to get serviced. In the twenty minutes I spent there I was chatting with an acquaintance. Strangely the stuffiness had not just vanished but it was replaced by a cool air-conditioned fresh environment. Nothing in the surroundings had changed since I was there last. What happened I wondered? Up until the moment we all left the shopping complex I did not feel claustrophobic again.

We all headed for a restaurant nearby. I was so impatient about sharing the details with Guruji that I spoke non-stop for quite a few minutes. Fortunately, Guruji is used to my yap! While waiting for the bill Guruji mentioned that it was not a coincidence that we all met. It was his genuine eagerness as well as ours that had created the situation; no formal planning was required. More than eagerness to talk about things it was a heartfelt wish. Many have experienced this as well.

After I reached home the sudden change in the atmosphere at the shop dominated my thoughts. What had happened? I classified it as a quirk and just ignored it. The next day there it was again, a looming question – what had changed in the air? Finally I checked with Guruji. With a surprise on his face he confirmed that it was the effect of a new Spiritual energy which he was carrying in him. He had been working with it for some time and it was a unique incident.

Many questions follow – can a purely Spiritual energy result in a sudden tangible physical environmental change? Did the energy make only one person feel this way, because others did not seem to have noticed? Did I feel the freshness in the atmosphere due to how I felt the energy from within or was it a non-specific impersonal ambient change? It is good to have such and other endless metaphysical questions which we, the Study Centre team, can keep working on; it is like job security for us!

The pros and cons of social networking sites are debatable, but it has worked well for me. Like many others I am now in touch with so many long lost friends and fellows. Many months back, on Facebook, I came across the Human Resources Manager of the last corporate company I had worked for. Both of us were too busy to go beyond clicking on the ‘accept as friend’ option. The name got relegated to the ever-increasing friends list and would surface on and off on the top. An inexplicable strong wish to find out about him took me to his Facebook Wall a few days back. To my shock it was full of condolence messages; he had passed over.

This question haunted me – what made me suddenly want to find out about him after all these months. Guruji explained that at a different level I knew about his sad demise. Somehow it had to trickle down to this level for my information.

This is not a very uncommon experience. How does it work? What triggers such processes? Why did my higher-self want my this-worldly-self to know?

A 74 year old meditator was out for a morning walk. He folded his hands and offered respect to the rising sun. As he opened his eyes, he saw an Astral being, a lady in white, enter his body and vanish into him. Then, nothing happened; he kept faith in the Rishis and the energy shield and walked home. Upon enquiry, Guruji explained that the Astral being was none other than the person’s daughter who lives in a different city, and was deeply concerned about her parent’s health. She was there to give him strength.

Strikingly the daughter had no clue about this at the conscious physical level. Was she sent by the Rishis because she had incessantly prayed to them for her parent’s well-being? Was it a one-off or is this a normal occurrence? Did the Rishis allow this out of love?

Unbeknown to us the Universe manifests miracles in our everyday lives. It unfolds through us and yet we wonder how it works. There are more questions than answers. Fortunately the Universal phenomena do not wait for our understanding of its nature. The Universe’s unconditional love transmutes our wonderment about It into reverence.