The conversations with Guruji got a refreshing boost as a hot cup of chai, and coffee for Guruji, was served along with some light nibbles. Queries on Prana continued. “Guruji, this is regarding Prana. How do I know that I have taken in Prana? Will I eat less? How does it function?”

“You see, when you take in Prana, you will notice that you become more energetic,” Guruji said. “If you have any ailment or pain anywhere, then you can pray to Sun, receive his Prana and send it to the affected area. Be alert and you might just notice an almost immediate relief. To know for sure that you have received Prana, just be alert. You will know.”

Ms. Varsha wanted to ask a few questions and before she did in her cheerful style she even got on her knees from her mat. “Actually, I want to ask, you had mentioned that we have all the tools necessary for our Spiritual growth right in our own system. So does it mean that we have to get all the knowledge required from our inner self or should we seek from books and outside sources as well? Or will being alert to our inner voice alone will help?”

Guruji: “We are already using the tools I mentioned, the most important is intuition. Others like our body, mind and intellect are like tools in our growth. Higher faculties are becoming operative, just that we don’t notice or acknowledge them.”

“We just need to be aware of the inner workings, right Guruji?”

“Yes, that’s all. Be alert and you will notice the difference.” Guruji playfully prodded the eager student, “For example, with your intuition you could find out who will ask the next question…try.”

And unexpectedly came a sprightly quip, “By my intuition, I feel that Swaminathan uncle will know…” because she already knew that he had a rough list of questioners.

“So, that is how it works” said Guruji concedingly.

Next, she asked a profound question - could a genuine Spiritual experience enable a person to manifest Divine qualities like unconditional love, accommodation, etc; and also, if the other way round could happen.

Guruji: “Both are true. A genuine experience will make us happy, peaceful, expanded, etc. And when you practice these consciously, you will have wonderful mystical experiences.”

Varsha’s chirpiness could not mask the confessional tone in her next question, “Guruji, to have a genuine mystical experience, do we have to be less talkative?”

“Less talkative is always welcome, with or without experiences,” Guruji said and seeing that this comment was taken very seriously, he quickly added, “No, no, I am just joking. We have to talk, we have to communicate. We shouldn’t gossip too much. Note that I said too much, so a little is fine. However, when we maintain silence we become aware of the Higher Personalities, Higher Forces and Energies….”

“….yes Guruji. I have also experienced this…”

“Allow silence whenever it is possible,” Guruji said and also assured her, “You wait for some time, you will have experiences.”

Taking forward the line of probe on experiences and manifestation, Mr. Kavindra posed a question. “Guruji, you just explained that a genuine experience will result in transformation; however, I hear some meditators say ‘I had very good Meditation today, I could go deep’ but their behavior does not change. So in this background, I would like to understand better.”

Guruji: “First of all we have to also consciously allow the influence of these deep Meditations to work on us during the non-meditating hours. Secondly, deep Meditations and regular practices initiate a process of transformation. The improvement in manifestation of Divine qualities could be miniscule, so we do not notice it. But rest assured that everyone makes some headway. Deep changes do not happen immediately.”

“Another question that has been on my mind for quite some time; out of love and concern for another person, we sometimes advise them or show them their areas of improvement. The intention is to help but should we say something or should we keep quite. Should we just let the Higher Intelligence guide the person?

Guruji: “The action depends on the case at hand. There are times when a person will listen to you and other times they may not. We should not impose our views or care on others. Guide only if it is sought and to the extent to which it is sought. At no time should there be any unpleasantness. So it all depends on the individual you are dealing with and the situation. Be alert and sensitive to the other person’s feeling. Your intent is the most important thing, it must not be to find faults but to help the person realize and grow.

“Even the best of the opinions should not be imposed. We must realize that everyone is responsible; everyone has the same Light that we carry. This is very important. If there is any confusion, if there is any misunderstanding, in course of time they will realize it. Who are we to correct. If you are humble enough the best thing would be send Divine Light. It will do everything in the most proper way, at the right time.”

People issues dominate our lives. It is always a heady mix of ours and others imperfections and moments of unconscious living. We do not always get to know if we have hurt others. Fortunately, Guruji’s guidance is very clear, no matter who is right or wrong, keep your intent clear and send Light.

Ms. Archana Vishwanath, a Professor of Pharmacy, had met a visitor to Taponagara. He had a psychic vision that this place was an Ashram of Durvasa Maharshi. He also prophesied that this place will become a very big Spiritual Ashram. She wanted to know if this would come to pass.

“Thousands of years ago many Rishis lived here. In the future this will happen again. Even right now, we are an Ashram; not the typical one you see in movies. You see, an Ashram is a place where good souls gather; all of you are those good souls. And what is our activity? It is what we are doing right now. We are sharing knowledge, beautiful moments full of Divine Love; we share not just the Spiritual Energies but also our food! Having said this, yes, great Rishis will come here or take birth here. This is an Ashram already.” Guruji’s explanation left us in a unique state of bliss.

On other occasions, Guruji had said that the operating Principles of Taponagara are unconditional Love and freedom. Each one has the right to pursue his or her Sadhana at their own pace and conduct their lives as per their preference. There is no place of hegemony or harshness here.

Ms. Uma Maheshwari, a volunteer and an active Light Channeling member, wanted to find out how to handle those who express feelings of jealousy, will the negativity impact her and whether such people should be avoided.

Knowing her as a very sensitive individual with childlike purity and innocence, Guruji spoke emphatically, giving her a feeling of being protected always. “Straight away I can tell you, it won’t affect you and you need not avoid. You need not avoid anyone for that matter. But be strong. Those who carry Light are very strong. You know what is right or what is not, so just ignore others’ comments. Carry Light always. Send Light that is the best thing you can do.”

With a wide smile beaming on her face she narrated an incident when she prayed to Guruji and got a response. Guruji confirmed the contact and mentioned that though he wasn’t aware at this physical level, he responded from his Higher aspect.

Shobha Ma’am in her ever so unhurried and calm voice asked, “Guruji, when we pray to you, many times you say that you may not know at this level, but at a Higher level you will know. Are you referring to the level of the soul?”

Guruji: “Yes. You can say that.”

Continuing the point of knowing at a deeper level, Ms. Sujata V asked, “Guruji, in the last Sunday Class, you mentioned about the state of blankness, expanded awareness and Enlightenment; it was really beautiful. In the same Class, you had also mentioned that as we progress from one Spiritual stage to another, our awareness will expand and we will know everything at that level. I could not understand this properly.”

Guruji: “It is like this – to begin with at a certain stage you will be aware of everything about everyone on this earth simultaneously. As our awareness expands, we will know progressively more about people, happenings, etc simultaneously, and eventually about the entire Universe. God knows about everything in the entire Creation.”

Mr. Vinay expressed his gratitude to Guruji for being patient with his pace of Spiritual growth.

In response Guruji gave us very important insights. He said that patience is a must, both with ourselves and others. Hope should be coupled with patience since they carry the same Light as we do. We cannot write-off anybody, we have to keep the faith that they will someday understand and grow. We should not judge others, condemn and keep them away. He also emphasized that we are not doing any favour by being patient; it is our duty to be so.

Once Guruji had appreciated his Guru – Maharshi Amaraji for his patience; to this Amaraji had replied – “If I don’t have patience, I cannot be a Guru.”

As the microphone had already gone around the bonfire once, the next round of discussion was from those who had already interacted. By now they had found enough time to contemplate on the answers given by Guruji and they followed up with more questions.

“Guruji, earlier you mentioned that Africa will play a special role. May we understand how?”

“Mainly it will be Spiritual in nature. Right now there is chaos, we cannot expect much, but in the times to come there will be sane voices emerging from this continent. The world will listen and will be humbled, I cannot explicitly say how but it will play a vital role in the affairs of the world. We expect great things from Africa” Guruji explained. Only the Rishis can see hope where none seems apparent.

“Guruji, we now understand that the Sun’s Prana is available on all the planets and we know that there are different kinds of beings living on those planets. So do they use this Prana?”

“They do, but a different kind of Prana than ours. They use subtler Prana.”

“This is the continuation of the discussion we had about the Life coming from Mars. Can we conclude that before earth become inhabitable or was ready for this kind of physical life, it was on Mars and once the entire cycle on Mars was over, it was transported to Earth?”

Guruji: “Exactly.”

“Currently the astrophysicists say that there are water reserves on Mars, it has conditions similar to Earth. So it is likely that after Earth Life will go back to Mars?”

Guruji: “We do not go back to Mars, maybe to some other planet. We don’t know right now. Let us say, each planet will have a chance to become Earth-like.

There was a query about how we handled the journey through the Photon Belt in the earlier Mahayuga cycles. To this Guruji said that information was not available straight away.

The next question landed us on earth. “Guruji, from which layer of mind does fear emanate?”

‘Oh God,’ I thought to myself, ‘It is so difficult to be in Guruji’s position.’ Just imagine, it takes much more that patience to jump topics like this, while maintaining strong links with the Rishis and getting the correct answers, because Guruji never deters from saying that he does not know.

Guruji answer: “It is difficult to say. Even the conscious mind can feel scared. You can’t say that at a certain level of the mind a particular kind of fear exists. The whole mind can be understood as the source.”

The next in line was the Study Centre Member with a slew of questions on Vaastu or the Indian traditional science of architecture which had a sharp focus on directional alignments with the natural energy flows in Nature.

Question: Guruji, the way individual houses have their Ashtadikbandhana (eight directional energy centers which contain the house or structure), does Taponagara also have one too?

Guruji: It has.

Question: When we meditate at home, do these eight energy centers get energized; like it does during the house-warming energizing session?

Guruji: I don’t think so.

Question: In that case Guruji, can we energize our house on every anniversary of the house-warming day to strengthen the energy fields further?

Guruji: It is better if we do it. After all, every anniversary is like a birthday.

Question: Guruji, what about people who live in flats? Will they have a shared Ashtadikbandhana or individual ones?

Guruji: The whole structure will have this protection, the container effect of Ashtadikbandhana. At the same time the individual flats will also have their personal Ashtadikbandhana.

Question: As time passes, the Divine Energy accumulated in temples starts seeping underneath and starts collecting in an Astral Chamber. As we have understood so far, this can happen to the Pooja rooms of individual houses as well. Now, what would happen to the Divine Energies in the Pooja rooms of those who stay on higher floors of flats?

Guruji: That’s a good question. In flats, the Energies won’t seep down but will stay in the Pooja room or area. The houses below are a different world altogether.

Question: If we shift to a new house, should we have a small prayer ceremony where we can request the energies to shift with us?

Guruji: You can do that or leave the Energies behind and build up new fields, unless of course you have gathered very special Energies. Leaving the Energies behind would be generous.

Question: In case some theft or fire accident happens in the house, then can we say that there is an imbalance in the eight energy centers, or the Vaastu-Purusha is weak?

Guruji: No. We can’t say that. These energies protect the house from dark energies. But it is not meant to protect against theft.

Question: Once we meditate, all and any Vaastu imbalance gets nullified. Isn’t it Guruji?

Guruji: Yes, that’s correct.

Question: There are people who do not meditate, but they very good people. They worship and everyday perform rituals of worshipping genuinely…..

Guruji: …..that may not be adequate. But when you meditate, you don’t have to worry about Vaastu. Any bad Vaastu it is taken care of. Vaastu, you see, is an energy field. It works as container. When you meditate, you generate so much of positive energies that everything is taken care of. But people are not aware of it, and people won’t believe this.

Question: Guruji, every structure has eight directional energies. Now, our soul or Astral body lives in the physical body. In a way, this physical body is also our house. So, is it a stretch if we say that our body also has eight directional energy fields?

Guruji: Yes it is a stretch. Only physical structures of brick and mortar have these eight directional energy fields. But again, this body works as a kind of container, not necessarily with these eight forces. It is a natural container. We have energy shields, which are also containers.

Question: Guruji, we have shields, houses and even the Material Cosmos has Ashtadikbandhana, so what about countries?

Guruji: Countries will not have this Ashtadikbandhana. But, strangely in their own ways, they have borders. Example, we have Himalayas, we have seas around. They work as a kind of, you know, shields or borders.

Phew! Throughout the Q&A series there was hardly any time to pause and breathe. The smile of mutual understanding shared by the student who asked the questions and Guruji is too special to be described.

Ms. Kiranmayi, a meditator for many years and mother to her ten year old son, Nihaar, thanked the Residents for channeling Healing Energies to him when he had fever. Surprisingly, she attributed a distinct improvement in his studies and behavior to the Energies as well.

A visibly impressed Guruji said, “This is such a wonderful observation. As I was explaining in the Sunday Class, the Healing Energies do much more than just bring relief from the ailment. It also communicated to the person and helps in many ways. This is the finest example and I am very happy about it.”

The fire had started going down for quite some time now, probably only the interesting conversations had kept it alive so far. The call for last question was made and was answered by a question from Mr. Girish.

“Guruji, is Master Gabriel a Rishi?"

“Yes, he is.”

“Is he one of the Sapta Rishis?”

“No.”

“Then who could he be?”

“We do not know that for now. All the Masters that the West speaks of are known as Rishis in our country.”

The Ascended Masters, Hierarchy, Pillars of Light, Rishis, call them by any name are the same. They take birth in every culture and country, throughout all cycles of Time and work tirelessly for humanity to raise them to their highest potential.

Fortunately we have one Master with us who has shown us the way of Light. This memorable bonfire will always burn bright in our hearts.