I am Harmony

Our lives had been totally changed by our encounters with Shri Babaji. Our thoughts were very much focused on The Divine and on service to the whole of Creation. Religion, or spirituality, had an immediate, practical, moment-to-moment relationship to our lives. We felt the 'pull' of Babaji's love, joy and wisdom and wanted further to experience His presence and teaching. We had much to learn and wanted to have Him be our guru, wanted Him to accept us as His disciples. So, late in December, 1980, when our visas came, we went back to India to be with Babaji again, to sit at the feet of the Master and learn about and from Him.

"There is a great saint, an ocean of all qualities, Whose beginning and end nobody knows," From the Haidakhan Aarati.

"In the beginning was the Word, and the word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was made." John 1: 1-3 (King James translation)

"Creating all things, he entered into everything. Entering all things, he became that which has shape and that which is shapeless; he became that which is conscious and that which is not conscious; he became that which is gross and that which is subtle. He became all things whatsoever; therefore the wise call him the Real." From the Taittiriya Upanishad

CHAPTER II
PREVIOUS MANIFESTATIONS OF BABAJI
Some Experiences of Yogananda's Line

There is a belief in, a tradition of, and there are published re­ports of earlier manifestations of Babaji. The traditions extend back to prehistory; the written reports start with the second half of the 19^th century - or go back to the early centuries A.D., depending on how you choose to interpret a scriptural prophesy.

Millions of people all over the world have read about Mahavatar Babaji in Paramahansa Yogananda's Autobiography of a Yogi¹¹,which was first published in the United States of America in 1946. Yogananda's guru's guru, Lahiri Mahasaya, began talking and teaching about Babaji in the 1860's and his disciple Shri Yukteswar - Yogananda's guru - wrote a book in 1894, under Babaji's instructions, which gave some information about Babaji.

Yogananda, passing on information obtained by Lahiri Ma-hasaya, Shri Yukteswar, and himself, in conversations with Shri Babaji, stated that Mahavatar Babaji gave yoga initiation to the great Shaivite teacher, Shri Shankara (788-820 A.D.) and to the poet-saint Kabir (1440-1518), as well as to Lahiri Mahasaya.¹² There are no facts relating to birth or family in any of His manifestations.¹³

Yogananda's spiritual line's experience of Babaji began in the autumn of 1861, when Shyama Charan Lahiri was 33 years old.¹⁴ He was then an accountant in the Military Engineering Department of the British Raj in India, a married man with four children. A telegram from the head office directed his transfer from his post in Danapur, a town near Benares, to Ranikhet, in the Almora District of the Kumaon Hills in modern Uttar Pradesh state (renamed Uttaranchal in 2000). After thirty days of travel by horse and buggy, Lahiri reached his new office. His duties were not demanding and he was able to spend many hours roaming the hillsides. The area has been known, since before written history, for the saints who live and wander there, and Lahiri felt a strong desire to see them.

One afternoon, on Dronagiri Mountain, he heard a distant voice calling his name. He followed the voice and found a smiling young man who welcomed him and took him to a cave which contained some woolen blankets and some water bowls. The young man asked Lahiri if he remembered these things. In English, the young man said that it was apparent that his telegram had taken effect. When a baffled Lahiri asked what he meant, the young man said that he referred to the telegram that directed Lahiri to transfer to Ranikhet. He himself had put the suggestion into the mind of Lahiri's superior officer. The young man said that when a person feels unity with all of humanity, he or she can work through anyone's mind.

Since Lahiri remained bewildered by all this, the young man tapped him lightly on the forehead and suddenly Lahiri began remembering his previous life. He recognized Babaji, the cave, the blankets and water bowls and recalled the years he had spent in this cave in his last incarnation.

That night Shri Babaji initiated Lahiri into kriya yoga in a spectacular palace created by Babaji to satisfy a desire of Lahiri, from some long past life, since all desires must be attained and fulfilled before one embarks on this last high spiritual climb. When the initiation rites were completed, the palace disappeared, but Babaji and the disciples who accompanied Him remained with Lahiri on Dronagiri Mountain. During another seven days, Lahiri, in an unbroken state of bliss, attained Self-knowledge.

On the eighth day, Lahiri fell at Babaji's feet and implored Him to let him stay always in the wilderness with Shri Babaji. Babaji told Lahiri his duty was to serve in the city as an example of the ideal yogi-householder; people burdened by ties to work and family would take inspiration from him. Babaji said the family man is not barred from attaining the highest yogic growth; one who faithfully pursues a spiritual path can attain enlightenment.

The next morning, when Lahiri knelt at Shri Babaji's feet for blessing, Babaji told Lahiri that there was no separation between them; that whenever Lahiri called on Him, wherever Lahiri was, Babaji would come to him.

Soon after Lahiri's return to his office in Ranikhet, a letter came from the head office saying that his transfer to Ranikhet had occurred by error and that he should return to Danapur. On his way back to his post, Lahiri stopped to visit friends in Moradabad. His high spirits compelled him to share the tale of his miraculous experiences and his friends were incredulous. In his enthusiasm, Lahiri said that if he called Him, his guru would appear. He was immediately put to the test. Lahiri went into a windowless, quiet room and told his friends to wait outside until he called. Lahiri went into meditation and asked Babaji to appear. The room filled with a glow from which a luminous figure of Babaji appeared.

Babaji sternly rebuked Lahiri for calling Him for a trifle. Truth, He said, is not for the person of idle curiosity. Spiritual truths are dis­covered by people who overcome their skepticism. Babaji agreed to remain, but told Lahiri that from then on He would appear to Lahiri only when he needed Him, not always when he called.

The door was opened and the friends stared in disbelief. One laughed; saying this was a case of mass hypnotism, since no one could possibly have entered the room without their knowledge. Babaji smiled and let each one touch his warm, solid flesh, and they all prostrated before him. Babaji asked that a simple, sweet dish - halva - be prepared and talked pleasantly with them while it was being made. After they had eaten, Babaji blessed each one, then disappeared in a sudden flash of light.

Lahiri Mahasaya, after his initiation by Shri Babaji, became a great teacher and saint. There are recorded incidents of miraculous healing attributed to him; of restoring at least one person to life the day after his death; healing the blind; disappearing from sight in the presence of people; simultaneous appearances in two places; and, the day after his death, appearing to three disciples in three different cities at the same hour, in the flesh.

After his initiation, Lahiri Mahasaya met Babaji several times in unexpected circumstances. One of these incidents illustrates a point which seems to run through all of Shri Babaji's manifestations. At a khumba mela¹⁵ in Allahabad, Lahiri was astounded to find Babaji kneeling before a matted-haired renunciate. Lahiri asked Babaji what He was doing. Babaji replied that he was washing the feet of a renunciate, that he would then clean his cooking utensils; He said that He was practicing the virtue of humility.

Shri Yukteswar, who was Yogananda's guru, was perhaps the greatest of Lahiri Mahasaya's disciples. He, too, was a miracle-worker. During his lifetime, he met Shri Babaji three times. On the first of these occasions, Shri Babaji set Yukteswar on another of the themes which Babaji has pressed in recent times. Babaji said that East and West must establish a middle path of activity and spirituality. India had much to learn from the West in material development and India could teach the methods by which the West would be able to place its religious beliefs on the foundations of yogic science. Babaji said there were potential saints in America and Europe who were waiting to be enlivened.¹⁶

On a later occasion, Shri Babaji instructed Yukteswar to write a book showing the underlying unity between the Christian and Hindu scriptures. This work resulted in Yukteswar's "The Holy Science."¹⁷

Shri Yukteswar's outstanding and most beloved disciple was Paramahansa Yogananda. While Yogananda was a babe in arms, Babaji informed Yukteswar that He would send him a disciple to train for dissemination of yogic knowledge in the West. In 1920, when Yogananda was committed to going to the United States of America to start this work, but experienced concern about leaving his native land for the materialistic West, Shri Babaji, in answer to hours of Yogananda's prayers, knocked on his door and came to confirm to Yogananda that he was the disciple sent to Yukteswar for this task, and to give His blessings on the venture.

Scriptural References

There are indications of Shri Babaji's manifestations long be­fore the events described above. There are two books of religious prophesy - one ancient and one modern - which 'foretell' the appearance of Lord Shiva in a 'human' form during Lord Krishna's incarnation, at the end of the Dvapara Yuga and the beginning of the Kali Yuga, with the implication that this form will continue to assist man­kind through the Kali Yuga (the Iron Age; also translated as the Age of Strife, Conflict or Darkness).

The older book is the Shiva Purana, which was put into its present form in (perhaps) the fourth or fifth century A.D., but which contains written and oral material from a far more distant past. There is the following statement concerning one of the many incarnations of Lord Shiva to carry out His worldly activities.

"In the twenty-eighth aeon of Dvapara, there will be... born... Krishna... as the foremost of the sons of Vasudeva."

"Then I [Shiva] too shall be born with the body of a Brahmacarin and the soul of by means of Yogic Maya to the great surprise of the worlds."

"On seeing a dead body forsaken in the cremation ground I shall enter into it and make it free from ailments by means of Yogic Maya... Then I will enter the holy divine cavern of Meru along with you [Lord Brahma] and Visnu. O Brahma, I shall then be known as Lakulin."

"The physical incarnation thus and the holy Siddha centre will be greatly renowned as long as the earth lasts."¹⁸

It is an historical fact that there was a great religious figure in India named Lakulish (a form of the name Lakulin, which means "one who carries a staff"). Tradition states that he lived at the time of Lord Krishna.¹⁹ Lakulish settled in a place called Kayavarohan, in modern Gujarat state, which is said to have been established as a religious teaching center by Maharshi Vishwamitra in the still earlier era of Lord Ram. Lakulish is credited with formulating and propagating the Pashupatmat form of Shaivism and establishing twelve "Jyotirlingams" (special phallic forms symbolic of Lord Shiva's creative energy) around India. The administration of these jyotirlingams and the learning centers associated with them lasted for about a thou­sand years. The lingams and their temples still exist. Haidakhan Baba frequently walked with a heavy staff, and Mount Meru is another name for Mount Kailash, where Lord Shiva has performed thousands of years of tapas. When Babaji visited Kayavarohan in 1980, He was greeted and worshipped as Lakulish and Lord Shiva.

The present text of the Shiva Purana was compiled some time later than Lakulish's era and it is now impossible to determine whether the prophesy in the Shiva Purana was contained in the earlier written versions or oral traditions, or was written at a later time to exalt Lakulish's Pashupatmat sect. Whether Lakulish represents the first appearance of Shri Babaji in a human form or not, a tradition among Shri Babaji s followers is that He has been in and out of physical worldly activities in an identifiable 'human' form (but not limited to one form only) at least since the end of the Dvapara Yuga, the time of Lord Krishna.

The modern book referred to is "Shrisadashiv Charitamrit"²⁰, a divinely inspired book published by Shri Vishnu Dutt Shastri in 1959. The first chapter of this book relates the visions given to Shri Vishnu Dutt of a discussion among the ancient, fabled sage Narada and the gods, concerning the need to send someone to the earth to help and guide humankind. All concerned agreed that only Lord Samba Sadashiv (a subtle form of The Divine as Shiva, Who is believed to have interacted with the created universe since the beginning of Time) has the qualities needed for this task. Therefore, they went to Lord Samba Sadashiv and prayed that He go to the world and help it in its miseries. The Lord responded with this statement:

"I will very soon come to the world. In the Treta Yuga, I will come with Rama as a brahmachari and clean the world of non-knowledge. In the Dvapara Yuga, I will enter and give knowledge to all those who will open their hearts to me. Vishnu then will enter into me as a swan and the people of Kumaon will begin to call me Paramhansa [the Supreme Swan; the swan is a symbol of knowledge] and Brahmachari [a brahmachari is a dedicated, celibate student, a seeker of knowledge]."²¹

Vishnu Dutt Shastri understood this prophesy to have reference to Babaji. Babaji is believed by many to be a manifestation of the earliest forms of the Formless Divine (like "the Word" used in the gospel of John) and, in early and recent manifestations, is associated with the Kumaon Hills of Uttar Pradesh, where one of His many names is Brahmachari Baba.

"Shrisadashiv Charitamrit" also contains chapters relating to other earthly manifestations of Shri Babaji. Chapters V and VI deal with the period of Lord Ram. In a later chapter, Lord Shiva glorifies Ram to Lord Vishnu and concludes with the statement, "My heart is always filled with Ram's glory. As an incarnation of devotion, Ram is everything."

Another chapter deals with Lord Samba Sadashiv's appearance in Vrindaban in Lord Krishna's time. It describes Samba Sadashiv having darshan of the baby Krishna and the later worship of Shiva by Lord Krishna. Shri Babaji, in His recent incarnation, mentioned on a few occasions that He was one of the teachers of Jesus Christ during His years between the ages of twelve and thirty, on which the New Testament is silent. And, as stated above, Shri Babaji said that, some centuries later, He also had initiated Shri Shankara and the great religious poet Kabir into yogic practices. He told others that He lived in Tibet as the great Buddhist saint Milarepa in the eleventh and twelfth centuries AD.

A Dream Confirmed

There is evidence from two or three sources of an incarnation of Shri Babaji in Tibet about six hundred years ago. Swami Fakiranand, the man who administered Babaji's ashram at Haidakhan, wrote in the early 1970's of the following experience:

"In 1972, Babaji gave me a drawing of His previous physical manifestation of a long time ago. This drawing showed Him with four arms... a typical feature of divinity. In one hand, He is holding a coudi shell (a conch); in the second a trishul (trident); in the third, a kamandalu (water pot); and in the fourth a chakra (symbol of a spiritual center). [These are all traditional symbols of Lord Shiva.] Somehow, I always forgot to ask Babaji when and where this drawing was made.

"In October, 1972, during the time of Navratri, the Shri Jagadamba Yagna ceremony was performed at my native village of Dhanyan, District Almora, U.P. The ceremony was being held in the presence of [Babaji].

"On the fourth day of Navratri, on 11^th October, at about 3 a.m., I dreamt I was in Tibet and in the company of a group of lamas. The picture of Babaji with four arms I had with me, and in the dream I showed it to everyone present, asking them whether they knew when it was made and where it came from.

"Then I met... a lama by the name of Jaukshu Lama, and it was he who told me that he himself had drawn the picture about 600 years ago and that its place of origin is Tibet. At that time, Baba Haidakhan had assumed the divine body of a lama and was well known as Lama Baba, and Jaukshu Lama was one of His ardent devotees. Jaukshu Lama proceeded to tell me:

"I was a very devoted worshipper of Lord Shi­va and it was the great longing of my life to be blessed with the darshan of my adored deity. This was my constant request of my master. Little did I know then that my master Himself was Lord Shiva.

"It was in the middle of a severe winter and I kept on pestering my great master to wear a chola (a long shirt worn by sadhus), since it was bitterly cold; but my master would never wear anything except wrap His body with a sheet. However, one day He did give me permission to make a chola for Him.

"I was overjoyed and bought a piece of cloth for the purpose, but when I started to make it at night, I suddenly remembered that I had forgotten to take His measurements. So I went straightway to His hut.

"The door was covered with a straw mat, so I peeped through its chinks. What I now saw struck me dumb with amazement. Lord Shiva was sitting there in deep meditation. In one hand, He was holding a coudi shell, in the second a trishul, in the third a kamandalu, and in the fourth a chakra. I pinched my­self to see whether I was awake or asleep, for I could not make out whether what I saw was real or whether I was just imagining it. Then it occurred to me that my Lord might think I was spying on Him, so I ran back to where I was staying. Now I realized for certain that my master (Babaji) was Lord Shiva Himself.

"You may imagine my immense joy at the fulfillment of my life-long prayer. The fact was that I had been living with my Lord Shiva all those years without realizing it.

"The next day, I had a chola made for Him with four sleeves, and took it to my master. When He saw it, He was furious with me, saying, 'What is this? Do you take Me for a juggler? Or are you playing games with Me?' Then I told Him what I had seen the previous night - which, of course, He knew all along; it was just His lila [God's 'play'] - and He continued to speak, softly, to me: 'Since it was your life-long desire, I had to fulfill it, and so I showed you what you saw last night.'

"Jaukshu Lama finished his narrative by saying, 'This was when I made the drawing of what I had seen.'

"In the same year [1972]... when Babaji was at Haidakhan ...five or six lamas came there to have the darshan of Prabhu [the Lord]. Babaji conversed with them in their own language, telling them about His having been a lama in Tibet. This was the first time He had mentioned this to anyone. In reply, the lamas hailed Him with 'Lama Baba ki jai!' [Hail to Lama Baba.]

"This whole incident has also been confirmed by the present day, well-known saint, Gangotri Baba, also known as Swami Akhananda, who, on instruction of Bhagwan Haidakhan, has been living in the Himalayas... for the last fifty years. This covers the period of Bhagwan Haidakhan's disappearance [after] 1922.

"When Gangotri Baba came to Vrindaban in February 1973, I had a satsang [religious discussion] with him. During our conversation, he told me that Jaukshu Lama, he himself, and I had all been devotees of Bhagwan Haidakhan in Tibet during the time of His being Lama Baba, and that we all have been His disciples for many lifetimes."²²