babaji by dio urmilla neff

7/29/2019 BABAJI by Dio Urmilla Neff

1/16

BABAJI By Dio Urmilla Neff

(printed in the Yoga Journal, 1980)

BABAJI, I whispered intently, as though

daring Him to appear. I glanced around

the lobby of my parents condominium. Itwas 1966, and I was curled in a chair,glued to Paramahansa Yogananda'sclassic, Autobiography of a Yogi. I wasfascinated by the phenomena it somatter-of-factly presented. I'd just cometo a quote by the renowned masterLahiri Mahasaya: Whenever anyoneutters with reverence the name of

Babaji, that devotee attracts an instantspiritual blessing, I intoned again, trying

to feel reverent. Nothing seemed to have

happened in the lobby; I saw no lights,heard no ethereal voices. How silly, Ithought. What did I expect? I wouldhave been astounded to learn, however,that Babaji had heard me, and twelveyears later would tell me so! Babaji wasYogananda's guru's guru's guru, who

lived in the Himalayas and reportedlyteleported from peak to peak with his

small band of devotees.

Yogananda described him as the

originator of Kriya Yoga, a system ofmeditation techniques. Supposedlyhundreds of years old, Babaji was saidnot to be a human at all, but an avatar,a divine being, descended into the fleshto help humanity. Autobiography of a

Yogi described Babaji as stern andformidable: he supposedly thrust a

flaming brand into a devotee's shoulder,then healed the burn immediately with

his hand, explaining to his alarmedfollowers that the man would have

otherwise died by fire as his karmadictated. I read of another time where itwas said Babaji ordered an aspiringdisciple to jump off a cliff to prove his

devotion. The man jumped. Babajireportedly brought him back to life and

accepted him as his devotee.

Right now Babaji is living in His ashramin the remote village of Herakhan, by theGautam Ganga River in the Kumaon Hillsof Uttar Pradesh. [The Gautam Ganga is

a river holy to Shiva, flowing past one ofseveral mountains named Kailash, saidto be the original Mt. Kailash where the

very first fire ceremony was performed.]Please note that the Babaji spoken of inthis article no longer resides in Herakhanin the form described in this piece, butpassed out of that form on Valentine's

Day, 1984. Although He has been there

since 1970, relatively few Westernershave visited Him.

It is as though only those who happenedto discover His whereabouts could go,and the rest of us would assume He wasstill unapproachable, living on someuncharted Himalayan peak. My husbandand I first learned of Babaji's locationfrom a young woman in San Francisco

who'd spent eight months with Him. Wewere filled with a longing to see Him,

and with the conviction He was indeedthe Babaji of legend. Although we didn'tat first know how we could finance sucha trip, some family money that had beentied up in legal squabbles was suddenlyreleased to us. Three months later wewere in India.

Meeting Babaji

At Babaji's hilltop ashram in Herakhanwe found a delightful compound of white

and peach-colored buildings, bananagroves and flower gardens on terracedlevels overlooking the clear streams ofthe Gautam Ganga. The tiny octagonaltemple, with its narrow red, white andgreen dome, nestled among the banana

leaves; a faded red flag hung from itssteeple. All was clean, well-swept and

peaceful. On either side of the ashramwere terraced fields of corn and rice, drygreen-brown hills, several stonefarmhouses. To the right was the village

of Herakhan, with its tumbling streamand miniature bridge. Directly across thewide riverbed was a cave and thetowering Mt. Kailash, traditionally sacred

to the Hindu god Shiva. In the distance,more hills shouldered the river's white,

stony bed. A few villagers worked in thehot fields; others herded black-skinned

water buffalo along the narrow trails.

The afternoon we arrived, I was hurryingdown the ashram steps to retrieve my

bags when I almost bumped into a groupof Indians led by a tall, plump person ina violet silk shirt and dhoti. [A dhoti is a


2/16

traditional Indian garment for menconsisting of a length of fabric wrappedto form a kind of trousers.] The leaderhad a youthful, round golden face andblack, shoulder-length hair, combed back

and oiled, Indian style. I was

momentarily confused -- I couldn'tidentify the person as a man or woman;he or she seemed to combine the best ofboth. The face was so appealing . . . sosplendid. Oh! I cried, realizing who itwas.

Babaji asked me my name, then passedby and walked quickly into the garden,where his followers had gathered for

afternoon singing. I sat at the back ofthe garden, staring in wonder at the

figure in violet silk. He looked almost likean American Indian, with his high,domed forehead and deep-set, darkeyes. His nostrils flared slightly; His lipswere beautifully carved. His cheeks werefull and rosy and He glowed with health.There was something compelling,wonderful, about his face. He was the

most beautiful being I'd ever seen.Babaji sat on a low wall at the end of the

garden, receiving the devotees who linedup to greet Him.

Women in saris [traditional garment ofIndian women consisting of a length ofcloth wrapped over a petticoat and

jacket] knelt down and touched theirforeheads to his feet, then rose, andbeaming, said a few words to Him. Men

in dhotis and men in business suitsapproached Him, many laying fully

prostrate on the ground in pranam, theIndian gesture of respect to one's guru.The people who'd arrived that afternoon

brought Him presents, and Babajiunwrapped shirts and dhotis, watercolorsets and drawing paper, packages offruits and Indian delicacies. Somedevotees brought fragrant oils to

massage into his feet, or incense to burnnearby.

They obviously all adored Him. [It istraditional in India to bring gifts to theguru or saint or to the local deity in thetemple. These gifts, which can be

flowers, sweets or fruit, incense or sweetperfumed oils or other items, such as

clothing or jewelry, even money, are

often distributed by the guru to others,sometimes after a few days, sometimesimmediately. This is known as prasad,blessed by the guru. The food which isserved in the ashram, also referred to as

prasad, is blessed by offering it to the

guru or by a priest, who offers it to thelocal deity before it is distributed.]

The next day began the ashram routinethat would be daily life for the next tenweeks. We'd rise at four to take a quickbath in the crystal streams of theGautam Ganga below the ashram, andassemble in the tiny cement kirtan hall[Hindu temple; kirtan is a religious

service consisting of singing fordevotional prayers and songs.] Babaji

would arrive to receive us, and we wouldline up to greet Him or stand by Hisraised seat and talk with Him. Afterwardswe'd go to our rooms, sit with Babaji inthe garden, work in the kitchen or carrybuckets of water up from the river. [Atthis time there was no electricity andvery few modern ammenities in

Herakhan.]

At noon we'd assemble in the courtyard

for lunch and afterwards sleep in our

rooms. We'd take our second bath inmid-afternoon and then sit in the gardenfor afternoon singing and visiting withBabaji. Once it was dark we would againmeet in the kirtan hall and sing.Sometimes at night Babaji would haveone of us make a speech; sometimes

He'd clown and play with a devotee, orpull someone into his lap and hug and

rock them like a mother. And often Hewould simply sit, not speaking, and we'dsing continuously until it was time for

bed.

Herakhan Baba

According to His Indian devotees, Babaji

is available in a physical body for aperiod of time, then He vanishes and

appears to His followers only in visions.When He manifests physically again, Hehas a new body, they say, and adifferent appearance. They say He doesnot incarnate, but materializes; He is not

born -- but appears full-grown.Yogananda's description of Babaji in hisbook (Autobiography of a Yogi by


3/16

Paramhansa Yogananda, Self-RealizationFellowship, 1971, LA) apparently refersto a time in the mid-1800s. Anotherbook, by Baba Hari Dass, covers Babaji'slife between 1890 and 1920 in the

Kurmachala region of India, adjacent to

Nepal (Hariakhan Baba: Known,Unknown by Baba Hari Dass, Sri RamaFoundation, 1975, Davis, CA).

Babaji was most often called HerakhanBaba then, because of His longassociation with the village. Photographsshow Herakhan Baba to be tall, with arelatively light complexion, short darkhair, and noble features. It was said He

didn't sleep at all, had no hunger orthirst, and was unusually strong. He

emanated a sweet, musk-like scent.Herakhan Baba reportedly performedmiraculous acts in front of large groupsof people. He was said to heal the sick,raise the dead, appear in two places atonce, sit in sacred fires without a scorch.Eventually He had thousands of followersin various parts of the Kurmachala

region, and wherever He went, crowds ofpeople gathered to receive His blessing.

In 1922 (or 1920 by another source) Hewalked into the water at the confluence

of the Gori and Kali Rivers in front of agroup of devotees and was not seenagain.

One morning a few days after I arrived, Iwas returning to the ashram afterwashing my saris in the river. Babaji

called me over to Him as I approachedthe ashram steps. He was sitting with a

few people in a tree-shaded garden nearthe riverbed and reached out his goldenhand to help me up beside Him on the

low rock wall. He related the simplemessage He gives to all his devotees."Live a life of truth, simplicity and love",He said, "and mentally repeat themantra Om Namah Shivaya

continuously". Soon afterwards I talkedabout the mantra with a young

photographer from Gwalior, a long-timedevotee of Babaji.

The photographer told me of the timehe'd accompanied Babaji to the province

of Bihar, where Sri Yukteswar,Yogananda's guru, had taught Kriya

Yoga to thousands of people. Most of the

devotees they met still practiced Kriya,and they knew who Babaji was -- theoriginator of the technique. "Teach usmore Kriyas," they demanded, crowdingaround Babaji. They would hear of

nothing else. So Babaji directed the

people to sit in several rows, and toldthe photographer to go up to each oneand instruct them in the correct Kriyatechnique for this age. I asked him whathe'd done."I just whispered, Om NamahShivaya," He said.

The story of how Babaji appeared in hiscurrent form really begins in the 1920'swhen a five-year-old boy in Bihar had a

vision. A splendid glowing young manbriefly appeared before him and gave

him some prasad, blessed food. The boywas filled with devotion for the youth,and until he was a grown man hewandered on foot all over India, Nepaland Tibet, searching for his shiningvision. Finally he spotted a photographof the legendary Herakhan Baba on aKurmachala families altar and thus came

to know the guru he'd been seeking.

In 1949, in an ashram dedicated to

Herakhan Baba, the devotee locked

himself in a room and vowed he wouldn'teat or move from his yoga position untilhis beloved vision again appeared tohim. And Babaji did appear, so the storygoes, and rewarded the man's devotionby making him his harbinger. The newlychristened guru was called Mahendra

Baba. He established ashrams for Babajithroughout all of India and drew

together the remaining devotees ofHerakhan Baba in Kurmachala, revealingthat their beloved Herakhandi [holy

resident of Herakhan] and the historicalBabaji were one and the same -- andthat He would appear again.

As I became accustomed to ashram life,learning to find the riverbed bathroom in

four a.m. darkness and mastering the artof bathing fully clothed, I turned to what

seemed the major occupation of theashram -- watching Babaji. His activitiesseemed to consist, as far as I could tell,of a special pre-dawn fire ritual,

attending the morning and eveningsinging sessions, meeting with devotees

in His room, and periodically supervising


4/16

Vedic rituals. Sometimes He would singin the garden and have a leg massage,paint with watercolors or play chess witha group of Westerners. Other times Hewould vigorously direct devotees in a

project: planting a tree, clearing an

overgrown trail, or carrying riverbedrocks to a building site.

He would often appear at lunch-time,briskly moving among the sitting diners,asking a question here and there . . .how did they like the rice, were theycomfortable, etc. His energy seemedinexhaustible. One might well be puzzledby Babaji's rather simple daily routine.

He didn't appear to perform spectacularmiracles like Herakhan Baba or seem

forbidding and strict as in Yogananda'sdescription. How do we know He's theone? I'm no help at all on this issue, for Ifelt I knew Him to be the historic Babajithe moment I heard of Him. My husbandonce playfully asked Babaji if He was theman in a photo of Herakhan Baba. "Yes,"Babaji said, smiling, and autographed

the picture. Mahendra Baba hadpredicted Babaji would be called Bhole

Baba, Simple Father, because He wouldnot perform obvious miracles. And so He

doesn't -- at least, most of the time. Ilearned of the occasion when the ashramwas suddenly visited by a busload of onehundred devotees from the nearby townof Haldwani.

It was noontime, and the guests had

filled the courtyard, the steps, and eventhe paths in the garden, waiting in the

hot sun for lunch. The Indian cook wasvery concerned, for she had onlyprepared enough food for twenty people

and knew she couldn't possibly feedthem all. "Serve the food," Babajiordered, over her protest. So the servingstaff waded into the throng of sittingvillagers and began ladling rice and

vegetables onto their banana-leaf plates.

They ladled their way though the packed

courtyard, down the steps and into thegarden. They filled the plate of the lastguest and went back to the courtyard toserve seconds. The cook realized Babaji

had intervened somehow, but shecouldn't prove it. Babaji,

characteristically, pretended ignorance.

My friend from San Francisco told meanother loaves-and-fishes story from thetime she'd served as ashram cook. And Iheard many stories like these: Babaji bi-locating to heal a farmer's wife in a

distant village; Babaji speaking fluent

English or German when alone withcertain devotees; Babaji making himselfsuddenly lighter when an ardent devoteewould insist on carrying him across theriver.

The closest I got to witnessing "miracles"was when Babaji appeared to read mymind -- an act considered very ordinaryby ashram standards. I was told that I

could petition him mentally, and hewould sooner or later answer my

request. And I found, to my amazement,that I only had to request someunderstanding of a concept or someinsight into a problem, and the answerwould come a few days later in somesubtle way, by a flash of understandingor by someone else suddenly telling methe answer. This was often followed by

some small physical manifestation aswell.

I would know an answer or get a small

realization, and suddenly I'd get amango from Babaji. It seemed thatevery time I was on the right trackmentally, I got an instant confirmationfrom him: a quick look, a raised-palmblessing, a gift of prasad. The more Isaw of Babaji, the more wondrous he

seemed. When he'd walk into the kitchencompound the place would suddenly

come alive. The saried ladies would jumpup from cleaning the rice and greet him.The youthful cook would emerge from

his wooden hut, beaming, his bubblingvegetables temporarily forgotten. Thekitchen workers would crowd Babaji,their faces lit with the radiant "He'shere" look I came to know so well.

In June of 1970, so the story goes, aHerakhan farmer named Chandramani

dreamed he should cross the GautamGanga and enter a cave at the foot ofMt. Kailash. He did, and once inside,found a beautiful youth sitting in a lotus

pose [a yogic pose used in meditationwith both legs crossed]. The youth was

tall and slender, with dark, shoulder-


5/16

length hair and a fair complexion.Chandramani went home and returnedwith some milk for the young man.

The farmer continued to bring milk eachday and soon moved into the cave to

better serve the youth, to whom he'dbecome very devoted. Shortly thereafter

they climbed Mt. Kailash. On this holymountain the youth sat in a perfectly stillyogic posture for 45 days, neither eatingnor drinking nor ever opening his eyes.Later, he and Chandramani crossed theriver to the small octagonal temple builtby Herakhan Baba decades before. Theylived in a nearby hut, and one by one the

awestruck villagers came to pay theirrespects to this remarkable young man,

believing him to be their own HerakhanBaba,returned at last.

About a year after he appeared in thecave, the young guru began to travel tovarious villages and cities in NorthernIndia. In this way many more people

became aware of him, and soon therewas a steady stream of city people

hiking to the remote temple in theKumaon Hills. An Indian friend from

Bombay told me how she first met Babaji

in those early days, and how he revealedhimself to her. My friend is a ratherwesternized, no-nonsense sort of personwho had first read Autobiography of aYogi in 1959. She felt an intenseyearning to find Babaji, and so set outfor the Himalayas to find him. She didn't

find him then, and so tried again in 1965-- still without success. One evening in

1971, she was sitting with her father bytheir family altar which was covered withpictures of deities and saints.

A relative came to the door and insistedon bringing a young guru in to meet thefamily. My friend had given up on Babaji

and on gurus in general by then, anddidn't want to meet another one. But her

father, ever hospitable, agreed to seehim. The relative came in with a

strikingly beautiful youth who walkedstraight over to the altar and sat down.Looking intensely at my friend, and notspeaking, he pointed to a picture on the

altar that, most oddly, she had not seenthere a moment before -- the small line

drawing of Babaji from Autobiography of

a Yogi. Then he pointed to himself. Stillsilent, he pointed to the picture and tohimself twice more.

Moved to tears, my friend fell at his feet.She'd found Babaji at last. This woman

told me, as did other Indian devotees,what Babaji was like in the early years at

Herakhan. In 1971 and 1972, they said,he would sit for hours in a lotus posewith his eyes closed, apparently in adeep meditative state. Even when not inmeditation he hardly spoke, they said,and then only in monosyllables. His eyesseemed to radiate a light, and often hisgaze was so bright and penetrating

people couldn't look at him. Photographsof Babaji at this time show a slender,

beautifully-featured youth of abouttwenty, with dark, arresting eyes and amass of tangled hair. He looked in somephotos like a Sioux warrior, and in otherslike a madonna.

Theatrics

The first storm of the pre-monsoonseason broke, swelling the lazy riverbed

stream into a muddy torrent. The airbecame cool and soft, and everything --

the peach-colored buildings, the cementpathways, the profusion of bananaleaves -- was wet and glistening. Youcouldn't get much of an understanding ofBabaji from watching him, I thought. I'dsit in the back of the dripping kirtan hall,

trying to piece together what I knew ofthe legendary Babaji and this enigmatic

guru before me. He was different witheach person and, sometimes, differentfrom moment to moment. He'd bedelightfully childlike, an affectionate

playmate, then suddenly go blank, as ifhe'd just been called away and left hisbody behind. He'd be serious, then stern,then loving, then ridiculous.

With a beautiful Punjabi mother and herchildren he was consistently attentive,

hospitable, cuddly. With an elderlyvillage woman, he was always teasing,laughing and yelling the equivalent of"Boo!" in Hindi. To others he appearedindifferent or even angry. To many

devotees he was all of these in turn. Ididn't understand this kaleidoscopicbehavior. I began to seek out Babaji's


6/16

long-time devotees for an explanation."I've seen him operate for six years," aLondon-based writer told me onemorning in her cozy room, "and healways serves us and always from

infinite love and compassion for us,

regardless of what appears on thesurface." She was a tall, graceful, verypoised young woman who wasapparently a favorite of Babaji's.

He praised her often and kept her nearhim every day. She'd gone through allkinds of misery in the beginning, shesaid. After her first visit, she came downwith a strange, undiagnosed malady and

lay in bed with a fever for six months.She felt the illness -- and its miraculous

cure -- were all Babaji's doing. At a latervisit, he threw her out of the ashram,bags and all, in a furious monsoondownpour. On subsequent visits hewould alternately ignore her, treat herkindly, appear to forget her. I askedabout his current behavior. "Just theother side of the coin, I'm afraid," she

said, laughing. "I'm under tremendouspressure, she explained, "not to let my

ego get caught up in all this attention."

She believes Babaji first works on peoplepsychologically, purging them of theirvarious hang-ups, and then uplifts themspiritually in the traditional role of a guruto his devotees. She felt all the attentionwas just another test he was putting herthrough.

I spoke with a lovely middle-aged Delhiwoman one afternoon while we sat in thekirtan hall. The wife of an affluent Delhibusinessman, she had been with Babaji

since his early days. "Babaji is here toserve, and believe me, he does! He maypretend to ignore us, but behind it is anall-encompassing love." She told me that

over the years Babaji had put herthrough some trying times, but she

always gained some essential realizationfrom it, a deeper understanding of her

spiritual purpose. She becamepsychologically much stronger, she said,and was filled with gratitude to Babaji."I'll never forget what he told me once,"

she whispered. "He said, 'I only camehere to give. If you come to doubt, I'll

give you reason to doubt,' he once told

my San Francisco friend, who at first wasquite suspicious of him. 'If you comesuspicious, I'll give you every reason tobe suspicious. But if you come seekinglove, I'll show you more love than you've

every known.'"

Soon the monsoon season was upon us

in earnest. Almost every day it rainedfiercely for hours, transforming thesparse hillsides into lush, gleaming

jungle and our rooms into water-soakedcaves. We huddled by candles for light,our lines of limp clothing criss-crossingoverhead. The smell of damp cottonhung everywhere. "Don't be fooled by

the outward drama," my London friendtold me another time, as we sipped hot

tea in her room. "He is basicallyimpartial and unbiased. No matter whatone does, one cannot . . .influence him.He is," she searched for the word,"unbribable." "And remember, sheadded, "Babaji's messages are alwaysvery subtle. He communicates in . . .symbolic language. He gives hints,

clues."

I told her of an incident a few days

earlier when Babaji had helped me

wrench open the moisture-swollen doorsto my room. "I am your helper," he'dsaid in English. "That's it, exactly," shesaid. "He is helping you; he's openingdoors for you." And so I gatheredanecdotes and opinions from Babaji'sIndian and Western devotees. I heard

plenty of pet theories about hissometimes incomprehensible behavior.

He would puff up egotists, they said,praising them lavishly, making them his"favorites." When they were enormously

proud, he'd appear to demolish them, bythrowing them out of the ashram orstaging some particularly humiliatingexperience for them.

Insecure people Babaji would push even

lower, usually by ignoring them. Andwith indecisive people, he would answer

their pleas for advice different ways atdifferent times, confusing themhopelessly. An explanation offered forthis phenomena was that when

someone's psychological hang-ups (ortapes, sanskaras, ignorance, stresses or

karmas, as they're variously called)


7/16

come up in the presence of a spiritualmaster, they're dissolved by his purifyinginfluence. It seemed that Babajistimulated these to come up, so theycould be dissolved. I was told that the

egotists eventually lost their arrogance

but retained their confidence, the timidrealized the inner strength they had allalong, and the undecided learned tomake decisions.

This analysis is purely theoretical, ofcourse. No one knew what he was reallydoing. Many of us called thesetheoretical maneuverings "HerakhanTheater." My own experience with Babaji

was a case in point. One of the mainreasons I'd gone to see him was for help

in a tremendous fork-in-the-roaddecision -- I didn't know whether to staymarried or leave my husband. Babajibounced me back and forth like a ping-pong ball, from one side to the other ofmy dilemma.

On some days he told me to staymarried and on others to leave, plunging

me further into my sink of indecision andself-pity. He usually ignored me

outwardly, answer all my questions

inwardly, gave me numerous hints thathe was really helping me, honored mewith a request to write about him, andcouldn't seem to remember my name.When I returned to California, I, too, fellmysteriously ill, and just as mysteriouslyrecovered. And in the course of the next

six months, my life altered dramaticallyfor the better. I also found myself much

happier, and able, finally, to make myown decisions. Had Babaji donesomething to me? It is all speculation, of

course. "Of the thousands of people thatwill come to Herakhan," Babaji once toldanother American friend of mine, "only ahandful will ever know me."

His Message

As active as Babaji was, he rarely madea speech, or held forth in spiritualdiscourse. He simply instructed us to livelives of truth, simplicity and love andrepeat "Om Namah Shivaya." (Om

Namah Shivaya is pronounced "Om"[rhymes with "home"], Nah-mah-hah[the "a" in father], She-vai ["vaya

rhymes with "bye"]. (SwamiMuktananda, a renowned siddhi yogibeloved by many Americans, alsoteaches this mantra, pronouncing it "OmNamah Shivaya.") I knew something

about nam jap, the repetition of a

mantra, from my studies of the Vedantaphilosophy years before. It is believedthat Sanskrit terms are of the samevibration, though on a differentfrequency, of the objects they name. Sothe Sanskrit name for "light," forexample, is made of the same stuff,vibration-wise, as actual physical light,but on a different octave, so to speak.

It is further believed that if one repeatsthe name of God in Sanskrit, one will

then very precisely attract His attention,and thus evoke or create that divinitywithin one's own consciousness. EvokingGod's presence so immediately, it isbelieved, is one way to enlightenment. Ihad heard "Om" described in books asthe underlying sound of creation. To me,"Namaha" translated as "I bow down to

Thee" and "Shivaya" as the Hindu godShiva, or that aspect of God that

destroys our neuroses, our ignorance. Ialso learned that "Shiva" in Sanskrit

means, "one who gives happiness," andthus can refer to all gods or God ingeneral. The mantra invoked God nomatter what one's religion, I was told. Ittherefore meant to me, "Om, I surrenderto you, God, or Om, rid me of this

ignorance, God!"

Interview ...

Q: What is your message to Americans?

Babaji: The same as to all mankind. Tofollow the principles of truth, simplicityand love.

Q: Does "truth" mean more thanspeaking truthfully?

Babaji: Truth has many meanings.

(Babaji then called over his chief priest,Shastriji, to answer the question.Shastriji gave a long recitation in Hindi,

translated roughly as follows: "God hasplaced 'satya,' truth, above all. The

Vedas and other ancient scriptures


8/16

describe God as the embodiment ofeternal truth. And truth creates success,for one who speaks the truth and livesaccording to truthful principles issuccessful in whatever he does. This is

because truth evokes will-power. A

person in a struggle, for example, wholives and speaks the truth, willautomatically have the will-power to winthat struggle. Therefore truth, with itsattendant will-power and success, is thefirst principle of Babaji's formula.)

Q: Does "simplicity" mean living close tothe earth with few possessions?

Babaji: It means to be devoid of self-

possession and egotism.

Q: Does "love" mean to love otherpeople and to love God?

Babaji: To love other people is to loveGod.

Q: What does Om Namah Shivayamean?

Babaji: It has a very deep meaning.

(He again called Shastriji over, who said:"It is a 'mahamantra,' great mantra, ashortened and more powerful version ofthe mantra central to all four Vedas. It iscalled a beej mantra, a 'seed' mantra.The smaller and more concentrated an

object, the more powerful it is. A seedcontains within it all necessary power to

create a mighty forest tree, and so, bycomparison, it is much more powerful

than the tree. So it is with 'Om NamahaShivai' it is the beej, seed, of the longer

version, and thus is a very, very potentmantra." Shiva.

Although many of the Western devotees

saw Babaji as a grand psychologicalmaster many Indians saw him in a

different light altogether -- as an avatarof Shiva. Shiva is one of the three

aspects of God in the Hindu cosmology.Brahma, they say, is the creative aspect,Vishnu the stimulating or maintainingaspect, and Shiva the destructive aspect.The Hindus also believe these aspects ofGod can incarnate or materialize inhuman form as avatars. Incarnations of

Vishnu, it is said, are mortal -- theyeventually must die, but incarnations ofShiva are thought to be immortal.

The Indian devotees I talked to were

certain of Babaji's avatar status. First of

all, they said, Mahendra Baba had oftentold his awed followers that their belovedHerakhan Baba and Yogananda's Babajiwere none other than Shiva incarnate.And Hindu seekers had long predictedthat when Shiva next appeared in humanform he would have a scar on his lowerright leg, another on his upper left arm,and Shiva symbols and signs of the

zodiac on the soles of his feet. Sureenough, Babaji has the requisite scars,

and after years of reluctance, finally

allowed his feet to be inked andphotographed.

And there they were, scattered acrosshis heels and the balls of his feet: a tinybull, a cobra, the Shiva trident, an "Om"in Brahmic script, the sign of Leo, anAries ram. My friend from Bombay told

me how she and other women had oftenseen light radiating from Babaji's

forehead, and sometimes the light wouldform various Shiva-symbols: an open,

vertical eye; the "Om" in Brahmic script;Shiva's three-pronged trident.

The snake is a particularly significantShiva symbol. A retired Indian Air Forcecommander from Allahabad told me of a

time when Babaji took a group ofdevotees to the headwaters of the

Ganges. As the crowd gathered on thewater's edge, the commander saw a

mythic-sized cobra with three glisteningheads rise slowly out of the water. He

was speechless and tried to catchBabaji's attention. "Did I really seethat?", he later asked Babaji. "You did."

I was musing over these anecdotes whilecleaning the library one day when I

found a book about Satya Sai Baba, theSouth Indian master so famous for

materializing objects from the air. Thebook said that in 1963, before anaudience of thousands, Sai Baba healedhimself of a serious illness following aneight-day coma. He revealed that he wasan incarnation of both Shiva and hisconsort Shakti, saying he'd been fulfilling


9/16

an ancient prophecy that foretold thepair would reincarnate and undergo justsuch an eight-day illness.

That night I mentally asked Babaji toclear up the issue -- just who was this

Shiva anyway? The next day a youngEnglishman stopped by the ashram

library where I was cleaning the books.He told me the story of the time he anda group of devotees had gone to Delhi,where Babaji had been asked to performa purifying fire ceremony by the templeprophets of the Book of Bhrighu. Thisbook, he said, was one of the wonders ofIndia, a series of ancient book leaves in

a barely translatable tongue that wouldtell the names and needs of any visitor

who happened to come to the temple --even up to the present day. It seems theBook had presented a spontaneousreading one day, recommending that alittle-known saint from the village ofHerakhan be called to perform a Vedicfire ritual.

And when Babaji arrived, the Englishman

said, the prophets found his name in thebook and read the following: "Shiva has

returned to us, manifest in three forms:

Shiva alone, in that sadhu there," thepriests indicated a white-bearded holyman watching them from the corner."And Shiva and Shakti together in SatyaSai Baba, and as Nataraj, the dancingShiva of destruction, in the form of thisyoung guru, Herakhan Baba."

Dancing Shiva of Destruction Of all the

facets of himself that Babaji presents tous, the idea of the god of destruction ismost puzzling. Yet he does present

something of this aspect to his devotees,for what he consistently tells hisdevotees is that there will be very severeworldwide calamities -- natural disastersand war -- and that they will happen

very soon. He says, in fact, that "OmNamaha Shivaya (or the repetition of

any name of God) and the practice oftruth, simplicity and love is the veryantidote to these calamities, and that thepeople who do this practice, regardlessof their spiritual path of religion, will beprotected. Babaji's Indian devotees evengo so far as to say that, as Nataraj, themost terrifying aspect of Shiva, Babaji is

personally responsible for thisdestruction, and it is his task to destroythe ignorance of the world and bringabout a new spiritual age.

He is now gathering together his

devotees from past lives, they say, toteach them the new Kriya, repetition of"Om Namaha Shivai," and provide themwith the necessary spiritual armor towithstand the coming events. I knew ofthis prediction and this belief aboutBabaji before I left for Herakhan, andwas familiar with the fierce and warlikeNataraj Shiva portrayed in Indian art and

mythology. But nothing in Babaji"sround, golden face of mutable behavior

seemed anything like that apparition of

destruction.

The more I saw of his playfulness andunderlying compassion, the more Ispeculated about this strange predictionand the whole Shiva issue. I mentallyasked Babaji to resolve this puzzle, anda few nights later had a vivid dream

about it. I dreamed I saw a candle flameburning in a heart, and knew it

represented love and devotion. Thecandle grew into a hotter, brighter flame,

and I could see that it burned andpurified all that was not love. Any dark,low things that did not match the love-intensity of this flame were consumedand destroyed by it, but only, it seemed,to make way for the good and the whole

that would take its place.

I then felt I understood that the

"destructive" Shiva aspect of God wasactually an extremely intense vibrationof love that passed unharmed through

objects of a similar love nature but, also,destroyed immediately all that was of alow vibration -- greed, cruelty orselfishness, for instance. And it seemedthat Babaji's designation of 'Om Namah

Shivaya' as a protective mantra nowmade sense. If the Vedantic conception

about mantras was correct and repeatingthis mantra evoked the Shiva aspect ofGod in a person, then he would naturallyremain unharmed when the Shiva-energy passed through him, since thatvery energy would already be presentwithin.


10/16

I woke up, filled with the images of thisodd dream. Was it another "message"from Babaji, an answer to my question?Was it possible this destruction/new-spiritual-age notion was true? Was

Babaji really working to inform and

protect all those he could reach? Iremembered his words to my lovelyDelhi friend in her early days at theashram. "I have so much to do," he toldher quietly, "And so little time to do itin."

[The following are all excerpts of aninterview with Babaji from the summer

of 1978. They were published in theoriginal article along with the above

text.]

Q: I have heard that the Book of Bhrighupeople had a reading that Shiva hasmaterialized in three places now: Shivaand Shakti in Sai Baba, Shiva alone in asadhu, and the dancing Shiva ofdestruction in you. Is that true?

Babaji: You have heard what you have

heard. Believe what you know in yourheart.

Q: It seems such a contradiction that theaspect of God who has come to destroyradiates so much love and kindness. Isthis destruction basically a loving act tothe earth?

Babaji: Many people in this world are

very treacherous. It is in the bestinterest of the world to remove these

treacherous people.A certain amount ofdestruction is necessary. It is in the bestinterest of mankind and the world atlarge.

Q: Do you have devotees in Americafrom previous births that you want tofind?

Babaji: Yes.

Q: When someone feels a yearning to

see you, a yearning to be with you, doesthat mean possibly he or she is an olddevotee of yours?

Babaji: Yes.

Q: Do you want to bless them andprotect them and get to them before thedestruction comes?

Babaji: Yes. They will be protected.

[Speaking of the Mahamantra, 'OmNamah Shivaya']

"It is also symbolic," Shastriji continued."Both in its sound and in the way it'swritten. 'Om' contains the sounds andsymbols of the three aspects of God:Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva, and also theMother Goddess, and the Absolute

Principle which underlies all of existence.'Namah Shivaya' symbolizes the five

principles that make up all of creation:

air, earth, fire, water, and prana, or'breath.' 'Om Namah Shivaya' was thevery first sound spoken by God, and outof that first sound, or Word, all ofcreation unfolded."

Q: In Autobiography of a Yogi it says if

you say your name with reverence, youwill get a blessing from you, Babaji. Do

you hear this?

Babaji: Absolutely.

Q: Many of the Western devotees I'vetalked to have read that part and saidyour name, and then ended up here atyour ashram. Is that partly the reasonthey come here? Does saying your namelike that draw them to you?

Babaji: Absolutely. It is because of the

power.

Q: Do you have a special message forthe devotees of Yogananda or thepractitioners of Kriya Yoga in America?

Babaji: No message. All are doing Kriya.All who are here are doing Kriya.

Q: What is Kriya now?

Babaji: Ab nam jap. (Translated

roughly, this means, 'Mental repetition ofthe name of God' or '. . . of any name ofGod.')

Q: I have heard you've said everythingabout you in Autobiography of a Yogi is


11/16

true, except the part about your sister,that you have no sister. Is that a truething I heard?

Babaji: It is worthless. Only ten percent

is truth and ninety percent is falsehood. I

should write that?, I asked thetranslator. "You have to," he said. Babajinodded.

Reprint from Yoga Journal, 1980

This Radio Interview was discoveredonline in a simple website offered byPathways Radio, in 2000. My friend, Ron,sent it to me and said, Wow, doesnt

this sound like the emails? It sure did tome!!! The wording and phrasing are

pretty much identical.

I wrote to the folks at Pathways Radio,asking how and where and when theygot the interview with Babaji. Here istheir reply:

"Dear Ms. Devivo:

The Babaji interview took place at least 3or more years ago. At that time some of

the programs were transcribed. Anyway,we were at a health expo and this middle

aged man approached us and said thathe was a channel for Babaji and that hewould have Babaji come forth if wewould put a link to the Babaji website.We don't know who this person is andnever saw him again. We couldn't find

any babaji.net website but some monthsago someone said that this site did exist,

so true to our word, we put up the link.The tape has been taped over but Iremember someone mentioning that theman had a deep voice and the voice that

he channelled was high pitched and shysounding. Hope this helps.Pathways Radio"

Dr. Bob: Welcome to to the program.

We are waiting for Babaji to appear. Thismaster has been seen in different times

and places and in different bodies sincerecorded time. He was last found in acave in the Himalayan mountains in aneighteen year old body. He shared histeachings,guidance, and message until

1984 when he left that body.You canread about him in "Autobiography of aYogi", by Yogananda and in "I Am

Harmony" by Shyam, which delves intothe most recent appearance of Babaji inHaraikhan, India.

Babaji: Hello Bob. Om Namah Shivai.

Dr. Bob: Is that you Babaji?

Babaji: Yes. I have come forth to give amessage about the great changes andhow to live in the higher path and comethrough these changes by living inTruth,Simplicity and Love and by servingothers and connecting to God.

Dr. Bob: What was that expression youused?

Babaji: It is the mantra that I havecome to share with all who are open toreceive it. It can calm a disturbed mindand heal a sick body. It can enable youto connect with your higher self and God.

Dr. Bob: What does it mean or translateto?

Babaji: It simply means "I bow to the

divine within", or for a western mind,

"Thy will be done".

Dr. Bob: And how do you use thismantra.?

Babaji: Repeat the mantra on a dailybasis when at work or during

meditation.Japa is repeating the mantrawhile passing a mala bead or what you

call a rosary bead through your fingerseach time you say the mantra.There are108 beads in a mala. But you don't haveto do this.You can simply repeat itsilently.

Dr. Bob: For those reading thetranscript how do you pronounce it?

Babaji: It is pronounced like this"

Ooommm Na-ma She-veye"

Dr. Bob: What are these great changesyou are speaking of?

Babaji: The great changes or Great

Revolution has started.It will be bothwondrous and destructive. Most of


12/16

mankind will be destroyed as Naturebalances out the great injustices thatmankind has caused against theenvironment and each other. There are afew out there who will be open to this

message and will repeat the mantra, live

in Truth, Simplicity and Love and serveothers. They will live on the higherpath,attach themselves to God. They willbe brave and always walk on. There willbe many mountains to cross,but they willnot stop until the goal is reached. Theywill be strong, and will never feeldisheartened.These will survive theGreat Revolution.

Dr. Bob: What does your message have

to do with change?

Babaji: Change is nothing new. It is aLaw of nature. What is born must dieand what dies must be born. The humanbeing is enslaved to his lower path. Thehigher self must be developed, so thatthe lower self is destroyed and the heart

is transformed.

Dr. Bob: The first part of your messageis living in Truth. What do you mean by

that?

Babaji: Man is enslaved by his lowerself. This causes him to desirethings,power and acquire as much aspossible. In order to do this man mustlie, con and scheme. In your culturethings are rarely sold truthfully.

Dr. Bob: Yes,I know what you mean.

The other day I went shopping for acomputer from an ad which listed thesystem and the price.When I got to thestore I found out that it would cost 300more dollars to get the proper operatingsystem installed and the right parts tocomplete the system. When I went tolease a compact car for 259 dollars I

found out about the true cost whichincluded acquisition fees,delivery

fees.prep fees,excess mileagefees,excess wear and tear fees, taxes,

title,license,extra insurance,maintenancefees,loan fees, etc. which brought thetrue cost up to 500 dollars a month notincluding gas! There are always these

extra costs that are nevermentioned.Same thing with a

house.When you add everything up youpay about three times the actualprice.But your brain is saying "yeah, itsonly 110 thousand" or "wow, this car isonly 259 dollars a month".

Babaji: Yes, business is filled with halftruth, cons and downright lies.All part ofman's lower nature and his desire toacquire things.

Dr. Bob: I guess the idea of lowballingthe price is to get you in for the bait andswitch or selling you something youdon't really need so the profit is higher. I

guess which is why people hate going tothe dealer to buy a car.

Babaji: And living in Truth is not limitedto business.It really involves ourrelationships.How many times have youtold a lie to a loved one?

Dr. Bob: In the past, guilty as charged.But on the higher path I find that there

is no need for that.

Babaji: If we lived in truth mostproblems of this world would disappear.

Dr. Bob: So the first part of yourmessage is to be truthful. Truthful aboutyour service, business, and about yourrelationships.

Babaji: It is important that the wordscoming out of your mouth are

truthful.That you should not engage inidle chatter or gossip.IT is better to be

silent than to utter lies that will surelycome back and haunt you. As it iswritten in your western religion, "Thetruth shall set you free."

And also there is truth in ourrelationships when we are on the higherpath.We are honest with our loved ones.

We don't treat people like expendablethrow away things. We don't acquire

people like we acquire things. If you livein truth then much of the problems of

this world would cease to exist. Wewould not go to war in the name of oneGod against another God when we reallywant to acquire the things of the enemy.

And this leads to the second part of mymessage...Simplicity


13/16

Dr. Bob: Simplicity?

Babaji: YES. Our desire for things acreated a great imbalance and toll on

this world's environment. This acquisition

has led to the few owning and controlingmost of the wealth. And as thisimbalance becomes more distorted, theodds of a great war and the destructivebacklash of the evironment causinghorrible diseases becomes more likely.But if we were on the high path, wewould live in simplicity. How manyhomes does one need to live in. ow

many clothes do we need to dress with.Things,things and more things. Soon

they own us.We worry about these

things.We steal them.Go to waroverthem.Spend our time guarding andmaintaining them.We become bored withthings,discard them,get new things andrepeat the cycle over and over. But weare still lonely, unfulfilled, agitated.

Dr. Bob: So on the higher path onewould desire few things and live simply

yet still be comfortable.

Babaji: Yes. The Buddha once said that

if you cannot in a moments notice leaveyour home and all your things you couldnever be enlightened.

Dr. Bob: That's because we becomeattached to all of our stuff so we can'tfree the mind to explore the higher

pathways.

Babaji: Exactly.On the high path onebecomes attached to nothing, but thereis a connection, a spiritual connection tothe higher self, that part of you, the realyou, the one who observes the Universe,the one connected to the Creator.Now,this doesn't mean that you should giveup your things.It means that things are

things.And on the higher path, one is notattached to things, but merely observes.

Dr. Bob: Observes?

Babaji: Yes, the true higher self is anobserver who watches without

judgement, without thought.

Dr. Bob: Without judgement or thought

we can't be attached to things orconditioned by them.

Babaji: Yes. Just observation withoutdesire. And without desire one can live in

simplicity.

Dr. Bob: So if mankind lived insimplicity the environment would stay inbalance, there would be enough foodand things for everyone.And there wouldbe no cause for war, hunger, or poverty.But this sounds like a fantasy.Civilizationhas been around for 15-20 thousandyears and nothing has changed.Its only

getting worse.

Babaji: Yes, but your world is coming

into a period of great destructivechange.And if simplicity is not adapted,then nature will do it the hard way bydestroying much of humanity.

Dr. Bob: And how will that happen?

Babaji: There will be great changesupon your world.Much of humanity will

be destroyed by disease unleashed fromthe hidden recesses of the land.Others

will face the great fire from within.

Dr. Bob: What kind of diseases?

Babaji: Microbes, such as viruses thatnormally live in isolated areas will beunleashed as the environment becomesused up.

Dr. Bob: What about economic activity?

Babaji: This too is in a severe state ofimbalance.The few who have most of thewealth are now enslaving the poor morethan at any other time in history.

Dr. Bob: What do you mean.There is noslavery.

Babaji: When a large corporation pays a

worker 10 cents an hour housing them ina barbed wired compund that you would

never live in and sells their finishedproduct for many many times its cost toyou and then the few owners of thecorporation keep the excess profit while

the worker is underpaid and youoverpay. This is enslavement that comes


14/16

from greed.

Dr. Bob: How will this effect us?

Babaji: This form of greed will lead to

war. The masses will rise up with sticks

and stones and will overpower thelargest armies.And the consumers, whenthey find out of this will support thedowntrodden... but let us get to the lastpart of my message

Dr. Bob: And that is...

Babaji: Love. Truth,Simplicity,and Love.

And Love on the higher path isunconditional. It is like the higher self

who observes without thought,without

desire,without judgement.And love ofthe Creator. Repeat Om Namah Shivayand you will connect to your higher selfwhich is God.

Dr. Bob: So Babaji, the higher pathwayconsists of living in Truth,Simplicity,and

Love.Is that correct?

Babaji: It is how we are to live in thisbody on this world. There is also

meditation which is the chanting of the

mantra Om Nama Shivay.

Dr. Bob: Once more for those who arereading the transcript how is the mantrapronounced?

Babaji: Like this: Ommmm Nahh-ma

She-veye

Dr. Bob: Ok.Now Babaji. How long haveyou been around?

Babaji: I am here from the beginning oftime.

Dr. Bob: And where are you?

Babaji: I will at times create a body toreside in. At other times I will be here to

guide you.Just say my name and I willhear you.

Dr. Bob: Are you in a body now?

Babaji: No, but this is not important.

What is important is my message ofTruth,Simplicity, and Love and that I am

here if you need me.Strive to live on thehigher path. Make it your purpose toserve others. That is why you are hereon this world. That is the purpose ofbeing in a body....to serve.It is not to

make money,acquire

things,power,knowledge....it is to serve.No matter what your capacity, no matterwhat the task or resource.... you'repurpose here, to be a human being, is tobe in service, and your path of living is intruth,simplicity and love.

Dr. Bob: What about the great darkchanges that you speak of. Can we stop

them, head them off, and savehumanity?

Babaji: These changes, or what I callthe Great Revolution are already set intomotion. They ARE coming and are at theearly stages of process. You are noticingthe changes in climate, more extremeconditions in temperature,larger morepowerful storms,more occurrences of

volcanic and earthquake activity andmore extremes in the economies. You

notice the changes in the perception oftime. Everything appears to be speeding

up.

You see your relationships changingrapidly. You are agitated. You move andchange jobs often. You need more andmore, faster and faster multiple sensoryinput. Now these changes are here andwill rapidly increase and there will be

much destruction. This cannot bechanged through technology. It is a bit

too late. But there are some who willhave an open mind. And to those whofollow my message, you will survive thisand you will go on to serve and createthe wonderful changes that I also speakof.

Dr. Bob: And what can be wonderful

after all of this destructive change youare predicting?

Babaji: After the Great Revolution, this

world will enter a golden age. Theenvironment will be in balance andmankind will have changed its ways byliving on the higher path. There will be

tremendous technology. It will take youto the stars in this galaxy and beyond to


15/16

other galaxies. You will become a greatrace creating life throughout theuniverse.And you will meet up withsentient beings from other dimensions ofspace-time when your science breaks

through the quantum backdrop, the

ground of being from which everythingcomes, the HOLOFIELD.

Dr. Bob: Wow. And where does this alllead.

Babaji: You are the eyes and ears of theUniverse.You are the observers ofcreation and its myriad things. And

eventually...this leads you back to yourreal self...the Creator...when you will

start another universe....over and over

in the dance of thecreator.....Remember,by just calling myname I will hear you.If you are open Iwill guide you...repeat my mantra...livein truth, simplicity and love...andremember your purpose in this body onthis world is to serve...(silence)

Dr. Bob: Babaji. Are you still

here? ..........I guess not.Well thiscertainly has been interesting and I hope

that you will appear again sometime

soon. Well, until next time my friends,please join us for another edition ofPathways, where we will explore thefrontiers of mind, body and spirit. Untilthen...be well.

END OF INTERVIEW

Thoughts from Marge DeVivo:

I was so blown away by this interviewthat I have to say I walked around in adaze for a few days (again!) andcontemplated what this could mean. Ialso sent this to Babaji:

"Babaji,

This sure sounds like you. What is thedeal?

ONSLove,

Marge"

HE REPLIED:

"Blessings:

It does sound like me.Babaji"

I was sending this to Ron, who found

this whole thing, and I hit the wrong

button and sent it to the list! That iswhen I started to think "Man, this is aleela and a half! Babaji wants everyoneto read this..."but to be sure I didn'tneed to retract something, I wrote toBabaji, asking if I had messed upsomething, AND what do about it!!

HE REPLIED:

"Blessings:

Wonder but worry not.

Babaji"

Believe me, I was WONDERING!!!

Then I continued to ask more directly ifit was really Babaji behind this interview,or what was going on here. He didn't

answer for awhile, but I think I askedabout it 2 or 3 more times. What did I

have to lose by being persistent aboutthis? I sent this at the end of another

email to Babaji:

"... p.s. I don't care if it was "you" or notyou at the radio interview. It sure is thesame set of information, as far as I cantell. Many are saying that these emailsare from an American devotee, and if so,I would like to meet this devotee andshake his hand and congratulate him on

his internalization of the teachings, hiswisdom, his clarity, his unconditional

love and compassion. It is a blessing."

HE REPLIED:

"Blessings:I was in that body.I knew the name ofmy website years BEFORE YOU decidedupon the name.Understand? I speak to

many Hearts in many ways. You willlearn of this. Many will say this and

many will say that about Babaji. Howcan they know anything about no body?

How can they know anything about nothing?

If the mind tries to put Babaji in one

place,in one body,in one culture,in onetime,in one form... how can that mind


16/16

understand how to use the Teachings forspiritual growth? Shall we live in thedead past or shall we move forwardthrough the eternal now. Babaji"

Now, what could I possibly add to

that?

OM Namah Shivaya

babaji by dio urmilla neff

Documents