Babaji, the Yogi-Christ of Modern India

Babaji, the yogi-Christ of modern India, the northern Himalayan crags near Bhadriniyaram, are still blessed by the living presence of Babaji, Guru Vlahiri Mahasaya. The secluded master has retained his physical form for centuries, perhaps for millenniums. The deathless Babaji is an avatar. This Sanskrit word means descent. Its roots are ava and tri . In the Hindu scriptures, avatara signifies the descent of divinity into flesh. Babaji's spiritual state is beyond human comprehension. Sri Yukteswar explained to me, the dwarfed vision of man cannot pierce to his transcendental star.

One attempts in vain even to picture the avatar's attainment it is inconceivable the upanishads have minutely classified every stage of spiritual advancement Sivamukta, freed while living, to that of a Paramukta, supremely free, full power over death. The latter has completely escaped from the mayic thralldom and its reincarnational round. The Paramukta therefore seldom returns to a physical body. If he does, he is an avatar, a divinely appointed medium of supernal blessings on the world. An avatar is unsubject to the universal economy. His pure body, visible as light image, is free from any debt to nature.

The casual gaze may see nothing extraordinary in an avatar's form, but it casts no shadow nor makes any footprint on the ground. These are outward symbolic proofs of an inward lack of darkness and material bondage. Such a god-man alone knows the truth behind the relativities of life and death omar khayyam so gross shall she look through this same garden after me in vain the moon of delight is god eternal polaris an been dissolved forever by the Persian seer through his self-realization. How oft hereafter rising shall she look, after me in vain?

What frustration of search, by a frantic universe, for an absolute omission! Christ expressed his freedom in another way. And a certain scribe came and said unto him, Master, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest and jesus saith unto him the foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests but the son of man hath not where to lay his head spacious with omnipresence could christ indeed be followed except in the overarching spirit krishna rama buddha and patanjali were among the ancient indian avatars a considerable poetic literature in tamil has grown up around augustia a southern indian avatar he worked many miracles during the centuries preceding and following the christian era form even to this day.

Babaji's mission in India has been to assist prophets in carrying out their special dispensations. He thus qualifies for the scriptural classification of Mahavatar, Great Avatar. He has stated that he gave yoga initiation to Shankara, ancient founder of the Swami order, and to Kabir, famous medieval saint. His chief 19th century disciple was, as we know, Lahiri Mahasaya, revivalist of the lost Kriya art. The Mahavatar is in constant communion with Christ. Together they send out vibrations of redemption and have planned the spiritual technique of salvation for this age.

The work of these fully illumined masters, one with the body and one without it, is to inspire the nations to forsake suicidal wars, race hatreds, religious sectarianism and the boomerang evils of materialism. Babaji is well aware of the trend of modern times, especially of the influence and complexities of Western civilization, and realizes the necessity of spreading the self-liberations of yoga equally in the West and in the East. That there is no historical reference to Babaji need not surprise us. The great guru has never openly appeared in any century.

The misinterpreting glare of publicity has no place in his millennial plans. Like the creator, the sole but silent power, Babaji works in a humble obscurity. Great prophets like Christ and Krishna come to earth for a specific and spectacular purpose. They depart as soon as it is accomplished. Other avatars like Babaji undertake work which is concerned more with the slow evolutionary progress of man during the centuries than with any one I give in these pages on Babaji merely a hint of his life, only a few facts which he deems it fit and helpful to be publicly imparted.

No limiting facts about Babaji's family or birthplace, near to the analyst's heart, have ever been discovered. His speech is generally in Hindi, but he converses easily in any language. He has adopted the simple name of Babaji, revered father. Other titles of respect given him by Lahiri Mahasaya's disciples are Mahamuni Babaji Maharaj, supremely ecstatic saint, Mahayogi , Trambak Baba, and Shiva Baba, titles of avatars of Shiva. Does it matter that we know not the patronymic of an earth-released master? Whenever anyone utters with reverence the name of Babaji, Lahiri Mahasaya said, that devotee attracts an instant spiritual blessing.

The deathless guru bears no marks of age on his body. He appears to be no more than a youth of twenty-five, fair-skinned, of medium build and height. Babaji's beautiful strong body radiates a perceptible glow. His eyes are dark, calm and tender. His long lustrous hair is copper-coloured. A very strange fact is that Babaji bears an extraordinarily exact resemblance to his disciple Lahiri Mahasaya. The similarity is so striking that in his later years Lahiri Mahasaya might have passed as the father of the youthful-looking Babaji. Swami Kabbalananda, my saintly Sanskrit tutor, spent some time with Babaji in the Himalayas.

The peerless master moves with his group from place to place in the mountains, Kabbalananda told me. His small band contains two highly advanced American disciples. After Babaji has been in one locality for some time, he says, Theradanda Utao, let us lift our camp and staff. He carries a symbolic danda, bamboo staff. His words are the signal for moving with his group instantaneously to another place he does not always employ this method of astral travel sometimes he goes on foot social courtesy to visiting disciples he occasionally accepts fruits or rice cooked in milk and clarified butter of babaji's life are known to me kabbala nanda went on his disciples were sitting one night around a huge fire which was blazing for a sacred vedic ceremony the master suddenly seized a burning log and lightly struck the bare shoulder of a chela who was close to the fire sir how cruel lahiri mahasaya who was present made this remonstrance would you rather have seen him burn to ashes before your eyes according to the decree of his past karma with these words babaji placed his healing hand disturbed by the arrival of a stranger he had climbed with astonishing skill to the nearly inaccessible ledge near the camp of the master sir you must be the great babaji the man's face was lit with inexpressible reverence among the forbidding crags.

I implore you to accept me as a disciple. When the great guru made no response, the man pointed to the rocky chasm at his feet. If you refuse me, I will jump from this mountain. Life has no further value if I cannot win your guidance to the divine. Jump then, Babaji said unemotionally. I cannot accept you in your present state of development. The man immediately hurled himself over the cliff babaji instructed the shocked disciples to fetch the stranger's body have courageously passed a difficult test death shall not touch you again vanished from the mountain.

An avatar lives in the omnipresent spirit. For him, there is no distance inverse to the square. Only one reason, therefore, can motivate Babaji in maintaining his physical form from century to century, the desire to furnish humanity with a concrete example of its own possibilities. Were man never vouchsafed a glimpse of divinity in the flesh, he would remain oppressed by the heavy mayic delusion that he cannot transcend his mortality. Jesus knew from the beginning the sequence of his life. He passed through each event not for himself, not from any karmic compassion, but solely for the upliftment of reflective human beings.

His four reporter disciples, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, recorded the ineffable drama for the benefit of later generations for babaji also there is no relativity of past present future from the beginning he has known all phases of his life yet accommodating himself to the limited understanding of men he has played many acts of his divine life in the presence of one or more witnesses. Thus it came about that a disciple of Lahiri Mahasaya was present when Babaji deemed the time to be ripe for him to proclaim the possibility of bodily immortality.

He uttered this promise before Ram Gopal Musumdar that it might finally become known for the inspiration of other seeking hearts the great ones speak their words and participate in the seemingly natural course of events solely for the good of man even as christ said father i knew that thou hearest me always but because of the people which stand by i said it that they may believe that thou hast sent me during my visit at rombashpur with ram gopal the sleepless saint he related the wond a group of his disciples, the master made a surprising request.

Ramgopal, he said, go at once to the Desazamed bathing gut. I soon reached the secluded spot. The night was bright with moonlight and the glittering stars. After I had sat in patient silence for a while, my attention was drawn to a huge stone slab near my feet. It rose gradually, revealing an underground cave. As the stone remained balanced in some unknown manner, the draped form of a young and surpassingly lovely woman was levitated from the cave high into the air. Surrounded by a soft halo, she slowly descended in front of me and stood motionless steeped in an inner state of ecstasy she finally stirred and spoke gently i am mataji the sister of babaji and condensed itself instantly into the human looked like lahiri mahasaya mataji and myself knelt at the guru's feet an ethereal sensation of beatific glory thrilled every fibre of my being as i touched his divine flesh my form and plunge into the infinite current.

I have already glimpsed your plan, beloved master. I wanted to discuss it with you tonight. Why should you leave your body? The glorious woman looked at him beseechingly. What is the difference if I were a visible or invisible wave on the ocean of any spirit? Mataji replied with a quaint flash of wit. Deathless guru, if it makes no difference, then please do not ever relinquish your form. Be it so, Babaji said solemnly, I will never leave my physical body. It will always remain visible to at least a small number of people on this earth.

The Lord has spoken His own wish through your lips. As I listened in awe to the conversation between these exalted beings, the great guru turned to me with a benign gesture. Fear not, Ram Gopal, he said. You are blessed to be a witness at the scene of this immortal promise. As the sweet melody of Babaji's voice faded away, his form and that of Lahiri Mahasaya slowly levitated and moved backward over the Ganges. An aureole of dazzling light templed their bodies as they vanished into the night sky.

Mataji's form floated to the cave and descended. The stone slab closed itself, as if working on an invisible leverage. Infinitely inspired, I winded my way back to Lahiri Mahasaya's place. As I bowed before him in the early dawn my guru smiled at me Understandingly I am happy for you Ram Gopal He said the desire of meeting Babaji and Mataji which were often expressed to me has found at last a sacred Fulfillment my fellow disciples informed me that lahiri mahasaya had not moved from his dais since early the preceding evening he gave a wonderful discourse on immortality after you had left for the dasasomed ghat one of the chelas told me for the first places in two or more bodies at the same time.

Lahiri Mahasaya later explained to me many metaphysical points concerning the hidden divine plan for this earth. Ram Gopal concluded, Babaji has been chosen by God to remain in his body for the duration of this particular world cycle. Ages shall come and go. Still, the deathless master, beholding the drama of the centuries, shall be present on this stage terrestrial.