MAHAVATAR BABAJI MAHARAJ
NAMASTE
My life, for the most part, has not been mundane. I have had experiences with the paranormal for as far back as I can remember. Even to this day, I get intermittent "reminders" from the "other side" just to let me know that I should neither forget nor neglect the other part of me. So, I embarked on a personal quest to try and find a way to reconnect with my other self.
About 10 years ago, I watched this TV program about an author of a book on Hindu mysticism. Interested in knowing what he had to say, I went to a book store and ordered a copy of his book. His book referenced the tome, AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A YOGI, by Paramahansa Yogananda. Having heard of this literary marvel before, I decided to other a copy of it, too, about five years after I had read the first book. As I read through Yogananda's book, I got the impression that the yoga that he espoused, Kriya Yoga, held the key to unlocking the mysterious reason for the supernatural experiences of my life.
There are many different kinds of yoga. If one decided to master every single kind of yoga, it would take that person the whole of Eternity to do so, according to one author. But of all the yogas known and unknown to Man, only one stands supreme: Kriya Yoga, given to mankind by Lord Shiva, Himself. It is claimed that through mastery of this Yoga, any one can attain complete spiritual evolution in one lifetime what normally would take many reincarnations to achieve. The man who became a true master of this particular yoga is commonly known as Babaji, the Immortal or Deathless Guru. Babaji consigned his being to a physical body in order to guide generations of Truth-seekers on the path of spiritual liberation and God-union. He is supposedly thousands of years old. At one time, his most adept disciple was Sri Lahiri Mahasaya, one of whose disciples was Sri Yukteswar, the guru of Paramahansa Yogananda. And it was Yogananda, himself, who introduced Babaji to the West. And Yogananda's brother-disciple was the guru of my yogi's guru.
Although Yoga is associated with Hinduism, it is not a religion! Kriya Yoga is a science of self-realization. Anyone who does Kriya Yoga with discipline and dedication can expect to have the same results, just as past generations have proven so. And the science of Kriya Yoga has always stood the test/scrutiny of Time. Although Kriya Yoga is easy enough to learn--it can be learned in one day--it takes a whole lifetime of dedicated practice to truly master it!
And while we are on the subject of Hinduism, it is interesting to note how much it shares striking similarities with Christianity. To wit:
Brahma = God, the Father
Vishnu = God, the Son
Shiva = God, the Holy Spirit
We live in a physical universe which is the dream-state of Brahma. When Brahma wakes up, the physical universe will end. God, the Father, went to rest on the Seventh Day. When God, the Father, returns, it will be to pass the Final Judgment. Vishnu is the Preserver God. Those who accept God, the Son, will not die the Eternal Death. Shiva is the Destroyer God. Anyone who commits "the one unpardonable sin of blasphemy" against God, the Holy Spirit, will suffer Death and Eternal Damnation. Hindus have their divine archetypes, Christians have their saints. And, interestingly enough, devout Hindus worship Jesus Christ, too, as one of their Avatars--specifically, as the incarnation of Vishnu. Kriya Yoga is concerned with the spiritual aspect of Hinduism, not its religious aspect: Spirituality and Religion are not one and the same; they are as different from each other as night is from day. Hinduism is at least 10,000 years old--probably much older than that. It is older than Judaism, Christianity and Islam, combined! And because of its advanced age, it can be readily quoted as THE authority on spiritual matters. Interestingly enough, the "unpronounceable name of God" ( YHWH ), as mentioned in the Bible is composed of the consonant letters that form the actual Name of the Hindus' Triune God, spelled backwards! Are these all coincidences or not? You be the judge.
With a resolute mind, I decided that I should be initiated into Yogananda's Yoga society, Self-Realization Fellowship ( SRF, for short ) in the Los Angeles, California area. I sent-in my application for initiation, confident that I would be accepted without hesitation because of my life-long paranormal experiences and because of the Vibhutis ( paranormal powers ) that I acquired along the way. But my hope was immediately dashed to pieces when my application form was sent back REJECTED! And to add insult to injury, I soon learned from perusing a book at K-Mart in Fairfield, California, that Elvis Presley, himself, with his "Hollywood lifestyle" of sex, drugs, rock 'n roll, gluttony and alcohol--became a Kriyaban initiate through the auspices of SRF, itself! ( Elvis even went so far as to suggest that he should be made president of SRF--such gall! )
Dejected, I soon cast away any thought of becoming a Kriyaban as I concentrated on my Chakra ( Energy center of the body; the seven major ones are on the Central Nervous System) sound meditations, instead. As a result, I acquired yet another Vibhuti: Altered Breaths. When people think of breathing, they think of only two: Inhale and Exhale. But my Chakra meditations awakened something in me which enabled me to experience a sum total of 14 different kinds of breaths, on top of the two previously-mentioned breaths!
But I know that Vibhutis are just "side-shows" along the way on the road to spiritual enlightenment. Vibhutis, in an unenlightened person, is a trap that shackles one in the tight grip of his/her own Ego's Vanity and sense of Self-Worth. In short, paranormal powers have nothing to do with spirituality. I must de-emphasize my Vibhutis in order to cultivate my own spirituality; otherwise, I will have no control over them.
By sheer chance last year, I came across the website of a yogi who teaches Kriya Yoga here in the Bay Area, approximately 49 miles from where I live. But it was already too late in the year to request a 1st Stage initiation. So, I patiently/impatiently waited until March of this year to e-mail the yogi, requesting 1st Stage initiation into Kriya Yoga. I sent-in my application with curtailed enthusiasm this time around, not expecting anything positive from it; after all, I was already rejected once before, as mentioned above, and was "just waiting for the other shoe to drop"!
But I was accepted! Finally, after five more years! What a wonderful surprise it was! My initiation was set for the weekend of the 24th and 25th of April, 2010. I counted down the days with 'bated breath! Soon, it was time ....
MY 1ST-STAGE INITIATION
Saturday, April 24th: I woke up early at around 6:00 a.m. since the initiation was to commence at 10:00 a.m. sharp. I had been informed via e-mail that I am to bring some fruits and flowers for the Homa ( sacrificial altar ). The night before, I bought some fruits at the Benicia Safeway: 5 Opal apples ( really delicious new variety ), 5 Cara Cara oranges ( better than Navel or Valencia oranges ) and a pack of sweet Dole strawberries. ( Yogananda mentioned strawberries twice in his book. ) These are symbolic offerings, by the way: I waited five years after I bought the book on Hindu mysticism before I requested initiation into Kriya Yoga. And I waited another five years before I was able to apply once again. The three kinds of fruits mean, "Yes." As in, I was finally accepted as an initiate. ( In occult and supernatural circles, 2 means "No" while 3 means "Yes". ) And I am now entering a new, better and sweet phase of my life through Kriya Yoga. But I still needed to buy some flowers. So, before hitting the road, I swung by the Admiral Callahan Way Safeway store here in Vallejo, CA, to buy a bouquet of flowers. I chose to buy the "California Dreaming" bouquet, again, for its symbolic meaning: I live in Brahma's dream-state here in California. Then, it was off to Union City, I went.
Upon exiting on Alvarado-Niles Road, the Cine-Man in me noticed the Century Cinemas sign right away. I have to check this place out on my way home tonight, I said to myself. I got to my destination 30 minutes early! ( And this is coming from a guy who's always two minutes late for work. )
His son opened the door for me, and I sat on the couch in the living room/initiation room hoping and waiting for others to come and join me. Just before 10:00 a.m., two other parties arrived for the initiation ceremony. We were six in all, in my group. There I was with my grocery bags of fruits while the rest came with token offerings of fruit in ziplock bags! And I had a big bouquet of flowers while they, again, had theirs in ziplock bags! Did I miss something ...? Presently, the yogi came in and told everyone to leave their shoes outside on the doorsteps. Ahh! I was the only one who had shoes on IN the initiation area. Opps! my bad .... And everyone, as soon as they came into the initiation area, bowed before the Homa altar which had a portrait of Babaji and Satguru Yogiraj Gurunath Siddhanath right above it. So, I bowed down, after everyone else had done so, before the altar--better late than never. For some strange reason, they had me closest to the sacrificial altar which was just approximately a yardstick away from me. Hmm, I wonder why they had me so close to the altar.
Then, it was get-to-know-each-other time. I found myself in a room full of doctors, engineers and PhDs, and all of them were from India. But there were no lawyers in sight, I guess that was a good sign. Yeah, I'm a PhD, too ( Put High and Dry like a "sore thumb" for everyone else to take notice of li'l old me. L o l! )
After the yogi, himself, bowed and prostrated before the altar, we did our initiation chant. Repeatedly, I might add, as we held our sacrificial offerings in our hands in a modified Namaste ( palms together gesture of reverence ). And my offerings were getting heavier by the second! Finally, the yogi motioned for me to be the first to offer-up my fruits and flowers--I'll have ziplock bags handy next time around!
After the offerings, the yogi had us all sit down on the floor as he talked about Kriya Yoga. And I couldn't help but notice how he was seated in the Full Lotus pose all this time whereas I couldn't even properly cross my legs, and my knees and ankles were crying out for mercy after just a few minutes! Ouch ....
At around 1:15 p.m., the yogi excused us all for lunch and told us to be back in an hour. Before we left, I asked if there were any kind of diet restrictions for yogis. He told me to eat whatever my body wants me to eat. But to be mindful of portion size ( he must have sensed my alter ego: Pig-Out Man ). He also said that fish and chicken are best since they're not highly evolved creatures and don't carry enough Karma in them. He told us all that we suffer enough through our own Karmas and don't need to absorb more Karma from animals. No wonder Jesus Christ recruited mostly poor fishermen as His own Apostles since fish was pretty much all they could afford to eat on a daily basis and why he fed them and the crowds with fish, I thought to myself. Anyway, we had to leave for lunch since the yogi had private correspondence to attend to. What ...? No fruit salad? I thought we were gonna feast on fruits for lunch. But I was wrong.
Anyway, I decided that I should swing by the shopping center to check-out the local Century Cinemas. But instead of turning left at the intersection, I made a mistake and took a right turn, instead. I might as well explore the immediate neighborhood, I thought. When I came to the intersection of Smith Street and Union City Boulevard, I turned left, then I did a U-turn at the next light and chanced upon U. C. Deli. I decided to have lunch here and picked Lemon Grass Chicken on Rice and a bottle of VitaminWater Energy drink ( 'Noticed the symbolisms here, too?). I still had over half an hour left on my lunch. So I made a bee-line for the shopping center. The theatre was Century 25 Cinemas--I have always wanted to come check out this place! And there I was. I parked my car and went inside to see the movie listings. THE LOSERS and THE BACK-UP PLAN were the ones that I haven't seen yet. And there was no way in Hell--or Heaven, for that matter--that I was gonna see a J-Lo "chick flick" on the weekend of my yoga initiation! No way, Jose. So I noted down the show schedule for THE LOSERS so I could be there on time after my day's session was over.
After lunch ( and I was the first one back from lunch ), the yogi talked about the Third Eye. And I mentioned that on January 3rd of last year, early in the morning, my Third Eye finally opened--but just once--as I recited the Zhunti ( a.k.a. Million ) Mantra after having finished my Chakra sound meditation. Supposedly, the Zhunti ( pronounced: June-tea ) Mantra is the fastest route to enlightenment. If you recite it for at least a million times, you'll become enlightened, according to Taoist tradition. And my Third Eye opened after I recited the mantra for a sum total of approximately 190,000 times ( after over six months of daily recitations ). Everybody was all ears because I was the only student-initiate there whose Third Eye was already opened. I told the yogi that I want to learn Kriya Yoga so I can open my Third Eye readily. And he said that I will learn the techniques for doing so.
We did some Kriya Yoga techniques.
And after all our lunch was properly digested, we did some stretching exercises. One of which was the "Leaning Tree." As I leaned to my left, I almost lost my balance. Had I lost my balance, I would have fallen, head-first, into the sacrificial fire! Maybe the old man on my right side slightly nudged me since he didn't bring any sacrificial offering, 'though his wife did. I would have been the first human sacrifice offered-up at a Kriya Yoga altar. Usually, a yogi is cremated AFTER he has entered into MAHA SAMADHI ( Supreme enlightenment and God-union ) but not while he is still a "know-nothing" initiate! I felt like the recurrent "New Guy" characters in those old STAR TREK television episodes who always managed to get themselves killed-off before the show was over, you know ... the expendable type. No wonder they kept me close to the Homa!
Finally, it was time to leave for the day. And I had plenty of time to catch the 6:50 p.m. showing of THE LOSERS. After the movie, I walked around the shopping center for a bit before I decided to have dinner at La Salsa Restaurant. I ordered Carnitas California Burrito ( the symbolism here is that among Jews, Christians and Muslims, only Christians eat Pork! ).
On my way back to my car, which I parked in the Tony Roma Restaurant parking lot, a well-dressed short lady begged me for money for her hungry daughter. I was gonna blow her off, but I had just gotten out of a yoga initiation and the lady looked to be from India. And I asked myself, Could this be just a divine Lila ( A divine being role-playing with a human to see if said human is worthy of a blessing ). I decided to give her money, but instead of just giving her a dollar bill, I decided to give her a five-spot, just in case.
When I got home and put myself in bed for the evening, the initiation chant kept repeating itself over and over in my head. And it kept doing so until I fell asleep.
Sunday, April 25th: I woke up to the sound of the initiation chant still playing in my head! It was as if somebody had left it on all ... night ... long .... I decided to leave a little later because I didn't want to be the first one to arrive for the session--I didn't want to seem over-eager because of what it got me the last time: Rejection!
When I got there, again, I was the first to arrive, even though I live the farthest. Everyone else is from the local area. O Lord, I said as his son opened the door for me. I brought my beach chair because it is easier to sit cross-legged on the floor while sitting in such a chair. Another fellow student-initiate had the same idea in mind.
Once everyone was present, I mentioned that the initiation chant played over and over in my head as I went to bed the night before and even after I got out of bed today. Then, the yogi had everyone of us do an impromptu initiation chant repeatedly. Oh, great ... me and my big mouth. This chant is gonna play over and over again in my head when I get home tonight, I said to myself--and I have to be at work the following day at 2:00 a.m. sharp ( Yes! you read that right. ).
As the yogi demonstrated more Kriya Yoga techniques, I became accustomed to seeing him roll-up his eyeballs so that the irises are no longer visible. All you could see are the whites of his eyes wide open--neat! I have to learn this technique by next Halloween so when the little brats come-a-knocking at my door for treats, I'll hold up big expensive, imported candies and pull this trick on them. They'll have nightmares for life and will never come bothering me again! Bwa, ha, ha, ha--snort! But I digress ....
Soon, the yogi talked about how a certain mantra, the Gayatri mantra, is so powerful that anyone given the "key" to unlock this mantra can perform miracles, and can even go so far as to raise a person back from the dead or kill another by its simple utterance. So the yogi and my fellow student-initiates started talking back and forth and using some Sanskrit words that seem familiar to me. I interrupted them to ask the yogi if the Gayatri mantra is the one that goes, "Aum Bhoor Bhuva Swaha ...", as I recited the whole mantra for everyone while my fellow student-initiates were nodding their heads in acknowledgement. "Yes," said the yogi, "but I want you to stop using it." How come? I asked. "You're not pronouncing it right," was his answer. "Learn Sanskrit first so you can say it correctly," he added. I don't know why this can't be like the Zhunti mantra that gives one merit even if it's solely based on the person's effort. I already do nine other mantras a day, and I only add the Gayatri mantra whenever I have to go on a long trip, otherwise I won't have enough time in the day for it. And I told the yogi that I used this mantra while commuting to and from the place of initiation. My thinking is that since Babaji gave his disciples the permission to disseminate Kriya Yoga all over the world, then it should be expected that certain words will not be pronounced properly and that Babaji had already planned certain mediations for such an oral contingency.
For the second day in a row, there was no fruit salad for us as the assorted fruits just sat there ripening at the altar. For lunch, I went to Lucky's Supermarket and bought a chicken ( cobb? ) salad and a SoBe Lifewater Goji-Melon. And I drove back to Cesar Chavez Park to eat my lunch under the shade of a tree. I took some pictures of the surrounding area just to while the time away and to use-up my 35 mm film. Again, I was the first one back from lunch.
Later on, the yogi talked about how we should balance our Shakti ( Prana-energy work ) with our Bhakti ( Devotional hymn offering ) because energy work, as in Kriya Yoga, heats-up the body and a devotional hymn cools the body down so the person doesn't burn-up ( By burn-up, I hope he doesn't mean "spontaneous human combustion!" ). So the class had to learn a Bhakti. Great ... more foreign words for me to memorize, and to mis-pronounce.
Then, it was time for more stretching exercises. I always thought that Kriya Yoga was all about concentration, meditation and breathing techniques. But, apparently, someone failed to mention to me that we have to do stretching exercises, too. Years ago when I was doing martial arts, I could do leg splits, touch my forehead to my knees and clasp my hands behind my back. But I let all that go as I became Pig-Out Man with a mini potbelly. As we did the stretches, only one thought was foremost in my mind: Please don't fart or Lord Shiva, the Destroyer God, will be offended by the sacrilegious, albeit unintentional, act and consume me in flames. And, once again, I was the closest one to the sacrificial altar. Do these people from India know what I don't know? Some of the stretching exercises hurt the bottom of my feet so bad that it felt like somebody whacked the sole of my right foot with a baseball bat and the sole of my left foot with a thick rod. My legs felt shaky as I stood up and tried to keep from falling over because of the intense pain. But the pain eventually disappeared, taking with it the ankle pain in my right foot and most of the heel pain in my left foot that have plagued me for about two years now. Could I have been given, for my efforts, a Darshan ( Divine Blessing )?
It was almost 7:00 p.m. when the yogi gave me permission to leave ahead of the class since I live the farthest. And I thanked him because I had to be at work by 2:00 a.m. of the following day to work the frozen section. On the way home, and just before I got to the freeway, I decided to swing by the local Burger King to have a burger--my mind told me to eat beef. After my meal, I called my brother on my cell phone to tell him that I was now a yoga initiate.
Well, that's about it for my 1st-Stage initiation. Of course, I purposely left-out the specific Kriya techniques because I was sworn to secrecy. Now, all I have to do is practice and practice some more. There is a group practice scheduled for the 29th of May. We shall see how that one goes. These last two days have made me more aware of something more important than Kriya Yoga: I need to seriously lose weight! So now I pray to Lord Shiva, Lord Babaji and Sri Lahiri Mahasaya to help me lose weight so I can do my Kriya Yoga correctly.
I will wait at least another year before I apply for 2nd-Stage initiation. This should give me enough time to lose weight and work on my technique.
Om Shanti
