Читать книгу Babaji - I am You - Maria-Gabriele Wosien - Страница 7

This book contains extracts from talks given by Baba Haidakhan ¹ to his students in the last years of his presence among them² as well as notes from private conversations. They are all arranged according to the main subjects of his message.

The thoughts contained here are not new; they are to be found in all ancient Holy Scriptures. At a time when people's attention is almost exclusively concentrated on material values, the message here is one of spiritual and humanistic ideals that call for a radical change of direction.

For those who revere Babaji as a divine figure, his words are the deep, inspiring message of a loving Master who — in chaotic times that witness the general breakdown of traditional, religious and ethical values, when even the environment so necessary for human life is being destroyed — leads his students towards a future full of promise, based on true faith and humanity.

As a teacher in the timeless tradition of the world's spiritual leaders, Babaji manifested essential truth through his presence and his example, and left it to his students to work out how this applied to the individual.

It was not necessary to recognise or revere Babaji as a divine being in order to feel the effect of his presence. Simply being near him, even if he was not actually speaking, imparted a particularly salutary feeling, even to those of little faith, to the doubters and unbelievers: through the vibrations of his being, the body and spirit were stilled, and one was filled with a profound peace that made it possible to experience integration as the state of mind which can give birth to inner light.

In fact, Babaji's essential message was beyond words. He initially hesitated to share it on the grounds that what he had to say had already been written in all the Holy Scriptures; and he therefore asked whether all the books ever written and the many scholarly lectures given had really changed people. That he subsequently did speak out, though then only within the restricted circle of students at his ashram in the foothills of the Himalayas, was a concession to the pressure of his faithful followers.

The great holy men of the East can be considered to be `spiritual laboratories', vessels in which conscious transformations — as of precious metals — take place. This demonstrates the necessity of their incarnation and of their work with a committed, spiritually receptive group of students to spread the message. Of that work, as a state of mind, Babaji said: `I Am One. This singularity can be shared among countless people.'

Occasionally a sensitive observer would succeed in understanding something of the inner significance of the hard physical labour Babaji asked of his students. One such student, recalling moving stones from the river bed in Haidakhan in order to build walls and level the land for crop production, would remember:

`In advance golden lines were drawn on the earth and these all ended up at a great gateway. The workers laboured tirelessly, going back and forth along these lines, through the gateway and back out again. If anyone deviated even slightly from that line, Babaji would immediately step in and say: "This is where the stone should go, not there! Quick! This piece of rock must be moved, time is pressing!"' ³

In this way Babaji often taught that all physical work performed for the benefit of others is in fact a spiritual act and brings with it a change of consciousness. That is why he never tired of referring to work as service to God.

Of himself being on duty twenty-four hours a day to fulfil his purpose, he repeatedly said that he had much to do and little time to do it.

Babaji came, lived out his message, expressed it in words, let people hear of it. When his work was done, he departed: `I have shown the way, now it is up to you to redeem the world.' Of his physical body he said: 'This body is nothing. It is only here to serve humankind... One day, like a river, it will dry up.'

Babaji relinquished his body on Valentine's Day in February 1984.

Frequently, especially in the last years and months with his students, Babaji indicated that a great planetary upheaval (mahakranti) was unavoidable. He constantly referred to it, what it would be like and how it could be withstood. Even on the day before he left his body some visitors and students were gathered around him in silence as he sat contemplating a map of the world and, with sombre countenance, leafing through an illustrated book about Hiroshima that someone had brought him. In the pervading silence he suddenly lifted his head and, gazing into the distance, said, 'The mahakranti (destruction, revolution, fundamental cleansing) must happen! For two reasons.' He sat bolt upright in an almost alarming way, `Because human beings still only think in terms of `I' and `mine' — that is not the truth, not the way, not love; and because everyone wants to be big, and no one can bear to be small any more.' With a deep sigh he then sank back into his chair and added in a weak, almost inaudible voice: 'That is, what makes it unavoidable.'

Babaji had come in order to inspire this revolution because of a great turnaround in spirit, in thinking and feeling. At the same time he stressed that change could not come about without a material upheaval, whereby the old thought structures, forms of society, even the surface of the earth, would experience a total transformation.

The appearance of such a being, generally known as `Babaji', and revered in varying forms down the ages, has in our time become known as Mahavatar, a great divine incarnation ⁴, who prepares the ground, as Christ did in his day, so that humanity may experience a new consciousness.

There is an extensive literature in Hindi on the subject of his incarnation as 'Old Haidakhan Baba' ⁵, as well as on the identity of Mahavatar Babaji and Haidakhan Baba; other works speak to the identity of these two incarnations in human form as manifestations of the god Shiva and thus of the highest cosmic consciousness ⁶.

Old Haidakhan Baba, from circa 1840 to 1922.

In his last incarnation Babaji mentioned that first the Chinese, then the Tibetans and Nepalese, and finally the Indians came to him thousands of years ago. But he also warned against speaking of him or his 'age' to any who are not receptive to the mystery of the divine, as it would lead nowhere. In the same way he responded to questions about his `identity' by saying simply: 'The most important thing in life is faith.'

Prior to his re-appearance, Babaji told his student, the scriptural scholar Mahendra Baba ⁷, that he would come 'to bring a message to humankind.' He even spoke of coming this time for the sake of the completely unaware, the poorest and neediest in every sense, that is, for those who do not even know how to pray to God.

It is said, that Mahaendra Baba's fervent prayers

and rigorous spiritual practices helped to make Babaji's

incarnation possible. Vrindaban before 1970.

The `I am' in the sayings of the Master — which we find in several of the talks — is to be understood as divine, supreme consciousness, as the substance of all revelation, through which it manifests.

Babaji speaks of himself in various ways, including in the third person, and as Mahaprabhuji, the Great Lord, saying that although knowledge of God is important, he can only be experienced through love: `Nothing can be reached without knowledge, yet with a pure heart everything can be attained.'

Babaji appeared in 1970 as a young yogi in the area of Haidakhan at the Himalayan foothills of the Kumaon region, near an ancient shrine from mythical prehistoric times; he was found by a local villager in a cave of the holy Kailash mountain, by the Gautam river. There a temple to Shiva had been built in the 19th century in honour of the great holy man, his namesake ⁸.

Babaji in the cave at Haidakhan 1970.

Mythology and history are tightly woven into the `biography' of Babaji. A story relates how, in a conversation with the Goddess Parvati, Shiva says `I myself will appear in the kali yuga ⁹ to found a new kingdom and centre of religion. In this place of great significance, I will live and grant space to all the gods' ¹⁰.

When he appeared in 1970, Babaji combined in his person the divine consciousness of an enlightened being, with living a human life and the knowledge of how to deal with the smallest details of a problematical situation. `Serving humanity is serving God. Love and serve others as you love and serve me. I myself came to serve, to work and to help people.'

He also taught that, just as in life change is the only constant and that the created world we know is just one of many. For that reason his teachings were generally about how to free oneself from the material and return to the source, to the divine spirit and light.

In this context, the sanatana dharma, revealed at the beginning of time, teaches that from the very start of creation up to the present kali yuga, or 'Dark Age', God has become human for the sake of humanity. It is the Eternal One reappearing in various forms, according to the needs of the time, revered with many names down the ages, as the highest consciousness taking human form, while ultimately everything in the universe is constantly being recreated by God.

Shortly before he relinquished his human body he said: `I have consumed too much sickness, now I must consume my own... My heart is broken, stabbed by countless knives, and there is no one to heal my wounds... The Moon, the Sun, the stars, all are in me... I bear the burden of the whole universe.' This body he bequeathed to the earth ¹¹.

`In the hours after his physical heart stopped, nature in the valley reacted as if in sympathy and unleashed her forces with spectacular intensity. For some hours the birds were silent, the wind ceased to blow and it was as though a grey dome, laden and immobile, was hanging over the valley preceding a mighty clash that was heard across the valley... Some of us witnessed at sundown an extraordinary phenomenon: an enormous fiery sphere with a black centre traversed the sky at dusk, before night fell. But, above all, in this atmosphere of unspeakable pain at the loss of the most beloved being who was Father, Mother and God in one, a great wave of energy, of Light-Consciousness, began to spread with growing intensity...' ¹².

Sunset behind the Sati Kund Tree, Haidakhan valley.

`For over thirteen years Babaji lived and taught among people. With every year that passed — for those who have known him in his `early days' as a being of pure light, almost transparent and clearly not of this world — Babaji had become more `physical', entering more and more into the material world and the everyday problems of those who came to seek his guidance. The few who became his committed followers he prepared for the time of universal change which, he said, had now come... And now our major work begins: we, you, all of us have to be ever ready for Baba. He comes and goes, was and is always, changing bodies like we change clothes...' ¹³.

Babaji had come to teach about the human journey of life, to serve the earth at the highest level and, like so many great spiritual figures, he devoted himself entirely to reaching out to even the most spiritually immature. This often meant that he was not only misunderstood but also maligned.

To those, and they were relatively very few, who had learned to accept without question the whole experience of Babaji as Master, he would grant more time in his presence, so that they could gain deeper insight into his fundamental nature and what he was doing. For those students who were victims of habit and preconceived ideas, Babaji's chosen didactic method was often one of spontaneous histrionic improvisations which could not but appear absurd.

Most people came and went in an endless stream, including the curious, those seeking help, the desperate, the sick, those seeking redemption. Without exception, all received his blessing and an answer that corresponded to their level of awareness.

Just as the enormous dimensions of the breakdown and destruction of traditional structures are visible to all, so the powers of transformation and harmonisation present in a new creation are just as active, if less evident.

Babaji pointed to these powers of transformation as being part of maya, the divine creative veil, covering the essential substance of things, as related in the myth about gods and demons whisking up the cosmic ocean, with the result that the ancient waters brought forth first nectar, but then also poison. In the same way, the word of God as the origin of creation is the means of integrating destruction of every kind.

Babaji himself, as the synthesis of all paradoxes, confronted his students mostly with extreme situations, as he worked to develop their awareness of the path of the sanctification of human effort.

This was also the essence of the teaching which he lived out on a daily basis: the connection between work for others as service to the earth, to humankind, on the one hand and on the other — prayer. Where the human will is no longer enough to bring one's own plans and wishes to fruition, the grace of God makes spiritual transformation possible.

The earth, Babaji said, is the great field of labour, where every single atom is filled with divine energy. The awareness that we release divine energy, when we work without thought for ourselves, is based on the view that creation is one great whole, of which humanity is just a part and, like everything else in creation, is embedded in a unified whole.

But, he often stressed, the simple fact of being born as a member of the human race is not enough: what counts is our humanity. About a transformed existence in a future after the great process of cleansing to which the earth is currently subject, he said: `There will be general world-wide understanding, one nation, one religion, humanity will be one family.'

For the sake of the spiritual future of the earth, everyone with faith in common, and with the insight that there is only one earth which, as God's creation, belongs to no individual but to all equally — all those people will need to work together.

Babaji's call was to let the light shine in yourselves and then in your neighbour, one after the other.'

Babaji's blessing for those who came to him with a pure heart was `mansa phalegi — may your wish be granted', since anything unfulfilled affects the course of history. Speaking of the dark, destructive forces of the recent past and present he said that they had revisited the earth, because they had not reached their objectives during their lifetime.

This follows the teaching of the sanatana dharma that our ttnrealised wishes and deeds determine our reincarnation, not only as the natural development of life on its path to perfection, but also from an inability to release ourselves from all that binds us.

'My teaching is truth, simplicity, love', Babaji used to say when he was asked. 'God is truth, truth is the essence — there is nothing above it.' Simplicity is being conscious, while we live, of the relativity and transience of material creation. That is why he constantly recommended the exercise of detachment from the physical world, even while being still in the world.

Babaji also said that God is love and love is God, love as the awareness that every creature is one with God, that we are all one; this awareness precludes all aggression.

Om Namah Shivay, the prayer signifying `I find refuge with God', Lord, Thy will be done', is the main practice Babaji recommended. It was the basic theme of his incarnation to carry the reverberation of this `mantra from the dawn of creation' out into the world and into the furthest corners of consciousness, so that it could again act as the impulse for a creative renewal of the earth.

'Pray with the name of God of your chosen religion, but pray unceasingly, day and night, whatever you are doing, serving creation as you work' — `that', he said, 'is the best and most effective method of purifying and training body and soul to overcome self-interest and lethargy, for it leads to the recognition that truth is the essential divine attribute.'

Just as it was his wish to make people aware of the divine by concentrating on the name of God, he also wanted to make it clear that an incarnation of the divine happens for the sake of followers of all religious paths equally, and seeks to see a oneness of those paths by appearing before them.

In the development of the world, humankind playing a part in the work of God's kingdom, is allotted an important place in the emergence of a new earth: this can be realised through the constant practice of finding the reality of God in every moment and in all things, which is achieved by finding deep within ourselves the profundity of all things created. God may be found everywhere in his creation, because he gave it life through his incarnation, which is repeated with every new embodiment of his consciousness. The more the Master is encountered at a deep level, the more universally his influence is revealed.

Babaji also came to calm the fear of all those who would hear the message he wanted taken out into the world. Aware of the frightening incomprehensible changes to which people are subjected in our times he saw fear as the greatest enemy of humankind, and he urged his students to be brave and ready to face adventure. The mantra which he taught and hoped would be spread as widely as possible was also to be a mantra to guard against fear, by being even stronger than death.

For those who experienced the blessing of his presence, he helped them acknowledge that the change from numbing, paralysing fear into overwhelming joy, by the renewal of their being through the power of the spirit, is founded in the word of God: Om Namah Shivay —I bow to God within - that God's will may be done.

Babaji's Sanskrit `signature' Om Namah Shivay.

Any form of restriction may give way to detachment, so that the life force may again flow freely. Therefore, Babaji also trained his students by creating rapid changes of their respective situations, so that they were able gradually to reach balance and stability: a practice of constantly coming closer to the truth, in order to be ultimately completely free.

Babaji left, settling a part of his fire deep into the earth. He left behind the practice of seeing fire as a divine symbol ¹⁴ and the awareness that everything is constantly in a state of flux: Pinda kacha — shabda sacha — the flesh is transient, the word of God is true forever — Om Namah Shivay.'

The immanently divine eludes us and attracts us. In order for the individual to connect with the divine, Babaji lived the example of an all-embracing consciousness in which everything is constantly being recreated. He gave his students the experience of the possibility of redemption during this life. Occasionally he would confirm this in words. What remains is the duty of each individual to take no thought only for oneself.

After he had given life to everything, purified everything, as a visible and tangible part of the infinite, he returned to the divine, intangible, invisible place from which his form continues to appear from time to time.