Mahavatar Babaji - The Deathless Master

The northern Himalayan crags near Badrinarayan are still blessed by the living presence of Babaji, guru of Lahiri Mahasaya. The secluded master has retained his physical form for centuries, perhaps for millenniums. The deathless Babaji is an avatara. This Sanskrit word means "descent"; its roots are ava, "down," and tri, "to pass." 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 men 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. A siddha ("perfected being") has progressed from the state of a jivanmukta ("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 a 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 grossly misunderstood, sang of this liberated man in his immortal scripture, the Rubaiyat:

"Ah, Moon of my Delight who know'st no wane,
The Moon of Heav'n is rising once again;
How oft hereafter rising shall she look
Through this same Garden after me—in vain!"

The "Moon of Delight" is God, eternal Polaris, anachronous never. The "Moon of Heav'n" is the outward cosmos, fettered to the law of periodic recurrence. Its chains had 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!

Krishna, Rama, Buddha, and Patanjali were among the ancient Indian avatars. A considerable poetic literature in Tamil has grown up around Agastya, a South Indian avatar. He worked many miracles during the centuries preceding and following the Christian era, and is credited with retaining his physical 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 nineteenth-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 two 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.

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-colored. 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 Kebalananda, 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," Kebalananda told me. "His small band contains two highly advanced American disciples. After Babaji has been in one locality for some time, he says: 'Dera danda uthao.' ('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 from peak to peak.

"Babaji can be seen or recognized by others only when he so desires. He is known to have appeared in many slightly different forms to various devotees—sometimes without beard and moustache, and sometimes with them. As his undecaying body requires no food, the master seldom eats. As a social courtesy to visiting disciples, he occasionally accepts fruits, or rice cooked in milk and clarified butter.

"Two amazing incidents of Babaji's life are known to me," Kebalananda 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 burned to ashes before your eyes, according to the decree of his past karma?'

"With these words Babaji placed his healing hand on the chela's disfigured shoulder. 'I have freed you tonight from painful death. The karmic law has been satisfied through your slight suffering by fire.'

"On another occasion Babaji's sacred circle was 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. 'For months I have pursued a ceaseless search for you among these 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. When they returned with the mangled form, the master placed his divine hand on the dead man. Lo! he opened his eyes and prostrated himself humbly before the omnipotent one.

"'You are now ready for discipleship.' Babaji beamed lovingly on his resurrected chela. 'You have courageously passed a difficult test. Death shall not touch you again; now you are one of our immortal flock.' Then he spoke his usual words of departure, 'Dera danda uthao'; the whole group vanished from the mountain."

*Note : Text is taken from the book "Autobiography of a Yogi" By Paramahansa Yogananda.

Relaxation

Relaxation

Just as it is necessary to release the tensions in the muscles, it is also essential to release the tensions in the mind. Usually, mental tension is caused by preoccupations about the past or desires for the future. If we would live completely in the here and now, it would be very easy to stay relaxed and happy. Meditation helps bring us into this state, but we must relax, at least partially, before we can begin to meditate effectively.

- "How to Meditate", Jyotish Novak

Sitting still might seem easy, but it actually makes a tremendous demand on the body and mind. Most of the time our bodies are in motion, so much so, we hardly notice it. But once we stop moving, it can be very hard to maintain stillness. Allow for the fact that it takes time, each time you meditate, to go from motion to stillness, from outwardness to inwardness. This is true on every level of our being. Every moment of our lives we are usually active, unless we are asleep, and even then there is a certain level of movement of the body and mind. Meditation is being, not doing. Think of a lake, turbulent on the surface, but the depths are still and calm. To get to the depths you must dive through the restless surface.

An important rule in life is: Don't be impatient. This rule is doubly important for meditation, for whereas the general stricture against impatience gives hope of finding inner peace in meditation, that hope is demolished if one applies to meditation itself attitudes that we've developed in the "rat race." To find God, it is better to be a long-distance runner than a sprinter. Today's meditative efforts will have to be renewed tomorrow, and again the day after tomorrow, and the day after that, and so on for as long as it takes to achieve the consciousness of the Eternal Now.

Don't let your approach to meditation be so achievement-oriented that you end up mentally tense. Yogananda, noting my own tendency toward impatience, once said to me, "The principle of karma yoga applies to meditative action also. Meditate to please God. Don't meditate with desire for the fruits of your meditations. It is best, in the beginning, to emphasize relaxation."

The more you seek rest as the consequence of doing, rather than in the process of doing, the more restless you will become. Peace isn't waiting for you over the next hill. Nor is it something you construct, like a building. It must be a part of the creative process itself.

Learn to be restful, even in the midst of activity, and you will be able to relax better when you sit to meditate. As Paramhansa Yogananda put it, "Be calmly active, and actively calm."

Kriya Yoga : Conscious Living and Superconscious Meditation

Roy Eugene Davis , is a direct disciple of Yoganada . He is an ordained teacher of Kriya Yoga tradition and is currently based in Pheonix , Arizona .

Kriya Yoga:
Philosophy and Lifestyle Practices
The Sanskrit word kriya means “action.” Yoga can mean the practices used to facilitate overall well-being and spiritual growth, or oneness-consciousness: the final result of practice. In Patanjali’s yoga-sutras, a two thousand year old treatise on superconscious meditation, kriya yoga is defined as discipline of mental and sensory impulses, self analysis, profound study of metaphysics (higher realities), meditation, and surrender of ordinary self-consciousness (egoism) in favor of God-realization.

Kriya yoga is a concentrated approach to Self-discovery and spiritual enlightenment: complete awakening to full knowledge of the Infinite and of cosmic processes. It includes the most effective processes of all systems of yoga, with emphasis on wholesome, constructive living and superconscious meditation practice. The purpose of kriya yoga practice is to restore the practitioner’s awareness to wholeness. This is accomplished by acquiring knowledge of one’s true nature as a spiritual being; cultivating rational thinking, emotional balance, and physical health; purposeful living; and meditation.

To facilitate the unfoldment of innate qualities and elicit superconscious states, specific meditation techniques are taught and practiced. Beginning meditators are usually taught how to use a simple word or sound (mantra) to focus attention. After a period of preparatory study and practice, initiation into advanced meditation processes can be requested.

Although kriya yoga has been known and practiced for centuries, it was Roy Eugene Davis’ guru, Paramahansa Yogananda, who first emphasized it in the west. Yogananda traveled from India to America in 1920 and lectured, wrote, and trained disciples for 32 years before his passing in 1952. His best known book, Autobiography of a Yogi, is now published in multiple languages around the world.

Energization Technique by Yogananda

Experience Some of the Energization Exercises




“We are beings of energy…Our bodies, our health, our happiness, our very thoughts are determined by the level and direction of our energy.”

—Jyotish Novak, Ananda Course in Self-Realization, Part One

The Energization Exercises are comprised of thirty-nine exercises. Once you become familiar with the routine it takes about ten to twelve minutes to practice. To learn this technique effectively, however, requires that you see the exercises demonstrated, either by an Ananda Meditation Teacher, or through our video, book and audio resources. If you live in an area where instruction is unavailable, you can still learn the Energization Exercises through our comprehensive aids. You can order these online by visiting

For now, let’s practice three exercises from this system. Although it’s only three you will be learning, practicing them will give you many of the benefits of the technique: increased energy; an awareness of its flow in the body; and a sense of well-being. Doing these exercises before you meditate will also help to release any stored, bodily tension and enable you to sit still longer and more comfortably.

The best way to relax the body in meditation is consciously to withdraw the energy from it. These exercises will help you bring greater will power and deeper awareness to this practice. When you meditate, it is suggested that you first do the Energization Exercises, then the preparatory meditation techniques of tensing and relaxing and regular, even-count breathing, then the Hong Sau meditation technique.




Energization Exercises




Begin with this prayer:“O Infinite Spirit, recharge this body with thy cosmic energy, this mind with thy concentration and this soul with thy ever-new joy. O eternal youth of body and mind, abide in me forever and ever.”




1. Double Breathing (with palms touching)




With your arms straight out to your sides at shoulder level, exhale with the double breath, bend your knees slightly and bring your arms to the front until your palms touch. With a double inhalation, bring your arms back out, straighten your legs - and tense the entire body upwards in a wave. Relax the body down in a wave in reverse order with a double exhalation. Repeat 3-5 times.

Double breathing is a short and long inhalation through the nose and a short and long exhalation through the nose and mouth. This double breath allows you to inhale and exhale more deeply and to oxygenate the blood. To practice a “double breath,” begin by inhaling strongly through the nose with a short, sharp inhalation followed directly by a long, strong inhalation - completely filling the lungs. Then, without pause, exhale twice through the nose and mouth with a short, then a long exhalation - making the sound: “Huh, Huhhhhhh.” Feel cosmic energy flowing into the medulla oblongata with the breath.




2. Body Recharging (first phase)




Stand upright. Inhale slowly, and gradually tense the whole body (with low, medium, and then high tension) to the point where it vibrates. Gaze upward at the point between the eyebrows, and with concentration feel the energy flowing into the body through the medulla oblongata. Hold the tension for a few moments, and consciously fill the whole body with energy. Then exhale and slowly relax (medium, low, completely), feeling the energy as it withdraws from the body parts. Always tense with will, then relax and feel. Repeat 1-3 times.




3. Double Breathing (without tension)




Relax completely. With elbows bent, draw your hands towards your upper chest and shoulder area. Exhale with a slow, relaxed double breath, and let your arms extend slowly in front of you with the breath. Enjoy the pauses between the breaths, and with a slow double inhalation draw your hands back in. Close your eyes and bring your attention to a focus at the point between the eyebrows. Feel relaxed, peaceful, and energized. Mentally affirm: “I am free, I am free!” Repeat 6-10 times.

The Energization Exercises of Paramhansa Yogananda. - More Information on the topic

How to Energize yourself ? Swami Kriyandanda

Energy is the main ingredient of our daily lives . We require energy to do all things be it cooking , walking or even to concentrate . Paramhansa Yogananda , the great Yogi of our times , created the Energization Exercises in 1916 as a technique for drawing cosmic energy into the body. Learn some of the exercises, and the principles behind them, in the articles below. We recommend that you read the articles in sequence in order to gain a more comprehensive understanding of the technique.
“The more aware you are of the flow of energy, the more you can direct that energy by will power not only to the body, but toward anything that you do - toward your work, toward creative inspiration, toward God in meditation, and in every aspect of your life. All success depends ultimately on energy. Energy is really the differentiating factor between genius and mediocrity. So these exercises are much more than just physical. They’re the cornerstone of Yogananda’s whole system of teaching, and, in fact, of all spiritual progress.” - Swamim Kriyananda - Yogananda’s disciple .