0:00 Intro
0:18 What were the main in-born qualities of Swamiji as a young boy?
3:16 What if we don’t have the same in-born qualities as Swamiji?
4:00 Is it a wrong interpretation to describe the young Swamiji as extroverted, active and worldly wise?
8:40 What was happening at the time prior to starting tapas when Sathyaraju appeared to become withdrawn from the world?
12:25 Sathyaraju seemed to question authorities figures often. When he was initiated into tapas, did he question that?
18:08 How is it possible that Swamiji was able to instantly focus his mind 100%?
27:41 Early on in His tapas, Swamiji stopped and decided to return to the world. What stopped him from returning?
36:47 Could it be said that the Jangama sage is a manifestation of Swamiji’s mind?
39:22 Could Tapaswiji Maharaj, who helped Swamiji with His tapas, be considered as His Guru?

Discourse: Thus Spake Babaji – online Q and A No. 103
Shri Shivabalayogi Maharaj – The Early Years
You tube Link: https://youtu.be/ftwij1B0e4k

Recorded on 20 August 2022 with worldwide participants.
 Length 42.18 mins

Start of Questions and Answers

Thank you, Baba. Babaji, with Guru Purnima just coming past and also the celebration of Shri Swamiji’s Tapas Purthi, we thought this evening we’d spend some time, with Babaji’s permission, discussing Swamiji more as a personality in the early times of His life when He was Sathyaraju, in particular, and what we can learn from that.

Question:   The first question Babaji is, Babaji has previously described many of the main personal qualities of Sathyaraju. Could Babaji please describe them again?

Babaji Maharaj:   Yeah. See, to do Tapas, meditation or Tapas or anything to achieve in the world, not that you need to be something Divine, because the Divine is all pervaded, every soul is Divine. But what is necessary is that ability to dedicate, remain disciplined totally, and endurance, endurance is very, very important. To sustain yourself you need mental stamina to go for a long time. Like 48 years ago, we joined the Master at His Lotus Feet to serve Him. So this is what He taught and He trained us; to have that mental stamina so that we could sustain ourselves. By His Grace today, it is 48 years. We never looked back and we never tried to judge the Master because we simply loved Him.

So in the same way, Swamiji had these inborn qualities to hang on to it, and remain disciplined. If a task is given, in a moment’s notice He would be ready. Like, for example, you see He never had any spiritual training, though He was devotional to the Divine, but didn’t have any such spiritual inclination to go deep, for any Self-realization or to become a Yogi or any such thing. He just wanted to overcome the poverty and do some business to earn a beautiful livelihood that He could look after His siblings, His mother, because His father had passed away when He was very young. So these were the immediate, basic, great qualities that He had. So as we go through with other questions, we can discuss more about it.

Question: Babaji, based on what Baba had just spoken about, someone has sent in a question, “What if you don’t have the same inborn qualities as Swamiji?” 

Babaji Maharaj: Either you have to learn, draw inspiration and cultivate and sustain, because it is important to have it. If you don’t have the inborn qualities, at least you must not have the ego not to learn. You should be able to learn from someone who has achieved with such qualities and you need to draw inspiration, cultivate in yourself and to sustain yourself; you need to have these finally.

Question: Thank you Baba. Babaji, in the Western tradition of great spiritual figures like Swamiji, there’s a tendency often to portray them in the stories that are told about their lives as gentle, introverted people. Sathyaraju seems to be very active and capable in the world. He is a leader amongst His friends, is very worldly wise, He is extroverted. Is that a wrong interpretation? 

Babaji Maharaj: Ah, no not at all. What is needed and important to be noted is He could remain focused for any one thing when He wanted to achieve. So that helped Him to hang on to it, that quality was there first -important. So, introvert-going is only when you lose interest in the world or you realize the impermanence of the world and then you go introvert. You develop vairagya, what you call the detachment to the world. But that is not necessary to go for Enlightenment, though that is one of the basic qualities but even when you are active in this world… To be active, the certain qualities that are needed are your ability to remain focused and remain determined, “Do or die.” That is more important. Swamiji had this in His qualities. That’s what He always taught us. Never feel confused for anything. Just like a soldier, when he is going to the battlefield, he is not confused, he is happy. And he doesn’t know the result also, what will happen. Either he might do it or he has to die. He might kill the enemy and win, come back or he might get killed in the battlefield. He doesn’t know when he is going, but he will go for that. He will not remain confused. So when you start meditating, you don’t know whether you will get Enlightened or not. But that doubt must not arise ever. Just go for That. You do it or you die. Like only the death can stop your efforts to achieve that thing.

  That quality was there and that is enough for anybody to achieve. Like in a moment’s notice when the Jangama Sage appeared, just like that it happened, He had never expected it, He had never prayed, He had never visualized anything. Just He was trying to squeeze out juice from the fruit after distributing some pieces to His friends. And He felt all over the body trembling and the OM sound emerged. And as He was watching, He saw a dazzling light around the fruit and that fruit took shape of a Shiva Lingam and from that Shiva Lingam, a Jangama Sage with a beard and matted hair appeared and asked Him to sit down into lotus posture. Just like that it was a moment’s notice and Swamiji was ready to do it. He was made to sit down into the lotus posture and the instruction was given. It is the same as everyday Swamiji used to initiate people and we also initiate in these classes, every day we give instructions, “Sitting in any comfortable posture, keeping your back and neck straight and then gently close your eyes. Now concentrate your mind and sight in between eyebrows and just keep watching there. Do not repeat anything. Do not imagine anything. Do not open your eyes till I recite a prayer and I will ask you.”

  If anybody sincerely just takes it as command and does that one without bothering why it is to be done and what it is to be done – that quality was there in Swamiji and He did it. That’s how He used to tell me, “I just went on watching and Samadhi came”. It means the mind became totally stabilized, stillness, quiet – peace! And that’s what He expected everybody to do. Innocently He did it and He thought if everybody watched it will become quiet and the soul is revealed. So that was there. (Babaji laughs briefly)

Question: Babaji, one question has been sent in by several people and it’s the same question often, through Sutchetana and also Leon and some other people. The question is about the weeks before His Initiation into Tapas. Sathyaraju appeared to become withdrawn. He was sitting by Himself, He was losing interest in the world around Him. Can Babaji give some clues of what might have been happening at that time, please?

Babaji Maharaj: Yeah, what I have heard from Swamiji’s mouth of His experience: First thing, He said that He was born to a family where they used to have non-vegetarian food also. That was very common for Him. He used to have, He loved it. But about a couple of weeks before, He suddenly lost interest to eat any non-vegetarian food. He refused to his mother or sister even to eat eggs or any such thing, fish, nothing. He said, “I don’t feel like eating, I don’t want to eat.” He felt a bit withdrawn but He couldn’t say why. He didn’t know the reason also. There was no such thing of any dislike about the world. He continued His work of weaving the sarees in those two weeks also. Till the last moment He was not sure what was going to happen, but He felt like withdrawing quickly.

He just used to go for His work and used to take the sarees to the next nearest town, sell them and come back. In those 15 days, He had stopped demanding a certain amount. Whatever the people gave for those sarees, He used to simply accept and give that saree like that. Sometimes even if it was for a bit of a loss He used to bring that money. Then once His mother asked, “Hey, why is that you have brought so much less money? You never would allow to sell that saree. You were so adamant and used to be tough. But what has happened to you now?” He couldn’t answer, He said, “I don’t know. Whatever they gave, I brought you; just keep this for you. I don’t need. I don’t feel like asking for anybody.”

  So like that, the things had happened to Him and He felt withdrawn. Though He was working and continuing everything but He was not that extrovert. Because He was quite talkative also. He was fond of telling stories to the neighbors and all in that area. It was like the gopikas of Gokulam where Shri Krishna was born, they had become so fond of Krishna in His childhood. Swamiji was also a child 8, 10 years, 11 years old. So He used to be talking to every aunt and everybody, tell the stories, even if it was an old person, uncles He used to go and talk to them. So everybody were fond of them and they wanted Him to tell stories, come and talk to them or eat something. But this thing had stopped in those 15 days. He didn’t feel like talking anything. He seemed to have no more stories to tell – that imagination was not coming to Him. It had subsided as if though. So these were some of the basic experiences that Swamiji used to recall, that He felt totally withdrawn. Probably these were the signs of what was going to happen to Him.

Question: Thank you, Baba. Thank you, Babaji. During the stories we hear of Sathyaraju during His early childhood, He seems to question authority figures quite often. When He’s given instructions during His Initiation, He doesn’t question them at all. Or did He question?

Babaji Maharaj: Yeah. First He did question, but He couldn’t resist further. He had that nature definitely. That was His courageous nature to ask a question. He didn’t know whether it will happen or not, but He wanted to ask it. Like there was one incident, in that village once a magician came. He would threaten everybody that he can transform them into a tiger or some animal like that. And it was a bit scary for the villagers who did not have any knowledge or such wisdom thinking. But Sathyaraju, though He didn’t know whether he could really change somebody into a tiger or not, He was not afraid. He wanted to question that one. Before asking that person, one thing He warned his uncle, “Look, I’m going to question him now and challenge him whether he can do it or not. But suppose if at all he turns me into a tiger, you keep a rope ready. I will not harm you because you are uncle, I must recognize. You tie me to a pillar so that I won’t run away to the jungle. Then afterwards we can see how I can come back as Sathyaraju. There must be some way.” Means that type of courageous things were there to question – just to know the truth, and justice for justice.

He felt what this person is threatening the villagers is not justified. “He is trying to earn money or snatch money or anything, properties or things by threatening, so this is not proper”, He thought. “This cannot be allowed. This is injustice.” He said, “I’m going to challenge him, I’m going to ask. That’s how He asked him; “Now come on, I’m ready. Can you change me into a tiger? You do that one. If you can do it, then I will surrender to you”, He challenged. “Let me see.” Just like the soldier challenging, “You’ve come for the battle. So if you can defeat me, then you can cut my head also” type. So that nature He had. When the Jangama Sage said, “Sit”, He asked him, “Why should I sit down?” That was His nature – instantly, spontaneously He asked. But something within Him, He couldn’t resist. He sat down. He did not remain standing or did not go into further arguing – that figure glowing was like that.

So that was how, in the later time, Swamiji, a couple of times I have heard Him telling, when asked about the Divine Shiva Parvati appearing, how they were, how they appeared, whatever their figures, what was their flesh, then He used to ridicule, ”What nonsense you are asking. When the Divine appears, do you think you can keep analyzing all this and watching? Your mind is totally stopped. No imagination arises. No question comes. You don’t feel like asking anything. You would have totally surrendered. You are just watching that Divine glow. It is inexplicable. You cannot explain how their faces are. Whatever faces you talk is all your imagination. And the people who have painted or done any such thing, watching movie stars and beautiful people, they have done this all in their imagination. God is much beyond all this.” So like that, that day also He couldn’t resist. Nothing worked. His imagination had stopped already by the Darshan. That is what is known as Darshan in Indian philosophy.

 A Yogi giving Darshan to people, He often used to talk; “When I give Darshan to the people of this world, that is My service to humanity. Even if I am not well, I would like to sit down. When people come to see Me, that is what is known as Darshan. Physically seeing me.” Like you all seeing me in this Zoom. I don’t have anything to claim but it is my service. If you feel peaceful, if you feel happy seeing Babaji. Like that, Swamiji, even during the fag end of His life when He was undergoing dialysis, after the dialysis, the doctor would have advised, “Now you must be very tired. So long; three, four hours of blood transfusion, coming out and getting cleansed and going back to the body has happened. So I would advise You to rest and don’t go out.” He wouldn’t accept it. He would refuse. “No, no, no. From long distances my devotees would have come. If they cannot see me today, they will feel very bad. I must go. Whatever it is. I must go and sit down. I’ll be happy even if I don’t talk, they don’t ask, at least if they can see me physically, I’ll be happy.” He used to insist to come out and sit on the dais and give Darshan. That nature was there with Him always. But that day, He couldn’t ask anything.

Question: Babaji, one question is, when we sit to meditate, most of us find it very difficult to still the mind. Babaji has mentioned before, when Sathyaraju is initiated in the Tapas, and He’s never done any sadhana in this life at all, and yet instantly He’s able to focus His mind a hundred percent. How is that possible?

Babaji Maharaj: As I have earlier mentioned, He had this inborn quality to ‘do or die’. If somebody had given Him a task, that was like a task for Him, “That must be fulfilled. I must do it”. Like one incident at the age of five, Swamiji used to say, He told me several times, that He learned that they were poor. Because, see, He had extraordinary mind capabilities to think and apply brains. His mother would give Him food. He used to be very hungry in His childhood. Every one and a half to two hours He would demand some food. Without fail his mother would have kept some food in a place and give Him, and He used to eat. One day He suddenly thought, “I haven’t seen My mother eating any food. She always gives Me readily. Does she really eat any food or not?” So that day He insisted, “Mother, I have not seen you eating food. Please eat with me today. ” She said, “You have your food. I have some work and I can eat later. ” “No”, He insisted, “Without you eating with me, I’m not going to eat the food. ” Then mother served some food on another plate and served Him also. “So, you eat it now. I have served this food for myself. I will definitely eat after some time.” She kept it in the walls, almirahs. The wooden almirah that used to be there in the thatched hut in olden days. Then, she went out to work.

Half-heartedly Swamiji ate that food. But He decided to hide Himself behind the door and keep waiting for His mother to eat. For nearly two or three hours He was standing with all the patience. He was waiting there for the mother to come, He was waiting there. When after three hours also she didn’t come, then quietly He slipped out from the back door and going around on the streets came back to home after ten to fifteen minutes, probably. By then, His mother had come. When He saw his mother, He asked for food, “Please, give me some food. I’m very hungry. Do you have something for me to eat?” She took out the same plate and gave. Then, He caught hold of her. “This is very bad, Mother. You promised that you will eat. You had served for yourself. But, without eating you are giving this food to me. Why is this?” Then, tears rolled down from His mother’s cheeks. She couldn’t talk anything. She was perhaps overwhelmed or filled with that sadness, and she couldn’t explain to Him that they were poor people and whatever it is.

 Then, Swamiji, as a child of five, He was puzzled, “Why is it that mother is crying? All I wanted is her to have the food. But instead of having food, this is what she is doing. Have I done something wrong? Is there anything wrong in asking her like that? Shouldn’t I have asked her about this?”

  Then He comes out puzzled, quietly. His uncle was sitting there. He told his uncle, “This is what happened, but I wanted to know something.” But then His uncle said, “Look, we are poor people. Your father passed away when you were very young of two-and-a-half-year-old. Now, only your mother is working in the family. Nobody else is working. So, that’s why she has to go and wash utensils and work at other places, at people’s places, and then earn something. So, then she keeps food for her children first. She seldom eats much, maybe once in two days or sometimes two, three days she doesn’t eat, or a little bit she might eat. That food that she would have served on the plate, she might be eating it for two to three days like that, little bit only. That’s because we are poor people. We cannot. Now, she has to send you to school also.”

 That instantly worked. Then, Swamiji, in that moment’s notice He was decided. He decided, “That’s it. Now, I don’t have to go to school. I am not going to allow my mother to work anymore. She doesn’t have to work. Look Uncle, if I study and obtain a degree, then also I will earn some money. The same thing I can get it now. I will weave sarees, I will work on that. And that is there in front of our home.”  So, He dropped out of school in that moment’s notice; instant decision. He got into the job and started weaving sarees and dhotis. And then He used to take them to nearby town, sell them, negotiate. He was very naughty and tough boy. He was very shrewd also in His mind. These were all in good qualities. He was very honest and hardworking. He never became cunning or cheating type of person. So, these qualities were there. So, He used to do that one and come back, bring the money. So, like that He was always ready to get transformed, to change his stance. He didn’t think even twice, “Should I go to school, not to go to school? What happens if I study? What happens if I don’t study?” Like that He never had any second thoughts at all. In that moment, just, “That’s it. Uncle told me we are poor. That’s it, enough. That’s it, enough. My mother doesn’t have to work anymore”, and He insisted He worked. So, this quality was there.

 Now, see, when Jangama Sage made Him… that Jangama’s appearance itself had made His mind to go quiet. So beautiful, that’s the Divine’s appearance. Like many people have asked me the question, “How are You sure that the Divine really appeared before Him, when other of His friends did not see any Jangama Sage, anything?” I have told: the world saw the Tapas that He performed and the transformation that happened and the beautiful knowledge and wisdom that came out of Him. All these things the world saw. We could see that one, the beautiful knowledge that came out of Him. But before that, to do that He had this quality.

 “All the thing Jangama said to me” – means Swamiji’s words, Swamiji used to tell me – “He touched me in between my eyebrows, asked me to close the eyes. I closed. And then He asked me to watch in between eyebrows, by focusing my mind and sight; I went on watching. He asked me not to repeat anything so I did not repeat anything. He said “Do not imagine anything.” I did not imagine anything. He asked me, “Keep your eyes closed.” That was the instruction – that day He got it. “Just keep your eyes closed” – He did not know when to open, when He is supposed to open, so He kept it closed and went on watching. He said “samadhi occurred, the mind became so quiet and amazing blissfulness engulfed”, He used to say. ‘Ananda’ is the word He always used in the language. “Amazing Ananda engulfed me. I was overwhelmed, I did not know anything else.”

So, that quality was there. Watch means, watch! He used to take the command – that is necessary. That’s what delays, you see? When we all try to learn from the Guru, we delay, because we keep questioning ourselves and we try to analyze, we try to make our own judgment, whether the Guru is a real Guru or not, whether this Guru is Self-realized or not. Like this, we try to analyze and we lose. When we make a judgment, when we don’t have that capacity, then we are the losers, that’s what happens. So, He did not do any of these things, He just accepted it, He just went. That was the quality He had; that is what is needed. No other spiritual training is needed, no knowledge of any spiritual scriptures is needed. Just you must know what you are supposed to do.

 That is what I tell every day, I make people to sit for meditation – you don’t have to have read Bhagavad Gita, Yoga Vasishta, any scriptures – you just have to watch in between eyebrows when I ask you to watch in between eyebrows. Then see the wonders of your mind, you will know the secrets of your mind when it becomes quiet, then you will know about yourself one day.

Question: Babaji, there is a time early in the Tapas where Swamiji stopped His Tapas and was going to return to the world and give up the Tapas. What stopped Him coming back?

Babaji Maharaj: You see, in the beginning when He sat, that evening also, usually in rural areas where there is no knowledge or wisdom about this thing, when He sat like that people misunderstood that He might be possessed by a ghost or something. So, they tried to wake Him up and one of them didn’t like His progress in the shop, in working. He had some jealousy about Him and he thought this is the opportunity and he took a cane and started beating Him up. He wouldn’t get up when He was bitten in other parts of the body, so that day it is said that only when one stroke came here with the cane [pointing to inbetween eyebrows], he tried to beat His head also, imagine! So that struck here – that’s when He opened his eyes, He came out of Samadhi. But He had totally lost interest in anything, to go to home or to do anything else. He just asked for a small cloth, which He tied like a loin cloth and taking off His shirt and the knickers that He had. And then again sat down and went. Then people tried to drag Him to home, but when He went near the home they couldn’t drag him more, He stood firmly. Then they left Him there and came. Then somebody came with some food and fed Him. Soon later He vomited that food also. Then He was lying down for a while.

In the midnight He heard that OM sound, He was drawn back to the same place, He came there. After this, He sat at a second place under a tree, just on the outskirts of the village. It is now also there, at the end of the road where His home is there, that place He sat. There again, village urchins tried to trouble Him: throwing mud on Him, small, small stones, wanting to trouble, wanting to know, “What is this, why is He sitting like that one?” Like that He was troubled. Somebody dipped a cloth in kerosene also and keeping it on His four fingers, on the leg two fingers, they put it into fire. The skin was all burnt there and His mother had come by then. She was very worried about this and then she applied some oil, some coconut oil, something to cure it.

After this, Swamiji moved to the nearby graveyard where children used to be buried, dead children used to be buried. There He thought at least the village urchins and other people would be scared to come and trouble Him, so He can continue the Tapas meditation unhindered like that. But other things of the Nature were there to trouble and test His endurance. It was rainy season, August, and the next one or two months heavy rains were happening there. So He was sitting on the ground in the mud, it had become very muddy all over. So His thigh skin had become decayed very much, sitting in that muddy water all the time. Scorpions also bit Him, some rodents bit Him – once a small type of serpent also bit Him. His body had become blue like that, then it came down by the Divine Grace. So that was when, perhaps, one day He came out of Samadhi in the midnight, it was very painful all over the body probably because of the serpent’s poisonous things. He couldn’t bear with it, burning sensation and pin-pricking type of things were happening all over His body. Then suddenly this thought came, “Why should I be sitting like this like a dead man in this graveyard? I did not ask anybody to make me sit like this, I did not even pray to God also if it is God, whoever it is” He thought. “Now I must go back home, do some business, look after my family people, my siblings, my mother, they are all left behind – who will look after them? I have to do this one, enough of this Tapas, I am not going to do this.”

 Now, imagine, we have already discussed about the amazing, courageous, great inborn qualities that He had. Watching them, we can consider it was definitely a great personality who was born into this world, to take care of the world and to teach the world, to guide and inspire the world. Not simply an ordinary person to earn a small livelihood, to look after one small family, that was not the purpose He was born. He was so great. So now, to such a person, if this could happen, imagine the amount of pain and the tests from Nature and the people around that was happening to Him. So, anybody else would have simply run away. Today, you scold somebody, they will run away, “I don’t want this guru anymore! I cannot stay here like that.” And they will judge and they will run away quietly, they cannot take it. They will fall out.

 So, this is what happens. We have heard from other ashrams also. The other day a Swami had come to our Ashram in Bangalore. He was discussing with me and I discussed, fifty years ago I had seen him as a brahmachari. Some other brahmacharis were also there. Three, four, more there. He said, they all fell out, they couldn’t sustain or adjust or manage with this type of life. After some time, they all left and are gone. Only I have remained and I have become a monk, he was explaining to me. So, like this, everywhere it is the same, people are unable to sustain themselves. They cannot be firm, determined, go on the task of achieving, do or die. To Swamiji, if it had happened, we have to imagine how difficult that moment would have had been in His mind.

He felt like crying, tears came. So, then He started walking. So, that was when He saw at the gate of the graveyard, the same Jangama Sage was standing there. That time, He commanded telling, “Because of your Prarabdha, your destiny, I have been made to manifest myself like this. And you are supposed to do this Tapas for 12 years. Till then, I will not allow you to go anywhere. This is in your Prarabdha. You have to go back and sit and do it. After 12 years, then you can go anywhere you want and you can do anything you want. Till then, don’t ask me anything, don’t seek any permission, don’t try to run away” He said.

So, then Swamiji said, “If that is the thing, if you want me to sit for 12 years, ok, I will sit now, I promise. I will not get up, come what may be, if any pain come, even if death comes, then I cannot help you. If death happens to the body, what can I do? Till then, I will sit, I will not give up, I will sit down.” He didn’t know who that Guru is. He did not know whether the Jangama Sage was genuine or not, but He had the quality, “If this is the thing I have to do, I will do it. I will finish, and then we will see what happens after 12 years.”  He didn’t know what was going to happen in that 12 years. That also, He didn’t have any training, nobody had taught Him what will happen when you sit for 12 years like that. He said, “Let us see what happens, let me keep sitting and watching.” That’s what Swamiji had told these words, “I just thought, let me see what happens when I sit quietly watching. At least for some time, I will know that one.” So, when He went on watching like that Samadhi came and He never felt like discontinuing. Only when His mother would come, bring some milk at midnight, then He would come out because He had used to keep some water, and then He used to drink and come out of that Samadhi once in 24 hours. Then He used to have some milk. So, like that, He continued for the next 12 years.

Question: Thank you, Babaji. Babaji could it be said that that Jangama Sage is a manifestation from Swamiji’s mind?

Babaji Maharaj: I will tell a small opinion of mine, but I wouldn’t claim it as conclusive. So, this is what happens. You see, when the soul which is one with the Divine that is all pervaded would have come out for some reason, and has become involved into imagination, creativity, and life after life, life after life, life after life it has come a long distance. But before coming to that it would have pressed a button, a resolved button, how to return, how to come back to the Self. So, every soul which has become individual, imagined selves what we call it, which has come, has resolved and pressed the button to go back.

So, generally I have explained this as the soul has jumped into the well called this world, but the Divine has fitted springs called agony which will throw you back to the Divinity. So, like this every soul is guaranteed, it will go back to the Self – it is a matter of time, and it’s a matter of time how the one would have chosen. Like, we all chose to have such a great Master Shiva Balayogi. If you all have chosen to have Babaji as your Master, something like that, the Divine’s Prarabdha works. Swamiji had chosen the Prarabdha to work, so the manifestation had happened from the Self. His prayers had got connected unknown to Him: His ability to remain focused had got connected to the Divinity and that had enabled the manifestation like this. So, from His own.

Because I am not using the ‘mind’ word here, people might imagine Sathyaraju’s mind – an individual’s mind not necessarily be that powerful, but when that mind was with its 100,000 potency Consciousness, whatever It would have resolved, in this life it would have happened, the manifestation of the Divinity in that form. So it had come out of Him only. Now, this we can understand; it had come out of what we call Shiva Balayogi, what we recognized.

Question: Baba, one final question we are hoping to ask: during His Tapas, Swamiji had Tapasviji Maharaj come and help Him with some finer points on performing that Tapas. Is that different to Tapasviji being his Guru, or in what way is it the same or different?

Babaji Maharaj: Swamiji used to say, if any learned person comes to you, and if there is something that you can learn from him, without any reservation you must learn, considering him equivalent to your Guru. That’s what Swamiji has told me. I have heard this, from Swamiji’s mouth itself I have heard these words. So like that you consider such… give such reverence, such respect to that person, as if he is equivalent to your Guru.

So that was when Swamiji had told, in Adi Shankara’s life also one incident comes:  Adi Shankara had a little bit of ego. When He was going to have a bath in the river Ganga, the Divine came in the form of an untouchable person with a country made alcohol on his head. So Adi Shankara said, “Give way to me, go out,” then that person said, “If there is any place out of this space, the Brahmanda, tell me, I will go there. This is the space in which you and me both live, where will I go?” So when Adi Shankara heard this, He learned that truth. “If this person has this knowledge, he is equivalent to my Guru, he cannot be an ordinary person”; He prostrates by lying down. That is what is known as sashtanga pranamams, with all His body lying down, like that. So Swamiji had told this story also, telling me, so like that we must not have any reservation to learn, consider them equivalent to your Guru. Though Shankara Bhagawan was my Guru, Swamiji’s Guru, Swamiji did not have any reservation to learn anything from Tapasviji Maharaj.

Question: Thank you, Babaji for this evening – sharing everything with us all through this evening.

Babaji Maharaj: So wonderful, some very lovely questions were asked to give me an opportunity to share my experiences and what I learned from my Master. I hope you will all learn, you will all feel inspired to practice meditation and achieve the Truth to yourself. And all my deep appreciations, love and blessings to you all.

End of Session