Dear Friends,
Imagine meditating in the kitan hall in Haidakhan in 1981 and Shri Babaji walking up behind you and putting a mala on you. Frankly, I could have never imagined it in my life! I had been with Shri Babaji as He traveled to Vapi, Gujarat, Vrindaban, and New Delhi in February of 1981.I had many deep experiences and a few personal interactions with Him on that trip but He was generally surrounded by hundreds of people. I saw him bestow malas on a few people but could never imagine it would be me.
In June of that year, I went back to India for three months, this time bringing my two sons, Jacob 10 and Amil 8. I made the proper preparations this time (not having done so my first trip) with a letter asking permission to come and was told that we could come to Haidakhan in late June.
Although there were still many people around Baba it was a very different scene. With monsoon beginning the afternoon we arrived (a whole other story), not many devotees from Delhi or Bombay were there as they would be risking being rained in at Haidakhan for several months.
So one rainy afternoon, Nilam, a wonderful German woman devotee and I were sitting in the temple meditating. All of a sudden, Shri Babaji, seemed to appear out of nowhere, in His typical fashion, and placed malas on us. She received a cornelian one and I received a jade one.
I never thought to look up the qualities of Jade before now. Here are a few: Jade is said to bless whatever it touches. Green Jade is a crystal of love. Jade is the stone of calm in the midst of storms.
How appropriate all of these are for me. I wear this mala constantly and always feel blessed by Babaji and His deep love. On many, many occasions, I have held on to it in times of confusion and challenge. It has certainly brought me peace and strength in the midst of storms.
So here we are today and Raghuvir has suggested as many of us as possible to do 108000 Om Namah Shivayas before Shri Babaji’s Mahasamadhi on February 14. The purpose of this is to ask Him to come down from the Himalayas, where according to Shri Muniraji He has taken on another body, and to resume His assan in Haidakhan for the good of humanity, which we see is in great need.
Further down in this newsletter, I have copied some of Raghu’s inspiring articles about this. We are definitely in a time of great transition, which Baba referred to as Kranti and the more prayers and mantras we do, the better.
I will certainly be using my green jade mala from Shri Babaji for these special prayers.
Sending love and deep gratitude to my Lord, Shri Babaji,
Ramloti for the Ashram
Zoom Satsang on Saturday, January 23 at 1pm MST with Nan Singh from Australia and Hiroman from Washington
Another way to help inspire our world is through sharing of the truth with others or “satsang”. Our next satsang will be on Saturday, January 23 at 1pm MST. We will have two long-time devotees sharing their stories and speaking about how these experiences with Shri Babaji influences their lives today. The Zoom link will be the same as last time at: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84820406020?pwd=RXRKYnJYSDFKYmhxYVMrNXBOVGo4UT09 Meeting ID: 848 2040 6020 Passcode: 474473
Meet Nan Singh in his words:
“I first went to India looking for my guru in 1975. I walked to Amarnath and spent time in Varanasi bathing each day in the Ganga but did not meet Babaji at this time. I took a one-way ticket to India in 1977 and went with very little money but I resolved not to leave India until I found my Guru. Little did I know it was not so much me looking, but Him calling me. I was living in Almora and spent time with Tara Devi, the Sunyata Baba the great Danish saint, then I met Ananda Mayi Ma who granted me a vision. Two days after having her Darshan I walked to Haidakhan. As I walked up the river bed it all felt very familiar to me. I arrived with only a few rupees and the clothes I stood up in. When I pranamed to Shri Babaji for the first time He Said that I could sleep at the foot of his asan and then leave tomorrow. As I understood these words my heart broke that He was sending me away and I felt I had come to the end of my life. He then said "Ah you are good man you stay, mundan karo (shave your head), Karma yog karo, jap karo, and so I started living in Haidakhan. After some months, Babaji sent me to live in Rajasthan, I wasn't allowed to take anything with me just a few basics and 100 rupees.
I eventually became very ill with Malaria and had to return to the UK for treatment. I returned to Haidakhan in 1979 with Bhuri who became my wife. After some months, Babaji sent me to Australia, where I have lived since.
I have kept a place for puja wherever i have lived since and built a temple which Muniraj called "Shri Maha Deva Dham" I have undertaken a Havan at least weekly since the mid 1980's and keep a puja place in the house to this day. I have returned to India since 1979 many, many times. Babaji remains a constant presence sometimes in ways I can tell sometimes beyond words. Life has, as it does for us all, brought many challenges but one thing remains constant; Babaji’s beloved presence within and without.
Meet Hiraman in his words:
In 1972 I read Autobiography of a Yogi and was deeply touched with the part about Babaji, the Immortal Yogi Christ of India and I began to pray to Him. In 1975, Babaji appeared to me in my orchard and told me to come to India and find Him.
Without much of a clue, I saw an advertisement about the Kumba Mela in India and decided to go. I went to the Kumba Mela in India in 1976, where there were millions of people.
After days of fruitless search, I was led to Babaji by an unknown person. I was in bliss and in 1978 Babaji instructed me to build a temple and Ashram for Him in Hawaii, which I did. I currently live in Bellingham, WA. but no matter where I am, He is always with me in my heart.
We are so excited to meet these devoted gentlemen and ask them questions. If you are unable to make this time, you can catch it on YouTube a few hours later at Ramloti Wood channel, it will also be posted on facebook. Remember it begins at 1pm MST and the Zoom link is https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84820406020?pwd=RXRKYnJYSDFKYmhxYVMrNXBOVGo4UT09
Meeting ID: 848 2040 6020 Passcode: 474473
The last amazing satsang with Raghuvir is posted at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pOi4tQL14Yc&list=PLcCFjZ8Kl0OIgubGXAksnLBsY1VpAn200&index=1&t=3480s
108000 Om Namah Shivayas!
Raghu wrote: “I cannot describe the enormous stimulus that meeting Babaji has made on my life. The more I discover the Divine, the more grateful I feel about it. From what I have understood it is because of the intense Sadhana of Shri Mahendra Maharaj that Babaji manifested abody for 14 years. Babaji does not need to manifest a body to do His work. I suspect it would be an enormous bother for Him now since social media, e-mail, and phone connections are instant and travel is so easy and fast. On the other hand, God has no limits and has unconditional love for His devotees. There is now not even a shadow of a great saint like Mahendra Maharaj amongst us who can seduce our beloved Babaji into a human form again. But perhaps we are many now that have a sincere hunger for His manifestation in these troubled times. Perhaps not even for you and me, but for the thousands that would come and have His darshan, for all those who will have a change of heart after beholding His Divine presence with their eyes.
“Surely The great Babaji will not react to whimsical wishes but how could He not respond to the deep yearning and cry of many of His earnest devotees calling Him out of the Himalaya to His Assan in Haidakhan. With this in my mind I came up with a plan that I will personally do and call on any yogi and yogini, wanna be yogi and devotee to take part in enticing the Lord to walk amongst us once again.
“On Sunday 14th of February, it will be 37 years since Babaji has left His physical form. I will start on Friday 12 February reducing food to a bare minimum and offer 108000 mantras at His lotus feet with the earnest request in mind to take physical presence amongst us again. I am calling on you who read this to do the same. For offering such an amount of Om Namah Shivaya or Om Haidiyakhandi mantra’s you will need to do a lot of Japa to complete it. Start earlier if you cannot take 3 days out of your life. See how you can participate in calling Babaji.
Be a part of it, if not for you, do it for the benefit of humanity. Let us try together to let unconditional Love manifest in a body. It has taken Mahendra Baba years, so we will need to do this a lot more but let us start it now that the kranti is taking shape.”
“Ao-Ao Bhole Baba, Himalaya se ao, Kripa caro tumare bhakton pe. Come come Bhole Baba, come from the Himalayas and have compassion on your devotees.”
Further from Raghu:
The mail about calling Babaji has been received worldwide with great enthusiasm. I would like to pass a few practical ideas to help the enthusiasm along. Doing one mala with Om Namah Shivay takes about one minute. To do 108000 Om Namah Shivay we first divide it by 108 ( beads ) to make it 1000 complete Mala’s. To do that in 3 days is 333 mala’s a day for about 6 hours continuous in high concentration. Not so easy but easy is not in Babaji’s dictionary. However one needs to eat and a few other things throughout the day and will be more than 6 hours. For many people with families, with work, businesses and other pressing activities it can be difficult to do in this way.
Spread out over 10 days is a 100 mala’s a day and adds up to less than 2 hours. This becomes within reach of everybody who is yearning to feel The Lord alive in their heart and join the call for Babaji to come to His assan in Herakhan once again for the benefit of humanity. Even if one spends a concentrated hour a day starting on Monday 25th January it becomes very easy to complete. Take an hour of concentrated practice with a watch and counting and make your own calculation.
My personal experience of doing concentrated Japa for a prolonged time is that after some hours, you are not doing the mantra….the mantra is doing you. The body just sits, letting the beads pass thru the fingers in a certain state of bliss. Thoughts may still come and try to catch your attention but you have a choice to give in to them or stay with the mantra. To reach this it takes doing more in a shorter time.
108000 is just a nice and substantial number to really become familiar with Japa and Om Namah Shivay. Perhaps there are some heavyweights amongst us here and can double this or more. Feel free, nobody will check what you are doing and nobody wants to know. This is a deal you are making with Babaji! You do it in your time, at your convenient time and in your way.
Thank You to You All
Many of you continue to donate to the home of the Divine Mother and Shri Babaji and we are deeply appreciative. Some that are done on Facebook, do not give your names and so we can not personally thank everyone. Please know that we thank all of you from the bottom of our hearts for all your support of the Ashram. If you would like to find out more about the Ashram, read devotees stories, shop at the Maha Lakshmi Shop, or make a donation, please go to our website at www.babajiashram.org.
All of you who contribute to the Ashram are always remembered at the Fire Ceremonies and at Shri Babaji’s and the Divine Mother’s feet. And everyone is always welcome to ask for these prayers as well, with or without a donation. Just email us at info@babajiashram.orgor call us at 719-256-4108 with your prayers and petitions. We love to hear from you. Jai Ma!