Sages

Excerpt 2 in which Pilot baba describes a meeting with Avatar Baba and Baba Gorakhnath and the spiritual message that they gave him.

I proceeded towards Hitaura on foot. Before I could reach my destination, I was caught in heavy rains and strong winds. The dense darkness of the night descended on the surroundings. I continued walking on the edge of the river Narayani till I was within the vicinity of the cave. The flood waters of the river continued their tremendous upheaval. Finally I came across a comparatively quiet spot, but I still did not venture to cross the water lest I get caught in angry waves - "How am I to cross the river? I thought to myself and became seriously worried". At that very instant I was bodily lifted and thrown across the river. In this way I found myself in the midst of a dark and lonely forest. The whole area was in total darkness, but, for the feeble light which was shinning from a far away place. It was still raining. I could hear the lapping sound of the river waters. I started moving towards the source of the light, and shortly came across a figure in a meditative posture sitting in the shelter of a rock. The light was emanating from this place only.

When I reached closer, I found that it was Avatar Baba sitting with his eyes closed and that the light I had seen was radiating from his frame. The light had formed a circle on the rock. I sat in the corner of the cave, and touched the earth reverently, a mute gesture to pay my respects to the Baba. Then, I too became lost in the serenity of the solitary surroundings. The distant sound of animals occasionally interrupted the silence of the atmosphere. The night bedecked with rainfall, was gradually fading away. The waves of the river were producing a sweet gentle music. Perhaps the Baba was aware of nature's dance of fury, and my presence, for, with the restoration of quietude in nature, there was a movement in his body and he opened his eyes. His eyes resembled the deep ocean, and fires lurked in them. Love and warmth, and a caution, by the great soul for a child, all found expression in his utterance - "Son, you have reached here quite late, but should not have made false moves. On an unknown journey, when the river is in spate, one should wait in order to avoid any untoward situation. But never misuse the power of Sadhana. It is by chance that my glace fell on you and I could fathom your restlessness.”

It was not necessary for you to go through all these obstacles; you could have easily sought shelter in the cave adjacent to the road". I was speechless, I did not know who had helped me and landed me in the place, and so, I just kept quiet and did not answer back.

Avatar Baba went inside the cave brought some dry clothes to wear and some fruits and food to eat. After I had finished eating, I went to sleep in the interior of the cave. I slept soundly, and when I got up in the morning, rather late, it was bright and sunny, and no trace of last night's rain was left, but the river was still in spate. I looked for Avatar Baba every where but could not find him, so I went to the nearby spring and had a bath, and washed my clothes. Refreshed, I sat on a rock and started enjoying the beauty of nature. After a long time I saw two Mahatmas coming, One was Avatar Baba, and the other one seemed to be a Nath Yogi' he was a handsome dusky, tall man, with golden locks, kundals (earrings) in his ears, and a khappar in his hand. When he came closer, I immediately recognized him; he was no other but Baba Gorakhnath. I instantly got up, ran to them and paid my respects. They affectionately caressed my head, and acknowledged my greeting. I sat with the two great men on the rock and started pondering over the Himalayas and how fortunate it was to have the great men as its inhabitants.

I started comparing man, involved in his day to day activities, with Nature and its mute messages. He has become immune to the call of the Himalayas for mundane worldliness has trapped him. He is unaware of the sublime events which continue to happen in the fold of the Himalayas, with the result he is unable to establish any rapport with these events. Similarly he is, indifferent to the mute messages of the trees which have been in this inert state for thousands of years. He is caught in the moving wheel of fate, and does not know how, and when, it will come to a stand still. My thought sequence continued in this manner for quite some time. But the sudden laughter of the mahatmas broke the chain of my thoughts and with a start I came out of my reverie. The laughing mahatmas addressed me thus. In vain, you are trying to establish an affinity between the two contradictory aspects of life, namely the mute message of the Himalayas, the inert state of the trees, and the busy life of human beings. The two are, the manifestation of His form, for He is omnipresent. He is present in the animate as well as the inanimate. But he does not belong to anyone in particular - he is immersed in his Self. Likewise, you have to do the same. Although the river flows between its two banks, yet it does not belong to either of them. It has its distinct identity, and is fully aware of its destination. It overcomes all the obstacles on its way, and keeps moving towards its ultimate goal. This is the law of nature. Water plays the role of a medium only. Since nature is also present within you, you have to doggedly pursue your aim, despite, the many obstacles which will try to impede your progress.

Like the river, your mission in life is to keep moving. Ignore the awaiting banks, and the busy world. If the Himalayas are mute, let it be so. Your continuous movement should be the primary concern of your life Kapil. Every jiva (living creature) is born and reborn, in this world to redeem his past karmas. But he forgets the chief objective of his life, and gets involved in altogether different karmic activities. In this way the real purpose of his life is lost in the realm of oblivion, for, the attention of the doer, is only on new karmas. Karmas give birth to samskaras, and samskaras, become the cause of life and death. It unlocks the doors, to liberation or mukti. But the desire for moksha (liberation) is also present in humans. Man is embellished with myriad kalas (art forms) of life. Man's body betrays a rare kind of usefulness. Unmoved and unencumbered he can withdraw himself within his body, and explore the mysterious inner world. He can either adopt the path of enlightenment or become superstitious. In this context the thought waves become the deciding factor. The flux of thought waves is of supreme importance. Thoughts waves alone, project earth in the form of liquid and solid. You must learn to cultivate the use of refined thoughts. From the platform of the micro you can observe the physical world but desist from comparing the two. Wisdom lies in this practical outlook. Your experience of the physical world reflects the outline of the activities of the solid world. These outlines have left their impressions on your mind. You have to erase these impressions from your mind, so that your mind becomes totally clean. As the river surrenders itself to the ocean, likewise you should surrender all your impressions to the ocean. The ocean will return everything to you and drop by drop, you will receive the guidance from the sky, the earth will impart to you the lesson of forbearance, and the inner radiance, you will get from the fire. First you have to liberate the micro form the physical fetters, secondly the 'Cause should became 'sans' Micro, and lastly, the 'cause' should also become totally free. Allow all the organs to go, only you have to remain, as you are, and whatever is within you has to be banished. Herein lies the definition of 'life', both inert and the 'animate'. In conformance to your requirement, Nature will initiate the process of creation and the consequent, creative processes will only revolve around you. Nature will merely be an instrument in these activities you will be the cause, and 'Nature' will be the medium. You take the plunge in the ocean of your 'self', where life and death, do not exist. Yesterday cannot foreshadow tomorrow, because 'today' is in the form of 'Karma' standing betwixt the two. This manifests the 'form' of 'Kaal' (fate) and here in lies the 'Parkrama' of birth and death. Penetrate the darkness of death and strive to obtain the novelty which is hidden in its folds. The flowers will bloom and spread their fragrance, whether they are offered to gods or adorn the tresses of women, they have to finally fade away. This is the unbroken law of nature. You will also have to face the similar threat, you will also be adorned and worshipped, you cannot escape form these consequences. But you should not break, cling 'fast' to your resolve".

After the illuminating sermon, we left that place came to the river, and crossed it with superb ease. The waters of the river became still, turned solid, and facilitated our crossing. It was an amazing experience. We sat for a while on the banks, and started towards Hitaura. At the market place, a cloth merchant offered us place to sit in his shop. He was familiar with Avatar Babas, name, but was unable to identify him. Generally, people, fail to identify these exalted souls. The attitude of the common people towards these two great mahatmas endorsed my observation. They were treated as the many mahatmas, who frequented the market and thus moved freely. The shopkeeper, however, was very hospitable. Avatar Baba bought a dhoti from his shop, and asked me to wear it after dyeing it in ochre colour. Our entire day was spent in the hustle and bustle of the market place. Avatar Baba, a jovial person, freely mixed with the common folks, but Baba Gorakhnath maintained his sobriety. He was quiet and aloof totally detached from the mundane activities of the physical world.