Enlightenment Is the Secret to Fly

By Devinder Sharma

Each one of us is confronted with the same question at sometime or the other, "Who am I"? There is no one person within struggling with a monkey on their shoulders. Either we tame this monkey and experience true happiness, joy and enlightenment or surrender which take us on the road to disillusionment, surrender to the meandering mind and a wasted life. Search for one's soul is a difficult road but there is light at the end. The path whether religious, humanistic, mystic or scholarly or work centered releases energy within and creates opportunity to break out of our shackles. Sincere effort is rewarded with direction, provoked by unfathomable forces. As one traverses the path of self discovery milestones have no meaning, but what matters is to find wings to fly. Enlightenment is the Secret to Fly, wrestles with "Who am I"?

The novel a fictional story takes the reader on a tour of beliefs, thoughts, customs and sensibilities of Indian spiritual and religious thought and explores concepts of happiness, joy and enlightenment. The protagonist is a middle aged company executive who wants to opt out from the rat race and his efforts brings him to a sadhu who has achieved enlightenment at a young age and the novel follows the life of this sadhu from childhood, schooling, his tragedies, training in a hermitage and his eventual enlightenment, his leaving the hermitage and his travels. As he travels in the Himalayas he encounters people from many parts of the world seeking peace, happiness, tranquility and a meaning in their sufferings and life. Life outside his hermitage is very different and he is saddened with the injustice, insensitivity and the unhappy lives of people. He seeks a different enlightenment and believes that institutions including hermitages where he spent many years, temples, organized religion or governments unable to provide the means for peace and happiness in spite of the many organized entities intruding in peoples lives individual unhappiness and disillusionment were increasing. Since what men seek lie within hence solutions to ones discontent is personal. He finds a simple solution at the end of his travels that will end mans misery and brings joy back in their lives.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse UK
• Release date: Oct 28, 2011
• ISBN: 9781456786120

Devinder Sharma

Devinder Sharma is a post graduate in Industrial Engineering and a B. Sc. in Electrical Engineering, and has been associated with 100 IT projects in various capacities his last position being Vice President of an IT company. He set up Knowledge House a test preparation company, consulted for Software companies and individuals, undertaken pioneering work in Operations Research with publications at National and International Symposiums. He has an Ayurvedic clinic offering alternative medicine and wellness cures. He is married with two daughters, traveled in Europe and Asia, and lives in Bangalore with his family. He has been practicing yoga, pranayama and meditation for past many years and invited for giving demonstrations. He is an occasional cook, follows sports, games and current affairs.

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Contents

Foreword and Acknowledgments

Dramatis Personae

Book 1

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Book 2

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Book 3

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Book 4

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Book 5

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Epilogue

Glossary

Foreword and Acknowledgments

Human societies irrespective of country, stage of development, form of government, beliefs and traditions are today challenged by impermanence, turbulence, intolerance and uncertainty at a rate never before in mankind’s history. Overpopulation, unsustainable exploitation of natural resources, environmental degradation, contrived relationships, moral and ethical crises brought by greed, falsehood, permissiveness and exploitative business practices in a borderless world where the threshold for tolerance dangerously low make our eco system, liberal thought, concepts of democracy, markets, production, educational systems and traditional religions helpless in the face of these assaults. Our institutions are unable to provide solutions to our problems. Never before has the human race been confronted with so many problems of epic dimensions simultaneously when technology promises unimaginable solutions.

Enlightenment is the Secret to Fly demonstrates that man’s crisis today is spiritual and moral with far reaching consequences for our world and the very survival of the human race is under threat. Discontent of interest groups despite their loud demonstrations and their inability to provide succour to those whose cause they espouse is one symptom and in the welter of many incoherent voices most of which can be dealt with, individual angst erodes the soul leading to loss of faith in all what man has built and swears by and thereby this crisis. The only way to respond to these challenges is at the individual level by searching for spirituality lying within and harnessing it’s potential to enrich and make our lives meaningful, happy and joyful and stress free. Man has come a long way and today carries the potential of becoming truly superman but societies, by implication its institutions like governments, democracy, education, political discourse, management of technology etc. have to provide him the means, opportunities and space to understand and transcend individual angst, alienation and hopelessness to his spiritual awakening and achieve enlightenment or moksha.

Spirituality has no one meaning or idiom; rather many. There are two fundamental insights which will shape our understanding of spirituality for times to come. One, man is born with consciousness, he lives with it and with his end it slips away. Where it came from and vanished remains a mystery. Increasingly people believe that the source of consciousness is nothingness and many call it God. People with near death experiences speak of their sojourn straight or sometimes through a dirty passage to a peaceful wondrous and enchanting land where they experienced unbounded happiness, joy and delight and immersion in love. Irrespective of sex, nationality or religion or non religion it is spoken of as bliss. Again, the belief amongst many people is that the source and motivation for this experience is God. Again, no matter what people, society, affluence, education, tradition or profession a spiritual person is seriously engaged in being better and striving for perfection. Therefore, being spiritual has at its base the search and reaching out for excellence. Perfection never ends. All ancient civilizations had a rich tradition of excellence which cannot be erased from man’s collective consciousness. These define and shape the meaning of spirituality.

The orientation for spiritualism is one of listening, not blankness or a state of nothingness. Being receptive to thoughts that flit in and out of your mind is going beyond senses. The mind is bombarded by innumerable thoughts which we call monkey chatter. By meditating or similar practices you reach a state where you are able to stop your monkey chatter. This can’t be forced and must happen by mind’s own volition. You cannot think your way into a state of no monkey chatter. When you become open you are receptive and you can witness your thoughts. You have to learn to see the thoughts of your mind and what they tell you. You cannot tell anything to your thoughts. You cannot insist your mind to think something you want it. It will not do that. The more you insist the more monkey chatter it will generate. Imposing yourself in any way on anyone or the world is not being spiritual. When you are in a mode of imposing your will on the world you are not present in the moment and neither alert and hence not wakeful. This awareness, that arises because you are spiritual, is different from crossing a street where the alertness is dynamic, alive moment to moment and gathers everything at all levels—material, mental, emotional and psychic as they really are not as we would wish them

Enlightenment is the Secret to Fly is a fictional story built on some true incidents and the philosophy, esoteric practices and the mystical rites of Yoga. I have been privy to activities and rituals which I had seen, experienced, or heard from people eminently equipped to do so and I had no reason to disbelieve. As a story I had to knit tales and fables with explanations going back to beliefs embedded in the knowledge, esoteric practices, rites and culture from a rich ancient civilization. The book is the journey of a sensitive child from an average family through a pleasant childhood, confronting harsh reality and tragedy, encompassing disappointment to enlightenment, from sorrow to joy, from the trivial to profound and from emptiness to meaning in life. He attains enlightenment in a hermitage and one day he leaves and his wanderings begin where he confronts humanity and discovers the disillusionment of the many, their incompleteness, anxieties, helplessness and emptiness seeking meaning, reasons for their conditions and solace and finds a solution to end man’s misery. He did not set out for enlightenment but events, the substance of which takes place albeit differently in many of us, meaning they were ordinary to begin with, but for a sensitive and high energy person become troubling and forces one such to find their reasons, and thus begins the search for enlightenment. Serendipity seeks such souls.

Closely allied to enlightenment is the emergence of happiness as a singular thought that has taken the imagination of people so much that happiness has become some sort of a movement of this century. Enlightenment is the Secret to Fly explores happiness, joy, yoga, penance, meditation, moksha, compassion and enlightenment in settings far removed from the current life in India and usual perceptions or what visitors to the country get to see. But the concepts and their sensitivities that the novel explores are independent of race, colour, religion or a country.

I have two obligations towards my readers—one to expose them to spiritual and to some extent religious insights. They may or may not have thought or experienced or unaware of or imagined or overlooked them when confronted subtly or otherwise and to take them on an adventure where they can experience if not firsthand but through the characters a sense of what they imagined or expected or wished but could not articulate when they begin reading and create a canvas, for those with spiritual curiosity or inclination to examine, relate, wonder and experiment. The second, more prosaic obligation is to open to my readers the conventional spiritual knowledge and understanding through non conventional and non normal imagery. You will encounter as in any tale built around a body of knowledge circumstances and situations created as a backdrop to absorbing, even controversial thoughts and ideas backed by a glossary to research further.

In a sense Enlightenment is the Secret to Fly is an intellectual and spiritual journey. It could be mine, or yours or anyone else’s. Covering a wide canvas is not possible without the contributions from many. I have had the fortune of coming across many people in search of God, the atman or soul, truth; the serious and devout on pilgrimages, penances, religious practices; the charlatans, fraudsters, magicians, healers and those preying on man’s perennial weaknesses; the serious thinkers, philosophers, ascetics and monks; god men and god women and many more. I met them at bus stops and railway stations, in temples and religious congregations; in spiritual retreats, recorded commentaries and instructions; during journeys, public discourses and private meeting with spiritualists, study of various works and lastly my personal experiences. Therefore, this work rests on the shoulders of many, some whose names and faces have become a dim memory yet I remain indebted to them and my dues rest heavily on me. I also express my thanks to G P Basavaraj a hearing and speaking challenged young lad who created the illustrations.

May you have many happy and joyful hours reading and wrestling with ideas, feelings and concepts that follow! If there are shortcomings and errors I own up to them. And, lastly you have every right to disagree.

[e-mail]

Devinder Sharma

23rd. July, 2011,

Bangalore

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Road Map of Rajasthan

Dramatis Personae

In alphabetical Order:

Aadidev Sanatana: The first priest of the Hilltop Shiva temple. He was sent by the Sanatana family of professional priests in Saurashtra on the request of Shiv Narain Sinhji to build a Shiva temple. The temple would nullify the curse on the noble man’s family where no offspring survived.

Aaliya: Nirankar Baba’s elder sister, a woman of beauty, fearless and a practical lady widowed at young age with two children Balwant and Sheetal, returns to her parental house to avoid harassment from her in-laws, engages herself in their family’s farming.

Amir Pragaya Thakur: Also known as Amir Pragaya Singh, rich pleasure loving head of an art, artefacts and animal skins clandestine network to acquire genuine, fake or stolen merchandize for the rich in Europe and England. Lives away from the city and built the secret Shikari Manzil (hunter’s lodge) in the wild as his store house and entertainment centre for his guests.

Angela White: Born under tragic circumstances to an English nun raped by pindaris, adopted by a childless English couple who became a very eligible heiress who married a good hearted Anglo Indian who squandered her wealth. Divorcing him, circumstances force Angela to become a procuress and built a large network which entrapped young girls from good families fallen on hard times. She married Nirankar Baba’s father and became his second wife.

Arbaaz Mujtaba Hassan: A fearless man of great strength but no principles whose antecedents were unknown and lived with Zena Bibi, a part Sindhi part Ethiopian madam who runs a sophisticated brothel and protected by Amir Pragaya Singh.

Buland Khan: Originally from Ajmer, an ex hockey player, army deserter played for a princely polo team and sacked for throwing a match, a smart person involved in prostitution by procuring young girls from rural areas of indigent families and selling them to brothels.

Chandi: Owner of the restaurant called the Great Indian Military Hotel outside the settlement of Devikot on the main road from Barmer to Jaisalmer.

Dev: The protagonist or the story teller in search of moksha and enlightenment is a middle aged, successful company executive, married with a family and finds his life in spite of conventional successes empty and vacuous; his unfulfilled spiritual condition eating into his conscious has him deeply disturbed. His effort has not brought him his coveted spiritual goal which he hopes to achieve through Nirankar Baba.

Govinda Samaprabha: Also known as Govinda Swamy or simply Swamiji is a popular Godman, a worshiper of Lord Krishna, built ashrams, temples and set up orphanages, schools, colleges and hospitals from the donations received from his followers with a large following, while his ability to materialize things from thin air and sacraments made him controversial.

Ishwaranandaji: Learned senior albeit practical monk at the hermitage, Nirankar Baba’s tutor and taught his batch in the Hermitage’s defined graded process for spiritual and personal enlightenment. He was selected by Omkarji the chief of the hermitage to become Nirankar Baba’s percept after his year of penance. He was the quintessential tutor monk self effacing and faceless.

Mahadev Sanatana: The fifty six year old descendant of Aadidev Sanatana, current priest with three children one pursuing doctorate in the USA, the other studying engineering and a married daughter and Kamala his wife. A visionary with a strong ethical and moral conscience, dabbled in agricultural experiments, consolidated the estate and wracked by guilt because his family bribed the government in an inheritance dispute, underwent severe penances and claimed to have God, started philanthropic activities, and developed the Hilltop into a remarkable place.

Nand Kishore Abheer: Nand Kishore or simply Kishoreji was Nirankar Baba’s tutor, guide and caretaker in Barmer whom he stayed with for five years for his schooling and had a strong influence on his life. Nirankar Baba revered him and calling him Bauji with respect.

Nirankar Baba: The sadhu who in his friendship imperceptibly becomes Dev’s Guru and shapes his spiritual intent, painstakingly removing his doubts through his fascinating life story of being sinned against, violence and retribution followed by his own restlessness and despair through a maze of extraordinary adventures to his enlightenment at a hermitage following a demanding life, relentless hard practice and spiritual sensitivity throws light on the true spiritual path. His enlightenment at a young age of thirty and his simple answer for the hopeless condition of mankind and individual meaning makes him the hero of the novel.

Omkarji: Nirankar Baba’s spiritual Guru who made the hermitage, set in old Buddhist caves in a tropical forest, into a self contained, vibrant and spirited organization where he and his staff trained young men were for spiritual development whom he carefully choose. He was instrumental in devising and perfecting a spiritual process for moksha or enlightenment of apprentices. It was rumoured that even after his death he came as an apparition to those near ready for spiritual development and looked after the welfare of his monks.

Rajendra Kalla: Came from a family of kirana (grains and spices) shop keepers in Jalwa who had mortgaged their lands due to business failure and were finding it difficult to recover their lands. Spied on Nirankar Baba’s family and involved in the massacre.

Roop Singh Abdi: A wily Pindari or a miscreant on hire trusted and used by Amir Pragaya Singh to carry out his heinous deeds and organized the massacre of Nirankar Baba’s family at his behest, once a violent fellow and later involved in opium business who started consuming opium after his family left him.

Shiv Narain Sinhji: The noble man from the Sinhji jagir in Saurashtra whose family was granted the right to collect tax and remit a portion into the British treasury, sold his inheritance to his brothers and ventured to a far away land where he built a large estate and by marriage connected to the royal family of the place. He and his son commissioned the Shiva temple on a Hilltop which he donated to the priestly Sanatana family who built it.

Swami Harshananda: A Hindu monk who administered a Vedic centre in Berne where he taught Hinduism and Indian culture revered by his European students and influenced by scholastic and academic systems of Europe returned to India and established New Santana Dharma High School in Barmer where Nirankar Baba studied.

Sachairi Findlay: The camel farm owner in Nokha Mandi, an ex tutor from an exclusive English boarding school in Lucknow, introduced to Nirankar Baba by Angela White, helped him in planning his investigation and introduced him to a senior police official of Jaisalmer.

Stephen Malkovich Law: An Englishman and a senior manager with the Indian Railways married to Laboni a Hindu from Hasnabad now Bangladesh, a devout practicing Hindu with whom Nirankar Baba boards during his BA studies. The couple is childless and looks at Nirankar Baba as their son, introduces him to true Hindu religion (Santana Dharma) leaving a lasting impression on him and later adopts his nephew and niece after his tragedy.

Swami Ranganthananda: A wandering monk from Swami Harshananda’s order who taught Hatha Yoga to Nirankar Baba in school and also taught Pranayama at the hermitage.

Book 1

The Beginning

Chapter 1

Dev’s Ennui

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His wandering gaze finally rested on the religious mendicant, wearing an ochre kurta sitting on the mud and brick platform around the neem tree, as if it was the most natural thing for him. He looked straight into the eyes of the sadhu which were smouldering with an indefinable mystic intensity within. It had an animal like magnetism and Dev felt his eyes piercing through him and as his gaze bored through him he felt naked. Feeling weak in his knees, convinced that those hypnotic eyes had read him like a book and there was really nothing to hide from those piercing eyes. Dev was bewitched and abruptly stopped in his aimless walk. Moments later that spell of magic was gone, and he felt himself as the same familiar person he knew and the enchantment had passed.

He turned towards the figure and saw the sadhu’s face and struck by its aristocratic features on what he concluded a well maintained body. Yes it was a sadhu but different from those he had encountered earlier for none had attracted him in the way the sadhu in front did. He walked towards him not knowing what was going through him except that his animal magnetism had bewitched him. As he reached him, he saw the sadhu’s calm and tranquil face, lips half open in a beckoning smile. When their eyes met the sadhu smiled, a smile that sprang from his eyes and lit his face and the invitation was unquestionable.

Dev had been complaining to himself for the past few years that his life had shackled and consigned him to think, act and live in an imperfectly empty but a precise rule based world toiling for money, prestige, respectability and what else he did not understand or cared for. It was a world of vain despairing people who trudged every day to work coming in regularly without knowing why they were rushing and forever speculating at their sense of self-importance which was another facade in their false lives. Their world was full of similar people who likened money as the only measure of success and a fetish for high grades in everything that was gradable which they believed as the outcome of smart work and defined success in life. Yes, smartness was an important virtue. Conformance to society defined morals, which were either white or black, and the other people he dealt with in his daily and quite ordinary life made him restless and a desire to escape the trappings of middle class life. Yes, he believed that anyone in his world would drop their pants if the price was right. Squinting in the sun he felt like a bird of prey released from its cage, now soaring high and higher enjoying the exhilaration that came from turning his back on the small impermanent and false world which Dev regarded as the perfect trap for human misery. As these thoughts ran through his mind, he took a decisive and firm step, and walked towards the sadhu which would change his life for ever. He walked in a gracious springy motion with a happy smile and he felt the sadhu’s eyes softening and his hand over the mud platform, wiping and then patting it, a silent invitation to come and sit. Such gestures of open affection and love at first meeting between strangers who have yet to exchange a word rarely come and carry ominous portents.

It had been a strange day. At his friend Radhakrishnan’s urgings and their circle of retired people who assembled once a week to sing hymns to Gods and Goddesses, Dev visited the ashram of Govinda Samaprabha also known as Govinda Swamy or simply Swamiji for his blessings. These good natured people assured him that with the Swamiji’s blessings and his intercession Dev would find peace and would be miraculously cured of his restlessness and shown a path that would lead him to the end of his quest. In his mind’s eye he pictured these middle aged people going about their day to day middle class life coping with their personal problems, but could not see the serenity and calmness in their lives they talked about. Radhakrishnan was an old friend who had worked in Bahrain and after saving and scrimping returned to India to live a retired life, built a big house and organized religious ceremonies an absorbing godly and social outlet. His house was often the venue for the groups’ weekly meetings where he had a certain standing and unknown to many of them, spent much of his waking time dreaming money making schemes.

Dev was unable to explain to these well-meaning people that meaning of life was personal and no one could tell another his meaning and each had to find their meaning themselves. Meaning of life was merely a phrase that signified many things and nothing at once. During a discussion with these people, he had said half seriously, Life had no apparent meaning, and if you believed that you had a debt to your Creator which you are required to clear before you passed into the nether world you could very well do it with peace, grace and humour, and they had responded as another instance of his impetuosity. He had rubbed it in by addressing to no one in particular, One need not take oneself so seriously. He did not believe in what he said but the purpose was to create embarrassment and confusion. However, Dev believed having met some and read about many, no Godman or Godwoman could give anyone the meaning of their life. Many of them were charlatans preying on humanity’s weakness and frailty and some as clueless about the meaning of life as their legions of devotees. This would have shocked them for it was apostasy and evil to imagine so. He had travelled across some 30 odd kilometres changed two busses to reach Swamiji’s ashram early in the morning.

The scene at Swamiji’s ashram was festive. He walked a furlong pushed and jostled along with hundreds of people like him to reach the venue where people were standing or sitting on their haunches or squatting in a row after row. This sea of humanity around a raised rectangular platform covered with white sheets on which sat half a dozen people on either side of a large chair with orange and golden coloured cloth giving it a shape like a throne with a small foot stool covered with a dark red crimson cloth and golden tasselled embellishments strung around reaching the ground. On the two sides of this throne sat the musicians two of which were drumming their tablas, another moving his fingers on a harmonium and a lady dressed in white who clanged small cymbals in her hands. The vocalist, another lady dressed in a traditional temple red saree, long sleeved brown top with orange and white flowers decorating her hair arranged in a thick long black braid, looked calm being familiar to such settings.

The raised platform was reached by neatly decorated steps, with flowers strung on a thread arranged on them, to climb onto the platform which was five feet above the ground and covered with a white cloth roof. Dev found space in a row not far from the platform and surveyed the scene. He could not bring himself to believe that he had finally made it to Govinda’s ashram. Incredulous as it appeared to him, he had heard their requests innumerable times, Your restlessness will end, you will be on a new journey, and it will be like being born again when you go and submit yourself to Swamiji, and allowed words of these excited people to float past him and smiled looking heaven wards. Sometimes he would nod his head and say, Surely I will go as soon as I can. He surveyed the scene before him. He was looking for people from Radhakrishnan’s troupe.

The gathering was about two thousand people but what was amazing was the assortment of people like a box of mixed sweets. The variety of people with different back grounds spoke of the esteem the Godman was held across Indian society. He could spot well known bureaucrats, sports persons, business men, educationists, politicians and their families. There was a small sprinkling of sadhus and mendicants who stood out by their clothes or the way they kept their hair or made their faces. He sensed that almost the entire country was represented. He spotted foreign looking men and women some wearing Indian clothes. All were there—the rich and privileged, the curious and incredulous, the poor and indigenous, the powerful and their hanger on; all colours of skins and from different parts of the country nay the world seemed to be here. Many had the distant look in their eyes waiting for that which brought them here, a touch, a smile or pat from the Swamy. He could not guess since when this humanity had begun to assemble waiting for the Swamy. He had reached more than an hour late and the Swamy still had not stepped out to give his benediction to his devotees.

It was late January and the Indian summer in this part of the country started early and would become warm later but now it was refreshingly cool. At intervals a soft gust of wind blew over the remarkably disciplined gathering. The music makers were seriously playing their instruments and the lady vocalist joined them with a hymn, an invocation to Lord Krishna. She would sing a few lines in her thin melodious voice and then with her hands invited the crowd to join in the chorus. Dev now impatient for the arrival of the Swamiji looked around and discovered for a number of queues, there was a supervisor who answered queries, provided clarifications and generally praised the Godman to those willing to listen. Dev could not help reminding himself that the religious gathering was organized along military lines perhaps like a military parade except that people had forgotten the march of time. His mind refused to proffer any reason but the spectacle of military discipline, military march and the din associated with armies was overwhelming and putting siege to his imagination.

He looked around taking in the crowd to understand what brought them here? He could see there were the really poor and the very rich, the pious and the worldly, the quiet and the vocal, the timid and the arrogant, the knowledge and the blue collar worker and the politician with their stooges. The person to his right told Dev that amongst regular visitors were retired army personnel some of whom had volunteered their services to the ashram. As he was ruminating a murmur spread through the crowd, Swamiji is coming, Swamiji is coming ran the message on invisible legs walking on thin air, and as it passed people woke up and peered at a cottage fifty yard away from where the Swamiji would emerge for whom they had been waiting. His holiness hadn’t stepped out and it was his advance party who were approaching the stage. The game of relaying Swamiji is coming was taken up by the volunteers. The volunteers were a special class that formed the outer ring of the eminence’s influence circle. He recalled Radhakrishnan explaining studiously and deliberately about these volunteers—how you became one, how it increased religious fervour and numerous occasions to be near Swamiji which purified their souls and those who caught Swamiji’s eye won his favour moving up the hierarchy in the organization labouring to explain that these gradations were akin to the soul’s evolution. No volunteer asked for this trajectory but all wished this evolution, which came by Swamiji’s benevolence. He remembered Radhakrishnan’s wife complaining that her husband had become a volunteer in his first few weeks of regular attendance, was specially favoured by Swamiji but refused to move up. Of course moving up landed with responsibilities and the promoted one was expected to devote his or her personal time to the ashram’s activities. Dev standing was unable to find the spiritual component in the gathering and peered from where the Swamiji had stepped out of his cottage and moving towards the congregation.

In his musing, he journeyed into his own mind where many meanings and explanations of the word spiritual lay buried since his many years of reading and experimenting with various esoteric and mystic practices and felt sad that he had not been lucky to befriend an experienced practitioner or a scholar for serious discussions and improvements. Was it wasted efforts he wondered? Smiling to himself Dev realized that Radhakrishnan was a bigoted religion maker who could interpret Hindu religious doctrines drawing irrelevant examples as is the wont of half-baked religious gurus who were plenty in the country, and suspected that he would have seen through his own charade for his illustrations lacked conviction save for their effect and personal devious goals, inconsistent with his carefully cultivated public image. He was careful not to reveal his true beliefs but display his knowledge pompously referring to religious works and ended up being presumptuous. Was he oblivious to all this or was this his way of confusing others or a display of his own confusion or a way of hiding his true identity? Many seekers of Radhakrishnan’s group were on a similar trip. Lost in his thoughts he woke up suddenly to the cacophony, Swamiji is coming, Swamiji is coming, and he craned his neck to see a figure in loose ochre robes moving towards the gathering with two attendants in front and few behind.

Swamiji swished his robes after every few strides and reached the congregation. With arms raised a big smile on his face, he paced among his devotees standing in the queues, of fulfilment and satisfaction. Many devotees passed him chits of paper where they had written their problems and desires and sought Swamiji’s intercession. Some fell on the ground to touch his bare feet while others satisfied themselves by touching his gown. Those who were lucky got Swamiji’s blessings and the fortunate one received a touch from his upraised hand and some he blessed by patting their faces or heads. The most blessed ones received gifts from Swamiji which he materialized from thin air. These were watches, rings, necklaces etc. They obviously were the luckiest ones. His neighbour turned to him and whispered in awe that these devotees had nothing to worry as solutions in the form of what they should do would reach them through mystic communications. Swamiji knew afflictions of each devotee, whether they informed him or not. He continued that once Swamiji blessed someone by touching them, he undertook to take their problems on himself and had cures for everything! Dev admitted that this was his first visit to his neighbour’s query, and that he knew little about Swami Govinda Samaprabha. He received a commentary on the life of Swamiji. Chits of paper which the devotees could not give to Swamiji directly were collected by volunteers. It was indeed well organized, managed and military like.

Swami Govinda Samaprabha walked to the top of the stage and stood straight surveying the congregation with a beatific smile raised his arms with hands stretched out and palms open skywards and after a few minutes turned his arms blessing the congregation in all four directions. A cry Jai Swami Govindaji, Jai Swami Govindaji rent the air and some bowed with veneration. Surveying the scene Swamiji took his seat and a volunteer rushed forward and placed his foot stool under his feet. Now began a frenzied round of hymns with the lady in white leading and many from the crowd joining. After the session of hymns Swamiji was given the mike, and he repeated a hymn and then over the next hour explained its meaning giving many common and earthy examples. Dev had been a good speaker in his college and one of the best in his company and often asked to make presentations to important government officials and customers could evaluate Swamiji’s speech not in terms of content but in terms of delivery and the impact it had on the audience and concluded that it was a masterly presentation and Swamiji had the audience by their short hair.

The speech ended and an important member of the committee made announcements regarding the forthcoming function when the Swamiji’s birthday would be celebrated a month from now after which the Swamiji was escorted back to his cottage. There was silence until the Swami’s figure receded and left the stage after which the held back energy of the devotees burst forth with loud animated conversations among the devotees as they broke away and planned to return. The common topic was centred on the recent illness of Swamiji and the organization’s annual celebrations. Slowly, the crowds began to melt away while Dev stood a little distance away from the dense crowd watching people walk away. He was exhilarated as the crowds disappeared which he felt was somewhat similar to the jigsaw puzzles, he solved during his childhood days. As this humanity disappeared through exit points, he recalled his childhood breaking the jig saw picture after painstakingly putting all pieces in their places and the joy that sprang within him and spread through his body emanating from the power of making and breaking. After most of the crowd had dispersed Dev came out of his reverie and began walking towards the bus stop for his return journey. He had noticed some people belonging to Radhakrishnan’s group, though he and his family were not to be seen, Dev carefully avoiding them walked away. Of course, for Radhakrishnan and his groupies it would be a supreme moment of vindication in their power of persuasion and logic to have Dev visit Swamiji. His mind was awash with a deluge of thoughts. As he was walking, he saw a sadhu sitting on the platform under the neem tree.

As he reached the sadhu with a few decisive steps Dev instinctively bowed with folded hands in a namshkar and a smile over his face. The sadhu returned Dev’s salutations, lifted his hands and closing them, whispered namshkar and patted the space by his side motioning him to sit and be in peace. Dev sat where the sadhu indicated. Dev smiled and softly told his name, and what he was doing waiting for the sadhu to speak. The sadhu looked at Dev up and down and let his gaze settle at Dev’s shoes and after what seemed an eternity to Dev said It does not matter what my name is, pausing and continued, I have had many names in my life. If you want to call me by a name you can call me Nirankar and people who know me call me Nirankar Baba. They talked about common place things and Dev began to wish the conversation took a more serious note covering issues like moksha, enlightenment, chakras, meditation, kundalini etc.

As they talked Dev began to feel that Nirankar Baba was no ordinary sadhu and his belief in this assessment gripped him. He was eager as well as impatient to hear the gems of spiritual practices from the lips of a true sanyasi. His sensibility prompted him that first hand spiritual experiences were true knowledge and real than bookish descriptions and explanations. They were the basis on which a seeker could compare his actions as well as experiment. Continuing, he concluded that such a meeting was ordained and did not happen by chance and his anxiety increased waiting for real substantial conversations to begin.

Nirankar Baba as if he had read Dev’s thoughts began, "The scriptures may speak of the atman or the soul as indestructible and everlasting and give the body its allotted time. Nevertheless, as a practical and a scientific person why should you bother about a next life. This life is real and needs no proof. Assuming that there are other lives you cannot live in them as you are living this life, and they can only come when this is over. People should learn to live their present life, which is inherently rich, of infinite variety and savour it so that they can live subsequent lives better, if they are there and whenever they come. Therefore, happiness, moksha and enlightenment are in this life and not in any other lives that are supposed to follow. Since we exist in the now and here why look for them in some imaginary future, which may or may not be? There was silence and he felt the crackle of electricity flowing between them. Dev warmed and Nirankar Baba followed, Today there are so many diversions and many sadhus and holy men have perfected methods to kill time and seek nirvana. By fleeing from the exacting demands of this life and living with diversions is not a solution to this life. Life offers many avenues of escape, and you can choose one that is temporary or permanent. Your wish, people have in their hands the means to make this life real or imaginary. There are many options. By trying to make their life imaginary they refuse to take happiness and moksha that this life offers. Nirankar Baba continued, You have many nice sounding definitions of moksha, enlightenment, happiness and joy, they are just that. Sure, they are written in heavy and serious languages and all purport their source as the Vedas and reverent lineages. How does it help you? To feel and understand them in the context of your life is your reality; everything else is imaginary and might not help you, and they are just those—theoretical definitions".

They looked at each other and smiled. Nirankar Baba’s eyes were shining and to the seeker in Dev, they spoke a language of spiritual brotherhood. As Nirankar Baba’s words sank, Dev felt a delicate bond that brought them together and bound them by some strange destiny. What it was, Dev could not explain? He was enjoying this monologue and felt full and satisfied exactly when he had a stirring experience he particularly liked and all the while in tune with the atmosphere that added or detracted to that moment. He expressed his agreement and made feeble attempts proffering explanations, which were in consonance with the logic of the sadhu.

Nirankar Baba explained further, To find happiness, peace, enlightenment you have to be serious and passionate about these non-ordinary states of mind and feel them. You have to look for happiness around you. When you see happiness around you, you will feel happiness within you. If you are not able to do this then you are overlooking happiness. You become insensitive to the process of feeling from your centre. You are back in your imaginary world and lost. Forget definitions, forget intellectualism feel happiness and feel it genuinely. It is a journey that you have to begin and continue and traverse consciously. The awareness that you realize from this travel is what you are seeking and impels you to seek, which lies in your unconscious until you decide to reach out for that awareness and convinced that this awareness will make you whole. This integration is a necessary condition to find peace, happiness, enlightenment and what else you are looking for. Any inward journey is undertaken with responsibility, self confidence and with senses alive and under control. You cannot afford to be casual or let your guard down. Let alertness light your way and do not fall prey to false explanations, gods and visions.

Dev could not overlook that Nirankar Baba had gradually shifted from impersonal to a direct and personal narrative. Was it a narrative that was spoken repeatedly and often by the stranger or was it wisdom? There was no religious or spiritual connotation at all yet there was something exalting, something that addressed his recent doubts and opened new spaces to examine and look into. People have old doubts, new doubts and long held doubts. Clearing them is a part of any self enquiry. There was no good or evil no reference to karma or weighty arguments. It was a simple conversation in simple words, something he could have carried out with his cook or the gardener. Even so, there was something different, no cook or gardener could have comprehended it or would in any likelihood stayed alert through such a conversation. He was struck with Nirankar Baba’s simplicity and humility, which made it meaningful. Dev smiled to himself anticipating the beginning of a new bond knowing how imperceptibly it had begun and not knowing where it would take him. It happened in the last two hours as he glanced at his watch and realized that they had been together for so long and he had not noticed or felt it.

Nirankar Baba caught him furtively looking at his watch and smiled showing a perfect set of white teeth in a powerful square jaw that communicated firmness and determination with a hint of stubbornness and said in a firm sort of way, Don’t worry, your appointment with the doctor will not take place today. Your mother might have a severe stomach pain. You need not worry about that also, that will also be fine. As he looked at the sadhu, Dev wondered how he could have known that he had to take his mother to the dentist in the evening. Maybe Nirankar Baba was a clairvoyant or read his mind when he was mentally planning the visit to the dentist. He felt that this was not the time or the place and neither a point in their relationship to speculate on the sadhu’s clairvoyance which could be just an accident as well. He was afraid of bringing anything in between their relationship that might jeopardize it by being a load or a drag on their unfolding intimacy. The word intimacy seemed inappropriate but he could not find a better word to describe the stickiness in their friendship. As he tried to remonstrate that he was a responsible person who had responsibilities and others depended on him, Nirankar Baba smiled and agreed that was so, and he must live up to the expectations of his near and dear ones. It was the right way of living.

Dev turned to his left and asked, I know that the spiritual path is long and tough. Therefore, it is very necessary for an aspirant to be fit and strong. How strong should the aspirant be? Surely, strength is determined by age, constitution and physical exercises one does or can do. What I want to know is what spiritual and physical exercises should be attempted for spiritual development. Nirankar Baba said, "Strength, stamina and a good constitution is a prerequisite to traverse the spiritual path. Whether it is hatha yoga or pranayama or meditation or jappa you have to hold a posture or sit still and maintain an undiluted relaxed concentration for long periods of time. Only your practice will bring you to your goal. You have to do this yourself. Nobody can help you in this. You don’t have to be a wrestler, but you should have bala or power as the spiritual path is long and hard requiring strong discipline both in body and mind. Power also means the ability to relinquish anger including under extreme dispensations. It calls upon the aspirant to overcome temptations arising out of the body as also those having mental origins. The practice of ahimsa or nonviolence which is abandoning inclination to hurt or harm someone under all and any situation and circumstances at all places and times is a prerequisite. In the end true power and strength are to stabilize and control oneself. The result the aspirant seeks is to know the atman. Unless the aspirant has been able to create a uniform even flowing stream of thought and conquer intangible worlds and states inside him or herself this is unlikely to happen. Now do you see good physical and mental health is necessary? Dev agreed and said so nodding his head. Nirankar Baba continued, Hatha yoga exercises energizes the body by alternate tensing and relaxing the body which even walking or swimming does and develop strength and power in the practitioner. I prefer pranayama for this combine strength, power and control of prana and simultaneous alignment of body, mind and soul".

Nirankar Baba after a long pause continued, "Though the final goal of all spiritual paths is the same—knowing your atman and finally moksha—there are many small goals on the way. An aspirant may set minor goals on the way. He can also set his own time lines. If one chooses to target only minor goals neglecting the final goal he may do so. The hard reality is that if one is progressing well then God will support and show the way and tap him or her back to the path, whenever he or she strays. The spiritual path is truly catholic and determined by oneself. Even a guru if one had one, cannot fix the aspirant’s goals except to indicate possibilities. The individual selects himself. Remember, spiritual development for everyone takes place at their own speed. A break or indiscipline creates a situation where more effort is required later to reach the older state where the break took place. Eventually, the aspirant will realize the danger of break or indiscretion and being forewarned helps. Many or frequent breaks do not lead to any progress".

He regarded the figure seated beside him and wondered how old could he be? Maybe fifty or maybe fifty five or even sixty! He was tall for an Indian perhaps six feet or more with a proportionately strong body, finely chiselled face which a master sculpturer would revel in, high thinning forehead with white hair, large flat cheeks flowing into a broad firm chin and large ears with small gold ear rings and of course the compassionate and penetrating eyes which missed nothing and exuded compassion. The skin around the eyes was stretched and there were wrinkles shooting out from the corners of his eyes. It struck him that his eyes were blue and not brown or black like average Indians’. His hairy and muscular hands with long thick fingers and shiny nails were not exactly rough but betrayed hard work at some point in his life where he may have worked with the soil and therefore, from an agricultural family. They also revealed his brute strength for he must have known what hard work was. Somewhere in life he would have found time to study and reflect as his conversation was a mixture of knowledge, personal practice and down to earth advice peppered with practical wisdom. He was refined in his conversation and mannerisms when he wanted to. His demeanour spoke of one who had seen a lot and yet open to experiment and learn. Strangely, the skin on the back of his hands was firm not revealing his age with abundant hair some of which had become white. Certainly, he could not be less than seventy years concluded Dev.

At last Dev picked up courage to ask him when they could meet him again. Could he meet him at short notice? Where did he live? What followed surprised Dev: "Take my mobile number, and you can call me any time, provided I am near my cell. I have no specific place where I live. I do not have what you call a house or home. Yes I did have a place, which I sometimes call my native place where I had a house and farms once. I roam wherever my fancy takes me and generally find a place to spend a day or more. Sometimes I stay for months at a place. Otherwise there are dharamshalas and sarais and there are ashrams everywhere across the country. Hotels are not for me as I do not carry money. I don’t have money. I was born a Hindu, and I am sure I will die as one. Food is never a problem as I can eat anything or do without it for days. They shared the silence that followed and then as if to remind Dev he quoted Gandhi, To be truly happy one must reduce wants to the minimum". Both smiled at each other.

He stood up and folded his hands bending from the waist and proffered his namshkar, smiled and promised, "I will call you soon. I have a lot to learn from you. I pray to you to show put me on the right path. I am desperately seeking moksha and at this age. I do not want to be born again. He was surprised at his new found courage which he felt bordered on outspokenness if not indiscretion. Nirankar Baba stood up and they smiled at each other. He acknowledged to himself that in this smile of a few seconds a lot was exchanged. To Dev, it was something precious. Nirankar Baba reached out and with his right hand lightly touched Dev’s shoulder and said softly, God will protect you. Go in peace. Surely, we will meet again". Dev turned and walked towards the bus stop and found the bus ready to leave. He took a last look in the direction of the neem tree under which he had conversed with Nirankar Baba. The neem tree was hidden, and he could not say if the sadhu was there or had left.

He found an empty seat. The crowds had melted long ago. The bus left and soon he was lost in his own thoughts. Yes, the sadhu had shared some wonderful thoughts but what was unforgettable was his simplicity, straight forward logic and the choice of his words. Furthermore, when you hear wisdom from a figure as imposing as Nirankar Baba the impact has to be strong. Happiness, joy, nirvana and enlightenment had to be found in this life, in this world. To find them, you had to feel them. How does one feel them? Yes, he had mentioned something about genuine happiness. It should become as simple as you breathe. You do not labour to breathe. You make no effort but it happens naturally. This is also the nature of happiness and this was how it was to be found. There were many small goals on the path but the final goal was moksha. One could choose minor goals to moksha but those who progressed never compromised with the final goal. There was an inherent power in any spiritual method you choose, which kept you enticed and created structures and impulses within you that helped being on the path. A break, indiscipline or indiscretion carried a price. Deep in his thoughts he reached the bus terminus near his home.

He alighted and looking at his watch calculated it was eight hours since he had left. To his wife’s query, he replied that he had seen Swami Govinda his ashram without exchanging a word with the Swami but was not impressed with what he saw. Then it struck him that the powerful devotees gathered under the auspices of religious and spiritual meetings where they also promoted their own interests and a fraction of it donated to the Swami’s trust. And there were those who needed that sort of drama and social assemblages to maintain their sanity. He told her that he had met a wonderful man who seemed to be nearest to his classical image of a genuine sadhu. He went to his mother’s room and saw her doubled up and sighing every few minutes. She told Dev to cancel her appointment with the dentist as she was having bad stomach pains. She could not fathom why she was in such a state. Dev reasoned that sometimes even the most trivial things or even a dissonant or unhealthy thought could lead to disturbances in the body, and he would fix another appointment with the dentist for tomorrow.

Soon the whole family was sitting together and his mother had miraculously recovered. Engaged in small talk, his mind was elsewhere or nowhere as he had mentally logged off. His thoughts were a medley of unrelated topics with no centre of dominance giving him a mental ennui. Not thinking about Nirankar Baba, he wanted to mentally review his meeting before going to sleep. Something told him that this contact with Nirankar Baba would soon fall into perspective and find an echo in his spiritual experiments. He liked to refer to his yoga, Pranayama and meditation sessions as experiments for he would identify physical and mental states, which seemed odd or out of place and through them note his progress or coax meaning out of them and sometimes look in them for an omen or instruction to discover replacements or modifications to his spiritual practices. He kept a record of his experiments, which were supposed to help him estimate his evolution. Though he had been doing this for some time he did not find the level or strength of growth he expected and neither knew what development, growth and sensibility to expect. He had been reading spiritual literature for a few years’ spending as much time as he could. He read classical texts with commentaries, experiences of spiritual masters, and scholarly works of thought leaders, biographies of saints and mystics and spiritual criticism. He had not confined himself to works of Hinduism but covered major religious and spiritual thoughts—Christianity, Jewish, Muslim, Buddhism and Jainism.

He realized many years ago that spiritual vision and advancement did not come from reading, no matter how elevating or rich the writer’s experiences. It could only be grasped by personal experimentation, self enquiry, observation and analysis. Reading was second hand imagery and could easily become an escape. Religious texts and spiritual writings were often obscured in words, which were specific to that topic or the writer and had a vocabulary that could be denomination specific. Slowly he had become a slave to his reading habits and admitted that there were times when his reading was more to structure time as against imbibing knowledge and extend or reconfirm his spiritual awareness. These observations could not help him much as he had a hazy notion of the end point. Yes, moksha was the goal and that overwhelmed everything. He had felt many times about the lack of a clear vision, for what he came up was a mixture of too many ideas and thoughts and conceded his mind was cluttered, and what he needed was simplicity and clarity.

Dev’s quest for moksha and enlightenment in the last two years had become insatiable and troubling for lack of progress. He was sometimes disturbed by the fact that he may miss moksha in this life or destiny prevent progress beyond a certain point and found consolation that enlightenment was a matter of God’s grace. Sure he wanted it in this life itself and desperately. Sometimes he longed for a Guru, who would help him cross to the other side. His present life was not conducive to search for a spiritual Guru. Maybe he was destined to find moksha in the next life, a thought he considered defeatist. The emphasis that moksha was in this life and one should not bother about the next life had shaken his belief system but also given him the strength to discard some of his older beliefs. Reasoning he came to the conclusion he had come to many times before, I must continue to put the best I can and let God’s grace takeover. This was not in the nature of a gambler’s choice but a reality that he believed in after considerable reasoning. Used to making small modifications to his spiritual practices every few months he wished for a bigger one this time and whispered to himself, God moves in mysterious ways.

After super he sat with his family watching TV not really following the movements on the screen and joined the family laughter or pathos, looking forward to silence and peace of the bed. Later when everyone had slept he was still trying to find sleep, his mind in turmoil not ideal for sleep. Slowly, the picture of Nirankar Baba drifted in. Nirankar Baba’s face stood out in detail, the sharp face with straight lines, patches of fair skin on square and rectangular bones beneath; the shadows on his visage accentuated its angularity and the overall image of hardness with nothing soft stood imprinted in his mind. No there was no hint of any kind of softness. His face betrayed discipline, steely determination and firmness. He recalled the morning’s conversations and reminiscing he fell asleep and slept soundly—no dreams, no awkward conversations, and no images and when he woke up before dawn, he felt light, contented and complete. He felt happy.

He got up quickly finished his morning routine dressed for his yoga and Pranayama session. He was meticulous in time, sequence and duration of his exercises. He unrolled and laid out his exercise white straw sheet on the ground filled his silver tumbler with water from a copper lotta which had tulsi or basil leaves with a few drops of honey the previous night. By the time he finished his session, he would have consumed two glasses. Depending upon the season the sun would rise when he was half way or nearing the end. He stood up straight looked at his open palms in front of him and intoned a small prayer, dedicating his session to his Ishta Devata, looked at his watch and noted the time and began his yoga asanas. As he went from asana to asana he would sip water from a copper glass. Routinely, he would add and discard some asana reserving some time for mudras. There were certain asanas that promoted the stirring of the kundalini, which he would pay special attention to. He completed his yoga workout and rested for a few minutes before he started his Pranayama exercises.

Advanced Pranayama routines require generating specific thoughts including silent chanting. Correct application Pranayama often requires to be done along with bandhas which are postures, in which certain organs or parts of the body are gripped, contracted or controlled individually or together which take effort and time to master. In Hindu spiritual works breathing exercises have been prescribed for success and enjoyment of all human activities. The five organs of human action—speech, manipulation, locomotion, elimination and propagation can be effectively regulated and controlled by different types of breathing. Many of the Pranayama exercises aid meditation and the awakening of the kundalini. They enhance physical wellbeing; facilitate control of diseases and restoration of organs, tissues, muscles, nerves and blood vessels to state of perfect health. There are three stages in Pranayama comprising inspiration, retention and expiration. Some exercises have a fourth stage where the lungs are emptied and then held for some time. Regulating the act of respiration in a specified posture is pranayama. Respiration maintains life and is the basis of all life. It is through the act of respiration that one can enter and examine his consciousness. This is the starting point of any spiritual exercise. Dev took his seat sitting with his legs crossed under him and after intoning the Gayatri Mantra a dozen times took a sip of water and performed the kapalbhati pranayama considered as the queen of pranayamas which could be tiring and recommended to begin because it purifies the respiratory system and conditions the body for others to follow. This