The Big Picture: Understanding Concepts of Spiritual Development and How Things Work in the Cosmos

By Ballabh P. Acharya PhD

This book attempts to search for answers to some of the fundamental questions about life on earth that humanity has been asking for thousands of years.

The first question is, “Why I am on earth?” Rooted deeply within the human psyche, this question often arises with a belief that there must be some meaning and purpose in life and that human life is more than just being born, getting an education, having jobs, raising families, and eventually dying.

The second question is, “Who am I?” When we say “I do this” or “I do that,” what is that “I” we are referring to? What actually is meant by the word “I”? Does it mean the body we have that we see walking, seeing, doing things, or thinking? Or it is something larger than the physical body?

When we say “This is good” or “That is good,” what is the standard by which we determine that something is good? For example, what you consider to be good in any situation or activity may not be perceived as such by others. Is there any standard that can be generally accepted by humanity despite the difference in people’s background and belief systems?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Balboa Press AU
• Release date: Dec 23, 2018
• ISBN: 9781504316262

Ballabh P. Acharya PhD

Dr Ballabh Acharya’s spiritual journey began with three fundamental questions that kept hammering him as he was growing up. These are the same questions that humanity has been asking for thousands of years. These relate to the meaning and purpose of human life, knowing one’s true identity and a more general understanding of moral standard. He embarked on the search for Truth by reading books on religions, philosophy and spiritual wisdom. He attended various spiritual discourses and practiced a number of meditation techniques and modalities over a long period. He is sharing his knowledge and wisdom that he gained and experienced along his spiritual journey.

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Copyright © 2019 Ballabh P. Acharya PhD.

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The author of this book does not dispense medical advice or prescribe the use of any technique as a form of treatment for physical, emotional, or medical problems without the advice of a physician, either directly or indirectly. The intent of the author is only to offer information of a general nature to help you in your quest for emotional and spiritual well-being. In the event you use any of the information in this book for yourself, which is your constitutional right, the author and the publisher assume no responsibility for your actions.

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ISBN: 978-1-5043-1623-1 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5043-1626-2 (e)

Balboa Press rev. date: 12/21/2018

CONTENTS

Acknowledgement

Chapter 1   Introduction

Chapter 2   Creation Story

Chapter 3   Are We Alone?

Chapter 4   Life’s Purpose

Chapter 5   Karma and Reincarnation

Chapter 6   Multidimensional Soul

Chapter 7   Who Am I?

Chapter 8   Maya or Illusion

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

M any people, institutions and even the angelic beings have guided and helped me to receive information and write this book. There has been constant inspiration and encouragement from some people to bring the book in its present form. I wish to name a few of them here to express my sincere appreciation, love and gratitude for the support that I have received in this endeavour.

Master Umesh Nandawani, an International Metaphysical Master based in Singapore, has been my teacher and mentor along the path of my spiritual journey. He is the founder of The Golden Space. I have learned a great deal of spiritual development theory and practice, as well as energy meditations by participating in his various courses. Even outside the course, he has been a constant source of encouragement for me to write books on spirituality based on my understanding, knowledge and experience. I wish to express my sincere gratitude towards him. My daughter, Sabina Neupane, who first introduced me to Master Umesh, has been a stronger supporter and a source of inspiration for me to write books. She has also learned a great deal about spiritual matters and energy meditation modalities from Master Umesh.

My first contact with an organised spiritual development program was with the Tej Gyan Foundation (TGF) chapter in Sydney. Thanks to Sabina, she pushed me to go and join the TGF courses. The TGF was founded by an Enlightened Master of current age, affectionately called Sirshree, and has its headquarters in Pune, India. The TGF has a large family in many countries. Sirshree’s profound knowledge and experience, that he shares through his books, discourses and programs, have been an eye opener for me. He is a master of identifying the missing links in spiritual concepts, and conducts his discourses and programs in simple language using current terminologies. He often has to invent new terms and coin terms to convey the deep meanings of spiritual concepts. I pay my respect and gratitude to him as my spiritual Guru.

Many of the metaphysical concepts and how things work on planet Earth and the cosmos at large, have been gained through the loving angelic entity Kryon, as channeled by Lee Carroll. Another source of profound information has been through Dolores Cannon, as she puts her subjects under a deep hypnosis and receives channeled information through questions and answer sessions. Both Lee and Dolores record the entire session live.

I have also been greatly inspired by the great spiritual masters of the past. I would like to acknowledge the influence of Sir Krishna, Buddha and Jesus through their life and teachings. Other masters that I would like to pay gratitude are Socrates, Adi Shankaracharya, Swami Vivekananda, Ramana Maharshi, Yogananda Paramhansha and Sadguru. I have learned a great deal from their work and teachings.

Having born in a Hindu family in Nepal, I was introduced to the Hindu way of life since early childhood. I would like to mention that I have learned a great deal from ancient Hindu scriptures, such as the Vedas, Upanishads (the Vedanta) and Bhagawat Gita. You will find references to and some quotes from these scriptures in the book.

I would also like to express my love and gratitude to my family for their love, support and understanding this work required when I was consumed with computer and write-ups.

Finally, I would like to express my sincere thanks to Pat Stone, my publishing consultant and the Balboa Press family for their help and support to bring about the publication. I am aware that I have not listed all the people and other forces in the Universe who have helped me in the preparation of material for this book. I express my sincere gratitude to all known and unknown sources.

Ballabh P Acharya

Boambee East (Coffs Harbour), NSW Australia

9 December, 2018

1

INTRODUCTION

I would like to tell you a story. There was once a prince in a kingdom. His birth marked with some auspicious signs and miracles. His father was very happy to have a beautiful baby in his palace. Some wise men came to see the baby prince and told the king that his son would either be strong king and a warrior or an ascetic to pursue a spiritual life. The king wanted an heir to the throne. So, to keep his son away from any distractions from the outside world’s miseries, he built separate palaces for him to spend his life in luxury and pleasure. The little prince spent all his time within the confines of the palace premises. When he grew up, he was married to a beautiful princess, and soon they had a baby son. The king was now very pleased that his son was then absorbed in his family and court affairs and was confident that the prince would not be an ascetic.

One day, the prince secretly went outside the palace premises with his faithful charioteer. Travelling around the capital city, he saw a fragile old man walking slowly with a lot of difficulty. He was very weak, alone and there was nobody to care for him. Signs of misery and suffering were clearly visible on the old man’s face. The prince saw another sick man laying helplessly on the veranda of an old inn. The sick man was in pain and misery. Moving around the city, he saw a group of people carrying some bundle tied on bamboo logs. The bundle was completely covered in white clothes and there were flowers and colours over the bundle. He was seeing a dead body being carried to the crematory for burning. He had not come across a dead body and had no idea that humans die one day. Lastly, the prince saw an ascetic wondering around the streets. He wore saffron coloured clothes and appeared happy and joyful. This scene was in complete contrast to the three scenes he saw earlier.

The prince had a discussion with his charioteer to understand what he saw that day. His faithful friend explained to him that all humans get sick during the life and attain an old age. Eventually, they will die. There is lot of misery and suffering in life, that is the way of it. But an ascetic, who has denounced all possessions and family relationships, can remain happy and joyful. Such a person is miles away from the mundane worldly miseries.

The prince learned some valuable lessons and truths of life that day. The main insights were that humans get sick in life, become old and fragile, and eventually die. Only a person who adopts an ascetic way of life and detaches himself from material possessions and relationships can remain happy. He established a basic truth that there is suffering in the world. He resolved to investigate it and find a way out of it, so that people all over could be happy. This became his life’s mission. Secretly, one night when his wife and son were deep in sleep, he went out of the palace with his favourite friend and headed towards the forest. The charioteer was sent back to the palace. After many years of learning from various teachers and mastering various spiritual practices, he came to the conclusion that none of the teachers he came across could provide answer to his quest to a satisfactory level.

He then decided to peruse his quest alone going from places to places and practising various methods, protocols and meditation practices. He adopted very strict austerity to attain mastery over the body. He became very weak, thin and like a skeleton. Having been absent from taking food as part of his practice, he fainted and fell down on the bank of a stream. A village girl was passing by the area, saw a weak man on the ground and carried him beneath a nearby tree with the help of other villagers. When he came to senses, she gave him some rice to eat. Recognising that fasting and giving punishment to his body was not going to help him in his quest, he accepted the food. He spent a few days there, and when he became a bit better, he clearly understood that both extremes of leading a life of luxury (as in the palace) or that of punishing the body to the extent that the body could die, were not appropriate. Thus, he adopted a middle path.

After six years of searching, learning and practising, one full moon day when he was in deep meditation, he found answers to all his questions. He became enlightened. You have heard about this prince. He was Siddhartha Gautam, the Buddha. Siddhartha was born in Lumbini in Nepal some 600 years before Jesus. He was the son of a Shakya King, Suddhodana, King of Kapilvastu. Queen Mahamaya was his mother.

The Buddha taught four noble truths. These are:

1. There is suffering in the world

2. There is a cause or origin of suffering, which is attachment to desires and cravings

3. There is a way out of this suffering, and this is to adopt an Eight-fold Path

4. There is state after the cessation of suffering. It is called Nirvana, full of joy, happiness and bliss.

The elements of the Eightfold Path are grouped in three sections, Pragya, Sila and Samadhi (Wisdom, Morality and Concentration):

1. Wisdom: Right Understanding, Right Aspiration

2. Morality: Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood

3. Concentration: Right Effort, Right Mindfulness, Right Concentration

I am not going to discuss these things in detail here. Many books and websites are available for you to dig deeply about Buddha’s life story and his teachings. The main point I wish to bring about is his keen observations as he stepped outside the palace to see how the people in his city were. The trigger to his investigation was to understand what causes suffering in human beings and what can be done to get out of it. Finding an answer to that basic question became his life’s mission. He spent the rest of his earthly life sharing his knowledge by teaching, giving discourses and imparting training on meditation practices.

Could you look deep inside you and identify what bothers you so much, which questions you wish to find answers to that keep you awake at night? Which questions come up repeatedly in your thinking, and you feel that it is very important for you to find answers to those questions? Only you know about these things. I encourage to you investigate within yourself.

There are a few basic questions that humanity has been asking for thousands of years. These go something like the following:

1. Who are we?

2. Why are we here?

3. Where do we come from?

4. Where do we go after the death of the physical body?

There are some who ask additional questions, such as:

5. What do we do there where we go after death?

6. Are there various levels of consciousness?

7. Does life exist after death?

8. Is there God? Is God real?

9. If God is real, can we speak to Him?

10. Can we reach God?

How about you? Have you ever wondered about such questions in your life? Have you ever wondered as to the meaning and purpose of life? Have you ever asked yourself, Why you are on Earth? I did. Some major questions kept coming in my thoughts when I was doing my architectural course in Bombay (now renamed as Mumbai). Often the questions were:

Why am I on the Earth? Rooted deeply within me, this question came about with a belief that there must be some meaning and purpose in life; that human life is more than just being born, getting education, having jobs, raising families and eventually dying. My inner voice often told me that I have a special mission on the planet, and that I need to find about it and pursue my goal.

When I say ‘I do this or I do that’ – what do I mean by I? What is that I? At that time, I did not frame the question as, Who Am I? However, I felt that I was not just the body that I see walking, seeing and doing things, that it must be something ‘larger’ than the physical body.

When we say, ‘this is good or that is good’, what is the standard by which we determine that something is good? Implicitly this meant that what I consider to be good in any situation or activity may not be so perceived by somebody else. The question then boils down to, ‘Is there any standard which can be universally accepted and which can guide us towards furthering our understanding of good and bad?" I knew then that I was embarking on the question about ethics and morality in general.

In this book that you have at your hands, I will be exploring these questions in some detail. I will also attempt to cover other related aspects such as:

How we came about? How life began in the first place? Were we created by God, or did life begin as a random process in line with Darwin’s Theory of Evolution? We have been presented with two schools of thought on this matter – the religious traditions of the world go along the line of The Creation Theory that teaches that there is an intelligent design involved with the Powerful Creator. The Evolutionist Theory goes along the line that it was just a random process, and life began by chance through a natural selection process when the conditions were favourable.

Are we alone in the universe, or there is life elsewhere as well? What is our understanding of The Big Bang Theory? Is the universe really expanding, as the scientists say? Is there just this universe of ours or there are other universes as well?

Is reincarnation real? Do we have many past lives? Are we born again and again? If so, why? What is Karma, and how is this related to reincarnation?

I will be covering these issues in the book. I hope this book will help find answers to some of these hard questions, and may provide pointers for you to look further. This effort is made so that we have a better understanding how things work, and why they are so? I invite all of you to join me in this journey. Let us explore these things together.

My Spiritual Journey

Some of you may be wondering as to why I attempted to write this book in the first place? Was there any trigger that pushed me in this direction? In an effort to adequately answer such questions, I will have to explain how my spiritual journey began, what were the various avenues I travelled through and where I am at this stage. Please be patient with me as I explain these things.

I was born in a large Hindu family in Nepal. My father was a learned person, very much inclined to reading spiritual books. Many rituals, as was the tradition in those days, were regularly observed and practiced at home. During my school years, I had read some Puranic literature as well as the Ramanaya, the Mahabharata and the Bhgawat Gita. As a growing child, I was more interested in the story part rather than the deeper spiritual part.

In Bombay

At the age of 18, I went to Bombay, on a government scholarship, for the study of Architecture at the University of Bombay. Within a year or so after reaching Bombay, some of the fundamental questions about life started to come repeatedly in my thoughts, as I mentioned earlier. Finding satisfactory answers to these questions appeared very important for me. I did not know how to begin searching answers to those questions. I thought, may be some books would contain answers to my questions. Thus, I started to read some religious books belonging to various faiths. Of course, I was generally familiar with some simple and basic concepts related to Hinduism and Buddhism back home. I also started reading books on Western philosophy, particularly those related to the great Greek philosophers, such as Socrates, Aristotle and Plato. I also read some books by Bertrand Russell, the British philosopher. I kept on reading whether I understood or not.

It was becoming more and more apparent to me that a knowledge of logic and psychology would also benefit in my search for and understanding of the answers to my questions. So, I bought some book on these topics along with a few books on ethics and morality to broaden my knowledge. Earlier, I had also began to read novels written by a few Western writers. I always carried a book for reading even while I was on the train to my college. My college was in the city centre and the hostel in the suburb, called Bandra. We had to travel by bus to catch a train to the city and walk another 15-20 minutes to reach my college. Life was very busy. Whole day, I would be in the city and sometimes, it was late before I reached my hostel. Nevertheless, I read for at least one hour in my room on a daily basis. Apart from some of the simple novels written by various authors, the works by Pearl S. Buck and Ayn Rand left very deep impressions in me.

Around the same time, I bought a new book on the Bhagawat Gita written in English by Swami Chidbhavananda. After reading for a few days, I kept the book aside because it did not make sense to my intellectual, scientific and logical mind. The very first thing they would say is to believe in the unknown. That did not sit very well with my background in science and logic.

I returned back to Nepal after completing my five year course in Architecture. I began working at a private practice initially, then joined a government department in Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal. I was already married, and the children started to arrive. Soon my life became a routine one revolving around job, family and caring for the children. There was no time for spiritual quest, and I had almost forgotten about it. My main aim that time was to get established in life, earn good money and look after the family.

Transcendental Meditation

In one of those years while I was working in the government department, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi came to Kathmandu and taught his famous Transcendental Meditation (popularly known as TM) to the local population. He trained many local people as instructors and established a centre in Kathmandu. Soon the wind got out and I went to the centre, with a friend of mine, to learn the TM technique. I began practising the TM at home regularly. Sometimes, I would get into a state of deep meditation. I would feel very peaceful and happy during such periods. The practice of TM was continued for a few more years.

I went to Syria in 1981 for two years on a UN job and TM was discontinued. I had a Near Death Experience in Syria, which is discussed later in the book. After returning back to Nepal in early 1983, I remained in Kathmandu for a year before I went to the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) in Bangkok for the study of a Masters Degree in Urban Planning. My family joined later on. We stayed there for five years. I had restarted the practice of TM in Bangkok. I was so impressed by the benefits I received from this meditation that I taught this technique to a few of my fellow Nepalese who were at the AIT Campus.

Migrating to Australia

In December 1988, my whole family migrated to Australia. I left my doctoral studies at AIT unfinished for the move, however, I got my PhD from the University of New South Wales, Sydney in 1991. Apart from the irregular practice of TM, my spiritual journey did not progress much for a few years. We used to go to a nearby Hindu temple often, and I used to discuss many things about Hindu religion and its general practice that people usually undertake with the temple priest. I had a few books that I brought from Nepal, but that was it.

Around 1992-93, I visited the Ramakrishna Centre in Ashfield (Sydney). After going through the various programs they were running, I talked to the people there, got some pamphlets. I also bought a book on Upanishads written by Swami Ranganathananda. The book was titled, The Messages of the Upanisads. After reading a few pages from the book, I was hooked to it. I was fascinated by the knowledge and wisdom contained in the Upanishads (actually, they are a part of the Vedas), and the narration made by the Swami. When I talked about the material contained in the Upanishads generally with the temple priest, he cautioned me that people often get detached from family when they study Upanishads. However, I had already seen a glimpse of the richness of the material they deal with.

The reading of this book prompted me to explore the Vedas and other aspects of Hinduism in greater detail. So, I ordered hundreds of books from two publishing houses in India. The Gita Press in Gorakhpur (India) is famous for collecting and publishing a large number of books on Hinduism. The other company was Randhir Publications in Haridwar. I made it a habit of reading the books as much as I could.

At home, I used to undertake Yoga practices and also sit in meditation almost daily. Therefore, I had some experience and understanding about these matters. But, I needed some guidance to make improvements along my journey. I came across a website called, Vedanta Mission in Indore (India). I got in touch with the founder Swami Atmananda Saraswatiji and began some correspondence through emails. I also bought cassettes and CDs of discourses given by Swamiji. The material went into depth about what was being said in the Bhawagat Gita and the Upanishads. I found Swamiji’s voice very attractive. During the discourse, I also heard about Ramana Maharshi, an enlightened seer from South India. Swamiji spoke very highly of him. So, I began collecting books and any other material I could find about the teaching of Ramana Maharshi. He was another great source of inspiration for me.

A group of Nepalese friends had started a monthly gathering in Western Sydney where some stanzas from the Bhagawat Gita was recited and its explanation read from a book. There were then some general discussions followed by sharing of the dishes brought by the families participating. My wife and I also started to join the group. However, after a year or so with the group, I was feeling that this was not taking me further, so I left the group. I started to have a small session at home on a weekly basis where the CDs of Swami Atmanandaji were played. This went on for a few years. Gradually, it phased out in 2006 as there were less and less people participating in the program.

Visiting Sai Baba at Puttaparti

A nephew, son of a cousin sister, came to Sydney during the Olympic Games in the year 2000. He stayed with us for a few days. He told us that a group including his parents and uncles were travelling to Puttaparti in South India to participate on the occasion of the 75th Birthday celebrations of Satya Sai Baba. My wife immediately thought of travelling with the group. Many of my cousins and their families along with two of my brothers have been devotees of Sai Baba for a number of years. They said they had seen miracles from him, like ashes appearing on pots and photo frames, also some nectar coming out of his pictures, etc. I had heard about Sai Baba when I was studying in Bombay long ago. Even at that time, he was a controversial figure. I had also read some newspaper articles and later some videos that did not portray a very good image of him. Personally, I had some reservations because of the way he was exhibiting some magic and also because people in India and Nepal were worshiping him as a Hindu God. The doubt that came to my mind was, How could a highly spiritual person allow himself to be worshiped by the people? Having said that, Sai Baba continues to inspire many people, not only in India but elsewhere also, on the path of love and spiritual development even after he passed over a few years ago. The Sai Trust has established many social service institutions around Puttaparti in the areas of health, education, drinking water, and many others.

On reaching Puttaparti, I found thet it was a thriving township all due to the presence of the Sai Baba centre. Prashanti Nilayam was a great open hall where tens of thousands of people could sit on the floor at one time and get to see Sai Baba as he moved around the devotees everyday. People went very early in the morning in the hope of being selected to be seated in the front row. Once, the group where I was sited outside of the hall, was selected to get into the front row. Even the first row was more or less of a C shape and many people waited patiently to have a touch of Baba. He came strolling along the front row, but did not pass through the section where I was seated. Thus, I could not get an opportunity to touch him personally.

We spent some 10 days there. One day my nephew asked. Uncle how are you feeling being here so close to Sai Baba? I replied, You have crossed the threshold and got inside, I am still out side of the threshold. From Puttaparti, we got a train for Indore to visit Swami Atmanandaji in Indore. He received us warmly at his Ashram. We also participated in some of his discourses in the town. When I mentioned that we had just come from Puttaparti, one of his disciples said that there were many other people who also called themselves ‘gods’ and performed miracles, similar to what Sai Baba did. I heard that around 500 people in India had then declared that they were God and people needed to worship them. That news was indeed strange! We stayed there for some four days then went to visit my college friends in Bombay.

Around the year 2010, our elder daughter, Sabina had gone through some family difficulties with her husband and in-laws. She got