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Babaji: The Unfathomable - By Reichel

Excerpt below:

"Paths to the Higher Self

"I have come to give, only to give. Are you ready to receive?  I give everything but few ask for what I have really come to give."

Babaji's teachings encompassed all levels of consciousness. In His physical presence, His words not only referred to the immediate situation, but always contained a further meaning, one which usually only later dawned on the recipient. For example, when someone handed Him a packaged gift, He would often say: "Open." Such an instruction contained much more than merely undoing the wrapping. It gave the impulse for inner unfolding, for the opening of oneself.

From the beginning of time, Babaji has taught on the non-material plane through dreams and visions. Wherever His disciple may be, Babaji has reached him/her through materialisation of His form, or through the inner voice.

The profound symbolism in His actions is evident in the stories presented.

The aim of His teachings was the unfolding and development of all those who surrendered themselves to Him, whether they found themselves in His physical presence or not. The fundamental pillars of His teachings are "Truth, Simplicity and Love"; selfless work and the continual repetition of a name of God, principally OM NAMAHA SHIVAYA (Lord, let Thy will be done).

Babaji Himself was a perfect example of these teachings and called for His disciples to practise the same. Time and again He emphasised the equality of all religions.

"There is only one Truth...God is Truth."

God dwells within everybody's heart and can be evoked by the conscious switching off of all extraneous thoughts. By one-pointedly concentrating on God, through the constant repetition of His/Her Name, one comes to a state of inner silence and emptiness. From there, the real experience of God begins. Everyone who came to Haidakhan indeed experienced the inner awakening within the heart of the mantra OM NAMAHA SHIVAYA.

For many devotees from the West, the initial experience of rugged life in Haidakhan was hard going. Such commodities as running water and electric light arrived only in the last two years. The food and sleeping quarters were very simple, to say the least. Babaji Himself occupied a room measuring just three square metres. He walked about barefoot and like everyone else, descended daily the 108 stairs to bathe in the Gautama River.

Detachment from the transient material world was sometimes difficult to get used to, especially for Westerners accustomed to luxury.

The presence of Babaji made it possible for love to be realised every moment. Thoughts such as "I" and "mine" dissolved away and a sense of united humanity became an everyday experience.

"In the past people had difficulty being humane. It is to bring you the message of humanity that I have taken on a body."

Indeed, around Babaji there was no room for racial, caste or religious distinctions. Rich and poor, scholars and illiterates were all the same to Babaji, who showed us all how to live with love and respect for one another.

When needy people came to the ashram, they were fed, clothed and invited to stay on and work. Sick people, locals as well as those from further away, were given treatment and care in the little hospital.

Karma yoga, work dedicated to God, was a fundamental part of Babaji's teachings. "Work purifies mind and body." Everyone participated in this. Devotees from all countries, people of all skin colors, members of all strata of society, Brahmins as well as untouchables, and people of the most diverse faiths--Sikhs, Christians, Hindus, Moslems, athiests--simply everyone became involved in heavy, physical work. The work projects included levelling the side of a mountain to establish garden beds and the construction of stone ramparts to protect the gardens from the river swell during the monsoon.

Babaji's presence alone sufficed to enable one to look within and see one's spiritual state mirrored in Him. Dreams, the daily exertion of effort and will power, constant work on oneself, discipline, empathy with others--these processes were part of inner growth and stimulated the seed which had been planted within each person to germinate and open up.

"The result of hard work is happiness and the result of laziness is pain. The troubles of this world are caused by inactivity."

Babaji was there. Our work was down on the riverbed, shifting rocks. I noticed Him observing us. He didn't appear pleased with our slow pace and with the absent-mindedness in our work. Abruptly, He stood up, took hold of an enormous boulder which happened to be lying in front of Him, and hurled it into the water. All of us got soaked to the skin.

He was demonstrating that it's not enough to work with mindless tedium, rather, everything that has been entrusted to us to carry out, requires our enthusiasm and the application of all our powers and skills.....

"This work is not only for this present purpose. This work will go with you wherever you go; even after you leave the body and go to another world, this work will go with you. You will be benefitted by it. Whatever kind of garden you make here and whatever seeds you sow here, you will get there also. This is a spiritual work, not a material one."

It is of no mean significance that our work involved us wading through the river. Water cleanses internally as well as externally.

Today I realise that it was out of His love for us that Babaji let us do such work in order to purify the imbalances and weaknesses accumulated in this and previous lifetimes..... "