The Hindu faith is rich in scriptures but the engine that drives it has always been the guidance and energy of God-realized men. In practical terms, the instructions given by such a guru overrule whatever apparent divergence it may assume from scriptural injunctions. At the current moment, an incredible phenomenon is sweeping the spiritual landscape of India, which proves the truth of the above. This is the sudden rise in prominence of a hitherto almost unknown guru into what can only be described as the Numero Uno position amongst spiritual Masters. This great master is known only as Babaji, a generic term for yogic holy men. He is supposed to have achieved immortality in the physical body, and lives presently in a secluded Himalayan ashram. His job is to oversee all spiritual impulses connected with India's grand and myriad tradition of yoga. He is over 1800 years old but appears as a young man in his twenties. The Babaji phenomenon is marvelously Hindu and demonstrates its instinctual process of evolution. Let it be at once stated clearly that nothing about Babaji will satisfy any notions of scientific verification or validity. All that we know about him is frankly hearsay, the accounts of men who claim to have encountered this awesome force of divinity. These are men of unimpeachable spiritual integrity however, men who would never consider lying, no matter what the reason. If they say they met Babaji, then that is that. But it is not 'proof'. As the old and very wise saying goes: "For those who do not believe, no proof is possible those who believe, no proof is needed." India has always regarded empirical verification as beside the point, trusting implicitly in the veracity of spiritual experiences. From that cultural standpoint, it makes no difference even if each and every one of these sightings are dubbed the products of imagination. As Shaw's Saint Joan retorted when told her voices were only her imagination, "Of course. That is how God speaks to us." Once we accept that qualification, the rapidly ascending influence of Babaji is easy to appreciate and indeed participate in. The presence of Babaji was first announced to the world by Paramahamsa Yogananda in his famous book, Autobiography of a Yogi, in the mid 20th century. It was there that Babaji was revealed as the Great Master who oversees the important version of yoga known as Kriya Yoga. This has become one of the most important forms of yoga in the world today, practiced by millions every day and most of them outside India to boot. Babaji would appear to Yogananda's guru, Sri Yukteshwar, and he was the direct physical guru to Yukteshwar's guru, Lahiri Mahashaya. Babaji was and is considered to have been a great Master in charge of cosmic processes, diligently overlooking the spiritual evolution of mankind. He had a sister called Mataji or Mother, another generic title, who had also achieved immortality in the body. It is now revealed that Mataji is actually his cousin-sister, a relationship that in India is considered as close as the real thing. No real details about who Babaji was were given in the first book. Now an entire army of disciples have emerged to proclaim the greatness of the Deathless One. Many books about him have been written, there is a foundation dedicated to propagating Kriya Yoga and there is even a temple constructed at his birthplace, which, I predict, is going to become one of the most popular sites in India by the end of the century. The following account attempts to harmonize all the strands of the Babaji story, which is very much a work in progress! The Deathless One was born in the year 203 AD on November 30th in a village known today as Parangipettai in Tamil Nadu state. Portuguese traders had a colony there many centuries later and called it Porto Novo or New Port. The astrological conjunctions of the heavens at his birth were supposed to be identical to those of Krishna's birth and portended a great spiritual future. The boy was named Nagaraj, "Serpent King", by his Nambudri Brahmin parents who had migrated from Kerala state. The Nambudris are a community famed for spiritual knowledge and they also produced the great Adi Shankara who is supposed to have been initiated into yoga by Babaji. Little is known about his childhood, as Babaji apparently does not see fit to talk about it. Two incidents however seem to stand out. The first was something that took place when he was only four years old. A jackfruit had been obtained for a family feast, but the young Nagaraj found it unattended and managed to eat it all up by himself, jackfruit being a very tasty delicacy. This by the way is a little miracle in itself, as the fruit grows into the size of a small child when ripe. His furious mother lost her reason for a moment and stuffed a piece of cloth into the young child's throat, almost suffocating him to death. This un-motherly action was a great spiritual revelation to the young child. He found out that he still loved her but there was no longer any attachment or illusion clinging to the love as is common to the rest of humanity. His mother taught him detached Witness compassion and love by this shocking act. When he was five the young child was kidnapped! The man carrying him off was identified as a foreigner from Baluchisthan, of all places, in the present day Pakistan. What was this man doing almost four thousand miles away from his homeland? In those days that area was a Buddhist stronghold, Islam not even in existence. And how did they know he was from Baluchisthan? It is a weird and completely incongruous note in the narrative. In any case, he kidnapped the child and then made a long haul across the country to somewhere near the present day Calcutta where he sold Nagaraj as a slave. First he comes down all the way from Pakistan and then he travels 1500 kms to the east to get rid of his victim; this is one very strange bird indeed. However, the geographical significance may explain why Babaji began to appear with such regularity to spiritual practitioners living in that area. continue >> Archive