Recently an Australian lady did dhyan at our ashram, and Hari—his colour and form, his dress, the jewellery that he adorned... and then asked me, "Is it my imagination?" The lady had been searching for over 30 years and in this duration had gone to various schools and learnt different techniques. I asked her if she had ever had such an experience before. She said, "No, but I think it is my imagination. It is not possible." Earlier it was a question, after some time it became her belief. This is in fact the reason why birth takes place.
I have been imparting yoga across the world for over three decades now. People have had experiences of various dimensions and lokas, interacted with beings of both higher and lower lokas, had premonitions, looked into their past births, revealed secrets of Creation... some of which even I do not know. And yet, a common thing that I hear from majority of new people after a profound experience like this is—is it my imagination? It is a very serious issue, how we undermine our practice and experience and try to relate it to the physical. It is the reason for birth.
I have travelled to Himalayas and interacted with yogis there. There is a Babaji there who lives in a small hut beyond the Badrinath Dham in the Himalayas. I have interacted with him on the subject very closely. Once I visited him and had some people from the international community travelling with me. Looking at them nervously, Babaji asked me, "Why have you got them here?"
In today's day and age, if you take 8-10 people from the international community to a spiritual leader would they ever say, why are you bothering me with these people or ask you to take them away? One can assess the state of Babaji from that. My training has been with such kind of people.
I asked him, "What's the problem?"
"I don't see even one face among them who will walk the path," he said.
I asked: "But they have travelled all the way…why would they take so many pains if they were not interested?"
"Not one of them will walk with you," Babaji repeated, adding, "It is because of people like these that I ran away from the plains and came here."
He then asked all of them, "Why have you come?"
They replied, "To get some blessings from you."
He stood up and said, "Come with me." He took them inside his hut. There was small kund with some fire in it, a small cupboard and some grains and pulses lying there. He himself was wearing no clothes.
He asked them, "Look at this and think of what all you people have. What do you think you will get from me? I don't even have clothes, I walk barefoot. On some days, when I get no food, I eat grass. Do you want this?"
All of them were silent.
Babaji then looked at me and asked, "You understand?"
I said, "Yes. But if I don't get them here, then what will become of them?"
He replied, "That is their karma."
I asked, "Yes that is their karma, not mine. But then what is my karma?"
He answered, "Your karma is to walk the path."
I asked, "What is the path?"
He said 'yog' (and some very technical words which you may not understand).
I further asked, "If I don't tell them, how will they take their first step?"
Babaji asked me, "Is it your problem?"
I said, "No, but is it the problem of Shri Hari when he takes birth? When Bhagwan Shiv drank poison, was it his problem?"
Babaji just shook his head and repeated, "None of them will be with you."
I said, "I don't care. Anybody who wants to walk, I will take them along."
I have stuck by it. But then after all this, after asking for and even getting experience, when people turn around and say, 'was it my imagination?' I am reminded of what that Babaji had said.
You would have heard the saying: too many cooks spoil the broth. Let me share another anecdote with you. Another person in Australia came to me, his court case was going on. I genuinely wanted to help the person. The opposition lawyer had a thick moustache. Just to give this person a little indication, I told him, 'by the next hearing, this gentleman would have no moustache.' My purpose was only to tell him to be careful and not take these energies lightly.
The person went for the next hearing, and the said lawyer was clean-shaven. The person was amazed. I told him: "You got your indication. Now, be careful."
But then hardly anyone listens to me. The next day, this person went to a panditji to take some mantra to help resolve his case. The person despite having an experience had no confidence and went to another person. The mantra did not work, and his case took a hit. Too many cooks spoil the broth. The person blamed the panditji. Panditji lost his temper and cursed the person, "Now you will lose Guru sanidhya." What future holds for this person now...is scary.
Therefore, for any spiritual aspirant, it is extremely important to understand that if you are getting something because of the grace of your Guru or your past life karmas—do not undermine it. Normally, people do not get these kinds of experiences even after lifetimes of sadhna. You get an experience of another loka when you travel there, not by imagination. All the lokas exist, all the energies exist, the question is what is it that you want? You want the physical or you want to go beyond?
Be very careful of what you speak or even think. "Is it my imagination"—is the reason for your birth, the reason why you separated from Divine is this very question. You asked Divine the same question, and he said, 'ok, go experience and find out.' Once you take a step away from the Divine, then you come into the world of duality, the world of choices. This or that. You will experience this choice in everything you do, everywhere you go. And as you keep on making these choices, you keep going further and further away from the Divine, living in your utopian, make-believe world. You manifest your desires and also your fears, and you sink further into unreality, away from the Divine. And then when after centuries and millennia Divine comes before you, you ask, 'Is it my imagination?'
It is my research of over 35 years—solid, practical and non-commercial research with inputs from saints from various dimensions. Do not take this lightly. It is the question of journey of lifetimes. Be very careful.
