Maria-Gabriele Wosien - Babaji - Message from the Himalayas

"In the darkness I began to climb the many stairs to the ashram above, pausing several times to catch my breath and gaze upon the cheerful scene below. At this height the sounds of the brass band and the voices from the crowd became mingled into a great humming and droning. I leaned against the wall and surveyed all below me. Suddenly I could see the 'other Haidakhan' as it were, the hidden spiritual reality of a place that had otherwise become so familiar to me in the two months of my stay there.

"The words 'Haidakhan is the centre of the world' kept coming into my mind and then I had a vision. I saw a havan kund (sacrificial fire-pit) enclosed by a beautifully structured yet simple boundary and inside it was teeming with life. It was a picture of utter simplicity but I knew I was looking at the original and the last place to exist on earth....."

Mahendra Baba 32has spoken of the significance and spiritual beauty of this place in the ecstatically inspired poetry of his Haidakhandi Arati 33:

"Haidakhan is a place unique - pure, full of bliss, the ultimate goal,

Where gods and sages daily meet, where the Gautama Ganga flows.

Beholding Mount Kailash, I am drawn to it with all my being. At the foot of this mountain is a beautiful divine cave - within the Lord Himself resides.

There the animals of the forest move about without fear and enmity toward one another.

Since my Lord is dwelling there, even Nandana Van, Lord Krishna's abode, has lost its charm for me.

Glory be to this sacred place of Haidakhan, Lord

Shiva's home."

Of his vision of the future, Shiva tells his son, Karttikeya, that a time will come, when all the gods will return to the Kumaon Kailash; this will be also the time when Haidakhan will regain its original significance as the principal sanctuary of the world; a time which would mark a turning point in world history and the dawn of a new age.

Yogananda referred to Babaji as 'Mahavatar', the great divine incarnation, and as 'Immortal Babaji'. He stated that along with Christ, Babaji is preparing the groundwork to usher humankind into a new consciousness.

The name 'Babaji' is a general term of respect used when addressing spiritual masters and teachers. Since time immemorial, Babaji as Shiva-avatar, has been a familiar figure in the Himalayan world, though known by countless different names and titles in both classical literature and oral tradition 34. Manifesting in different places, under various guises, he is nevertheless always understood to be the same divine Being.

Babaji is generally known to be an ayonisambhava or spiritual being that is neither born of woman nor dies a physical death. As swayambhu or self-manifested, apart from retaining memory of all his previous physical manifestations and having all knowledge, his vision extends beyond time and space and beyond the origin of creation.

The Shiva Purana 35contains a dialogue between Brahma and Shiva which implies the existence of a divine principle that incarnates into human form throughout the ages:

"In the twenty-eighth aeon, during the dvapara yuga [the age following the satya yuga or age of truth] at the time of Dvaypayana Vyasa, the greatest of all purushas shall be born as Krishna ..... then, too, shall I, Shiva, be born by means of my yogic maya and appear in the body of a brahmacharin [an ascetic, religious adept] with the soul of a yogin to the great amazement of all the worlds. I will seek out a corpse lying forsaken near a cremation pyre, shall enter it by means of my yogic maya and free it from all ailment ..... I shall enter the holy divine cave of Mount Meru 36and dwell there with you (Brahma) and Vishnu ..... For so long as the earth exists, this incarnation and the sacred siddha centre will be greatly renowned ..... (it is) the incarnation of the universal atman [self] as Yogeshwara [king of yogis], (the one that) performs great deeds throughout aeons for the fulfilment of dharma."

Of course the attempt has been made throughout the ages to somehow understand this mysterious Being or to at least define some of its attributes.

Occasionally Babaji alluded to previous existences in Japan, Nepal and Tibet many thousands of years ago. Shortly after his reappearance in 1970 a clairvoyant saint from northern India, named Gangotri Baba and also known as Swami Akhandananda, confirmed that Babaji was revered as 'Lama Baba' in Tibet five hundred years ago and that many well-known saints were among his disciples, including the Tibetan royal family and the Dalai Lama, who has been his disciple over many incarnations.

Since the turn of the nineteenth century Babaji has been venerated in the Himalayan region under such identities as Brahmachari Baba, Somvari Baba and Naga Baba, all famous saints of northern India, and there are countless stories, passed on by way of oral traditions in particular, that tell of many miraculous incidents. Babaji's identity with these saints has been confirmed partly by visions of his disciples; partly he has confirmed them verbally himself.

About the year 1800 Babaji appeared as a bright light on top of the Kumaon Kailash. It was seen by some villagers on several occasions and each time it would disappear after a while. Eventually the people decided to go up to the spot and pray to the mysterious divine being to come and reveal itself.

It happened. A dazzling ball of light, an avadhut, began to shine before the assembled group and then from its centre, emerged a wondrous creature resembling a youth of about twenty or so years of age. The villagers extolled the divine manifestation with chanting and prayers and then, full of awe and humility, appealed to it to come down with them and stay in their village. The radiant being abode for some time in the house of the local forester, Shri Dham Singh, who before setting out to work each day, would lock the room.

One day some of the locals wanted to see the avadhut; they broke open the lock and found the room empty. Ten years passed by without any further trace of the mysterious being.

Baba Haidakhan, as he had now become popularly known after the name of the village, was seen in many different places in the intervening years and many have told of the miracles he performed and of the power of his love. Finally in August 1922 he went with some of his devotees to the confluence of the Kali and Gauri rivers at the north Indian-Nepalese border and stepping into the water, dematerialized into light as they watched. He was gone and he was not gone. Baba Haidakhan was seen thereafter by many people in different places. He appeared to his close devotees in dreams, visions, or in direct physical form and gave help and blessings in times of Hdifficulty. He had also not gone without making a promise to his devotees - the promise to return.

In June 1970, true to his promise, Babaji manifested again as Baba Haidakhan and was found in the cave at the foot of Mount Kailash by a man from a nearby village who had been told in a dream that the avatar had reappeared and to go seek him out there. This encounter marks the beginning of Babaji's work, played out for the first time, relatively speaking, before a more widespread and far larger number of people.

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