By Eric Elbers, Canada
Back 46 years ago, at the age 30, when visiting friends over a weekend, I stumbled upon a few books by Edgar Cayce, known as the Sleeping Prophet. Being raised in an orthodox Dutch Protestant family, these books were my first exposure to the serious possibility of reincarnation and the associated law of karma. Edgar Cayce himself, a devout Christian and Sunday school teacher, was amazed when, in a deep trance, he started reading past lives and the karmic origin of current problems that the people who visited him for advice were facing. I still remember that a light came on, an insight happened: “Yes, of course, that makes a lot of sense and explains so many things in the world.”
That realization started a frenzy of reading of spiritual literature that appeared familiar to me and also showed me insights and knowledge of Eastern traditions that seemed familiar, even though they were not a part of my upbringing. A resurfacing of things I had known before. Then I had this prophetic dream, which I remember to this date. I was shown a beautiful, large mansion, and a clear voice told me, “This house has been built with patience and perseverance.”
That was it. That was the guidance I received with which I was sent off on my spiritual journey. Surprisingly, those two words are very similar to the shraddha and saburi [faith and patience] precepts, which are the core of the teachings of Shirdi Sai Baba, who I would learn about forty years later, but first things first.
During my early spiritual explorations, I learned about a movement called ‘The Science of Soul Travel’. It promised to teach out of body travel and travel with spiritual masters in the inner worlds. Now, that sounded like a great adventure and quite appealed to me, so I went head over heels into a path that promised to make me a ‘Spiritual Traveler’. I followed this path for thirty years. I became a ‘Higher Initiate’ and ‘Spiritual Aide’ and fulfilled a variety of leadership positions, but, disappointingly, the subtlety of Soul Travel kept escaping me, despite attending numerous seminars and diligent execution of the spiritual exercises. Still, I kept my faith until, in the early 2000s, a bombshell hit. One of the Higher Initiates carried out intense internet research and discovered that many of the teachings were plagiarized from different sources. The leader of the spiritual movement himself had fabricated a fake lineage of spiritual masters in whose footsteps he supposedly was walking. Needless to say that then a crisis of faith occurred, and it did not take long for me to leave the movement after thirty years. It was quite interesting though, that even though the masters were fabrications, they did seem to work for many people as spiritual guides and as sources of spiritual inspiration. There is an essential principle of faith at work here, which ties in with the pivotal role faith plays on our spiritual journey.
Being disappointed with fake masters, I reread and became fascinated by Yogananda’s ‘Autobiography of a Yogi,’ a spiritual classic about Kriya Yoga, the spiritual roots of which appeared genuine and very deep, which led me to start following the Kriya Yoga path. But one has to watch out here as well: the Kriya Yoga tradition has branched out in different paths with different Gurus of varying caliber, teaching different variations, and it took me a while to find a branch that resonated with me. But soon after, the Master of that path decided to stop traveling and remain in India, which made personal contact more difficult and thereby made my journey more isolated and sadhana centered. Is it necessary to have a personal connection ‘in the flesh’ with one’s Guru? Probably not, but one may consider it a huge blessing if the opportunity presents itself, and such personal meetings help to kindle the flame of devotion.
With all this study and pursuit, I developed a problem: too much head knowledge. I realized that while practicing Kriya Yoga, I was drawn to the Raja Yoga and Gyana Yoga paths but lacked in service [Karma Yoga] and devotion [Bhakti Yoga], so I started looking for a spiritual connection that could fill those gaps. A beautiful female Indian saint, known as the ‘hugging saint’ yearly visited North America, and I felt drawn to the love and compassion she taught and radiated. I followed the guidance of this inspiring saint for several years. Still, I realized that it would be hard to connect personally with her since, after thirty years of being on the road sharing love, compassion, and hugs, this saint had built up a vast following of hundreds of thousands to millions of devotees. Many thousands of people attended meetings at a time, and it would be tough to obtain access to her, let alone build a personal relationship. I kept reading and studying, and then something significant happened: Sai came into my life.
Shirdi Sai Baba [1838-1918] intrigued me from the outset. Here was a real incarnation of divinity. A presence so profound, a knowledge so deep, love and compassion so strong, abounding miracles and transformation, universal, non-denominational spirituality and a life dedicated to the service of the Almighty, what more could one be looking for? All boxes checked, except Sai was no longer in the flesh, having taken Mahasamadhi over one hundred years ago. However, more reading about the life and miracles of Shirdi Sai Baba followed. Soon, I ended up reading about Sathya Sai Baba, according to his revelation, a more recent reincarnation of Shirdi Sai Baba, but also and more recently departed. While reading the Special Issue of Awakening Times about Sathya Sai Baba [1926-2011], I came across an article written by Mohanji. He explained his first contact and mystical relationship with Sathya Sai Baba, which had occurred after a tough and challenging period in his personal life. Reading the blogs of Mohanji about his spiritual connection with Sai Babas, Mahavatar Babaji, Nadananda, and disciples of Nityananda made it clear to me that Mohanji was recognized and supported by illustrious Saints of the highest stature as a very advanced Spiritual Master with an important mission. Plus, he was in the body and actively traveling and teaching. This was good enough for me. Here was my chance to connect with a Satguru in the early stage of his spiritual mission, which would allow me to be of service and have an opportunity for personal contact. Plus, Mohanji also was a Kriya Master in the Mahavatar Babaji Tradition. Another box checked. I quickly contacted Mohanji to request whether he would approve and bless me to start a weekly meditation class of his meditations in my home. The answer I received was that he had already received my request through consciousness and had approved it with his blessings. I was on my way!
It took a year and a half to meet Mohanji in person. While standing in line to greet him, I saw him glance briefly at me with a sign of recognition, and when a little later I was formally introduced to him, he said, “Eric and I have a very deep relationship.”
That was surprising and not surprising to me. Surprising because this ‘deep connection’ was something I had not been aware of [I thought I had searched Mohanji out] and not surprising because being allowed a close personal relationship with a Satguru is a privilege built up over lifetimes. How can it then be a surprise to hear that a deep connection exists?
For me, the propelling force on the journey from Edgar Cayce to Mohanji over forty years, following different teachers with ups and downs, was faith, and the dream-vision that “this house has been built with patience and perseverance”. However, while fellow travelers over the years were able to share beautiful inner experiences, the path I traveled was one of insight, patience, and perseverance; no fancy soul travel with elevated Masters, no inner plane cinematography. I grew up in a Christian environment built on faith and have had to accept that faith, not fancy experiences, is crucial for my spiritual growth. Peter, the disciple of Jesus, was able to walk on water when he saw Jesus after his resurrection. Yet, as soon as he looked down and realized he was walking on waves, the realization that this could not be happening caused him to start sinking, and the helping hand of his Master was needed to pull him up. Faith allowed him to walk on water, but as soon as it left him, he started sinking. The same applies to us all.
The spiritual journey often starts with a tire-kicking phase, checking out different paths and Masters, checking them out, and going for a test drive here and there. Yet, once this phase is complete and we settle down and start following a particular Master, we better stop looking for the higher, better, more significant, or more glamorous and famous Master and begin building a relationship with our chosen Master based on faith. During the trying out phase due to the absence of faith, it is impossible to develop a strong relationship with any Master. This is illustrated in Stage I by the dashed lines and the various Master figures surrounding the seeker, experienced either simultaneously or sequentially. However, once a connection is made with a particular Master, and the seeker starts placing his/her faith in the Master, a subtle, energetic connection starts forming in the subtle realms. This connection begins tentatively but becomes stronger over time as the seeker, and now disciple starts to place more and more trust in his Guru and allows the Guru to flow guidance, protection, and blessings through this energy conduit. Stages II and III show how this energy conduit becomes bigger, and the energetic distance between the disciple and Master shortens as the connection between the Master and disciple strengthens.
Then, during Stage IV, an important change starts to happen as the disciple’s energies and the Master’s begin to overlap and merge. In this stage, the disciple starts to act increasingly as a channel for the Master to work through. Finally, in Stage V, a complete merger of energies occurs as the disciple becomes Self-realized as the ego boundaries dissolve.
The fundamental principle is that the entire progress from Stage II to Stage V is dependent on the faith the disciple places in the Master. It is faith that keeps the channel open. It is faith that draws the connection closer, and it is increasing faith that allows it to expand. Without faith, no progress is possible.
And then there is the role of doubt. Doubts are the tests given to measure the strength and depth of the disciples’ faith. They will occur from time to time to test the strength of the bond. If the disciple allows doubts to enter into the relationship, there is little the Master can do. Doubts are the worms that chew away at the energetic connection. Once established, they will gnaw holes through which the connective energy starts leaking away, and the energetic connection weakens. Once the first doubt has done its work, a second one finds it easier to enter, and over time, holes open up in the energy channel [Stage VI]. Then the channel loses its ability to maintain an energetic connection between disciple and Master. Therefore the disciple needs to be vigilant and robust because doubts may enter innocuously. It may be a remark from a family, relative, or friend, a passage in an article, a whispered rumor or slander that gives credibility, etc. All serve to test the mettle of the devotee. Is there sufficient faith to allow for a closer connection? This testing happens all the time. Once doubts are permitted to enter and are entertained by the mind, the relationship sooner or later gets broken. The disciple loses a God-given opportunity for Self-realization in that lifetime. It may take many lifetimes to receive another chance to connect with a Satguru, and every time the tests will reoccur. Once broken by lack of faith, the connection is tested again and again until finally, one develops a connection that is strong enough to withstand all attacks and allows the devotee to complete the journey. Merger with the Satguru energies can then occur, which is the same as merging with the Absolute [Stage V].
An interesting illustration of the power of faith is that the devotees on the Soul Travel Path I initially traveled had inner experiences with spiritual Masters whose existence, as was later shown, were fabricated, having had no Earth history. Yet, a connection was formed on the inner planes through the faith of the devotees, which allowed Divine Spirit to use the Master’s matrix to function as a spiritual connection through which teachings and protection could flow. It was faith that initiated the relationship and trust that maintained it.
In the words of Mohanji:
“Life is about faith. Faith happens, sooner or later. When ego subsides and gets nullified through consistent downfalls, faith happens. Faith leads. Faith soothes. Faith reinforces. Faith nurtures life. Faith elevates life. Faith stabilizes life. Faith liberates man. Faith increases with experiences. Faith decreases when we disown our own experiences; swapping it for other’s opinions or book knowledge. Faith increases when surrender becomes absolute. Faith decreases when ego becomes predominant. Faith is real if it is spontaneous. Faith is transitory if it is induced or inherited. If man’s herd instinct leads to a certain faith, it ends when he turns a new corner. Such is the passing faith, which has no longevity. Faith-based conviction is more real if the conviction is based on truth.”
Jai Mohanj. Thank you, dear Master, for taking me home. I place my faith in you.
|| JAI BRAHMARISHI MOHANJI||
Edited & Published by – Testimonials Team, 27th August 2020
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