Shri Mahavatar Babaji
By Mahavatar Babaji’s limitless divine power, Lahiri Mahashaya entered the deepest level of God-realization, the state of nirvikalpa samadhi.
Crossing the successive stages of Self-knowledge,
he remained anchored for seven days in the deathless realm of brahma loka. The compassionate Babaji Maharaj instructed him to go back to the world and perform his worldly duties as an ideal yogi householder, blazing the path of liberation for worldly people and sannyasis alike who earnestly sought God-realization. In this way Babaji taught that liberation was no longer the monopoly of a few select sannyasis, and that worldly people could attain godhood without abandoning their duties. By seeking the soul at every moment during all activities, we can achieve God-realization.
Babaji Maharaj tested the depth of love and determination of an American devotee who was searching for him along the inaccessible crags of the Himalayas. Glimpsing Babaji Maharaj, the devotee’s face lit up with joy, and tears streamed down his face.
The devotee implored Babaji Maharaj to accept him as his disciple. Babaji Maharaj sternly declined, and the American devotee suddenly jumped from the cliff into a rocky chasm below the ledge. Babaji Maharaj instructed his disciples to collect the corpse. With Babaji’s divine touch, the American devotee came back to life and was accorded the rare privilege of being Babaji Maharaj’s disciple.
Like a director who remains in the background instructing the actors, Shri Babaji Maharaj oversees the worldly stage, appearing only rarely. At Kumbha Mela, he addressed Priyanath (Swami Shriyukteshwar), the dear and close disciple of Lahiri Mahashaya, as “Swamiji,” to Priyanath’s utter astonishment. He instructed Priyanath to write a book combining the essence of Indian metaphysics with that of the West, promising to meet him the day it was finished. True to his word, Babaji Maharaj visited him on the day the assigned work was completed, as Priyanath exited his bath in the Ganga at Shri Rampur.
Lahiri Mahashaya, Babaji Maharaj, and his sister, Mataji, appeared from a flash of light at the Dasahwamedha bathing ghat to Ramgopal, who had been told go there by his guru, Lahiri Mahashaya. When Babaji Maharaj desired to shed his body, his sister Mataji said, “As there is no difference between being ensconced in Brahma and the deathless form, pledge before me that you will never relinquish your body form for the liberation of the entire human race.” Listening to her prayer, as a hallmark of his great compassion, he promised it would be so.
“If you come to doubt, I’ll give you every reason to doubt. If you come suspicious, I’ll give you every reason to be suspicious. But if you come seeking Love, I’ll show you more love than you’ve ever known”
― Mahavatar Babaji Maharaj
Babaji Maharaj’s divine majesties and the cosmic enactment of his dream are endless. He roams forever in the vast ethereal canvas of divinity, transcending limitations of worldly distinctions such as caste, class, religion, culture, history, and geography.
He brought the message of Kriya Yoga to the West through Paramahamsa Yogananda and Paramahamsa Hariharananda, who were brought by his direction into close contact with Swami Shriyukteshwar for spiritual grooming and stewardship. He appeared before Paramahamsa Yogananda before Yoganandaji’s voyage to the West.
