Part 54 (1/2)
An avatar lives in the omnipresent Spirit; for him there is no distance inverse to the square Only one reason, therefore, canhis physical form from century to century: the desire to furnish humanity with a concrete exalimpse of Divinity in the flesh, he would remain oppressed by the heavy mayic delusion that he cannot transcend histhe sequence of his life; he passed through each event not for himself, not from any karmic compulsion, but solely for the uplifts His four reporter-disciples-Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John-recorded the ineffable draenerations
For Babaji, also, there is no relativity of past, present, future; fro he has known all phases of his life Yet, acco of men, he has played many acts of his divine life in the presence of one or more witnesses Thus it came about that a disciple of Lahiri Mahasaya was present when Babaji deemed the time to be ripe for him to proclaim the possibility of bodily immortality He uttered this proht finally becoreat ones speak their words and participate in the seeood of man, even as Christ said: ”FatherI knew that thou hearest me always: but BECAUSE OF THE PEOPLE WHICH STAND BY I SAID IT, that theymy visit at Ranbajpur with Ram Gopal, ”the sleepless saint,” {FN33-3} he related the wondrous story of his firstwith Babaji
”I sometimes left my isolated cave to sit at Lahiri Mahasaya's feet in Benares,” Ra in a group of his disciples, therequest
”'Ra GHAT'
”I soon reached the secluded spot The night was bright withstars After I had sat in patient silence for awhile, e stone slab near round cave As the stone remained balanced in soly lovely woh into the air Surrounded by a soft halo, she slowly descended in front of me and stood motionless, steeped in an inner state of ecstasy She finally stirred, and spoke gently
”'I am Mataji, {FN33-4} the sister of Babaji I have asked hiht to discuss a ht was rapidly floating over the Ganges; the strange luminescence was reflected in the opaque waters It approached nearer and nearer until, with a blinding flash, it appeared by the side of Mataji and condensed itself instantly into the human form of Lahiri Mahasaya He bowed humbly at the feet of the woman saint
”Before I had recovered from my bewilderswiftly, the flaroup and materialized itself into the body of a beautiful youth who, I understood at once, was Babaji He looked like Lahiri Mahasaya, the only difference being that Babaji appeared ht hair
”Lahiri Mahasaya, Mataji, and uru's feet An ethereal sensation of beatific glory thrilled every fiber ofas I touched his divine flesh
”'Blessed sister,' Babaji said, 'I ae into the Infinite Current'
”'I have already glimpsed your plan, beloved ht Why should you leave your body?' The glorious woly
”'What is the difference if I wear a visible or invisible wave on the ocean of my Spirit?'
”Mataji replied with a quaint flash of wit 'Deathless guru, if it makes no difference, then please do not ever relinquish your form'
{FN33-5}
”'Be it so,' Babaji said solemnly 'I will never leave my physical body It will always remain visible to at least a small number of people on this earth The Lord has spoken His oish through your lips'
”As I listened in awe to the conversation between these exalted beings, the great guru turned to esture
”'Fear not, Ram Gopal,' he said, 'you are blessed to be a witness at the scene of this immortal promise'
”As the sweet melody of Babaji's voice faded away, his form and that of Lahiri Mahasaya slowly levitated and ht teht sky Mataji's form floated to the cave and descended; the stone slab closed of itself, as if working on an invisible leverage
”Infinitely inspired, I wended my way back to Lahiri Mahasaya's place As I bowed before hily
”'I a Babaji and Mataji, which you have often expressed to me, has found at last a sacred fulfillment'
”My fellow disciples informed me that Lahiri Mahasaya had not
”'He gave a wonderful discourse on immortality after you had left for the Dasasamedh GHAT,' one of the chelas told me For the first time I fully realized the truth in the scriptural verses which state that a man of self-realization can appear at different places in two or more bodies at the same time
”Lahiri Mahasaya later explained tothe hidden divine plan for this earth,” Ram Gopal concluded ”Babaji has been chosen by God to remain in his body for the duration of this particular world cycle Ages shall co the drae terrestrial”
Chapter 33 Footnotes
{FN33-1} MATTHEW 8:19-20