I've been very interested recently in reading up on, and generally finding out about, Babaji. Many interested in spiritual topics will know the name as he is described in Yogananda's famous book, "Autobiography Of A Yogi", and indeed he appeared to Yogananda. Babaji is widely considered to be the Mahayogi or Guru of all gurus in the yogi tradition. The impression many have (mistakenly) from Yogananda's book is that Babaji is some otherworldly figure who is virtually impossible to find or encounter, not inhabiting a physical form. However, while a few dispute it, generally it is now considered that the same Babaji Yogananda wrote of was also the Babaji who lived in the Himalayan foothills around the small village of Haidakhan from around 1860 to 1922. He just suddenly was there, and disappeared in front of followers in a flash of light in 1922.
But it's only in recent years I've known of the "new" Haidakhan Babaji. He was suddenly back there in a very youthful body in 1970, and lay down his body in "death" as he'd predicted to a few he would do, after 14 years in 1984. So he only manifested for 14 years. Again, it's widely believed that this was the same personage as the other two Babajis - and indeed he affirmed this and also proved it in many ways. Legally a court agreed that he was Babaji returned, so he inherited the rights to ashram buildings established by the "old" Babaji.
I've put this under "General - Faiths" as he came not to support Hinduism or any religion in particular, but Universal Religion: all of them, and Truth.
The 1970-1984 appearance of this great person is fascinating as from all accounts this was no normal human body. He came from no known family or parentage: suddenly, looking about 18, he was just there, in a cave, knowing about world affairs, able to play instruments, and extremely knowledgeable and wise about all religions and spiritual practices. It's not considered that this was a reincarnation; rather it's that Babaji can just manifest and then dematerialise bodies at will - and tri-located at times. At first this young "new" Babaji never ate, rarely drank fluid, didn't go to the loo, and could sit in meditation for over 40 days unmoving. Heat and cold didn't seem to phase him.
It was apparent to the many who followed him that he knew their thoughts at any moment and would respond to them. He rarely if ever slept. He was with and helping people up to 20 hours a day, every day. Though he sometimes slept in a tiny locked room, his chief priest and helper shared the room and at night would find himself alone - Babaji gone though the door was still locked from the outside. Personally he had no belongings - even his clothes would be given, he'd wear them, then pass them on after a day or two. His beard and hair never grew - unless he wanted them to. Sometimes he grew a moustache, but then it seemed to withdraw at will into his body again. (Once he did shave his hair off.) He had immense energy, designed buildings for his ashram, taught many hundreds of people in an amazing one-to-one manner, and his body was seen to swell in moments if he took on karmic burdens or "low vibes" from newcomers. There are accounts of him healing and even raising the dead. After pretending that he only spoke the local dialect for over ten years, from 1981, though he'd received no education, he would speak almost any language to people who began to come to him from around India and the world. All spiritual teachers, gurus, and yogis who met him acknowledged him as their superior. Even though they might be elders, and he at first looked only 18-22.
These are all just the physical attributes of a figure who changed enormously in appearance over the 14 years of his manifestation. The real story is in his teachings, his methods, and how he helped so many in their spiritual growth.
It's all been a fascinating story to get into, and still little-known in the West. (He gave up his body, it seemed, soon after he became wide-enough known that Westerners were arriving to him by the hundred.) I've found it best to read the two books, "I Am Harmony" on him by Radhe Shyam, and "Fire of Transformation" by Gaura Devi. But there are small websites, a Facebook page, some other books, well over a thousand photos of him (some on Google images) and a limited amount of movie footage.
Babaji was a truly remarkable Being, and all the more remarkable for being still so relatively little-known. An astonishing Being actually, and it's fascinating to read of his methods - often very Zen - of teaching individuals in their spiritual growth. He was often extremely subtle, but could overwhelm people with love or even hit them with his staff at a key moment. If he were still in that body today, I'm sure people would be flocking there in the hundreds of thousands. Certainly I regret not knowing of him at the time before 1984.
V
A Film Star Meets B?baji
Shammi Kapoor, the great Indian film star, acknowledges his first meeting with Babaji in 1974 was a rather unusual and powerful experience. He was unaccountably nervous. He made his pranam to this young Babaji and then retreated to the far corners of the room, even went behind curtains, and looked at Babaji through the telescopic lens of his camera – and took photographs. Every time he focused, he found Babaji looking at him with piercing, X-ray eyes. One of the photos Shammiji took has a clear Om symbol on Babaji’s forehead.
But he prided himself on his clear, rational thinking and was not about to ‘surrender’ to Shri Babaji. His wife and children wanted to invite Babaji to come to their home. Shammiji had no objection to this, but the custom was for the whole family to go to where Babaji was staying and tender the invitation as a united group – and this Shammiji refused to do. Babaji was to be invited to their apartment on Monday and the family wanted to go on Sunday to offer the invitation. Shammiji had a busy work schedule and Sunday was his only free day and he insisted on his right to have his customary Sunday lunch and beer, followed by a long nap in his air-conditioned bedroom.
Shammiji says he told Neela, his wife, “Babaji is welcome to come; He can have my home, but I will not go to invite Him. I am going to have my beer, my lunch, and my nap!” So the family went off to see Babaji and Shammiji had his lunch and beer.
As Shammiji was getting ready for his afternoon nap in his big bed, Neela and the family knelt before Shri Babaji to ask Him to come to their home. Babaji asked Neela, “Where is your husband?” Unwilling to say that he had stayed home to enjoy his beer and nap, and not wanting to lie, Neela stammered that Shammiji was not really well and had stayed at home.
At that time, Shammiji stretched out on his bed for his nap – and suddenly Babaji was standing before him at the foot of his bed! Babaji laughed at Shammiji and said, “Oho! So you are sick? You stayed home and had lots of beer and lunch.” Babaji jumped to the right of the bed and teased and laughed at Shammiji, then jumped over the big bed to the other side. Back and forth, to the top and bottom of the bed, Babaji jumped and laughed and teased. For two hours, Babaji kept up this ‘game’ and Shammiji sat in his bed in a sweat, wondering what in God’s name to do with this Baba.
When Neela came home from Babaji’s afternoon darshan, she went into the bedroom to wake up the sleeping Shammiji; but she found him sitting on his bed, drenched in sweat, and trembling. A very shaken Shammiji told Neela of his experience with Babaji.
When Babaji came to the apartment the next day, Shammiji related his experience to Babaji, who laughed at Shammiji with twinkling eyes.
- From “I Am Harmony: A Book About Babaji” by Radhe Shyam
Hi V - nice to have you back!
That's really interesting. Amazing we haven't heard of him in the West. Perhaps the time wasn't right then?
Hi Caroline,
Certainly only those heard about him, I think, who were intended to. Almost from the beginning, if he traveled around India, hundreds flocked to see him. But this was before the days of the internet, and a few Westerners just heard of him in early years by word of mouth. He sustained himself and was fine so long as followers were fairly pure and devout, and not in overwhelming numbers. He served immensely, because even if hundreds came to his ashram, he had an amazing way of knowing perfectly just what every individual needed for their development, and so even if it was just in a few momentary meetings in each day, everybody was given instruction, tasks to do, and care tailored to them, by him. (If anyone wasn't responding, or not ready, he just said, "You go!" - they had to leave next day :eek:)
But a book on him came out in, I think, 1983, in Europe. Hundreds of Westerners suddenly did find their way to his remote ashram, hours away from any road; and close followers were concerned that he couldn't sustain the burden his body took upon itself from these raw "recruits". He couldn't have sustained that level of service to so many new people, and he must have known that from the beginning. He dropped hints from the beginning that he wouldn't be around after 1984.
Really interesting to read those two books on him, and Google images has a wealth of photos under "Babaji". (A few are of different people as Babaji simply means "revered father".) He was at first very youthful, and rarely spoke; then he transformed into someone with more weight on him, and who was continually active and interacting with people. Remarkable - even his character would transform within a second to deal with each different person. It's as if no human personality such as we think of it was there - he was a Being who mirrored what everyone else needed to receive.
Check out Google images 🙂
V
Edit to add: Hmm but I just looked, and it's pretty confusing which images are or are not him. A number are the artist's rendition of how Babaji was described by people in Yogananda's time, back in the early 1900s. In young or more weighty form, he's the one with the markings on the forehead.
Very nice posts V and pleased to see you back. Look forward to more intersting and quaint posts of yours