OM Namo Bhagavate

A personal account of one devotee’s experience with Swamiji.

“Astrology is the eye of the Vedas.” Swami Sri Atmananda, Patanjali Workshop, 2015.

2016 marks the fifteenth year of my association with a “mystic” lovingly addressed as “Swamiji”. A mystic, by definition, is one who apprehends the spiritual truth that is beyond human intellect. I had the great fortune of spending many mystical moments with Swamiji that would often leave me bewildered and confused, and at times, shocked. These moments would sometimes carry such a force that it seemed they could affect a seeker’s inner being for years and sometimes even his lifetime. Little did I know that the accumulated effects of these moments would soon take over the reins of my mind, heart, and eventually destiny. During the past four years, not a single day has gone by when I was not contemplating on one or more of these moments—either trying to understand the hidden meaning behind Swamiji’s utterances or patiently waiting for his predictions to come true. On the occasion of Swamiji’s birthday, I wish to share one such incident from my early days with him. Another reason I am sharing this is because I feel I now peripherally understand why he did what he did.

I was in my early 20s when most of my in-person interactions with Swamiji took place. Back in those days, his spiritual organization was just starting out and relatively small; this freed up a lot of his time to interact with outside visitors to the ashram. He would make himself available for teaching meditation techniques to visitors and ashramites alike, and hold several discourse sessions each week. I felt such deep admiration for Swamiji that I thought I should take up a monastic life in order to be with him for the rest of my days. One day, at the height of these feelings, Swamiji highly encouraged me to go to America for my higher education, as part of his spiritual mission. My logical mind found this nonsensical—it seemed that no spiritual master would want his loving devotees to leave his sight and get lost in the material mires of this world. This seemed especially true for a novice seeker like me who had just started his spiritual quest, and faced every possibility of getting derailed from the track.

I soon cleared the GRE exams and per Swamiji’s instructions, applied to a number of American universities for my post-graduate studies. This was in2002, right after 9/11, when it became increasingly difficult for international students to obtain financial aid from US universities. Without financial aid, my chances of attending a US university were slim to none. My family was adamant on not financially supporting me beyond my bachelor’s degree, and wouldn’t even assist me in taking out a bank loan to fund my foreign trip. I had almost given up hope and made up my mind to pursue Plan B: take a company job in India and pursue my spiritual interests by remaining in close proximity to Swamiji.

On the 18^th of June, 2003, much to my family’s and my surprise, Swamiji called me at my home in Assam with the following message.. He was apparently in a state of trance (Samadhi) when he said, to the best of my recollections: “Mark my words…I know your past, present, and future…you are destined to go to the US…start preparing for the journey…everything will be arranged for you by the Lord.” It was a unidirectional dialogue: he spoke and I listened. Later I learned from the ashramites that he had locked himself up for almost two days in his room to remain in Samadhi during his birthday. It was during that time that he called me.

His voice over the phone seemed impersonal, instructive, and lacking any human emotion. I can still remember the feeling that had erupted in me from listening to him that day. The unearthly force transmitted over the phone lines deprived me of sleep for nearly two nights afterward. As Swamiji foretold, I received full scholarship for my entire post-graduate education in the US. His blessings have incessantly been pouring on me and carrying me ever since, and presently, I am a professor in a highly ranked US university.

During my second year in the US, I asked Swamiji how he knew my future, and more importantly, how I was spiritually benefitting his mission and myself by completing my studies in the US. During that period, I had no time for spiritual practices. I was completely deluged by academics, which were purely material in nature. His reply, as I recall, was “Completing your PhD and becoming a reputed scientist is the best spiritual practice you can do for yourself at this stage of your life…In Gita’s language it is your swadharma. All spiritual knowledge is already inside of you,.. It’s only a matter of time before it will reveal itself to you”

Not satisfied with this qualitative answer, I visited him the following year at his Ashram, and again asked the above question. This time, he gave a different answer “I know your astrological chart… My role as a sadguru is to be patient and deliver you from maya (illusion)…this might take one year, one birth, or multiple births…Enlightenment happens as a lightning strike and hence the name…I wish to be able to see at least a dozen of my devotees enlightened in my lifetime, and to each I prescribe different solutions per his system’s needs.”

Still not quite satisfied at his explanation, I further asked which astrologer he consulted to read my chart. He laughed and said that Maharshi Bhrigu had taught him to read spiritual charts during his Nirvikalpa samadhi in the Arunachala cave. Thus inspired, I left the ashram and obtained a copy of my own birth chart from my mother, and started teaching myself the tenets of astrology during my free time.

For the next several years, I delved into numerous interpretations of the classical astrological texts by ancient Vedic sages Parashara and Jaimini. These texts highlight the importance of Rahu and Ketu—the two nodes of moon—in granting spiritual enlightenment to a seeker.

Rahu in a person’s birth chart digs out the hidden desires from the depths of one’s subconscious mind, brings them to the conscious mind, and helps materialize them. The scriptures further explain that no amount of meditation and spiritual practice can stop Rahu from doing its part in one’s chart. Yogis fall from their spiritual attainments typically during the influence of Rahu in their chart. Only after Rahu’s role in one’s life is over, Ketu (its counterpart) takes over to bestow enlightenment to the soul.

When I understood this, and learned that Rahu is in my ninth house of higher education and foreign travel, I felt that I then understood why Swamiji had insisted on me coming to the US for higher studies. Had he not done so, I would have to deal with this subconscious desire later in this life or in future births. Spiritual emancipation wouldn’t be possible without this critical astrological intervention by Swamiji.

It took me almost 10 years to realize what seems to be at least part of the spiritual significance of one of Swamiji’s many mystical actions. On a personal level, since my becoming a professor in 2014, I’ve felt a paradigm shift in my consciousness, whereby the mind seems to be naturally turning inward and the level of spiritual aspiration and focus has increased by an order of magnitude. At first I couldn’t understand why. But now it’s starting to make sense.

In Paramhansa Yogananda’s book Autobiography of a Yogi, he describes his guru, Swami Yukteshwar Giri, influencing the astrological forces for the sake of expediting the spiritual progress of his disciples. A similar cosmic phenomenon might be at play here for those associated with Swamiji. To this mystical, selfless, and mightily powerful form called Swamiji, I offer my humblest pranam and best wishes on his birthday.

His Loving Devotee.

18^th June 2016