Between the eyebrows is an important energy point. Concentrating on the mid-eyebrow, yogis achieve a state of peace, bliss, and unity with the divine Consciousness. If you apply a materialized Lingam to the mid-eyebrow, then the most powerful descent of divine energy flows instantly.
In the ‘80s, Padananda's lock was quite strict, he did not allow anyone to visit him. Starting in the ‘90s, he began to open the doors of his room. Everyone who came to him got the opportunity to take the Lingam in his hand and even attach the Lingam to the eyebrows.
It is difficult to describe the feeling that I experienced during such practices. I can only describe it as a feeling of the strongest energy instantly filling my whole body while my soul experienced joy. Many people, applying the Lingam to the mid-eyebrow began to see the brightest mystical light.
Since the Lingam had great power, Padananda was careful to ensure visitors held the Lingam for only two or three minutes. This practice made a great impression on me, and there was a period when I often visited Padananda in order to get the opportunity to meditate with the wonderful Lingam.
46. I plucked up courage and went to Maheshwarananda's house in the hope of finding out about the mysterious cave in the Himalayas
In the early ‘90s, I came across a book called Sathya Sai Baba and the Nara Narayana Guha Ashram. As soon as I started reading this book, I immediately realized I was holding something absolutely amazing and precious in my hands. This book tells the story of how Sathya Sai Baba founded a secret ashram in the Himalayas and sent a small group of his disciples there.
The book left an ambivalent impression on me. On the one hand, I experienced tremendous inspiration from the fact that such unique events took place in our time. However, I wondered if this was really a true story? Could I believe that such events were taking place today? If something happened many centuries and even millennia ago, then it is easier for people to believe in the authenticity of the events described. When something amazing happens in our time, doubts sometimes creep in about the extent to which it is authentic.
The name of the author of the book was Maheshwarananda. I tried to find out who he was, where he lived, and if it was possible to meet him. To my great delight, I found out he was a permanent resident of Sathya Sai Baba's ashram.
Maheshwarananda devoted all his time to the practice of meditation and mantra, and he did not strive to communicate with people; least of all, he wanted to attract the attention of the audience. His book very quickly became extremely famous, and as a consequence of this, he also became famous, which was not part of his plans, because he strove for a solitary lifestyle.
I saw him quite often in the ashram, but I did not know this man was the same Maheshwarananda. Directly opposite the main entrance to the ashram stands a statue of Lord Ganesha. Visitors to the ashram noticed long ago this was no ordinary statue. Prayers and worship that were performed in front of the statue received the answer of the Deity. Many people who came to the ashram prayed next to the wonderful statue of Ganesha.
One of the traditional rituals performed at this statue is called "pradakshina" in Sanskrit. This practice is as follows: you need to walk around the altar or statue in a clockwise direction and repeat the mantra. When doing this practice, it is necessary to create a positive intention and keep it while repeating the mantra.
Often, I would notice that every morning and every evening, an elderly man with a surprisingly spiritual face, dressed in orange clothes, with a quick walk, literally, in circles, lapped the statue of Ganesha umpteen times. He held a rosary in his hands, his lips were constantly moving, and it was clear he was repeating a mantra to himself.
I was once told that this is Maheshwarananda. I was also told where he lived. His little house was not far from the main gate, and I plucked up the courage and decided to try to get to know him.
47. Maheshwarananda said that one should not waste time, but one should fully concentrate only on Sathya Sai Baba
When I came to Maheshwarananda for the first time, he was quite friendly and polite with me, but I felt he was not very interested in communication, because he devoted all his time to meditation practices. He politely said he was busy now and could not talk to me, and he asked me to come to him the next day.
Intuitively, I felt that he hoped I would not come. But the next day I did come. Realizing that he could not get rid of me, he asked why I had come and what I needed. I told him that I was from Russia, and that I had read his book. I also mentioned I was seriously interested in the practices of yoga, meditation, mantra and studying Sanskrit.
In the early ‘90s, quite a few people came to the ashram from Russia, and maybe he wanted to pay attention to the Russian person, maybe he was interested in the fact that I practiced mantras and Kriya Yoga. Whatever it was, he allowed me to come to him at any time. Gradually, very good friendly relations were established between us, although he was much older than me.
Maheshwarananda was an amazingly modest man. He told all his visitors, “you have a unique opportunity to see Sathya Sai Baba, feel his great energy of love, perhaps even communicate with him personally, there is no need to waste time in unnecessary communication. You should seize the precious opportunity and fully concentrate on Sathya Sai Baba alone.”
48. Even the sacred Himalayas could not compare to the divine power of Sathya Sai Baba
Maheshwarananda was born in northern India. At an early age he was initiated into traditional monasticism. Almost all his life he traveled the Himalayas, visited ashrams, talked with philosophers and yogis. This is how his life would have passed in traveling through the sacred Himalayas, if not for the meeting with Sathya Sai Baba.
Maheshwarananda told me that around the middle of the ‘70s, he learned about Sathya Sai Baba. In 1978, he first came to Puttaparthi. It was an absolutely unforgettable experience where Maheshwarananda realized his whole life had been in preparation for such a time as this. This was the most important meeting of his life, and he felt divine energies emanating from Sathya Sai Baba.
Maheshwarananda literally told me with tears in his eyes that even the sacred Himalayas could never compare with the divine power of Sathya Sai Baba. In 1978, he lived in Puttaparthi for a month and then returned to northern India, to the Himalayas. Four years later, in 1982, Maheshwarananda once again came to Puttaparthi with the thought that he would never leave Sathya Sai Baba again. To his great joy, Sathya Sai Baba blessed him to stay at the ashram forever.
49. Sathya Sai Baba established a secret ashram in a Himalayan cave
Maheshwarananda wrote his famous book Sathya Sai Baba and the Nara Narayana Guha Ashram in the late 1980s. The writing of this famous book was preceded by unusual events. In 1982, two people from northern India came to Puttaparthi. Since Maheshwarananda himself was also a northerner, he took an interest in these two visitors. One of them was called Acharya, and he was an elderly monk of the traditional Shankaracharya order. The second was Govinda, a young man who at that time had just graduated from university.
Sathya Sai Baba paid great attention to these visitors and invited them to audiences almost every day. Maheshwarananda wondered what Sai Baba was talking to them about. Acharya and Govinda shared with great pleasure all that Sathya Sai Baba had spoken to them, making no secret of it.
Sathya Sai Baba's advice to the young man surprised Maheshwarananda. Govinda came from a wealthy and influential family, and he was a recent graduate of one of the major universities and had a degree in mathematics. He was going to get married in the near future and was thinking about a successful career. However, Sathya Sai Baba advised the young man to leave his career and become a monk. Sathya Sai Baba recommended Govinda devote himself entirely to the study of philosophy and the practice of meditation.