Sir, I so much want to have an experience of Babaji. I mean, I believe in them very much, but I don’t have any experience. Please let me know how I can have a great experience of Babaji. Please suggest to me any mantras or chants to him.
—Sharath Kutty, India
Dear Sharat,
Your passion and desire touch me, and it will be this heart energy that will take you close to Babaji.
Yes, I can give you a mantra and technique, but I cannot promise any experience. Experiences are like the wind, they can never be controlled. They come as they please. Often actually a specific experience will not come if we strongly desire it, simply because all relaxation is gone.
At least the experience may not come the way we think or expect it. You might desire a vision of Babaji, but maybe he prefers to come to you as a feeling of divine joy, or expansion, or light, or love. Or wisdom.
As you know, Babaji has appeared to various devotees. Yogananda even says in his Autobiography of a Yogi that “whenever anyone utters with reverence the name of Babaji, that devotee attracts an instant spiritual blessing.” That blessing, however, might just be too subtle for us to perceive, just as Sri Yukteswar didn’t see Babaji at Lahiri Mahasaya’s home: Babaji was right there, but he was “hiding behind the sunlight”.
But yes, there are things you can practice to feel Babaji. Love is certainly the main magnet to draw him to you. During the day, as often as you remember, inwardly chant “OM Babaji, Om Babaji”, with love and reverence. Think him close. Keep him in your heart.
In meditation, pray to him: “Let me feel you.” A sincere prayer will draw his answer, in one way or another, sooner or later.
At the end of meditation, you may visualise Babaji at the point between the eyebrows. Visualise especially his eyes, which Yogananda describes in his Autobiography as “dark, calm, and tender,” visualizing also ”his long, lustrous hair” which is “copper-colored.” Then pray to him: “Reveal your presence to me! Come to me!” Afterwards shift your attention to your heart chakra and there try to feel his presence. See what sensation comes to you.
Tell him often that you love him. Be a devotee. Then it is up to him if he wants you to have an experience, and which one. If you don’t feel anything, keep calling him anyway, with faith, not so much because you want an experience, but because of your love.
You may want to make a pilgrimage to Badrinath, which is Babaji’s home. There at the main temple, pray to Narayan. Narayan in his next life became Krishna, the scriptures say, and Krishna later became Babaji, as Yogananda explains. Narayan therefore is Babaji. Badrinath was and is the holy home of Babaji, who is “Babaji-Krishna”, and also “Babaji-Narayan”. He is the eternal Mahavatar.
Do you chant? That would be a great help for your journey to Babaji. Chant “Om Babaji Om, Om Babaji Om”, melodiously, devotionally. Then sit in silence and feel him. Ananda devotees in India can help you with such chants.
Lastly, think about preparing for Kriya Yoga if you haven’t already done so. Kriya is Babaji’s gift for our world, for this world-cycle. Quite probably he would like you too to receive this gift, his gift of love for us.
In divine friendship, jai Babaji,
Jayadev
