I received this call from my friend Prince (name changed) some time back. Intrigued by what he wanted to share, I was eager to meet him. But it was only months later that we could manage to meet. The wait was well worth it. The setting was an evening at the Mahalaxmi temple in Mumbai, during the Navratri festival of 2013.
As we sat in the temple canteen by the seashore, Prince
began recounting his pilgrimage to one of the
remotest, most difficult and the holiest of regions in the world – Mt
Kailash and Mansarover, deep in the heart of icy Himalayas. I listened to him with rapt attention.
Mansarovar |
“The air and environment of the Himalayas is divinely charged. People may question my sanity if they were to hear me narrate what I saw and
experienced. But the truth is I saw nature responding in unique ways to me if any
desire of spiritual nature stirred in my heart. I have witnessed divine signs
and forms of sages taking shape in the cloudy sky or in the terrain around me
in response to my thought. It was unmistakable and astounding. One evening
while in my tent, I noticed the clear shape of Shirdi Sai Baba reflected in a silhouette on my tent. I rushed out to
see who it was, but to my surprise found nothing. I couldn't understand what was
causing the shadowy form to appear on the tent, yet it was unmistakably the
Shirdi Sai form.
We have heard stories from the scriptures that celestial beings are known to
come and take a dip in the holy Mansarover. Only those with a pure heart can
see these divine beings or perhaps register their presence as light. Naturally
each one of us hoped to get such a blessing during this trip. What I now
narrate happened one evening as we all
camped next to the lake. ”
Mansarovar at night |
Prince continued narrating in a solemn tone,
“It
was a chilly Himalayan night. At about 10 pm, after dinner, as I headed back
towards my tent, I noticed that our group leader, a spiritually advanced soul who
we called Sir, was gathering a few people as they prepared to leave for some
place. Extremely curious as to where they were venturing so late in the night
in this rough terrain, I went and quietly followed the group. We walked a long
distance, and I found myself walking by others and along with Sir, who was surprised seeing me and asked “Prince, tu kaise aaya?” (How are you here?) Not knowing how to answer I simply smiled in return. Perhaps that disarmed him
and he let me come along. We walked about 2-3 kilometers around the lake, when
we came upon a small cave almost touching the lake. Sir asked us to sit inside
the damp cave and silently look at the lake.
We
settled inside and meditatively looked upon the lake. Some time transpired in
silent contemplation. It is then that I saw the most fascinating spectacle I had ever
seen. Star-like celestial lights from the sky would gracefully float down towards the
earth and enter the holy lake with an audible gentle splash sound, and after
the dip in the holy waters, the light would gracefully ascend skywards. I looked on in awe and was
stunned to say the least. This is something most of us had been talking about and
despite the natural skepticism that we all entertain, I too hoped to have such
an experience. And here I was looking at this most astounding of sights. I
pinched myself now and again to check if I was in my senses. It was clear that
others in the group were witnessing this too.
“Let
us move” Sir announced after we had spend some time in the cave.
He
led us to another larger cave and asked us to resume our silent observing. The
enchanting scenes continued. I witnessed about 30 – 40 star like ethereal bodies come
and take a dip in the Mansarover. Then
Sir asked us if we could hear anything. Taking a cue, we tried to listen to
what he was referring to. At first I heard nothing. Then clear sounds began to
register in my senses.. the shimmery sounds of anklets, as if some feminine beings wearing
anklets were walking by us. It was unmistakable. Sir asked again, “Do you hear
anything?” Others too replied that they could hear clear sounds of anklets. “Those
are the footsteps of the Apsaras (celestial maidens or nymphs)” Sir revealed
simply. I felt I saw clear outlines of a feminine form that was perhaps an
Apsara, but I never mentioned it to anyone.
This
evening of our trip was unexpectedly turning into a supernatural feast. Needless
to say I was overwhelmed with emotions by these unique experiences. At this
point in time a dog arrived and stood by the cave. Sir explained the
significance of the dog, that often departed souls take the form of this dog
and come to interact with the relatives who may have arrived in these regions.
He asked us to come one by one and meet the dog to see who felt a connection. I
didn’t feel any, perhaps someone else did. But my mind was full of conflicting
emotions. On one hand I was naturally thrilled on the
other hand I felt guilty and sad that my family back in the camp, was completely
ignorant of this.
“Its
late; lets go.”
We
began heading back towards our camp. As we reached back, I
saw some people sitting by the lake trying to look for the experience that we
all had just had. I felt sorry for them and entered my tent. My aunt noticed my
return and asked me where I had been for so long, so late at night. I couldn’t
help but narrate to her what I had witnessed. Slowly my mom and others began
waking up and listened to my story. Some believed me and were excited by what I
had shared. Looking at their excitement, I felt heavy at heart for having enjoyed such a divine experience all
by myself.
Someone casually asked if I could lead them back to that place. I will never know what caused me
to agree to that idea. I guess the deep desire to help them also witness
what I saw, prompted me to take the risk of guiding them by myself in
that remote region in the deep of the night.
So at
around 2 a.m, a group of us stealthily began to trek through the terrain
guided by me. My emotional state overlooked any reason or rationale and gave me
the boldness and strength to lead them. I must mention that not all in our
group were optimistic or in belief of what I had shared, yet were keen to verify the story.
In
some time, to my delight and relief, I found the caves we had occupied just a few
hours back. I suggested they sit in meditative silence looking at
the lake. We all sat down and observed the lake under the starry night. Minutes
passed by but this time nothing happened. Neither I nor anyone could see
anything extraordinary. I prayed intensely that those with sincere
interest be blessed with the same vision that I was blessed with. But nothing
happened. No lights descended from the sky, nor were any sounds heard. One by
one my family members began giving up. Eventually I also gave up with deep disappointment.
But our prayers must have been sincere and from the heart, for
when we emerged from the cave, a celestial sight awaited us.
Towards
our right, across the lake in between two mountains there flashed a bright
divine light which was unlike anything any of us had ever seen. The presence of
the light evoked spontaneous devotional awe in each of us as there was a conviction within
that this is Divinity gracing us in response to our pleas. Not only I, other
members of our family felt the divine effect too as they began chanting mantras
and stood humbly with folded hands in obeisance to the vision before them.
Needless to say the effect was exhilarating and our spirits rose in devotional
gratitude. Some younger members of the family tried to click photos of the
vision, but each of the pictures emerged blank.
Within some time the supernal
light suddenly disappeared as mysteriously as it had appeared. We
all stood rooted to our spots in that cold Himalayan night, our eyes streaming
tears of gratitude as our hearts soared in joy. For me this had been an
emotionally charged night. To add to that, some members of my family began bowing
to me, saying that it was purely due to my effort and presence that they were
blessed with this vision. I pulled back in horror and began walking away
encouraging them to now make their way back to our camping site. As if that
wasn’t enough, since it was nearly dawn, a few birds flew above us chirping and
I heard some of them clearly call out my name – prince, prince, prince. I
thought I was losing it and hearing things. But unfortunately for me others too
looked in shock and stated that the birds were indeed calling out my name! Yet
again some of my family members began offering me respects saying it was purely
through me that they were witnessing such miracles. I couldn’t help but fasten
my pace as we headed back to our camp site at the touch of dawn.
The
story ends here. As you can see, this is not something that I could share with
everyone!”
We
sat in silence for a while pondering over the remarkable events of that Himalayan
night.
“Prince” I asked after some reflection, “Can you describe for me how that Light looked?”
He
replied that he wouldn’t know how to describe it but perhaps could draw the
shape of the Light as he remembers it. I gave him a paper and a sketch pen and
this is what he drew:
“So it looked like a pillar of light?”
“No, it wasn’t exactly flat as a pillar. It was rounded on the top and bottom.”
“You
mean like this”.. and I drew it again:
“Yes, that is exactly how it looked.”
“Prince! You realize what this means?”
He
looked at me wondering what I meant.
“You were near Kailash Parbat, the abode of Lord Shiva who is also known as
Lingeshwara, and the light you saw, which you all knew to be Divine was ovalish
or lingam shaped!”
Prince
was silent as he let this sink in.
Then slowly he spoke with a sense of awe :
“You are right! Each of
us felt in our hearts that the Light we felt honored to see was Divinity
itself. With what you just shared, I am now convinced of it beyond a doubt!”
A Hackers guide to Self Realisation