Experiences with Maheshwarnath Babaji (7) | Sri M

So it's a very interesting thing, you know, now I'm talking about Maheshwar Nar Babaji, whose photo is there with a blue color, well, he wasn't blue, the artist who helped me get his photo, so I'll tell you why there isn't no photography. Imagine that he was a great devotee of Krishna, so he made him blue, but actually he was very blonde if you walk in Finland today. Anyone would have thought he was European. He was very blonde, so sometimes I even suspected that maybe he's from Europe, who knows. but he was very blonde and had matted hair which was like what you see, dark brown, dark brown so anyway I think he was from Kashmir but let's not speculate he never said and I never asked hmm so Babaji when he was With him I realized. that he was very against photographs that we didn't like people to photograph um I tried at first but I gave up but he was very strict with photographs and he knew that I paint sometimes um uh I'm not a professional but yeah Okay, I like the Himalayas.

Sometimes I paint portraits, so he knew that and he told me not to have any photos of me. No, okay. I told him it was okay, then one day we were passing through Rishikesh, near a photo studio, so I understood this, you know? I was very young I was only 19 and a half 19 and a half years old so I said Babaji there is a studio here which for me is not right so I thought what is this man, let's take a photo without his knowledge more out of affection and love for him I wanted to keep something with me even though he was there.

I said who knows, his mood is always different. Suddenly I could say: "he's okay, pack up and go, then at least I'll have a photographer", so I tried my hardest and decided. that I will somehow take a photo of it for anyone who has gone to Rishikesh. You have a recipe, it is not right, educated at the beginning of the Himalayas, they are the hills, they are called shivaliks and then from there you go up, there is no snow in Rishikesh. You have to go higher, so we were camping in Rishikesh at that time in the cave, you can see the cave, it is still there, it is called Monibaba cave, so about two kilometers from Rishikesh there is a place called Lakshman Jhula, which is a suspension. bridge that crosses the ganga and a small village, Sam ashrams is beautiful so if you ever go that way to lakshman jhula from rishikesh and if you cross the river by the bridge you will find many photographers standing there with cameras so you We take a photo, you pay them the money and in two hours you will have your photo or if you have a phone they immediately give it to you digitally.

In those days it was like you had to wait the next day for the photo so I became very friendly with one of them. young photographer from The Hills and I developed a friendship, we bought him a cup of tea, long strange chats and I said look, I want you to do me a favor, he said what he said every night, look when the river Ganges flows, There are ashrams. on that side and then the hills start and there are ashrams on this side and there is a road in the middle, so in those days there was no bridge, now there is a bridge.

You have to come by boat from that side if you're going to leave that side. you come by boat, if you live on this side you go by boat, so I told him there's an old ashram there and there's no one there now, there are steps down to the river where people go to take a dip, so it's the place

babaji

's favorite because there is hardly any Has anyone heard of Swami Shivan and Saraswati in Rishikesh? It is now called The Divine Life Society. Teaches yoga asanas and pranaya. He used to live there, but then he died.

He passed away, so it remains there. Mr. Babaji's favorite place to teach in the afternoon, take a boat, come, decide, sit there near the steps and then I learned many things there many things even without thinking I am learning I learned just talking just goodbye and also all the shirts open and everything there was no need for books because he had They were all here recorded, so that was his favorite place, so every night we used to come and sit there, sometimes we used to just chat, talk about a lot of things anyway, like that that I used to go and sit there, talk, chat and look at the boats. and people coming and going would sometimes be interesting because a young couple comes and they are crossing the boat.

Robert tells me look how happy they look. He said yes, how long do you think this will last? I don't know anyway, we had fun. so I told him this. Photographing a boy named Raghu. I told him look, go to the other side at night, okay, and get on one of the boats that come with people, any of the boats and then you cross while you're still on the boat, start taking pictures, don't show me You know, okay, we don't know each other, we're strangers, take pictures here and there and in the meantime, I'll be sitting there with this man. this yogi with paint here so fast you also click us oh, there is no way out.

I said first you take a photo, then click us and don't smile at me and then you leave, okay, ah, okay, I said, I will give you 50 rupees, okay. So that night I was worried that maybe Babaji knew something was going on, so today I might not go if he says we are not going that way today, then he was done. So waiting, waiting, waiting at the last minute, he said: ah, let's go in Hindi, let us go. so we got on a boat, there were other people too, then we reached the place that was not the boat and we sat down and he was talking about something that day, he was talking about an upanishad, how old is it and what does it really mean, etc.

I was listening very internally as I was looking at all the work charts that these guys are coming, he stopped you, you seem pretty distracted, no, no, I said, I'm fine, I'm fine and uh, every ship that came, I'm looking and then He turned a little dark, so now if we come, how can you take a photo? I mean, it's not going to work, so I was feeling a little worried even now, if he comes, he can take a photo. Two ships did not come, there were no signs of photography or not. Raghu was serious. I think you know what Babaji said wake up, you know he said your photographer won't come, you know, I got so worried and so sad because I had done a trick to get his photograph, I actually cried, I said, I'm so sorry. never do something like that I think you know before I know what I'm thinking so it's over I'll never do that ah okay no matter the young age people do a lot of things you know so I left it there OK that day he gave me a very good talk about the photography methods of those days, you know, he said how a photograph works, how it's developed and how it's enlarged, and you know film cameras, and then he said, you know how the camera works.

I said yes, I have an idea how it works. Well, he said, "You know you have a lens and a film." In those days, only film cameras remember film, so the light comes from the Sun and hits the object and is reflected through the lens. in the movie this is the image that appears again I said yes, okay, then he said: suppose someone can stop the light rays from reflecting, then can you take a picture? Ah, no, I said, but this is not possible because sunlight falls everywhere it is reflected. I can't say I'm not allowing it to reflect, it's not possible, he said it's possible, how did I say it's possible and he said, suppose your man had come, suppose he had actually taken my photograph and I didn't allow the light would influence for him to turn to the lens and reflect, then could you get a picture?

I said no, but that's not possible scientifically, it's not possible, ah, really, he said, okay, look at me, he said suddenly, I looked at him, he was sitting here, the steps on this side maybe. Half a second I couldn't see him he just there was a dark outline like a silhouette at that time it was back then Babaji asked me if you smoked cannabis I said no then what did you see just um I said I saw you weren't there for a second he said I was there but the light wasn't coming back at me, it wasn't absorbed into me, it wasn't reflected, so you didn't see me, so even if your cameraman had come, he could have done this trick and you couldn't get your photo um I said okay thanks no.

I will do it again I left today several years later Babaji had his samadhi passed away I said now maybe this rule doesn't stand because so many years have passed if I have a photo I can keep it with me so I think he must have already retired the rule there is no way to ask, so I said, okay, uh, I took a stationary drawing board, I drew a nice paper on it, white paper and then I also make paintings with black. India ink, India ink and brush just black, so I used that and made a nice outline on it.

It was very nice. I liked. I said I look a little like him and then it was noon. I finished. My room is upstairs, so I went downstairs. uh, outside the house there is an open terrace, there are no walls, just the open roof, you know what the river is, and there I am, because it needs to dry out, little ventilation is needed, so it was me, we know how hot it is ago in May in May it's long it's hot it's not raining there's nothing I saved a boat like this for Eric and I went, I had lunch and I went to sleep I took a short nap.

I woke up from a nap to lots of thunder and lightning and I'm thinking. I'm dreaming because in May it doesn't rain in Monopoly, it's not a storm, but it can drizzle a little, but how is it raining? Then I suddenly remembered that I have a photo downstairs that is open, you know, I came running down. I opened the door, finished, everything was swept away, the rain came and the wind hit everything, just some black branches, so I said, I think the rule applies even now, let's not do it, I forgot and then several years passed.

Babaji had told me that you have to write your autobiography I was trying to postpone it but I said why is it okay to postpone it then there came a time when the weight was too much for me to carry all this on my head I said I have to write it on paper you I know you I turned into light. I carried this for so many years in my head, so I started writing my autobiography. It took me two and three years to do it because it was the I have to sit somewhere and write it and this. that job, this school of work was being established, so I finished the book anyway in about three years.

So now in the book there are so many references to vaishna that people who read it will ask where he is, we don't see anything. Are you imagining where this is and there is no photograph? So I said now. I am sure Babaji must have removed the structure. Then he said to write the autobiography when I read I need the photo of him. Something I need. I can't because Mahesh or not. Sorry, Guru. I already had Babaji's photo, so I thought it was okay when our school was boarding and we had a professional artist there, so I went to him and said, sit down, I want.

I'll make a drawing. Can you put it in? computer for me, ah, then I will look at it and then if I need to change a little bit, you can help me, he said, okay, so we work three days one hour every day and finally, when you put this formula, it is the closest one to you. I can go too, that's good, now it's good, so we approve. I took it, sent it to the printer and the publisher and that's how it is and the man made it blue now I don't want to change it. so I said there, but I was still worried.

I was still married every other day. I used to call the printer and ask you what photos were on file. He thought she was crazy. He said it's on file. I told him why. Are you asking? No, no, I didn't say anything because I thought I'd probably put it out anyway, this is how it appeared in the book, this is the picture we have, this is the history of our district, um.