How the Deeksha Phenomenon Came to Australia
You may wonder how the deeksha phenomenon started in Australia. It all started like this. One fine day on a Saturday in January 2001 a very beautiful Indian woman by the name of Rani was invited to come to Australia to conduct a one-day workshop. It was during this workshop that we learned for the very first time about Bhagavan, Amma and their mission to enlighten humanity. Eighty-four people attended this one-day event.
The experiences participants had were so extraordinary that Sri Raniji (respectful title) was invited back to Australia two years later to facilitate a longer workshop. In November 2003, the first and only seven-day retreat, was held in Adelaide, facilitated by Raniji and her senior monk and assistant Uttamaji. The retreat was held at St. Paul’s monastery. People from all over Australia, including New Zealand, came to participate, 39 people in all. Participants experienced such transformations during this retreat that it inspired 22 people from Australia alone to go to India and attend a five-day retreat and receive their very first enlightenment deeksha. The 5-day retreats took place in February and March of 2004. Out of this group a further four people were inspired to do the additional 21-day intensive and be able to give deekshas. Four others skipped the 5-day program altogether and went straight for the 21-day retreat. The people who did the 21-day intensive programs are the ones now giving enlightenment deekshas in Australia.
Please note that at the time of the Australian workshop and 7-day retreat Bhagavan was not yet giving enlightenment deekshas to the west but focused on purification of the body, mind and soul, in preparation for enlightenment. The first enlightenment deekshas for the westerners became available in January 2004.
The following is a beautiful summary of the 7-day Adelaide retreat as experienced by Uttamaji.
Discovering Bliss Down Under
The Golden Age Foundation just concluded its first ever 7-day Discovering Bliss retreat in Australia. This beautiful journey was conducted in Adelaide, which is said to be the spiritual center of the country. The retreat was a grand success. The hall used was completely filled and the group of people was great. Amma and Bhagavan's energy was so strong, that when I closed my eyes, I could see Bhagavan walking around the room. His energy was so strong that everything turned into light. I saw Bhagavan and Amma with the Acharya's and many other saints and sages in another loka (dimension) performing a havan (fire-ritual) during the retreat.
As always, there was so much grace during this retreat. The participants had so many experiences...Many saw their past lives, liberating them from present suffering and karmas; others went into states of the laughing Buddha and had many visions. Several people had tremendous kundalini experiences; one lady saw how we were all connected and dependent. She saw a huge light that was the entire universe or divine consciousness. This light was nothing but complete love and bliss and around this light were large hands. These hands were pulling little sparks of light from itself and she realized that these lights were us. One gentleman could see clearly his mind and how it causes suffering and went into a great state of bliss that lasted several days. He went into a rebirthing process and was reborn and was in such a great state where walking was such a joy and seemed like a completely new experience. His senses were very intense and he shared how eating an orange was such great joy and was the best one he every tasted. People went into great states of laughter during the "Experience of the senses" exercise. They were rolling on the ground in such joy; the energy was so much that we all could not help but go into the state as well. One of the workers at the center was standing by and went into the state also.
I am so grateful that Amma and Bhagavan shared so much with the people there, they were all so joyous by the end of the 7 days. The teachings given at this retreat were so clear, strong and powerful that the people clearly could see how everything is dependently rising and ceasing. How everything is interconnected. It was as if Bhagavan gave them all liberation on a silver platter.
Heartfelt Gratitude
Uttama, USA
Sri Raniji
Sri Raniji is the spiritual leader of the Golden Age Foundation in North America. She draws her inspiration from Sri Bhagavan, the founder of the Golden Age Foundation. She was deeply touched by the beauty and simplicity of what he taught and more importantly she had finally come in touch with some one who could set her free. It is Sri Raniji's heartfelt desire to share this inner freedom with others. She is wonderfully effective in helping others and she speaks directly from her own personal life experiences.
Uttamaji
Uttamaji is a young monk from America who is already enlightened by the grace and blessings of Bhagavan. Raniji had chosen Uttama to be her assistant for the Australian retreat.
Raniji and Uttamaji are currently facilitating enlightenment retreats all over America. For more information visit Raniji’s website www.onenessmovement.org.
A Taste Of Light: "Tat Tvam Asi" (Thou Art That)
During the 7-day retreat Uttamaji had the following experience:
It was the early morning of the 2nd or 3rd day into our seven-day journey together. We had just finished the invocation of Divine Energies, taken our seats and began listening to Sri Raniji as she began for the day. My focus naturally shifted inward, no concerns of missing something or drifting off, my boat wanted to sail in this direction knowing that it was leading me to greater focus. I cast my sail and closed my eyes and sat listening to our beloved teacher Sri Raniji as she spoke from the depths of our Universal Mother. As I listened, I was aware that generally one has to try and focus in one way or another on what is being taught. Something else was happening though, externally the teachings were there, but internally from the vast ocean on which I sailed they were coming forth as well. In complete unison both worlds met. Waves of the mind would come and go, as waves of the body would as well. Amongst theses waves a great silence was starting to occur.
Generally we as people struggle to survive amongst these waves, the various thoughts and sensations in the body. A sense of the great futility of this struggle was taking place and the waves turned to ripples, ripples of pure joy and peace. As this peace swept over me, I can only explain that this sensation is best described, oddly, as silence. In the continuation of listening to Raniji, and observing any and all thoughts and feelings, explosions of pure joy just kept coming. Completely aware of how I was simply helpless before the activity of the ocean, I only sat and experienced it. I had to try to remain from laughing out loud almost with a joyous insanity because the joy was so great. This process went on all morning, seeing how one's own mind naturally tries to create more waves of suffering, but in the helpless surrender of seeing I only felt peace and silence. What one would call pains in the body, simply didn't exist, the silence was too great. No need to move to find comfort for the body, for even though unmoved for hours, not even a twitch in the finger, the complete comfort was already there. I felt empty.
We later had our lunch break and we sat to eat and strangely enough I felt already full. I was still at this point trying not to laugh out loud, but it was becoming difficult at this point because everything was so hilarious and blissful to me. I sat with my head held down the entire lunch, completely aware of what was going on inside me and outside of me. There was complete joy in just looking at my food. So great the joy was it probably took me 10 minutes before I could take my first bite because I physically was having trouble lifting the spoon because every time I went to do so the joy was so much I was unable to put it in my mouth. Laughing, placing my hands over my face, I kept placing my spoon back on my plate. Having to use techniques of breath awareness to ground myself just so I could be functional amongst this deep bliss. So, so much joy was there in every moment. As I struggled to place food in my mouth I could see all the teachings and sutras in everything, as well as all the tricks of the mind. I decided to eat not because I was hungry but because the experience was simply so fascinating. My senses were completely altered. The smells, tastes, sounds, feelings were so alive. I would smell the food and there was only complete smelling. Tasting the food as it was in my mouth, there was only the tasting; it was like I never did these things before. My tastebuds were exploding; I was like a five-year-old kid playing with the food in his mouth. I know I was making weird faces, but my head was held down so I would not disturb anyone. I would swoosh the food all around my mouth, feeling and tasting each bit. I felt like I was the food, the tastes, all of it. Swallowing I would feel it go all the way down into the body. I continued to experience this.
Whatever I was doing I was completely engrossed in it, you can say I was one with it, or better yet the experience was the only thing that existed. I would watch and feel all the sensations as I moved my spoon across my plate, getting more food. Even though this all played a part in the eating process, but when I would move my spoon, I was only moving the spoon. I would see a rice grain fall off my spoon back onto my plate and I felt as if I were that grain of rice as well as the rest of the food and seeing sutras in this as well. I was the smells, the tastes and the sounds of my spoon dragging silently across my plate. I would hear somewhere in the neighbourhood someone doing yard work with various machines, like a lawnmower. I would be the sound of the mower only, I would turn and see a crow flying and I was the crow, I look at my food and I was the food, the plate and everything else. I would see the person next to me out of the corner of my eye and I was that person, completely aware of their thoughts and feelings as well. This process went on for the entire break. It took me pretty much the whole break to finish my eating, which would normally be done in 10 minutes. I did everything so slowly and carefully. It was so fulfilling to me, there was nothing else I needed to do but whatever was happening at each moment. Not eating to have eaten, and to go and do something else. There was so much life in what I was doing, it was actions and experiencing, not the death of our normal activity, the doing of something for a means to an end. I was already at each moment at the end, but yet only at the beginning...
Uttama, USA