Is Baba Far Away?

Several incidents happened that proved to the Margis beyond doubt that Baba was always with them watching their thoughts and actions. They realized that he was even aware of what they thought about in their meditation, whether they thought about him or about something else.

However, Ramnarayan, a Margi youth from a village near Betiah, felt differently. One day in March 1961, when he visited Jamalpur, he expressed his feelings of frustration to Arun, a new Margi from Muzaffarpur. He lamented that he could not feel Baba’s presence and felt that Baba was far away from him. Because of this, he was unable to do sadhana properly.

Years later Arun recalled his subsequent experiences with Baba:

I was with Baba on a Field Walk one evening. Ramnarayan was also with us in the “B” group. It was a very cool, pleasant evening with the moon playing hide-and-seek behind the silvery clouds. Baba was talking about several interesting subjects, effortlessly switching from one topic to another. We had just entered the Polo Ground, when he suddenly stopped and turned to Ramnarayan saying, “Ramnarayan, direct your mind inwards and tell me what you see.”

Ramnarayan closed his eyes and concentrated for a moment. Then, in an excited voice he said, “Baba, I can see you. You are sitting inside my mind in Varabhaya Mudra.”

Baba’s response evoked a sense of wonder in everyone, “Yes, I am in your mind. I am in the mind of everyone in subtle form. I am within each and every particle of this universe. When you forget me, the distance between us becomes so great that it cannot be measured, but when you remember me, the distance between us becomes so small that it cannot be conceived. Then you and I merge and become one. ‘I’ and ‘you’ become one, become one and indivisible.”

Baba paused for a moment before continuing in a rhythmic tone, quoting a passage from a Bengali poem, “I don’t come or go. I am neither invited nor rejected. I do not spin on the potter’s wheel, nor am I broken beneath the blacksmith’s hammer. I was, I am and I will always be. I have neither a beginning nor an end. I am ever-existing; I am eternal.”

Everyone listened closely to Baba’s mystical revelation in awe. He paused for a while and then continued walking towards the Tiger’s Grave. After a short distance, he stopped again and turned to Ramanarayan saying, “Look at the sky.”

Everyone looked up at the sky. The moon was just then emerging from behind the clouds. Pointing at it, Baba said, “Do you see. The clouds cover the moon for a certain period and then again it comes out. The moon is playing hide-and-seek with the clouds. I also do that sitting in your mind. Sometimes you feel my presence and sometimes you don’t. But you should never think that I am not with you. Do your sadhana properly. Even if you are not able to concentrate in your sadhana, sit for the specified period. Your sadhana will slowly improve and you will feel my presence.”

Baba then gave him some tips for improving his meditation and after obtaining Ramnarayan’s assurance that he would follow his instructions strictly, he continued walking towards the Tiger’s Grave where we met the Margis from the “A” group. Baba directed us to sit on the tomb with them.

Ramanarayan later informed me that from the moment he internally saw Baba in Varabhaya Mudra, his mind gradually became more and more introverted, and the quality of his sadhana improved considerably.