WORDS: DEVI MOHAN
A wise person once told me: “Don’t waste your time on proving yourself being that what you already are. Instead just BE that!” I contemplated on this deeply and through time recognized the power of the Law of Vibration, the very base of the much-discussed Law of Attraction. Ideally speaking, if we have clarity about what we want in life, we just need to be that from within, continuously vibrate the frequency of that desired state or object into our daily reality, regardless of what the input from the outside world may be, and voila – it will happen!
But is that really so? We indeed attract that what we radiate, but can we effectively ‘fake it till we make it’ over a longer period of time? Faking anything is not possible in the long run because it requires a lot of additional energy, which we lack especially when we are low. Unless one has a powerful teacher who has mastered the mind fully and is willing to listen to such a teacher with no questions asked, the karmic agenda behind the lack that one is faking will eventually result in the failure. Ultimately, since the Law of Vibration works unmistakably, our reality will be experienced in accordance with our energy blueprint.
It is thus understandable why, according to the science of yoga, ‘being natural’ is the closest we get to what ‘being a yogi’ truly means. Most people are not natural, but strained in their continuous effort to maintain a mask imposed upon them by their mind’s expectations, by their parents’ conditioning, by the norms of society defining what ‘success’ is. There is a big difference between a well-polished mask and a true shine from within. One need not have the spiritual power of seeing the aura in order to distinguish a true spiritual shine (called ‘tejas’ in India – a Sanskrit term for ‘fire’ or ‘illumination’ that corresponds to a stunning charisma, glow and vitality) from a well-presented and well-polished mask, which doesn’t last long. True shine is a sign of spiritual advancement, a sign of boldly living one’s truth no matter what, until the point of illumination when one transcends the ego identity and becomes a true instrument of Divine. It is a sign of readiness to undergo any sort of discomfort, criticism, ridicule, rejection by the people on whose approval we would have built our sense of self-worth, and remain truthful to ourselves. True shine is proportional to the proximity to the inner space of authenticity based on a courageous, creative expression of our divine uniqueness, whose pillars are faith, purity and unconditional love.
Attaining a true and lasting shine, or rather the state of consciousness that ensures a true and lasting shine, is an unimaginably tall order. In order to become the pure gold, with a shine that does not decay, one has to be willing to undergo immense cleansing, i.e. to go through the fire of many ego-busting, out-of-the-comfort-zone life experiences and still remain in faith, hope, surrender and gratitude.
Back in 2007 when I met Mohanji (who became my spiritual teacher and life partner), he was going through the last leg of tests, the cleansing fire that was to establish him in the expanded state of consciousness that he had already attained. That was the time when one saint came to Dubai (where we lived at that time). Upon seeing Mohanji, he said: “Even if covered in mud, gold remains gold. It is only a matter of time when its dazzling shine will become visible to all.” It was an immense blessing to live with Mohanji and witness firsthand all the amazing experiences that he was undergoing as his consciousness continued to expand. Empty of ego, surrendered fully, he continued to receive all the guidance that was needed in a beautiful flow, sharing the ever-fresh nectar of knowledge and love with all around him. Living with Mohanji I understood the importance of selfless service, spiritual practices that effectively quiet the mind and cleanse us from within, spontaneous readiness to be of help to others and add value to other people’s lives at all times; and most importantly, the readiness to always act out of that pure inner space of love no matter what others may do to us. Such is the price of the true inner shine.
It was thanks to Mohanji that I gradually developed the strength to leave the comfort zone of an office job and embrace the life of uncertainty that my true expression demanded. The turning point was Kailash yatra, the ultimate pilgrimage to the energy power centre in Tibet considered to be the crown chakra of Mother Earth. This was back in 2014, when I was working as a Marketing Manager for Mercedes-Benz in Oman. My longing to join Mohanji for Kailash yatra was very intense and could no longer be ignored. This pilgrimage is mainly organized in late July or early August, when the weather conditions are most favorable. But this also happened to be the time of Ramadan, when the car sales increase drastically and no leave from my work was ever possible. I therefore had to make a choice between my job and Kailash. After a couple of years of serious consideration, it was in 2014 that I finally made a choice. I chose Kailash – and never looked back.
A month ago, in August 2019, I went for my third Kailash yatra with Mohanji. There was around hundred people in our vibrant group of sincere spiritual seekers from around the world. This was the first time that we had no less than sixteen people from all parts of former Yugoslavia, including the basketball celebrity of former Yugoslavia – Vlade Divac. His lovely wife Ana has been attending Mohanji’s retreats over the last couple of years and this was the time when both of them could join us for the Kailash yatra as well.
A vedic ritual done with a fire ceremony and special mantras and processes) like Nandi Shraadh, to invoke and seek blessings of your ancestor lineage and Lagu Rudra Yagna (the most sacred and powerful among all great yagnas) to wash away past karmic baggage and bring peace, prosperity and happiness, would be organized at Lake Mansarovar.
What made this yatra even more special was the yagna, a sacred Vedic ritual of cleansing done with a fire ceremony and special mantras and processes that Mohanji conducted at the sacred lake Mansarovar. The aim of this yagna was cleansing of the ancestral karma in order to bring peace, prosperity and happiness. For the first time in history a yagna of this magnitude was conducted at this celestial lake. I knew it was no coincidence that, after all that had happened in the troubled Balkan region, so many of us from all parts of former Yugoslavia gathered exactly this time when the karmas of our ancestors could be cleansed. The experience was beyond powerful. After a night of hardly any sleep, feeling the heavy energies already, we underwent the tests of heat, hypoxia (high altitude sickness) with all its lovely symptoms (headache, nausea, vomiting, etc.), and then freezing cold wind at the sunset time at the lake. The tests and discomforts were huge, but we were dedicated and persistent. Celebration in the end through a beautiful Aarati to Kailash was magnificent. We were literally ecstatic.
The following day we took a dip in the sacred lake Mansarovar. In its freezing cold water karmas and heaviness from our past and our ancestors past is cleansed immensely. It was deeply touching to experience the dip in Mohanji’s presence. When that moment happens, there is no way not to cry. The intensity and sacredness of the experience is indescribable.
During the actual yatra, when we walked around Kailash mountain in clock-wise direction for three days, braving the challenges of hypoxia, tiredness and literal despair that happens when deeply suppressed painful impressions start leaving our system in the mighty vibration of Kailash, for a moment I suddenly remembered the Igman March from World War 2, when our ancestors braved the freezing snow and complete exhaustion while fighting the Nazi army. I had no idea where that came from. While walking for hours, challenged by exhaustion and hypoxia, at moments I would see Vlade Divac ahead of me. Most of us walked alone because the challenge of yatra is so big that one has no energy for chatting and full focus is on the breath and taking one step after another. Interestingly enough, I met Vlade exactly at the point when Kailash became visible for the first time and right next to it is a mountain with a cave opening closed from inside by a huge rock. Dr. Muldashev from Russia wrote about this cave as one of the mighty portals to Shamballa. It surely is a powerful location at which one simply remains speechless. And there I was, with our wonderful people from former Yugoslavia, offering my body to be the instrument of cleansing of all those pains and impressions from the past.
A month later, I am still digesting all the experiences and the immense vulnerability I felt during those days. It was really tough, but at the same time so rewarding. At the end of the yatra, while travelling by bus towards the Chinese border, all sixteen of us sat in the same bus and sang our heart out. The spirit of Former Yugoslavia came back to life in the remote areas of Tibet. It was all so special and memorable. Without shower or proper sleep for days, puffed from the high altitude, we felt the inner shine spreading through our hearts and uniting all of us in love beyond description. Such is the blessing of Kailash – a tough cleansing that brings out a sudden realization of our divine essence as brightness, purest love demanding nothing in return, inner fullness complete in itself. As Mohanji says, “Kailash doesn’t leave anyone empty-handed.”
After Kailash, as of 25. October 2019, we meet again with Mohanji for a program of cleansing at the beautiful mountain Kopaonik in Serbia.
May all of us be blessed with a lasting inner shine, with the direct experience of lasting inner fullness, the purest love that is the path and destination.
Namaste.
