CHAPTER: 33
BABAJI, THE YOGI-CHRIST OF MODERN INDIA
The northern Himalayan crags near Badrinarayan are still blessed by
the living presence of Babaji, guru of Lahiri Mahasaya. The secluded
master has retained his physical form for centuries, perhaps for
millenniums. The deathless Babaji is an AVATARA. This Sanskrit word
means "descent"; its roots are AVA, "down," and TRI, "to pass."
In the Hindu scriptures, AVATARA signifies the descent of Divinity
into flesh.
"Babaji's spiritual state is beyond human comprehension," Sri
Yukteswar explained to me. "The dwarfed vision of men cannot pierce
to his transcendental star. One attempts in vain even to picture
the avatar's attainment. It is inconceivable."
The UPANISHADS have minutely classified every stage of spiritual
advancement. A SIDDHA ("perfected being") has progressed from the
state of a JIVANMUKTA ("freed while living") to that of a PARAMUKTA
("supremely free"-full power over death); the latter has completely
escaped from the mayic thralldom and its reincarnational round. The
PARAMUKTA therefore seldom returns to a physical body; if he does,
he is an avatar, a divinely appointed medium of supernal blessings
on the world.
An avatar is unsubject to the universal economy; his pure body,
visible as a light image, is free from any debt to nature. The
casual gaze may see nothing extraordinary in an avatar's form but
it casts no shadow nor makes any footprint on the ground.
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