"
{FN33-6} "Verily, verily, I say unto you, If a man keep my saying
(remain unbrokenly in the Christ Consciousness), he shall never
see death."-JOHN 8:51.
CHAPTER: 34
MATERIALIZING A PALACE IN THE HIMALAYAS
"Babaji's first meeting with Lahiri Mahasaya is an enthralling
story, and one of the few which gives us a detailed glimpse of the
deathless guru."
These words were Swami Kebalananda's preamble to a wondrous tale.
The first time he recounted it I was literally spellbound. On many
other occasions I coaxed my gentle Sanskrit tutor to repeat the
story, which was later told me in substantially the same words by
Sri Yukteswar. Both these Lahiri Mahasaya disciples had heard the
awesome tale direct from the lips of their guru.
"My first meeting with Babaji took place in my thirty-third year,"
Lahiri Mahasaya had said. "In the autumn of 1861 I was stationed
in Danapur as a government accountant in the Military Engineering
Department. One morning the office manager summoned me.
"'Lahiri,' he said, 'a telegram has just come from our main office.
You are to be transferred to Ranikhet, where an army post {FN34-1}
is now being established.'
"With one servant, I set out on the 500-mile trip. Traveling by
horse and buggy, we arrived in thirty days at the Himalayan site
of Ranikhet. {FN34-2}
"My office duties were not onerous; I was able to spend many hours
roaming in the magnificent hills.
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