Front Line

Since ancient times, India has been the cradle of many grand religions, as well as the motherland of many great masters and mahatmas (great souls). The Buddha and Buddhism is one of the distinguished examples. It is also the place where these enlightened sages used to spread the Truth; and thus, set their lotus footprints, which later became today's holy pilgrimage sites. For pious Buddhist pilgrims, there are four most important and venerated spots associated with the Buddha: Bodhgaya, Sarnath, Lumbini and Kushinagar (the latter two places are where the Buddha was born and entered nirvana, respectively).

Through the introduction of an Indian spiritual practitioner, we went to Sarnath, visiting different Buddhist monasteries, distributing sample booklets, and contributing Master's books to their libraries. Later, we were invited to join in a Sunday group meditation held at Sankhya Yoga Ashram.

Upon arriving at the ashram, we were heartily welcomed by its abbot, Swamiji OM Prakash Aranya -- the 4th Patriarch of Sankhya Yoga -- and hundreds of his disciples. Swamiji kindly received us and we had a pleasant conversation on the topic of Master's life and teachings. He was glad to know that Master had also attained enlightenment in the Himalayas, where it was also the origin of Sankhya Yoga.

After conversing with us, Swamiji OM Prakash Aranya addressed a lecture to all his disciples by elaborating on the life and teachings of Master. He praised, "Master...has set a good example of an enlightened saint by words and actions. Only those true Gurus sacrifice themselves, travelling around the world to elevate the spirituality of humankind and always are the contributing efforts to help relieve the suffering of sentient beings." Swamiji was impressed to know that, after initiation, all Master's disciples keep a strict, pure vegetarian diet and moral disciplines, along with their daily two-and-a-half hours of meditation. Also through initiation, Master directly opens the initiates' wisdom eyes, the top chakra which was supposed to be gradually opened through one's life-long diligent practice under the guidance of an experienced enlightened master.

"It proved," Swamiji commented, "Your Master has taught the right path and She, Herself, must have attained the complete enlightenment. Therefore, he also open-mindedly recommended that his disciples read Master's books to broaden their universal knowledge about spiritual practice.

During his several hours lecture, the example of Master's life and teachings always remained the central topic of his speech. Thus, our fellow initiates thought that Master has given Her "first sermon" (through the venerable Swamiji) to the spiritual aspirants in Sarnath.

After the lecture, Swamiji led all the disciples to chant in chorus some Hindu mantras, "OM, Shanti, Shanti, OM... "(Oh, God the Almighty! Bless me with Eternal Peace! The holy chanting emitted a solemn and divine atmosphere throughout the ashram. After chanting, everyone meditated for half an hour. During meditation, our fellow initiates sincerely prayed to Master, "May all the sincere spiritual aspirants find the path of immediate enlightenment and attain one-life liberation."

At the end of this holy congregation, our fellow initiates respectfully bid farewell to the venerable Swamiji and offered him Master's books, along with sample booklets. Swamiji also kindly requested our fellow initiates to send his loving regards to Master, wishing that all people around the world would share Her divine blessings.

Caption 1: At this holy Buddhist place, only relics of the temples and stupas built by Emperor Asoka at about 300 B.C. remain.