Guruji Krishnananda - Doorways to Light

Eight years have passed since the book came out in print first. I am glad that it has touched so many hearts and has opened new doorways. Almost every reader, after reading the book, has spoken immediately or written to me with excitement and wonder for more information on the Rishis and Astral worlds. What strikes me as a singular approach is that even the most educated and the scientific tempered have accepted the existence of the Rishis (Light Beings), the Pralaya (Transition) processes and the advent of Satya Yuga (Light Age) intuitively.

I resisted the strong advice that the book be professionally edited and freshly presented. I wanted to retain the rusticity without any clinical freshness.

May more doorways be opened and more Light shine in the world.

November 16, 2006
Guruji Krishnananda

This is no fiction. But some events here may appear stranger than fiction. And I do not intend convincing anyone.

What is real?

When I look down from the higher planes, all these appear so unreal. When I go still higher up, everything disappears in the vastness. Light alone shines still higher up there. The Light was there all the time. I had not noticed it. And I thought I had seen everything!

I had relied too much on this infant science and blind logic. I did not know that there was a higher science; truths beyond logic. I did not know many things. That was before I met Amara.

* * *

I met Amara in 1977. It was a cool February evening in Bangalore when I walked into his house with my friend. We waited in the neatly furnished drawing room for a few minutes. A strongly built man in his fifties moved in majestically and smiled gently. It was Amara!

I had composed myself to meet a person with a flowing beard and hanging beads. But Amara was entirely different. He looked like a professor, in his neatly pressed shirt and trousers. But there was something very big about him that I could not grasp at that time. After the introductions, Amara asked me:

So, you want to meditate?"

I nodded.

His voice was rich, soft and intimate. He smiled and stared at me for a long time. I could not read him and I was aware that he was probing me deeply. I was also aware that something was surfacing in me; a hazy memory; a warm feeling. I told him that he looked very familiar.

He smiled again, as he spoke.

"We have met earlier."

"No! This is the first time that I am meeting you!"

"We have met in the past lives."

I did not know how to react. I would have laughed at anyone else. But he sounded so genuine and sincere! I waited for him to continue. But he remained silent. Perhaps, he did not want to elaborate. It was enough to speak the truth. It needed no explanation. He asked me to meet him the next day. As we were leaving, he said:

"The Rishis will initiate you. I will fix up an appointment with them."

Appointment with the Rishis! My friend had, of course, briefed me earlier. Amara was in contact with the Sapta Rishis, the seven great Masters, the Hierarchy, in the higher planes. He would meet them daily during nights travelling in his Astral body and would participate in the works related to human welfare and evolution.

Will the Rishis come tomorrow? Will I be able to see them? I was thrilled with anticipation and let my imagination go wild as we stepped out into the noisy street and the cold world that appeared strange and different now.

* * *

I had made several unguided attempts to meditate after reading books. I realised soon that books were webs of interesting theories but had little practical guidance, after we take a few unsure steps. A guru was necessary. I was searching for one.

I was with Amara the next day at the appointed hour. He led me to a room upstairs. It was full of incense smoke. There were big idols and huge mirrors. There was an intimate quietude and a Divine atmosphere. I looked around quickly as Amara smiled.

No. You cannot see the Rishi who is here now. He is in his Astral body."

I glanced around again quickly without expecting to see the Rishi. He must have been there! The place was vibrant with a Divine presence. I could touch him mentally.

I sat down in front of Amara and waited.

Amara gave me very clear instructions about Meditation, after explaining it briefly.

Meditation is silencing. We silence the entire system - body, mind and intellect - gradually. In silence, many inner processes begin. First, the system gets cleansed. Then it is prepared to go through higher experiences which will eventually transform us into higher beings. We will be gradually linked to our Source and receive all knowledge about ourselves, this creation, birth, death etc., directly."

Is Meditation concentration?" I asked.

No. It is beyond concentration. It is a journey in Consciousness as we advance."

But I have read in books...."

I know....there are many distortions. But my Knowledge is from the Rishis. It is they who taught humanity Meditations in the beginning, thousands of years ago. They are the original Masters. I will explain more later. Now, close your eyes and fix your gaze at your mid-brow point. The Rishi here will charge you with Spiritual energy, initiating you into Meditation."

I closed my eyes, fixed my gaze and waited. Then I felt a wave of energy, descending on me and then, I lost my consciousness. When I opened my eyes, Amara smiled. And one hour had passed!

I went home dazed but with a very pleasant state of mind. Thus, my journey in Consciousness began.

* * *

"I had my first Astral Travel when I was around ten."

Amara spoke in his usual unhurried way as I sat before him in his Meditation room, consciously allowing every word to imprint itself on my mind, knowing very well that I was receiving an unknown treasure.

I began meeting Amara regularly on Friday evenings as suggested by him. I would wait all the week for this precious hour with him. He would check up and guide my Meditations and pass on rare knowledge that thousands of years of Tapas would not have helped me gather. He explained things not found in books and gave me the whole science of Meditation! One day, after a long time, he said "Now you can add a new chapter to Patanjali's Yoga Sutras!"