Phenomenon

We will now take a look into this phenomenon of awakening which is both magical and mystical.

It started as a trickle in the bygone eras when Mother Nature made a few drops in the ocean of humanity awakened. These awakened beings, beacons of light to a world crazed with the mind, were created to maintain the balance of love in human collective consciousness. Sometimes it was just a few individuals like the Christ and the Buddha who influenced the course of history like no one else. And sometimes it happened in spurts as communities living together awakened to a higher reality. Awakening happened in pockets here and there across the globe.

Observation suggests a larger purpose, a universal planetary movement at work behind these individual or collective awakenings. Humans with their feeling of separate existence were becoming a virus to the planet. Awakening or a state of oneness was the only solution.

However, these attempts were not enough to soothe the parched hearts of men and women. In fact, driven by the self people were forced to destroy, abuse and violate each other, ruining every species including themselves and the planet. Which meant, nature had to do a lot more and of course, faster. It is precisely the despair of our times that has convinced Her that a renaissance of splendorous proportions is the only answer to our dilemma and despair.

It is either renaissance or a planetary extinction. There is no middle ground.

And so, the movement towards awakening gathered force and exploded with all its might in a most unsuspecting quarter - a school called Jeevashram.

Children from various backgrounds dwelt happily in this residential school in a state of innocence and wonder. They lived spontaneously in each moment, experiencing life deeply and fully and with great feeling, for they lived with Sri Amma and Bhagavan. And a strange fate awaited them. The universal soul sought to explore the farthest limits of consciousness beginning with them.

In the divine presence of Sri Amma Bhagavan, the children experienced a joy so vast that it was no longer inside them but they were inside it. Many a child ravaged by a painful past experienced new strength and trust with Amma and Bhagavan.

It was a life of mystery and miracles, freedom and ecstasy. It was a life of no images, and no 'becoming'. There was a deep sense of peace in Their presence and a sense of respect for Sri Amma Bhagavan that far exceeded what they had felt for any other being.

The children intuitively recognized that they were partakers of a divine energy, a divine consciousness of infinite power and love; that their teachers were not only what they were but also stood for something supreme.

The descent of the Golden Ball catapulted the phenomenon to dizzying new heights of mysticism and transformative experiences. A translucent ball of golden light, of extraordinary brilliance shimmered in front of a young student and disappeared into him. The boy had a very grand awakening experience. His description of consciousness matched any great sage.

Much later one of Bhagavan's reminiscences would partially give an insight into this inexplicable occurrence. "As a small boy, one day a golden ball appeared in front of me. I could see it all the time with my eyes open or closed. It would neither leave nor obstruct my view. I had no choice but to gaze at it without a break. And into this ball, I was forced to chant a Sanskrit mantra. Of either the language or the mantra, I had absolutely no knowledge what so ever. During this period I could neither play nor study. The chanting went on for 18 years. Then it stopped all of a sudden."

When the young student was asked to contact the Golden ball and ask it to name itself, the same mantra that Bhagavan chanted as a young child was revealed.

Staggering experiences poured onto the students in the school.

One of these was the state of Samadhi granted to a 13 year old. He was passing in front of Bhagavan's room and his gaze fell upon the still form of Bhagavan. The boy lost consciousness and fell to the ground. In one second he had crossed the threshold of subject and object and attained the last state - Nirvikalpa Samadhi. His body was rigid as a corpse for the next three days, radiating the sovereign serenity of the spirit that has reached the feet of the divine.

Again, in the heart of the young boy, Sri Krishnaji, the Antaryamin or the in-dweller (the cosmic spirit residing in the soul-seat of the individual) would manifest and would even talk to him. When he laid his hands on the other children, astonishingly, the same would happen to them. This was the first Oneness Blessing, which would later offer hope for the millions of seekers helplessly stuck within the suffocating limitations of human effort.

In the school, walking and talking with the divine became contagious. A child here would lie down, invoke Sri Amma Bhagavan and ask for a past life experience, lo! It would be granted. A child there would ask to experience the sage Ramana and invariably enter the realm of his silence, would go as far as even receiving the death experience. A group of boys somewhere would go into a collective trance, peak experiences, pouring forth great insights and revelations. Another group of children would ask to go for an astral travel and would come back to verify their experiences. Even the people who passed through the road next to the school began to have experiences. The children witnessed great mystical lights circling round the campus.

And reverence was their natural response to these experiences. What they could not understand through analysis they became aware of in awe. Sri Amma and Bhagavan were incarnations of Cosmic Consciousness.

Few parents astounded by the magnitude of the phenomenon approached Sri Amma Bhagavan to bless them with the same spiritual experience. Many of them found what they sought. They began to feel the power of God moving through them to heal some of their problems in their lives. They observed transformation happening to them. The teachings of Sri Amma Bhagavan helped them to clear away a lot of misconceptions and emotional patterns that had been handed down since generations. They were bestowed with the courage to face their greatest fears and pains and moved through their deepest darkness to find light. They began to love and accept themselves. They learned to experience and enjoy their feelings and to communicate with the world more integrally. For the first time ever they had a glimpse into the world of God. Hitherto what was only knowledge, mere intellectual stimulation and philosophical analysis, became their own direct personal experience.

All of this helped them to appreciate the movement. They realized that Sri Amma and Bhagavan not only spoke of oneness but also had the power to give the state - not just to a few, but to all who sought.

The new Movement began to spread. People began to gather in small groups everywhere in India, sharing the vision of an awakened planet with Sri Amma Bhagavan. From these gatherings a new group of people gradually emerged, made up of young men and women who realized their spiritual connection to Amma Bhagavan and their mission together. They wanted to serve Amma Bhagavan by serving Mankind. These people who became monks and nuns had a special destiny to fulfill. They, along with thousands of others became committed to their own personal transformation and to the creation of a new world.

As they advanced spiritually, the gift of oneness was bestowed upon them. Also, the power to give Oneness Blessing and awaken the seeker irrespective of his spiritual merit was given to the order by Sri Amma Bhagavan.

The movement's popularity grew among the masses. The Oneness University was founded to cater to the needs of people ranging from mind development to God realization to miracles. Many people came from all over the world to receive personal healing on all levels and to learn all aspects of this new way of life. Step by step they were prepared to receive this benediction and began to live in a state of connectedness and oneness. They would stay for a certain period of time at the university, undergo great personal transformation through the Oneness Blessings and Darshans of Sri Amma and Bhagavan and then return to their homes to teach and heal others.

They too were bestowed with the power to give Oneness Blessing. This was a significant milestone in the history of awakening of the planet. Spiritual power was no more restricted to a few sanctified individuals. It was given to the hands of common men and women. In this way, the new way was carried from the university to many places on earth. Awakening happened to people spontaneously.

Once the ' Oneness Blessing - givers' realized that transformation was possible and that planetary awakening need no longer remain a fantasy, they began to send the message to the world.

Sri Amma Bhagavan embraced these seekers of truth with an abundance of nurturing, love, wisdom and power. The seekers took Amma and Bhagavan's message to their heart. All that they needed to do was to create awakened people living in a state of oneness. Everyone then would look at the world with an innocent freshness. They would live spontaneously in each moment in a state of oneness.

It is thus that humankind would fulfill its destiny, to feel one with the Great Spirit that unifies all life and existence.