Sekhem: Forty Days of Meditation, Inner Sound, and Surrender

The Forty-Day Meditation Begins

A forty-day meditation began with two distinct streams of initiation. One teacher had given an initiation into Shaktipat, Kundalini and the chakras. Another teacher, from a southern region of India, had given Shravanmaiteshan and Swamitilak, practices concerned with meditation on Om. Both methods came together, bringing knowledge of the chakras and of enlightenment through sound.

For two or three days, the meditation consisted almost entirely of chanting, sometimes for twenty-one hours. The temple had been empty for a long time. Bats lived in the trees and inside the temple, and there were thousands of them in the place where the meditation took place. During the day, a torch was needed, and there was also a snake. There was no electricity, no bathroom and no ordinary comfort. Bathing meant going down to the river, and using the toilet meant going into the forest. Mosquitoes were everywhere. This was the atmosphere in which the meditation continued.

There was a window through which the meditator could look at the sky. He described writing the mantra on the sky with his attention. After two or three days, he first saw his guru's guru, Babaji, and then Swami Tilak. The figures appeared in front of him, standing before him. He did not open his eyes because he thought that if he did, the vision might disappear.

The blessing moved him deeply. He wept for about an hour and could not stop the tears, even when he tried. Then he saw many large snakes. They came toward him, appearing to fly, with their mouths open and their ears visible, and entered into him in many different forms.