Chapter - 4: A growing Consciousness🔗

As a baby, nithyananda was carried by his mother's father, Rajasekaran or Raju Mudaliar, whose name he had been given, to the Arunachaleshwara temple every day. His grandfather used to tell him mythological stories and legends of the Hindu tradition called the puranas, as they went around the temple.

Especially interesting to the child nithyananda were the stories of Prahlad, Dhruv and Markandeya. In Hindu puranas, Prahlad, Dhruv and Markandeya were from childhood, deeply attracted to spirituality. They spent all their time meditating upon forms of the divine and reached enlightenment before adolescence. They are venerated in Hindu legends as great sages; Dhruv, for instance, is considered to be the Pole Star, forever positioned in a distinguished fashion. Young nithyananda simply adored the valor of Markandeya or the devotion of Prahlad or the uniqueness that Dhruv beheld.

These stories were deeply imprinted in the child's memory. These mythical and mystical models became role models, inspiring him in his future activities. nithyananda's grandfather was his first teacher; and the stories that he heard from his grandfather were his first enjoyable lessons in spirituality.

From childhood, nithyananda's spiritual inclinations were very clear. An incident, very early in his life even before he was three, illustrates this: His grandmother, Dhanakoti Ammal, was very fond of her grandson. One day she wanted to give him a gift. So she opened up her box of jewelry to young nithyananda and asked him to pick whatever he liked. The young child without hesitation picked up a rudraksha mala, much to his grandmother's surprise.

Rudraksha mala is a necklace made by stringing together the seeds of the sacred rudraksha tree, and is usually worn by spiritually evolved people and spiritual aspirants. Rudraksha literally means 'Shiva's tears' and comes in many forms, depending on the number of facets the seed has. Rudraksha serves as a battery, getting charged by the energy produced during meditation, and discharging it whenever needed to the wearer. Any normal child would have picked up a bauble that shone; something that was visually attractive; nithyananda however, unerringly chose the rudraksha necklace.

As a child, nithyananda loved playing with images and idols of gods and goddesses, unlike other children who played with toys and dolls. He collected these idols and by associating with sculptors in the temple, learnt how to make them as well, from wood, soft stone and wet earth. Some of the idols that he had made and worshipped and played with are now on display at the ashram in Bangalore, India.

At home, if the famous 'yellow bag' was missing from its place, it went without saying that nithyananda had taken it. Once school closed for holidays, nithyananda would gather his few friends and visit the temples and temple ponds in the neighborhood with the yellow bag on his shoulder. In these jaunts, he would do two things: one, he would ardently pick up every bit of trash he could sight in the vicinity of the temple and put in the garbage can, thus satisfying his urge to keep the Lord's place clean; second: he would fill the 'yellow bag' with lots of wet earth. Back at home, he would make out of the wet earth beautiful forms of the idols that he saw at the temples and decorate them with adoration and reverence.

Soon, he had a problem as to where to store the idols that were growing in number. No sooner than this thought occurred to him, a separate pooja room took shape in his mind. nithyananda never compromised in realizing his spiritual urges. He had no money or material of his own to have a pooja room to house his idols. He did not feel like asking for a separate room. As he sat in helpless contemplation, his eyes fell on a couple of biscuit tins. Instantly he knew what had to be done. With a hammer and chisel, a couple of long screws and small pieces of wood, he flattened the tins and made a small altar for his idols in the rear of his house.

Working with zest and spontaneity, seamlessly, he invited his friends and family members to his altar, offered pooja to the idols and distributed puffed rice as prasad to them. A fleeting thought of an altar became a full-fledged reality in no time. To give shape to an altar and have a function with a group of people would be an arduous task for someone his age. To young nithyananda it was just another natural and joyful expression of his deep yearning for God.

Before or after attaining inner bliss, this aspect remained unchanged in him. Today, Nithyananda gathers people from the world over, just by the power of thought, at the ashram or elsewhere, and conducts grand functions radiating bliss to one and all.

At his altar, he would offer regular pooja with great sincerity everyday. One day, his father could not find the dhoti (white piece of clothing that Indian men wear) that he had put out on the clothesline to dry. He searched all over the house for it. As he passed by nithyananda seated at his altar, he caught the young boy using the dhoti in three pieces – one square piece as a floor mat, one around his waist and the third as a base for the idols. He along with nithyananda's mother watched with great awe, the boy's undaunted spiritual fervor. Nithyananda recalls today how his father never ever questioned him even when his brand new dhotis were used for various spiritual practices!

Another of nithyananda's favorites was his pair of wooden sandals called paduka, usually worn by ascetics. He would wear these all the time wherever he went, whether to temple festivals or to the homes of relatives, continuously making an infernal noise that everybody else disliked!

At home one day, one of the family members had bought an aluminum vessel for an unduly high price. nithyananda's father was upset at the purchase and asked, 'Why this useless vessel for this much money?' nithyananda asked him if it was a useless vessel and he said 'yes' and walked away. The next day, as his father walked into the house, nithyananda went up to him excitedly holding an idol of Goddess Lakshmi. His father exclaimed, 'This is beautiful. Where did you get this from?' The boy replied, 'I made the useless thing into this useful thing.' The father could not understand and asked what he meant. He explained, 'You said that the aluminum vessel was useless, so I sold it at the shop down the road and bought this idol! Isn't that alright?' His father could not help but laugh and agree with the child's consistent and growing spiritual inclinations.

In the town of Tiruvannamalai, there was once a book fair. nithyananda's maternal grandfather Raju Mudaliar, who had great interest in spiritual books, took young nithyananda with him and set out for the book fair. He sat him down near a bookstall with the stall owner, and went his way to look at other books.

No sooner did his grandfather turn his back than nithyananda started researching every single book in the stall. Suddenly he jumped with great enthusiasm at a book that featured the great epic Ramayana with pictures for kids. The stall owner saw his enthusiasm for the book and asked him if he wanted to keep the book. By then, nithyananda had leafed through the book and replied, 'No! I don't want this book. I will look at some other book.' The owner asked why. nithyananda replied that the book was a misrepresentation of Ramayana and that instead of narrating the story with pictures for support, it appeared as though for the sake of the pictures, they had made up the storyline.

The stall owner was shocked at the conviction, clarity and authority with which the boy was talking. He asked him, 'Why don't you narrate to me the Ramayana as you know it in its true form?' nithyananda jumped at the invitation and started narrating in earnest, from what he had heard from his grandfather and from what he had read in various books on Ramayana. The stories that his grandfather had told him became the substance of impromptu discourses, called 'kathakalakshepam', in Tamil. The stall owner started understanding that the boy was no mere boy. He put him on the table, bowed to him and listened as tears streamed from his eyes.

nithyananda could not understand the emotions of the man but continued with the narration upon insistence from him. He finished after an hour and the group that had gathered around him by then clapped spontaneously.

The stall owner was by now overwhelmed. He touched the child's feet and repeated many times amidst sobs that the child was certainly bestowed with divine grace, else he would not be able to narrate the story with such ease and confidence at such a young age. nithyananda asked his grandfather what he had done to make the man cry so much. His grandfather too was emotional. He explained to the young boy that he was crying with joy to hear such a small boy speak so eloquently. Once they reached home, nithyananda got his grandfather's assurance once more that he had not done any wrong to make the man cry, and ran away with great relief to his dear altar!

When nithyananda was about three, he was given an idol of Ganapati as a gift.

Ganapati or Ganesa or Vinayaka, as he is called otherwise, is the son of Lord Shiva and Parvati. He is the most popular Hindu God, with a potbelly and an elephant head, and he rides on a mouse. Most Hindus pray to Ganesha seeking his blessings before embarking on any serious venture. Ganesha is the remover of all obstacles and brings success. It is said that his own father Shiva had to come back and pray to Ganesha when he forgot to obtain his son's blessings before going to battle with a demon!

The legend of Ganesha reads as follows.

Parvati was the daughter of Himavan, who was the King of the Himalayas. From birth, Parvati was in love with Shiva, the Rejuvenator. She married Shiva against her father's wishes, since Himavan believed that Shiva was just a vagabond ascetic. He believed that Shiva was not a good match for the daughter of a rich and powerful king.

One day as Parvati was bathing, Shiva walked in unannounced. Parvati was upset at this and wanted someone to guard her privacy. Since everyone around her was under Shiva's control, she wanted someone who would listen only to her. Parvati removed the sandalwood paste that she had applied on her body, moulded it into a human form and breathed life into it. A beautiful young child appeared before her. Parvati instructed this child to guard her privacy, irrespective of who the intruder was. When Shiva returned later, the child stopped him from meeting Parvati. Angered, but not wanting to fight with a child, Shiva sent his hordes, the ganas, to remove the child from the scene. The child defeated them easily and sent them back to Shiva.

Shiva became furious and with his powerful trident cut the child’s head off. Parvati came out of her bath and found her young child dead. Inconsolable and terrifying in her anger, she gave Shiva an ultimatum: revive the child or I go.

Shiva sent what remained of his ganas with instructions to bring the first living body that they could find, so that he could revive the child. What they found first was an elephant. Shiva fixed the elephant’s head on the child and he came alive.

Shiva made this brave young boy the Master of his ganas, giving the boy the name Ganesha or Ganapati.

There are hundreds of stories woven around this lovable child god who, along with Krishna, is the favorite of most Hindus.

Overjoyed at receiving a Ganapati idol as a gift, nithyananda started worshipping it with great devotion. The idol was not an inanimate statue to him; it was a living object. He related to the idol at a personal level. He would play for hours with the idol, bathe it, dress it, and feed it.

When nithyananda offered Ganapati food, he expected Ganapati to consume the food, and became upset when Ganapati did not eat the food offered to him. nithyananda would try cajoling Ganapati and try all the tricks he knew to persuade Ganapati to eat the food he offered. When in spite of all his cajoling Ganapati did not eat, nithyananda would threaten to drop the idol in the well that was in the courtyard of the house.

Cajoling and threatening, he would give Ganapati a deadline to eat or else. He would wait for three to four hours even after giving Him this deadline. When Ganapati still did not oblige, nithyananda would place the idol carefully along with some food in a bucket that was used to draw water from the well, and slowly lower the idol into the well. As he did this, nithyananda would cajole and threaten the idol again and again. He would harbor mixed emotions; anger that Ganapati did not listen to him and did not care for his threats; at another level, fear that if he did drop the idol into the water, Ganapati might die.

When the bucket reached the water and floated on the surface, he would feel that he had carried out his threat far enough and that Ganapati would have eaten by now. He would bring the idol up only to find to his chagrin that Ganapati had not eaten the food after all. Angered, nithyananda would lower the idol again, hoping that this time Ganapati would have better sense. When he brought the idol up again the food would be untouched.

Lost in anger, he would feel no longer any interest in threatening Ganapati. He only felt compassion that Ganapati had not eaten!

Not knowing what to do and worried that his Ganapati would come to harm if he did not eat, nithyananda one day told his family members about it. They thought it was funny and laughed at him. They also told him that they would not buy him another idol if he dropped this one in the well.

Around this time, nithyananda heard the story of Nambiandar Nambi. Nambi's father was a priest in a temple. One day his father had to go on an errand, and told Nambi to carry out the daily pooja ritual and also to offer food to God. Nambi took his father at his word and after the pooja placed some food in front of the idol, drew the cloth screen in front of the idol and waited for the idol to eat.

After a while, when he looked in, the food was untouched. Nambi started crying. He felt he had made a grievous mistake and that God was angry with him and hence had not eaten the food. He was also afraid that his father, when he returned, would be angry with him for not doing the job entrusted to him. Nambi started banging his head against a stone pillar of the temple, telling the idol that if it did not eat the food offered to Him, he would break his own head and die. When he looked up after a few minutes, the food had been eaten.

When nithyananda heard this story, he was very upset and hurt. If God ate Nambi's food, why would He not eat nithyananda's food? Suddenly he realized that there was a difference. Nambi had tortured himself, hurt himself. He did not torture the idol. He did not threaten God like he himself did. Nambi did not lower his God into the well threatening to drown Him; instead he offered his own life.

nithyananda decided that he would not eat if Ganapati did not eat. He placed some food in front of the idol and waited. When Ganapati did not eat, nithyananda did not eat his food as well. He would take the food from his mother, pretend he was going to eat, walk to the back of the house and dump it in the drain. This went on for two to three days. Each day Ganapati's food was replaced. nithyananda's parents were unaware of what was going on. Despite his hunger, the child kept his resolve and waited for Ganapati to eat, dumping his own food untouched.

At the end of the third day, the food in front of the idol disappeared! The child was overwhelmed with love and gratitude. Tears streamed down his cheeks. nithyananda's spiritual life started in earnest at this point in time. He had realized through personal experience the power of devotion and faith. From then on, every day till the day of his own enlightenment, nithyananda would only eat after offering food to Ganapati. Only when He ate, nithyananda ate. After enlightenment, Nithyananda never ate; only He ate!

Right from early childhood, nithyananda was drawn to spirituality and as we saw earlier, he spent as much time as he could with idols. He interacted with these idols as if they were living beings, which to him they certainly were. He had a deep and abiding passion to play with idols of gods and goddesses, decorating them, worshipping them, talking to them, and relating to them as if they were made of flesh and blood. These were his only joy. He rarely participated in sports and games like other boys of his age.

Parashakti (the cosmic energy in the form of the universal Mother) indeed works in mysterious ways to help enlightened beings fulfill their mission.

During the period of Ganesha Chaturthi, the birthday of Lord Ganapati, potters would come to Tiruvannamalai with large amounts of clay to make their idols of Ganapati. Each house would usually have an idol installed at their altar and people of that household would offer ritual prayers to the Ganapati idol. On the festival day, special food would be prepared and offered to the Lord. Ganapati's favorite food is the modakam - a rice dumpling filled with coconut and unrefined brown sugar. In addition, there would be special fruits and flowers that Ganapati liked. After all, the potbellied Ganapati sitting on his mouse is the darling of all Hindus!

Depending upon local tradition, on the third, fifth or tenth day after the festival day, the Ganapati idol would be taken and immersed in a nearby water body, an environmentally friendly practice, as long as the idol was made out of mud and is water soluble. In large cities, this immersion takes the form of massive processions to the nearest river or to the sea. In smaller towns, the idols would be carried by individuals on their heads, or if they were wealthy, in a vehicle, and then immersed in the temple tank or a nearby lake.

Potters would bring large quantities of clay for making the idols on the spot. When they left after the festival, they would leave behind unused or unsold material. nithyananda would rush from spot to spot, collecting all this material so that he could fashion his own idols out of this unused clay.

The only person who would object to nithyananda bringing all the clay into the house was his maternal grandmother. He would throw some of the clay at her as well. The whole house would be filled with clay and half finished clay figures, a huge mess! nithyananda would also offer pooja to all these clay idols, ringing his bell loudly from morning till evening. His grandmother would object to this as well. nithyananda had learnt a mantra from a Yogi to drive ghosts and evil spirits away; he would use this mantra as soon as his grandmother started fighting with him! It seemed to work, that and the constant bell-ringing. Nevertheless, this grandmother is still very much alive today, well into her nineties!

Nithyananda says:

‘Parashakti (The universal Mother) prepared my body and mind so beautifully for the mission she had in mind for me. You can see her play, her lila. Day after day, I would spend entire days only in decorating and talking to the idols. I had energy and power far beyond my years. My mother said that once I turned a heavy teakwood bed over with a person lying on it, without much effort!’ nithyananda was completely independent and fearless. His mother and the rest of the family used to listen to him, rather than the other way around. His clarity and love attracted people to him and made them want to do whatever he asked of them.

When nithyananda was about three, he met Yogiraj Raghupati Maharaj, otherwise called Raghupati Yogi.

A relative brought home a mendicant, a sannyasi. It was common practice in his household to offer shelter and food to ascetics. nithyananda’s grandfather used to feed at least ten such mendicants, every day at lunch. They would be seated in a row, fed, saluted with the traditional arati (obeisance with a lamp) and offered money before they departed.

This sannyasi, named Raghupati Yogi, saw young nithyananda playing with idols and remarked that the boy was a light that had started shining in that household. nithyananda felt comfortable with this man and related to him his own experiences with Ganapati and how Ganapati ate the food that he served him after he threatened to go on a fast. Yogi seemed to understand him and was able to relate to what nithyananda was saying to him.

For as long as nithyananda could remember, whenever he was alone, he used to see a group of eleven people around himself. He got so used to seeing them that he used to think they were relatives who were part of his joint family, till he realized that only he and no one else could see them. When he met Raghupati Yogi and was initiated by him into some spiritual practices, these people stopped appearing.

The boy asked Yogi about this. Raghupati Yogi told him that these people were bhairavas, Shiva ganas or soldiers, who were protecting him till then. Now that he had been initiated and protected by the Guru mantra, they did not feel the need to be around him. He said, ‘They have handed you over to me.’

nithyananda had names for each of these bhairavas, and he used to recite their names faithfully before each meal. Years later, when he read the life of Sarada Devi, wife of Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, he learnt that just like the bhairavas who surrounded him, Sarada Devi too as a child was surrounded by the sakhis, women companions of Devi, the Mother Goddess.

nithyananda maintained a diary where he used to write down all the stories that Raghupati Yogi had told him, as well as all incidents that happened during his interaction with him. Raghupati Yogi was meticulous in making the boy write down everything.

After nithyananda left home, even though his family moved home a few times, his mother ensured that nithyananda’s diaries were safely stored. Thanks to her and to Raghupati Yogi, this information is available today for us.

Raghupati Yogi came into nithyananda’s life for a purpose. He was perhaps not an enlightened Master, but certainly a yogi of great skills and powers. He helped prepare nithyananda and his body to receive and hold the energy of enlightenment, which Nithyananda now says was like keeping four elephants in a small hut. Nithyananda remembers Raghupati Yogi with tremendous affection and respect.

Raghupati Yogi used to live on the same street as nithyananda and knew the entire family. He had been born and brought up in Burma (now Myanmar), which had then been a British Colony. There he had learnt yogic procedures from Buddhist lamas. He was a yoga adept and could levitate. He would lift himself up and ask children to move under him to check that there was nothing supporting him, to prove that what he was doing was no magic or illusion. He would do this through a combination of yogic postures (asana) and breath control (pranayama).

Sometimes, he would exhale completely emptying his lungs out, and fasten an iron clamp tightly around his chest. He would then inhale and inflate his chest breaking the iron clamp into pieces! He would capture snakes, put them into his nose and have them come out through his mouth!

In recent times many scientific experiments have been conducted, notably by Dr. Herbert Benson and others of Harvard University Medical College, on extraordinary yogic powers that Tibetan Lamas have acquired though breath control and meditation. These include increasing the body temperature, levitation and many extraordinary physical feats not normally possible for humans. What Raghupati Yogi did was quite similar to some of these findings.

Raghupati Yogi used to eat very little, if at all. He had special techniques to control hunger and thirst that he later taught nithyananda. When his disciples forced him to eat out of concern for him, he would eat a little and then snap his fingers. His intestines would come out through his mouth. He would clean his intestines of all food matter and put it back. He was an expert on Patanjali's ashtanga yoga methods and used these techniques to prepare nithyananda's body and mind.

Raghupati Yogi would come to nithyananda's house every morning without fail. He started calling him ‘samiar’, the respectful Tamil word for an ascetic or Master. Soon this name was being used by everyone, including nithyananda's parents. Yogi would take him to the temple for three to four hours each day to practice yoga techniques. Over time, he taught him all the eight limbs of ashtanga yoga, including pranayama and asana. After the yoga practice each morning, he would buy the boy breakfast. He was very loving, and frequently brought him candies and chocolates to keep his interest alive. nithyananda related with him easily and asked him many questions that he would answer patiently. When elderly people whom he knew came to talk to Yogi when he was with nithyananda, he would tell them, ‘Don’t think I am teaching this boy, I’m learning from him.’

One day Raghupati Yogi asked nithyananda whether he wished to visit Kailash, the abode of Lord Shiva and Parvati. At once, nithyananda said yes, he would. He told him that he would initiate nithyananda into a mantra, which, if he repeated, would carry him to Shiva and Parvati in Kailash. Yogi asked nithyananda to return the next day and meet him at the temple.

When nithyananda met Yogi the next day in the Kartika mandapam in the temple, the first thing he wanted to know was where the bus that would take them to Kailash was! Yogi laughed and pointed to one of the tourist buses parked in front of the temple and told the young boy that one of those buses would take them to Kailash.

He then asked nithyananda to bathe in the temple tank and come to him. nithyananda came after bathing in the tank and sat in front of him, on a step below where Yogi sat. Yogi uttered the word ‘hreem’. Something seemed to strike nithyananda at his ‘hara’, the point between the Swadishthana and Muladhara energy centers, between his navel and the bottom of his spine. nithyananda saw Devi, Goddess Parvati standing in front of him. He laughed in ecstasy, and shouted, ‘Amma (mother) is here, Amma is here!’

nithyananda had no idea that ‘hreem’ was the bija mantra (invocation sound) of Devi or that She would appear before him. He was hoping to catch a bus to Kailash! The vision of Devi was clear and vivid. After a few moments, Devi merged into the young boy. ‘I saw Her!’ he said to Yogi in wonder, ‘I saw Her with four hands!’

Raghupati Yogi did not believe the boy at first. He thought that it was nithyananda’s active imagination. The boy was filled with ecstasy. When nithyananda went home, he picked up a nail and flattened it into a chisel of sorts. He then picked up a soft stone and carved the figure and form of Devi as he saw her. After many attempts, still not satisfied, he took the idol to a stone carver he was acquainted with and requested him to finish it. (This sandstone Devi idol is on display today at the ashram.) Nithyananda took the finished carving to Raghupati Yogi. ‘This is the Amma that I saw when you gave me the mantra,’ he told him. Raghupati Yogi asked nithyananda to sit down and held his hands. Normally the boy would feel energy flowing into him from the yogi. This time around he felt that energy was flowing from him to the yogi!

Yogi stood up and prostrated himself at the boy’s feet. nithyananda cried out, ‘What are you doing, thatha?’ (Thatha means grandfather in Tamil). Yogi said, ‘All these years I had the mantra and used it, but I had no experience. I was like a librarian with all the books, without knowing and experiencing the content. I planted the seed and waited. Now, the seed has sprouted!’

He added, ‘I am blessed, my child. It takes years of practice to have a vision of Devi. You are indeed a Siddha Purusha (a realized being). That’s why you could have Her vision just after initiation. Devi is hereafter your ishta devata, your favored deity!’

Raghupati Yogi would take nithyananda to a local vegetarian restaurant for breakfast. One day the owner of the restaurant,

Ramachandra Upadhyaya, came up to Yogi and complained that he did not have enough sannyasis to feed that day. This man followed the practice of feeding fifty sannyasis on every Amavasya (new moon day), and he did not have that many to feed on that Amavasya day. The yogi said to him, 'You are feeding this young boy, that's enough; it is equivalent to feeding a 1000 sannyasis!'

It is a different matter that neither nithyananda nor Upadhyaya believed the yogi. Recently, Upadhyaya performed pada pooja (ritual obeisance to the Master's feet) to Nithyananda and recalled that incident. He said to Nithyananda, 'I was so blessed to feed tens of thousands of holy men by just feeding you as a boy.'

One day, nithyananda asked Raghupati Yogi why he was teaching him all these yoga asanas, since the yogi himself did not achieve Devi's darshan through these practices. The yogi said that nithyananda needed to keep his body fit, as he would need to perform herculean tasks in future.

Day after day, Raghupati Yogi would make the boy do these yogic exercises. He would make him climb the stone pillars in the temple using only one hand! The boy had to climb at least 24 pillars each day. The boy obeyed him, partly out of respect and partly out of affection. Moreover, he didn't have to suffer at school! If nithyananda had homework and complained to Yogi, the teacher would fall sick the next day!

Yogi told nithyananda that the age to learn yoga was before 14, and that was why he started training him at 3 years of age, so that he had 10 full years to train him. He taught him asanas, pranayama, dhyana, mantra and various other techniques. Yogi could do magical things with sounds. With one sound he could attract dogs from hundreds of yards away. He could break a stone by making the sound of a hammer hitting on stone. With another sound he could make people invisible. When the school watchman came looking for nithyananda when he did not go to school, the boy would run to the yogi. The yogi would make a sound and even though the boy would be standing right in front of both the watchman and the yogi, the watchman would not be able to see him!

Nithyananda says:

'After the age of 14, only an enlightened Master can be in true brahmacharya (celibacy), which is one of the five yamas, forming part of ashtanga yoga.

With no disrespect to the tradition of sannyasis, let me put on record that they cannot be in brahmacharya unless they become enlightened. I say this to my ashramites, to the young brahmacharis in the ashram, 'Do not feel guilty for lapses. You are staying unmarried only to avoid marital problems! Being single for you is not a spiritual vow, but a social vow.' That was the reason Raghupati Yogi started training me at such an early age, so that before adolescence I could master these practices and be spiritually prepared.'

Raghupati Yogi did a great service by preparing nithyananda's body and mind for his future endeavors. He also had his own fulfillment. As much as nithyananda learnt from him, the yogi said he learnt from the boy. He gave nithyananda the deerskin he used to sit on, which was given to him by his Master. This was treated and tanned with herbs, and even after more than 60 years has the original hair on it. The skin is now at the ashram in Bangalore, India.

Raghupati Yogi taught nithyananda how to go without water without feeling thirsty, by twisting the tongue, sucking in air, while sounding the mantra 'lam'. He gave the boy a herb with which, by drawing a diagram in one's liver area, one could go without food for days, without feeling any hunger. He taught the boy how to go without sleep, without feeling tired. He taught him how to play with life energy and how to create things through sound energy. These were of immense use to nithyananda during his wandering days and penance. But for these techniques and the strength built up through yoga, nithyananda's body could not have withstood the rigors of those years of tough ascetic life.

Raghupati Yogi could materialize objects. He could control snakes. Though an accomplished yogi, he was not enlightened. Upon insistence from young nithyananda to demonstrate the miraculous powers that yoga could bestow, the yogi materialized a conch for him. nithyananda was astonished, and examined the conch - only to find a date inscribed on it. He accused the yogi of cheating him! The yogi then explained to him that he had not created the conch. He had merely teleported it from his home, miles away. He also explained to the child that these feats were not a measure of spirituality or Self Realization and that they were merely plays with energy.

When nithyananda was barely ten, Raghupati Yogi arranged a public function in which nithyananda spoke on Patanjali's Yoga Sutra! He told him that he was ready to give discourses in public and that the program was like an initiation for the boy to become an acharya, a teacher. Yogi distributed leaflets announcing nithyananda as his disciple. Over a thousand people attended this discourse by the young lad. Nithyananda remembers that this event was video recorded. The venue was in front of the Raja Gopuram (main temple tower) in Tiruvannamalai where the popular Irai Mani Mandram is held every year.

Raghupati Yogi arranged for taking pictures of Nithyananda in various meditative postures during his years with him. Photography was very expensive in those days in rural India. Yogi had borrowed money from the hotel owner Upadhyaya for taking these photographs. When asked why he was doing it at such expense, he simply smiled, never answered. When the photos were delivered, he wrote on them, 'The whole world will thank me one day for these photographs!'

It is these pictures that we see today of young nithyananda in meditation; at the age of about 9, his first photographs. Raghupati Yogi had photographs made of both nithyananda and himself together, but none of himself alone. The boy questioned him about this as well, 'Why don't you take a photo of yourself so that I can keep it?' Raghupati Yogi just smiled and said, 'No one will want to worship my photographs; but they will worship yours!'

The photographer who took these pictures recollects that when he was taking the pictures of both Raghupati Yogi and Nithyananda in meditation, both of them levitated, rising above the ground a clear few inches.

Nithyananda recounted to us recently in Los Angeles, USA, his days with Raghupati Yogi:

I had the great fortune to be around this great Master called Raghupati Yogi. When I met him, he was around 105 years of age! He was from the lineage of Patanjali. Patanjali is the founder of the Yoga system. He is the first Master who created a clear scientific and logical system to reproduce the experience of enlightenment. Until Patanjali, enlightenment was an accident; somebody may get it or may not get it. It was more like gambling. You had to play, but there was no guarantee. Patanjali was the first Master, I can say spiritual navigator, who actually did the mapping and gave the complete directions. He created clear-cut directions; step by step formulae to reproduce the experience of enlightenment!

Like how scientists create a formula to reproduce the understanding of the outer world things, Patanjali created a beautiful formula, a technology to reproduce the inner world experience, enlightenment itself. Raghupati Yogi had mastered the whole science of yoga. Not only the physical aspect of yoga like bending the body etc., what we call asana, or hatha yoga, but also the other aspects of yoga like working with your breath (prana), working with the mind, working with the visualization power, emotions, etc. He had mastered all other dimensions of yoga as well.

Between the ages of 3 and 13, when I was with him, he prepared my body and mind to enter into the experience of enlightenment and to stay in the experience of enlightenment. Entering is not a big thing; to have a glimpse of satori – the no-mind state, to have one experience of un-clutching from the mind is not a big thing; it's not very difficult, but to stay in that, not only to stay in that, but to express that energy through your body, for that, your body and mind need to be prepared. That is the real thing! Just having one glimpse is not a big thing; anybody can have it. But staying in that same space, staying in that same Consciousness and expressing it needs preparation. He focussed on that part and helped me in so many ways to understand and experience, and above all, to stay in that same space; to stay in that high energy plane and radiate that experience.

At six or seven o'clock every morning, he would start the training. At that time, it was practically a torture! He would make me bend in all possible ways. In the Arunachala temple where he used to teach me yoga, there was this beautiful stone pillared hall. He would make me climb all the stone pillars! 20 to 30 pillars I had to climb one after the other. Till date, I am not able to find any reference in any yoga book as to why one should climb pillars to do yoga! (He laughs). And he used to make me climb with only one hand for support. I had to use only one hand and climb the pillar and come down.

He also used to give me practice in Neti, a yoga procedure in which he would make me swallow a long cloth to clean the intestine and the digestive system. I tell you honestly: only now I feel happy about all these things. In those days I used to hate him! Some of the insights he gave on Patanjali's words were revealing and shocking and sometimes even contradictory. He explained that the words of Patanjali were captured in the books, but not his body language. So naturally, much is lost. Only a person who has experienced the Consciousness of Patanjali can bring Patanjali back to life. And I had the great fortune to be with a Master who had experienced that Consciousness, or the same inner space of Patanjali, because of which he was able to reveal the deeper truths of the Science of Yoga.

I asked him why he made me climb those pillars because I did not find any reference to climbing pillars in any yoga book. He gave me a beautiful explanation. For any purpose that you bend your body, move your body, that purpose, that memory with which you are doing it, that idea, will get completely inserted or recorded into your body and mind. This is a very shocking revelation. He says: with any intention if you move your body, bend your body, or make your body active, that intention, that purpose will be recorded into your body; that purpose, that idea, that samskara will start expressing in your body.

He meant that the way in which you bend, the method in which you stand up, or the method in which you do yoga are not really important. For example, if you have an intention to be healthy, and do whatever you want with that intention, if you move your body in a particular way with that intention, health will simply happen to you. Even ordinary sitting - if you strongly believe that by sitting you will have health, you will see that health happens in you when you sit with that intention. I asked him how it was possible and he laughed and replied that the body itself is made out of our memories. We are an expression of our own self-hypnosis. Every type of memory is recorded in our muscles. So when we change the memories, we can change our system also.

Nithyananda says that Raghupati Yogi was an incarnation of Patanjali.

Patanjali in turn was an incarnation of the great snake Adisesha, upon whom Vishnu rests. Once when Shiva danced in Kailash, one of his anklets burst open, and to avoid Shiva stopping his dance, Adisesha wrapped himself upon Shiva's ankle as an anklet. When Shiva finished His dance, He blessed the snake, who said to Him, 'All others enjoyed your dance, but being on your ankle I could not. Please give me the opportunity to see you dance.'

Shiva said, 'You will be born on Earth and after doing penance you shall see me dance.'

Accordingly, Adisesha was born as Patanjali in Chidambaram, and Shiva came and danced for him as Nataraja.

When Nithyananda told us this incident, many of us recollected the number of times His own anklets have broken loose during his dances at the time of Ananda Darshan; heavy anklets of gold giving way with the energy of His dance.

nithyananda befriended a number of other sages as well in early childhood. One of them, Saakkupai Swami, wore only a jute cloth from gunny bags (called saakkupai in Tamil) and slept in the temple. Children were scared of him and avoided him. nithyananda went to Saakkupai Swami and asked how he could see Arunachala in human form. Saakkupai Swami laughed and said, 'Don't cheat me, go away, go away'. nithyananda ran away frightened. When he turned around to see what the Swami was doing, nithyananda was surprised to see him prostrating on the ground in his direction.

After that incident, whenever nithyananda passed his way, Saakkupai Swami would throw candies and sweets towards him, though the boy would not go near him. nithyananda thought that this man was mad. One day, nithyananda threw a rupee coin at Saakkupai Swami. Saakkupai Swami said he did not need money; nithyananda asked whether he could bring him food. Saakkupai Swami said, 'No, instead bring me beedis' (local cigarettes made of cured tobacco leaves). nithyananda bought a packet of beedis and gave it to him, which Saakkupai Swami kept by his side. Soon a dog came and picked up the beedis and ran away. Saakkupai Swami told nithyananda to follow the dog. The dog ran and reached Yogi Ram Surat Kumar, popularly known as Visiri Swamigal, and placed the packet in front of him. Visiri Swamigal started smoking the beedis.

Visiri Swamigal sat amidst a pile of garbage that he had collected on the steps of the building adjacent to Thermutti, where the temple chariot was parked. He was an enlightened Master, well-known and well-liked in Tiruvannamalai. He was a contemporary of Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharishi. Visiri Swamigal turned to nithyananda and asked him whether Saakkupai Swamigal had sent him. nithyananda explained to him how he got there and how he had gotten to know Saakkupai Swamigal. Visiri Swamigal took a liking to the young boy and they became instant friends.

After a few days, Visiri Swamigal offered a beedi to nithyananda. Having been taught that smoking was a bad habit, nithyananda refused. Who knows, his enlightenment may have been faster had he accepted the Mystic's offer of a beedi!

It was customary for people who passed Visiri Swamigal to stop by and ask him questions about their future. Children on their way to school would stop by and ask how they would fare in their exams. They could rarely elicit a response from the intriguing Mystic. One day, on his way to school, nithyananda stopped by and asked if he would pass his test in school that day. He got the reply, 'You will pass the test of life, my boy!' nithyananda could not comprehend the meaning of those words. A lady who overheard these words told him, 'Go on, child! You will not understand these words now; but you will recall them later!'

Some of the graveyards of the holy town of Tiruvannamalai were serene places of meditation for nithyananda. A couple of years ago as we walked in a small group with the Master in the wee hours of the morning in Tiruvannamalai, he took us to these graveyards and showed us the exact spots where he would sit and meditate. He also pointed out to a large tomb and said, 'Do you see that double bed there?! That is where Yogi Ram Surat Kumar used to be sitting. I used to hide and watch him and enjoy the mysticism that he radiated. He would shoo me away saying, 'It's only me, go away!'

He recalled that one night, when he was returning after his graveyard meditation, he saw a man lying across the pathway prostrating in the direction of Arunachala, which was a customary practice in Tiruvannamalai. He waited for him to get up so he could pass. The man never got up, and nithyananda suddenly realized that it was a dead body! Unmoved, he jumped over it and went his way. His increasing spiritual zeal held no place for fear, sorrow or any other emotion that might have stalled his race towards merging with the Divine.

nithyananda was in love with Arunachala. He joined every temple procession and followed it all the way to its destination. He spent his days in the temple and ate with the sannyasis, who were given free food at the temple. The temple of Arunachaleshwara in Tiruvannamalai was nithyananda's playfield, as Brindavan was to Krishna and Dakshineshwar was to Ramakrishna.

When he woke up in the morning, nithyananda would walk with closed eyes to the front of the house, so that the Arunachala hill was the first thing that he saw in the morning. His brothers used to call him kuruttu samiar or blind monk! They used to irritate him by standing in front of him as he opened his eyes, or by turning him around so that he faced the opposite direction, or by startling him by shouting at him. nithyananda used to kick them, rave and rant, and go back to bed and start all over again.

To nithyananda, Arunachala the hill, was a living entity, not a mere formation of rocks. He would sit contemplating the hill, like in Zen meditation, Zazen; sitting, happening, without the mind.

When he was about seven, nithyananda met Narayanaswami Thatha known as K.S. Narayanaswami (thatha means grandfather in Tamil). Thatha lived in a small Ganapati temple on Thirumanjana Gopuram Street in Tiruvannamalai. He was a master of tantra, yantra and mantra, all the three techniques of realization. He had great powers of telepathy. The local police would come to him seeking help in identifying perpetrators of crime.

Thatha would take a mirror and draw a square on it. The image of the criminal would appear within that square. People who lost things and people who lost children and relatives would come to him and he would show them where they were using his mirror. nithyananda watched him do this untiringly day after day.

nithyananda spent six years around Narayanaswamy Thatha. When people came seeking his help, Thatha would light a lamp, and utter a mantra. He would then collect the black soot from the lamp and apply it on the mirror that he had. Immediately, the picture of what had happened would be played out as if on television. The entire sequence of what happened, whether it was a burglary or a person missing, would be played out. The local Police Inspector would come and sit at Thatha’s feet.

Thieves used to come to him begging not to be disclosed to the Police. When he gave them his assurance, the mirror would not show anything. He would make them give away their money or part of their money to the temple; sometimes make them return their money if they had looted a good man. Each day he earned thousands of rupees.

Whatever people gave him for his services, Thatha would give away the same day, since he had taken a vow not to accumulate any material property or money. Ascetics and beggars would crowd around him to take what he gave away. nithyananda used to bring him food from home, as his mother was generous in feeding spiritual people. nithyananda was his errand boy, happy watching the television show in the mirror, getting to know all the gossip in town, and sharing the joy of those who found what they came seeking.

Once, the idol from a temple in a nearby village called Tiruneer Annamalai was stolen by uprooting the idol from its base. Thatha’s mirror showed that the idol was buried in a disused water tank, and the police found it. Since the original temple was broken into and the foundation was damaged, Thatha asked the police to build a temple within the Police Station, and they did! Thatha’s mirror too is in this temple. This is probably the only temple built inside a Police Station in India, or perhaps anywhere else in the world!

One day, when Thatha was in the bathroom, nithyananda decided to inspect the mirror. He applied the black ash to the mirror, but he had nothing to ask. Suddenly, the form of Devi appeared in the mirror. She smiled at him. nithyananda was afraid she would tell Thatha that he used the mirror. He sat down and prayed to her, 'Please do not tell him.' She seemed to smile saying she would not tell him. But the problem was how to make her go away.

When Thatha came out of the bathroom, nithyananda showed him the mirror and confessed. He just laughed. He said, 'If Devi did not wish to appear, She would not have. You didn't do anything wrong.' Thatha gave nithyananda the silver box in which he used to keep the mirror. This box is in the ashram in Bangalore today.

Often when nithyananda missed school, he would seek the help of Thatha to escape punishment from teachers. Thatha would make sure nithyananda's attendance in school was marked!

Thatha used to materialize objects. He would also provide people solutions to their problems. Once, a low caste man came to Thatha with a problem and Thatha advised him to go around a Shiva temple three times. The man said that in his village he would not be allowed into the temple being a low caste person. Thatha then pointed to nithyananda and told the man to go around him three times. When he did so, Thatha told the man that his problems were solved. Neither the man nor nithyananda understood the meaning of what had happened; but the man's problem did get resolved.

From Narayanaswami Thatha, nithyananda learnt the science of tantra, mantra and yantra, and how they worked, and how they should be used. Tantra is the meditation technique used to attain enlightenment; mantra is any repetitive holy chant that is also a path to enlightenment; yantra is a metaphorical representation of the cosmos on a copper plate, which is used as a meditation tool for attaining enlightenment.

Once nithyananda asked Thatha to provide him with a mantra, to which Thatha replied that there was no need for that, since nithyananda had his own mantra, a thousand times more powerful. But over time he taught him many techniques including mantra.

Once, after installing the Devi idol in the Police Station temple, Thatha called nithyananda to him saying, ‘Chinnapaiyya (little boy), come and learn from me’.

nithyananda said, ‘I have learnt a lot from you. You taught me many things, mantras and techniques. What else do you want me to learn?’

Thatha said, ‘If your mind is pure it does not need mantra to effect any miracles. In your presence alone miracles will happen.’

It was as if a chord deep inside nithyananda was struck by these words. He said to Narayanaswami Thatha, ‘Then you should have purified my mind instead of teaching me all those mantras, which you say are of no use?’

In response, Thatha said, ‘Don’t worry; these mantras will purify your mind.’

From that day, nithyananda stopped the practice of mantras and tantras that he had been taught.

Narayanaswamy Thatha gave nithyananda a yantra and a book of chants. He also instructed him on the mooligai prana prathishta mantra which, when chanted a thousand times before medicinal plants while facing East, would impart permanence to them, so that even when plucked or cut they retain their natural powers.

Whenever nithyananda took leave of Thatha at the end of each day, he would bless the boy silently and hand over a fruit from his collection. One day, when the boy took leave with the traditional Tamil ‘poyuttu varen’ (shall go and return), Thatha uncharacteristically said ‘Go’ and instead of handing him a fruit indicated that he pick one from the plate himself. The third day after this incident, Thatha passed away. His samadhi, the place of burial still exists in Tiruvannamalai, in the name of Thottakara Thatha or Gardener Grandfather, the name by which he was popularly known.

Nithyananda, as was his wont, continued to develop more spiritual connections. He met a sannyasi who used to sit in the Arunachala temple near the Thirumanjana Gopuram. This sannyasi, Narayana Swamigal was quite popular in Tiruvannamalai. He was called Mouna Swamigal or Silent Sage, as he never used to speak. He never used to eat as well. Whenever someone went to him to seek blessings, he would raise both his hands and stand in that posture for ten minutes. He had a small slate board on which was written in Tamil ‘summa iru sollaren’ which meant ‘just be silent’. He sat truly silently, without inner chatter. Whenever nithyananda sat with Mouna Swamigal, he too felt the peace of inner silence. Mouna Swamigal is still alive. He has moved up the Arunachala hill, to a lonely spot where he has been living without food or water for 15 years.

Right from childhood, nithyananda’s energy attracted people of similar energy and attitude, who willingly helped the child move forward in his chosen spiritual path. nithyananda’s encounters with sages and ascetics right from early childhood kindled in the child a deep desire to emulate them.

The divinity in young nithyananda never missed the eye of the ardent seeker.

During his school days, one day, nithyananda was late for math class. He stood in the doorway waiting for permission to enter. The math teacher was bent over his table. As nithyananda waited, as if prompted by some intuition, the teacher looked up in his direction. He appeared to be in a trance at what he saw. He slowly raised and joined both his palms and saluted the boy with deep reverence. nithyananda was indeed intrigued!

The math teacher later urged nithyananda to visit him with his parents. nithyananda went to his house with his parents. At his house, as soon as he saw the boy, the math master prostrated at his feet and disclosed with great joy and emotion that he had seen his favorite deity – Lord Ayyappa – in the boy, when he had stood in the doorway of the math class. He declared himself the boy’s disciple. nithyananda was at a loss for words!

A childhood incident that Nithyananda delights in recounting is as follows:

In small towns such as Tiruvannamalai, during festival days, local groups with declared thespian talent would come forth to put up performances.

Given the societal conditions still prevalent, in almost all these performances men would don the roles of women as well. These shows would be attended mainly by children and old women who had not much work to do.

One of the more popular shows was on the epic Mahabharata, the story of the rift between two ruling clans that ends in a great war, at the beginning of which Lord Krishna delivered the timeless truth of the Bhagavad Gita. In the Mahabharata, one of the most powerful and moving scenes is that of Princess Draupadi, the wife of the five Pandava Princes, being disrobed in the royal court of the Kauravas, the mortal enemies and cousins of the Pandavas.

Dushassana, the Kaurava Prince is the arch villain in this drama. He insults Draupadi and attempts to outrage her modesty. Draupadi's husbands, the Pandava Princes are helpless as they are bound by codes of honor not to interfere. Draupadi has no one to turn to except Lord Krishna. She throws up her hands and pleads in helplessness and surrenders to Krishna, and lo, wonder of wonders, as her saree is unwound from her body it continues to unravel endlessly. Tired, bewildered and frightened, Dushassana finally gives up, and Draupadi's honor is saved.

In the drama that nithyananda watched, Draupadi's role was performed by a man. This man normally wore seven sarees, and the cue was that when the sixth sari was removed by Dushassana, Draupadi would call out to Krishna who would then jump on to the stage and save Draupadi's honor.

On that fateful day, Draupadi while dressing wore only six sarees instead of seven, blissfully oblivious of the fact. On stage, he suddenly realized his mistake and started screaming aloud for Dushassana to let go of him. Even as Draupadi protested, Dushassana was intent upon removing the sixth and last sari as well. Draupadi kicked and screamed but Dushassana was playing his role in a dutiful fashion, keeping a correct count of the number of sarees. Meanwhile the actor playing Krishna was smoking a cigarette outside, oblivious to the trauma his dear Draupadi was going through!

Finally Dushassana succeeded. Draupadi stood on stage, a man clad only in boxer shorts and a short ladies' blouse! Undeterred, Draupadi quickly cried out, 'Oh Krishna! I called you so many times, and I almost gave up. This evil Dushassana disrobed and tried to shame me in public. But I am so grateful to you. To save my honor you transformed me into a man!'

The Master shakes with laughter as he narrates this story. It is a treat to watch him relating these stories, and to watch his expressions as he goes back to his childhood days and relives the memories, not missing a single detail.

Once in a while he talks about the only movie that he watched, with his father and mother. It was a Tamil movie called 'Mudal Mariyadai' playing at the Balasubramanian theatre in Tiruvannamalai. Halfway through the movie he says he was frightened by some of the bloody scenes depicted in it. He walked away from the movie hall. nithyananda had never known fear before. Now he felt that fear was trying to get into him. He became conscious of this happening and so left the theatre. He never again saw a movie or watched television during his entire childhood.

When we watch television or a movie, the frames per second played through them are so high that they directly penetrate our unconscious mind. Watching a horror movie or a depressing movie for more than 20 minutes will infuse that mood into us; repetitive watching of such movies will shape our character without our knowing. That's why it is dangerous, especially for children who are very vulnerable and easily influenced, to be allowed to watch violent or horror films. Even as adults, we should make it a practice not to watch for more than 15 minutes at a stretch any negative emotional content on television or in the theatre.

As nithyananda grew up, his wild energy sometimes manifested itself in fits of action. Once on a family trip to Tirupati with aunts, uncles, cousins and other relatives, he shared a room with some of his male relatives. As was his custom, he woke up at 3 am to perform his daily pooja. While he was absorbed in his pooja, an irate relative complained continuously about the disturbance caused. nithyananda calmly walked up to the man, caught him by his throat and is believed to have threatened to finish him off if he proved a hindrance to his pooja, after which he serenely walked back and resumed his worship! Dissenting relatives stopped voicing comments about the boy's activities thereafter!

As days rolled by, nithyananda's wild energy was channeled into a fierce spiritual quest. One day, he was with a cousin who had had enough of his antics. After a particularly trying encounter, the cousin flung a heavy object at him causing a deep gash on his forehead with heavy bleeding. After this incident, nithyananda is said to have visibly sobered down, to the surprise and relief of all who knew him. Years later, nithyananda came to learn that through an accidental fall, Vivekananda carried a similar wound from childhood on his eyebrow. Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, Vivekananda's Guru is said to have clarified that had the wound not occurred, the enormous energy that young Vivekananda was carrying would have been too strong for his physical body to sustain. Strange indeed are the ways of Existence!

The child in Nithyananda is waiting to be released at every opportunity. Time and again, in a totally unpredictable manner, He takes us by surprise in His expressions of childlike spontaneity.

Once, while in the process of discussing something quite serious, I unpacked some gifts from a devotee, which contained battery-operated toys. Instructions given to me were to fit the batteries and hand them over to Him. As He saw me fiddling with the batteries, He snatched the batteries and toys from me, saying, 'The fun is in fitting the batteries!'

The rest of the serious discussion was punctuated by His switching the toys on and off, making infernal noise.

While handing over the toys to Him I said, 'Perhaps these were sent for Anandi', referring to an eight year old disciple, the youngest member of the ashram. He pouted and responded, 'Were you told that? These are for Me!'

Of course, at the end of a few hours of play, the toys did go to Anandi!

Watching Him at these moments have been the greatest learning experiences for us. If an enlightened Master could behave like a child, absolutely unconcerned about what anyone may think of his actions, totally in spontaneity, what reason for the rest of us to carry our petty fears of what others might say?

In many ways, His behavior is still very much like what we learn of His childhood experiences, curious, simple and spontaneous.

Many people have asked Nithyananda whether He is the reincarnation of one Master or another. At one level, His explanation is that all enlightened beings merge back again into universal energy and therefore the energies of all enlightened Masters are the same.

Yet, at another level, there seem to be traits that are carried forward. Krishna, when He reappears, may not carry the flute and wear peacock feathers, but may still be the Poornavatar in subsequent reincarnations.

Nithyananda has indicated at various points in time that His last incarnation was about 300 years ago in the South of India. He says that at the appropriate time this information will be made available. Till then, we just enjoy His presence!