Shambala: The Mystical Mountain Shambala is a mystic mountain at a certain vibratory level where the great Siddhas reside.

Here, alongside their on-going sadhana, they also monitor the activities of our world. They are constantly watching and guiding genuine and worthy aspirants on the spiritual path. It is said that one cannot get to this mountain in the physical form. One would have to raise ones vibration to a certain level to penetrate the veil that divides it from the physical world. Today (26th Dec. 11) in the early hours of the morning, I had an insightful and beautiful dream. I saw a very steep, milky-white, jagged mountain. I saw a small vehicle going up this mountain very smoothly. I somehow knew it was being driven by some unseen force or person. Tied to the back bumper was a rope that I was holding, and it was also being held by my son Gautam who was behind me. There were also two or three other persons behind him holding the rope. The marvel of it was that despite the rough terrain, we are pulled up very smoothly and effortlessly. Once I reached the mountains peak, I took two leaps to the other side and landed on the third ledge.

The Dream

I look around but there is nothing to be seen anywhere. The mountain is chalk-white it is neither snow white or white as milk. It is not even covered in a white light. It is just a flat, chalky white. The way I see it is, that though my lifes journey has been full of ups and downs, the guru lineage has lent its support all the way and brought me, and those with me, to a point from where we can take a quantum leap into the unknown. The first vision of the journey I would embark on sometime in the future, was given to me on 26th February 1996.

26th Feb. 1996: A snow-capped mountain at another vibratory level. I was shown a shimmering, snow-capped mountain that had steps on one side while the other side was a sheer slope. The sun was shining bright on it. This mountain was at a vibratory level where energy flowed in the form of gentle waves. My Shaman friend, Meera, said it was the Shambala mountain which exists not in the physical world but at a subtle plane. In order to start on this journey, the body-mind structure would first have to be purified which in itself is an intricate process of cleansing and aligning of the subtle bodies. This process could be initiated at an accelerated speed for my body, mind and intellect, probably because part of the purification was achieved through sadhana done during previous lives. Yet, for the tuning of the nervous system and bringing the polarities to balance, the initial process of cleansing and purification took one year (from 26th Feb. 96 to 1st Jan. 97) before I could continue my journey, from where it had ended in my last birth. This onward journey started when I found myself climbing up my own spinal column on 1st Jan. 97; one year after the vision of the mystic mountain. In hindsight, seeing the position of my figure on the spinal column, I figured that my journey started from the Anahat chakra. The steps on the side of the mystic mountain symbolize for me, from bottom up, the Muladhar chakra, Swadhisthan chakra and the Manipur chakra. My work in this life has been to work on and understand the space of the Anahat chakra i.e. moving from conditional love to unconditional love, which means accepting all as is.

Climbing the Spinal column or Meru Danda. During this year, the chakras were aligned. This means that the rhythm of a specific chakra had to be synchronized with a corresponding chakra in order for the body, mind and intellect to adjust to the different levels of vibration and create shifts in consciousness. The journey begins The Chakras To quote Swami Niranjanananda Saraswati, There are three sets of chakras. The lowest set of chakras belong to the instinctive or animal body and exist below mooladhara. They are known as atal, vital, sutal, rasatal, dharatal, mahatal, and patal. Animals also have chakras, and in the instinctive state of consciousness, these are the seven chakras which are activated. In the human beings, we have transcended these seven lower chakras and we deal with mooladhara, swadhisthana, manipura, anahata, vishuddhi, ajnabindu and sahasrara. When we transcend our individuality, then the third set of chakras begin to function within us. This third set is represented by the lokas or dimensions of existence, known as bhuloka, bhuvarloka, swahaloka, mahaloka, janahaloka, tapahaloka, and satyaloka. These are the seven higher dimensions or planes of consciousness. The first chakras that were aligned for this purpose were the Manipur and Swadhisthan. With the alignment of these two chakras, I could see my subtle body above my physical body, as a body of shimmering gems in the form of a cross, and the ability to walk at a subtle level of vibration. Along with these chakras, the centres above the Sahasrara also become active in order to receive the required knowledge that would unfold as time went on. At this subtle level, the energy is flowing in two straight lines, one from right to left, and another from left to right. One line is finer than the other. Given below are the visuals that illustrate this process.

At this Vibratory level, energy flows in straight lines.

Centres above the Sahasrara centre with a vessel pouring stream of knowledge.

Kundalini moving up to Sahasrara to absorb the inflowing river of knowledge. The celestial Ganga flowing down from the heavens with great force is absorbed by Lord Shiva in his matted, coiled hair so that its descent on earth is in a controlled manner. The river Ganga here is a symbol of higher knowledge of Supreme Consciousness.

The flowering of the Manipur chakra. Visualising the flowering of the Manipur and Swadhisthan chakra (of which, water is the element) while lying down, and the subsequent astral walk.

The Heart centre. Leadbeater has described the island of gems as being located in the secondary heart lotus, visualisations of which are used to maintain constant contact with the Master. For further progress, the structure of the physical, mental and emotional body was realigned and restructured with one powerful electric jolt. Osho says that the fallout of energy can be so powerful that you may not withstand it. This is known as Shaktipat. This would mean that henceforth, I would be receptive to guidance not only from my Guru but also from the Siddhas. The synchronicity of the chakras involved at different stages for the purpose are the 1. Ajna chakra 2. Manipur chakra 3. Ajna and Swadhisthan chakra.

Shaktipat In order to readjust the human machinery, the existing body-mind intellect had to be shattered through the transmission of Shaktipat; this catapulted me through two vibratory levels. I, as consciousness, moved through a tunnel of stars and came to an area where white liquid was flowing in abundance. It was neither water nor snow. I could only see the heads of monks while the rest of their bodies were submerged in the liquid.

Undulating waveforms of energy. My consciousness shifted to a higher level where there were snowy mountains and the energy or prana was flowing in the form of snowflakes. I saw a white elephant wearing a crown on its head, and other elephants were following it.

Airavata, the celestial moon-white elephant, vehicle of the Vedic god Indra. For the next transition to manifest, a mudra was given. Mudras influence certain areas of the brain and, in the long run, create a special connection to the cosmic

consciousness. The figure below shows the mudra in which the thumb dominates the ring finger and the middle finger. The ring finger is associated with the Earth element; the middle finger with the Ether element; and the thumb with the Fire element. The given mudra would bring into balance the three elements in my body, and would lead me to the states of consciousness they represent.

The mudra. Along with the mudra, different chakras had to work in unison at a certain speed, as seen in the figures below. At different times, the Ajna, Anahat and Manipur chakras had to function together, while at other times it was the Ajna and Swadhisthan chakra; and, at still other times, all the chakras had to synchronize to create further shifts.

Ajna, Anahat and Manipur chakra.

Ajna and Swadhisthan chakra.

Meditating while lying down, the Ajna and Manipur chakra elongate and connect with the expanded Anahat chakra.

Pathway of knowledge from Sahasrara to the Heart chakra. Finally Sahasrara, the Ajna, Vishuddhi, Anahat, Manipur and Swadhisthan chakras work together in one rhythmic movement. (For further details, the reader will have to refer to The Kundalini Trilogy.) In this process, knowledge moving downwards from

the Sahasrara is processed through the Ajna, Vishuddhi and Manipur chakras, and then it turns to be assimilated in the Heart chakra. The perfect functioning created gradual shifts in consciousness, moving it to still higher levels of vibration.

At this level, the vibration is like tiny electric waves. In order to ascend through the last vibratory level of silver energy, I am made to hold a sieve over my head so that there is a break in the flow of descending energy and the psyche stays intact. Then, the sieve is kept on the shoulders to take on the impact of ascending energy.

Controlling the force of the descending rods of silver energy.

Controlling the force of the ascending energy.

With this powerful final blast, when the two energies merged, the residue of mental and emotional blocks were completely shattered and the Kundalini energy flowed through the body in in the form of liquid gold, thus completing the process of purification which would enable me to complete my journey.

Purification by fire, the ascending energy. By regular sadhana, the machinery of my body-mind organism was probably moving to a perfect rhythm so that by 18th Sept. 98, I had received all the knowledge I had asked for. What was required now was to assimilate, integrate and arrive at an understanding of the same. It has taken thirteen years to integrate and assimilate the knowledge and the knowing. To my understanding, the dream is significant. According to it, I completed the journey (which I embarked upon on 7th Sept. 95) on 26th Dec. 11. It has taken sixteen years of dedicated practice, of surrendering to the Shakti, without which nothing is possible on this path.

Mystic mountain. Moving up the mystic mountain is pure joy and the leap into the unknown is sheer bliss. I could form a storyboard of my journey only because I kept a daily record of all that was transpiring during my sadhana. Questions of Who Am I?, Where do I come from? and, Where am I going? are answered completely. The answer is there and integration is an ongoing process. The way I interpret the visual journey is that in my future lives, I would commence my lifes journey from the Anahat chakra, which is the centre of unconditional love, and be a guide to aspirants on the spiritual path of self-discovery. - Santosh Sachdeva