Experience of Ravi Krishnamurthy

from August 2000 Intensive Retreat with Sri Anandagiri in Satyaloka (Birthplace of Oneness University)

Hi! My name is Ravi Krishnamurthy. I am from India and have been living in the United States, in Princeton, New Jersey, for about ten years. It is my great honor and blessing to describe to you a most wonderful and most magical journey towards Enlightenment that has happened to me over the past three or four years.

When I first came to Bhagavad Dharma and met Acharya Sri Anandagiriji, a disciple of Sri Bhagavan, Enlightenment was a word that meant to me somebody sitting in a forest and meditating, or somebody walking around half-naked and begging in different places. This is what my thought about Enlightenment was. I came because I had a great passion for people and had a very deep crisis in relationships, in finances, in my own life. When I came, I expected something very spiritual or something mystical. But what I found was something very practical, very empirical, combined with the mystical aspect.

With the guidance of Acharyaji and the guidance of the dasajis in the Order of the Foundation for World Awakening, I found that my relationships slowly started to heal and acquire a deep meaning, a deep clarity and a very deep understanding between the participants. And I found that what I had thought was a good relationship, was merely a shadow of what is possible when our hearts are awakened and when we are able to relate to that Light within each of us.

As time went on and as I flowered as a person and the various relationships started to get better, I started seeing an even greater possibility that was being offered to me, which we can call Enlightenment or Jeevanmukti, that is, to live our ordinary lives in an extraordinary way. It doesn’t mean leaving our jobs or anything like that, but is something that we can attain while living our everyday lives. When I saw that it was possible through some mystical experiences given to me by Bhagavan, I became very passionate and came to India, to Satyaloka, to attend retreats for liberation and Enlightenment. I went into many different mystical states, some of which I will describe to you today.

One state that I went into, was a state of complete seeing where I started to completely experience all the five senses. I will speak of it to you now. When I see a tree now, I do not see something which I have seen before and associate it with what a tree should be like, or whatever. All I see is that every moment is new; there is a process going on there. There are so many things, so many colors, so very vibrant, so much life. And all of that I can see as a living reality. Boredom has become more and more a thing of the past, it almost never affects me today. Even the smallest things bring me great joy, great pleasure, like driving a car or going to the supermarket. Even sitting at home and eating very, very ordinary food has become an extraordinary experience with the liberation of the senses. I feel a tremendous sense of connectedness, a tremendous sense of Love for all of humanity.

This Dharma has also offered me a way to help Mankind, help the people around me – the community, my family, my friends. Because when you are working on yourself, it is impossible not to affect the others around you. And through the gift of healing and the gift of conducting different workshops and seminars, we have been able to touch so many people and work on all kinds of problems: their physical problems, their psychological problems as well as help them towards the path of Enlightenment.

As far as psychological problems and relationships are concerned, I’ve seen a tremendous change in my life. For example, in the last year, I’ve hardly ever felt hurt, only about seven or eight times in the whole year. And now with the deeper understanding of the sutras that I have acquired in my second retreat for Enlightenment, I think suffering has become more of a thing of the past, a thing of memory. I feel that the only times I now suffer are so that I can learn and feel for others and be able to help and guide them.

I am filled with a tremendous compassion, a oneness with everything, not just Human beings, but with spiders, with butterflies, with crows. It is even possible for me many times to experience their state: to see and perceive reality the way they perceive reality. I never believed that such a thing was possible for me. This was something you could only read about in books or hear in discourses of philosophy and religion. It has become a living reality to me and it has become something very natural. It is not something, which is difficult. It is not something, which is unattainable by any means.
I’ve spent about three years of passionate seeking and hard work and have received tremendous help and guidance from Bhagavan and his disciples and dasajis. However, I think I worked much, much harder for my college degree than for this enlightenment experience, this wonderful experience, this wonderful opportunity.

So I would like to invite all of you to join me on this wonderful journey and I hope to see you all here soon.

My namaste to all of you!

Ravi Krishnamurthy