In the Presence of the Masters

In the Presence of the Masters is reputed journalist Romola Butalia’s account of meetings with Himalayan masters, Amar Yogi Gorakh Baba and Mahayogi Pilot Baba. Baba Gorakh Nath, widely revered as an immortal sage, is credited with initiating several enlightened masters and spiritual adepts through the centuries, including Kabir, Shankaracharya and Lahir Mahashaya, grandmaster of Paramhansa Yogananda. He is the head of the current era Kriya Yoga tradition. Also known as Shiva-Goraksha, his mayic manifestations include 9 Naths and 84 Siddhas, popular among whom are Mahavatar Babaji, Hariakhan Babaji, Avatar Babaji and Kripacharyaji of the Mahabharat. Mahayogi Pilot Baba is a leader of the Juna Akhara, India’s most prominent sect of renunciates. He is well-known for demonstrating samadhis undertaken underground, underwater and in air-tight containers, including documented demonstrations of the materialization and dematerialisation of the body at Devas, Madhya Pradesh. In the Presence of the Masters introduces concepts of spiritual practices that have been handed down in a tradition where the master finds the discsiple who is prepared. With previously unpublished photographs of the sages, it is a spiritual journey: a narration of circumstances, events, insights and the instinct to return ‘home’ that led to an uncharted path. The search for wisdom and joy led to a continued tryst with the Himalayas.