What brings people to Mohanji is the truthfulness, honesty and clarity of his expression. Mohanji considers himself an expression of the current times. All people living today have their relevance in this world. Their relevance is that they express what they are into this world. So Mohanji is another expression of this time. He does not consider himself as special, different or better than anybody else. He says I am as ordinary as anybody can be.
People experience Mohanji in various ways. Some people look at him as a Spiritual Master, some people look at him as a friend, some as a father or a brother – he exists in various dimensions in equal terms. What he is delivering to the world is the clarity of one’s own existence, like a perfect mirror.
Mohanji doesn’t like any kind of frame. He doesn’t like to be framed into the concept of a saint, philosopher or a mystic. He says, “I am like a flowing river. As consciousness, I can take any shape, any form as I have no attachment to my physical body or ego identity. I don’t belong to any frame.” In other words, he operates in any given frequency, place or role in his natural capacity. He says that being natural is equal to being spiritual. If a person chooses to be natural, then he/she is spiritual. In spirituality, there is no discrimination between species, there is no discrimination between karmic beings or any other being on Earth. There is no discrimination, there is no categorization, and there is no frame. That’s his existence. What brings people to Mohanji is the truthfulness, honesty and clarity of expression.
Throughout his life, Mohanji faced many trials and tribulations. He says, “If you are born in fire, no sun can fade you.” He has literally walked the path of fire with many challenges which in fact have molded him.
Mohanji conducts various spiritual programs, pilgrimages to places of power on Earth that he loves to visit (such as Kailash, Machu Picchu, etc.), retreats (to spend time in a focused way with people who love to be with him), seminars, discourses, question and answer sessions, etc. His teachings can also be accessed through his website www.mohanji.org and various YouTube clippings, blogs, books, messages in social media, etc. Most of his activities are conducted free of cost, including the signature meditations which can be easily downloaded from his website, because he considers them precious and not something one can put a price on. Only programs and pilgrimages that include accommodation, food and travel have a cost attached.
His mission is creating awareness in the hearts of people about life, about the environment, about the relevance of existence and about the full potential of being alive, which is Liberation. Mohanji’s main mission overall is to help people increase their frequency so that world can be a better place through a more peaceful society driven by love instead of competition and hatred. He teaches that being human means giving back to the world much more than what we have taken from it. Thus, our net worth can be measured in how much we have been able to give back to Mother Earth and humanity instead of how much we have accumulated.
Mohanji believes that spirituality – our relationship with our own spirit – is our birthright. He does not believe in any barriers, like barrier of religion, caste, creed, etc., even though he believes in great Masters who have walked the Earth through different times taking people to higher levels of awareness. In that context, Mohanji is a representation of those traditions that have taken people towards Liberation. He is a contemporary.
Enlightened Masters always have a reason why they opt to venture out into anything out of the ordinary. What are your reasons for embarking on this trip to the other side of the world from India, to the pilgrimage to holy mountain Machu Picchu in South America?
Mohanji: “I always had an inclination to visit Machu Picchu because whenever I perceive Machu Picchu from within I recognize strong Shakti energy, the Mother energy. While Kailash is Shiva energy, the energy that is more silent and subtle, it can be said that Machu Picchu is Shakti energy, which is more dynamic, creative and has three aspects:
1. Iccha Shakti – the power of will
2. Kriya Shakti – the power of action
3. Jnana Shakti – the power of knowledge
When combined together, they become the substratum of creation.
So, I always had the inclination to visit Machu Picchu, to experience the energy there and share the beauty of that experience with others. That resulted in this trip to Machu Picchu.”
Two books have been written about your trips to the holy mountain Kailash in Tibet: “Kailash with Mohanji – The Journey of a Lifetime” and “Kailash with Mohanji – The Inner Kora”. How many times did you visit the holy mountain Kailash and in which way could you compare Kailash with Machu Picchu?
Mohanji: “As mentioned already, Kailash and Machu Picchu are totally different energies. I have visited Kailash four times. The first time was in 2012, second in 2014, third in 2016 and only the fourth time in 2017 I did not complete the full parikrama (circumambulation of Kailash) but visited the holy lake Mansarover, saw Kailash from this celestial location, and returned after that. My third trip to Kailash was toughest as it was the Inner Kora, which means you have to literally walk and climb the very steep mountains around Kailash at about 19,000 feet. That was very tough, but it was worth it.
So, Kailash is the masculine, Shaivic energy, which doesn’t mean that it is any less or more than anything. The word Shiva represents the Supreme Consciousness. It’s not a human being or a divine being that has a human form. Shiva is Supreme Consciousness and the size of Shiva is unfathomable. What is said is that the whole manifested Universe that we believe we know is almost like a small pimple on Shiva’s face. So you can imagine his size. Indeed, infinity cannot be understood through human mind. So Shiva cannot be understood. But at the same time the Kailash trip is a confirmation that you are ready for the Supreme Consciousness. The Supreme Consciousness is available. It is like our parental home. It is indivisible, it can’t be divided. So when we have become a unit, we already have the path set to return to our origin. Identification of that path and the ability to walk that path is represented by the pilgrimage to Kailash.
Shakti aspect, on the other hand, is the creation aspect, the Mother aspect. Mother’s job is to ensure that the generation continues. So Mother has creativity, and she sources out from the Father.
While Father is the Supreme Consciousness, Mother is the consciousness which is tangible, and Machu Picchu represents that Mother aspect. So Kailash and Machu Picchu are totally different energies. Thus I wouldn’t compare them.
These pilgrimages have a lot of value. The actualization of human existence starts with alignment. First state of alignment is the alignment of the body, then that of the mind, the intellect and the ego, while spirit is already aligned. So, if you align the physical, emotional, intellectual and personality (ego) aspects to the spirit, you become aligned to the Supreme Consciousness. In this journey, various Masters have guided humanity through various methods so that they could actualize themselves. Therefore, alignment is fundamental and the visits to these places help that alignment. You align these various aspects of yourself so that you can elevate yourself to Supreme Consciousness. That is why we go to such places. During such trips I always tell people ‘Feel those places, don’t go to just see them. It is important to feel.’ When you feel, that automatically creates a change in the system and the system automatically becomes aligned.”
Are you familiar with the spiritual traditions and cultures of South America? In which way can the South American Shamanism be compared to the tradition of the ancient India?
Mohanji: “I’m not particularly familiar with the cultural traditions of South America, and I believe that if Supreme Consciousness is One – that God is One – and expressions of Supreme Consciousness are universal, then what they do in South America should be similar to what we practice in India. The system might be different – the climate, background, everything will be different. Yet, it can’t be too different because we’re all talking about human beings’ aspirations to reach the highest point of existence. So South Americans, Africans or Indians, we all have the same aspirations. But some people have walked towards that particular state while some people are still experimenting.
The Vedas, Upanishads, Puranas, various scriptures, as well as verbally transmitted knowledge through generations, they are all human actualizations. People have identified certain existence patterns and they’ve been conveying it through the medium of literature or verbally.
I’ve heard a lot about the high masters from the South American countries and their great knowledge of subtle aspects of existence, including the death state and the beyond-death state, the world of the dead and similar. Just like in Buddhism, there are people that have gone deeper into these aspects and understood them. However, what happens usually is that whenever something profoundly deep is taught the capacity of the student also matters a lot. You can’t teach everything to a student because some of the students don’t have the capacity to “inhale” all this information. So whenever there is a transfer happening, it gets diluted. It is very rarely the case that the same thing which the master has witnessed goes beyond the master’s time. The disciples usually carry some part of it, but typically not the entirety. So I do not know how much exists in any of our countries from what has originally been explored or experienced.”
What are the main benefits of a pilgrimage like this to those who decide to embark on it?
Mohanji: “The main benefit is alignment of various aspects of oneself, and when alignment happens your whole system gets streamlined and purpose becomes more important. The usual purpose of every being born on Earth is to experience Earth using their five senses and their mind and also to express what they have brought as uniqueness to this Earth. That’s the basic reason why we have come here. And secondly, the purpose of the Soul is Liberation from the birth and death cycle of human existence (or any existence for that matter, human or nonhuman). When you combine these two purposes it is important that you be aligned.
Pilgrimages like this one help us align because we are taken out of our comfort zones. When comfort zones are not there, we tend to move into situations where we are spontaneous. When there are comfort zones, everything is predictable. Without them, the predictability is removed and we automatically become spontaneous. By our very nature we have the capacity to be adaptable and that adaptability helps alignment. This is why we go to places where the comfort zones are broken and flexibility simply has to happen. That flexibility leads to alignment.”
You have visited many holy power places on planet Earth which have very strong energy. Which ones among them would you like to point out, comparing them in terms of their importance, their function and the role they play on our planet, how they influence our consciousness and energy (Sedona, Stonehenge, Bosnian pyramids, Kailash, Arunachala, etc.)
Mohanji: “There are numerous places of power in this world and you need to be operating in a level of subtlety to understand them. It’s not easy to understand a place of power. Of course, if you are subtle enough, if you are meditating or chanting for at least a few hours every day, then you will automatically feel the subtleties. Among the places that I have visited, there is no question that Kailash is number 1, but Kailash is very tough. It’s not easy – high altitude, hypoxia and various challenging situations. It takes a lot of acclimatization to be there. All in all, Kailash is not for everybody.
My experience is that Arunachala is very powerful. We call it the South Kailash. It is also Shiva. My experience is that it is a portal. The mountain is a “lid” which hides Siddhaloka, the world of Siddhas. I was fortunate to have that vision. I was at Arunachala at that time when in my vision it was almost like somebody led me inside the mountain. It’s not allowed to go in to the inner kora, the inner area normally. To conduct a tour there is banned. But this was an experience where I personally walked and I happened to see one older looking saint with a beard and white hair, and he said, “Keep walking.” So I kept walking and I reached a small cave-like entrance about six feet high and a width about double my size. I was hesitant to enter that space because I did not know what’s inside. The older man said again, “Go in. Keep walking.” So I entered and continued to walk. It was getting darker. I didn’t have any light or anything, but then he again said, “Keep walking.” I didn’t know if the height was possibly reducing or what is on both sides – I couldn’t see anything. Again, he said, “Keep walking.”
Trusting his words I kept walking and he reiterated this a few more times, whenever I stopped. And then slowly, slowly, I started seeing some light beyond. I kept walking toward the light and as I moved forward the brightness increased to the level that it became blinding brightness – very, very bright, brighter than a million suns, but on the other hand very soothing, very mild. The darkness from where I had come made this brightness even more accented. I stood there and looked and could see that the light had a golden hue. I could see a lot of people sitting on different rocks. It was a huge world, like a huge basin or a large curved plate.
On each rock there was a saint meditating, almost like a stone statue. They were all golden in color. At first I thought it is a representation of the Golden Age. Then I realized it is probably a Siddhaloka and that these are all Siddhas. And then I realized that they are not actually golden, they are more or less like transparent crystal and the golden light that is all around makes them appear golden. I was in deep awe and don’t know how much time I spent there. It was a great experience! Later on, the saint Devi Amma told me that in one book – perhaps Ramana Maharishi or somebody else – someone else had had the same darshan, the same vision. So I was very happy that I could have this vision of the Siddhas meditating inside this whole mountain. Then I realized that the mountain is just a lid which is hiding this Siddhaloka. Nobody can enter unless they are invited or taken there because there is no tangible entrance in that way.
I also realized that the outside world is basically nothing and this Siddhaloka is probably witnessing the outside world without any interference, like a witness would. Then I also realized that the great Masters like Ramana Maharishi were only witnesses.
They were witnessing the world without any action, without any speech, and the mountain was witnessing them, and the Siddhas were witnessing the mountain witnessing them. Basically it is like our layers, like the senses, the mind, the intellect, the ego, the personality, and so on – witnesshood at various levels. When consciousness witnesses the mind, the Soul witnesses the consciousness. So I got a very deep awareness about this whole thing and that changed my perspective about Arunachala. I was so completely absorbed in this experience that in the end I didn’t visit the Shiva temple at Arunachala.
About 3 weeks later I happened to meet a saint for the first time and the first thing he said was, “Lord Shiva is waiting for you. You didn’t go there.” I was shocked because he doesn’t know me yet he knew that I hadn’t gone to the Shiva temple. Then I immediately went to the Shiva temple and completed the journey. I also realize one thing, which is that the Siddhaloka which is inside the mountain has an extension and that is the Shivalinga in this temple. It represents the loka, the world, which is inside Arunachala.
Secondly, I have a great attraction to the Bosnian pyramids because of the energy there – because of the feeling of home, of Motherhood and the womb effect which I experience there. I bring people there to experience. Bosnian pyramids are more of a healing, motherly, womb-like existence so I really enjoy visiting. It’s a remarkable location.
Sedona is also a portal, the vortexes and the energy centers attract lots of beings from various planets. Most of these places where the beings from other planets come have larger levitation energy so it’s easier for the spaceships to land and take off. The gravitational force will be less. Most of the places that we say are powerful are places which help levitation and that helps the spacecrafts. This is what I have seen.
Earth is a living organism. Earth is just like our body – we are living organisms. The pancha prana – five types of prana – within us travel up and down and left and right in our body and they all have their functional roles. Collectively, that’s what supports us living on Earth. Like that, in whichever places the energies are levitational – that means energies which are going up, just like our bodies have energy that goes up, they are going toward Supreme Consciousness, while what goes down is terrestrial, or gravitational.
Gravitational means more earthly or earthbound. Wherever there is higher levitational energy, those are the places we call power centers. Sedona is one of them. The levitational energy in power centers help any seeker to expand or enhance their practices and make them more effective. That’s why people flock to places of power like Machu Picchu, Sedona, Kailash and all these places.
I also had an experience of Kailash during Shivaratri. I was doing the prayers and offering the lamp, the light, to Kailash. Suddenly I could see that inside Kailash is a huge world, and I realized that the outside of Kailash that we see is nothing. This one is more like a silvery color, whereas Arunachala was golden. I could see a lot of activity and many people moving and doing so many things. There were various types of beings, not just human forms although there were saints also.
The Shiva family – Shiva, Parvati, Ganesha, Subrahmanya – also had a distinctive presence there. So I had that darshan and on the same day Devi Amma had the same vision. Later on she told me that she had this same vision which I had. That was also a great experience. Many of these places that we call powerful are either samadhis where great Masters have left their bodies or they are portals where great beings live. These are the places I like to visit because each place you go to opens up a new dimension in you. It changes you. It transforms you. It aligns you. And that helps your spiritual progress.”
What kind of qualities should a spiritual seeker have and for what kind of challenges should he/she be prepared in order to successfully complete a pilgrimage like the one to Machu Picchu?
Mohanji: “Very simple: a spiritual seeker should be open. He/she should be flexible. Flexibility is a great gift for any spiritual seeker. And the ability to destroy comfort zones and adapt to any situations is very important. So if anyone is visiting not just Machu Picchu but any spiritual place for that matter, the ability to feel, experience, transform, adapt and be flexible is very important in order to get the maximum out of those places. Because it’s not what you get from such places, it is what you can give. In other words, whether you can use the energy of the place to shed your anger, if you can shed your anxieties, fears, confusions – all the negative emotions which you have, that’s exactly why you are going there. The more empty you become, the more powerful you become.”
You spoke a lot about the ongoing global changes at present – the process of awakening of humanity, rising in consciousness, enhanced effects of spiritual practices, etc. Are the power places like Machu Picchu, Kailash, pyramids in Egypt, Bosnia, South America and other parts of the world playing a role in that process? Are those places possibly changing now as well in some way?
Mohanji: “No places can change anybody. Only people can change. People can use places to change themselves. All the ongoing changes are happening for a reason, because there is an evolution happening on every plane in every time. Evolution is connected to places, time, people and so forth in every situation. There’s nothing you can do to stop evolution. In that mode, every point, every stone, every atom is evolving. Global changes are a not a change in consciousness. Consciousness is the same but awareness is changing. Awareness has always been changing, but again, there are lots of new people coming forward and life always tests them. What is your priority? That priority is very important to understand. So the places of power are always reminders, energy reminders. People can choose to experience such a place and correct themselves to move forward, or not to do that. The places of power help but they don’t actually do anything to make changes happen unless someone comes seeking for it. Also, time has created various effects in various people including the spiritual effects. A lot of people believe an experience is everything. It simply happens and then that’s it.
But an experience often can be binding as well. For example, imagine a seeker had a great desire to have a vision of Lord Shiva, or whatever deity/aspect of Divine they are worshiping. With a lot of effort that can happen but then that will become the end of their practices. Instead, if the vision comes and there it ends, it’s not total dissolution. There is a target and that target is achieved and what next? A true seeker who is seeking dissolution completely, like the drop becoming the ocean, then they must be very careful about what they desire. Desire will come based on past lives and the various memories of the past but you are to consciously shed them over a period of time and reach a level where you don’t have any desires. Not even a desire for God. Desire for God is good in the beginning and until the journey reaches a certain level or certain momentum.
If you convert that to the states of samadhi, it can be said that when the thoughts stay outside of the mind that’s the beginning of change, but not the end of change. Then the thoughts themselves vanish and the mind leaves as well – mind becomes minimalized. That’s the fourth state of samadhi and from then onwards the seeker need not come back to Earth because mind is gone. When mind is gone, then it is total dissolution. Until the mind is gone, the purpose should be very clear. The choice of one’s Master should be clear – one path, one tradition, one Guru, one practice. This is very important for every seeker. Once you cross over the barrier of the mind, then every practice, everything, is same because the person does not exist as a personal identification or as one unit. He becomes universal. If the mind is gone, the frame is gone.
This is very important to understand. When a seeker is seeking complete Liberation, it’s important that the concentration be firm in the beginning. However, later on that’s not enough. Everything should go. Even the concentration – everything should go, because all these things that you think you need actually involve the mind. To release the mind you have to release all the things the mind does. That’s very, very important. All the places of power help this, but the determination is within the individual. There’s a lot more to it but the main thing that when you are walking the path of Liberation – until you are Liberated, until the drop becomes the ocean – that’s not the end.”
Many scriptures speak about the energy circuits of planet Earth, mentioning that our planet also has chakras, Kundalini, etc. What is your view about this and where in that nomenclature would you place Machu Picchu and Kailash?
Mohanji: “There are energy fields, energy structures, energy patterns in everything – not only Earth but the whole galaxy, including human and nonhuman, from the smallest unit to the largest unit. It’s all connected. Everything is connected. Everything is interconnected. Everything has its value and everything has its circuits. When you look at the structure of Earth, it’s a dynamic being. It’s not like one structure like a human body where chakras are in a particular line and their functionality is in a particular order. Earth is more like an organism which is changing. So there’s a general alignment but this alignment can shift based on any eclipse or other occurrences which can influence it.
Those influences will affect the beings who are walking this Earth. In that context, one can name different places or power points into various chakras but I do not particularly believe in naming or pointing to one location as one chakra or one aspect. You cannot say you are only sahasrara or crown chakra, or you are only the heart chakra or root chakra. You are every chakra and every chakra has its relevance. At the end of the day it is all about alignment so every place helps to align oneself in some way.
Yet, there are definitely energy centers, shakti peeths, or energy points on planet Earth. Some places have high energy and some places do not have much energy. That’s clearly defined in vastu as well. Vastu always talks about each place and its relevance. I believe every place has its relevance and where we go is where we have to go. Usually people get inclined to go to a place where it helps them. That is what I’ve seen in life.”
What would be your message to the spiritual seekers who are considering joining you on this pilgrimage to Machu Picchu?
Mohanji: “Come to explore yourself. Don’t come to just see a place. Of course that’s fine as well, but I would like people to come to explore themselves, explore dimensions of themselves, and feel themselves more than try to understand themselves. You cannot understand yourself but you can experience yourself. Every trip should be exploring another dimension of yourself so that you can eventually achieve self-actualization.”
The “Machu Picchu with Mohanji” Pilgrimage
Located in the Amazon Rain Forest of Peru, Machu Picchu is one of the new 7 wonders of the modern world. It was the home of the ancient Inca civilization and is known as “the lost city.”
The dates of the pilgrimage are 31st March to 6th April, 2018. It starts and ends at Cusco, Peru.
More specific information is available under the Updates tab at the mohanji.org website.
Registrations are now officially closed. It is recommended that any interested party please write to perutrips@mohanji.org to check if any last minute entries are possible.
By The Awakening Times
