Spiritual Master Ramesh Balsekar used to speak about a concept called 'Reversing into the future'. We usually believe in a linear time sequence: because 'A' happened so 'B' happened and because 'B' happened 'C' happened and so on. But according to his concept, it worked exactly the other way around. Because 'C' had to happen, 'B' had to happen and because 'B' had to happen 'A' had to happen. Anybody who happened to meet Ramesh would aver that the proof of this concept lay in the way they were mysteriously led to meet him...a stranger mentioning his name; chancing upon a flyer nailed to a telegraph pole; reading a book authored by him which was left face down by a co-passenger on a flight; a bookshop owner recommending to a random shopper that he should meet this 'Guru from India'; accompanying a friend and staying on to becoming a fan; and so on and so forth. In one particular case, someone actually made a checklist of attributes he was looking for in a Guru - if and when he found him - and he was miraculously led to Ramesh who just happened to tick off every single criterion! These stories of how spiritual seekers happened to meet Ramesh - no, how Consciousness was led to meet Consciousness - are fascinating not just because they reveal the mysterious ways of Existence but also because they often denote the culmination of a long journey for many of them. In Hanuman Chalisa, there is a line that so wonderfully encapsulates Hanuman's love and devotion to Ram: 'Prabhu charitra sunibay ko rasiya' - 'Ever eager to hear stories about Him'. Yes, the stories themselves are so deeply satiating.

Yogesh Sharma is a long-time scholar of Advaita teachings and the publisher of many books. He makes his home in Mumbai.

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