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<v Speaker 1>Chapter twenty eight of Autobiography of Yogi. This is a

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<v Speaker 1>LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain.

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<v Speaker 1>For more information ought volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org.

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<v Speaker 1>Rabbi Timrow Autobiography of a Yogi by Panamahsi yog Nanda Kashi,

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<v Speaker 1>Reborn and Rediscovered. Please do not go into the water.

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<v Speaker 1>Let us bathe by dipping our buckets. I was addressing

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<v Speaker 1>the young Ranchy's students who were accompanied me on an

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<v Speaker 1>eight mile height to a neighboring hill. The pond before

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<v Speaker 1>us was inviting, but a distaste for it had arisen

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<v Speaker 1>in my mind. The group around me followed my example

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<v Speaker 1>of dipping buckets, but a few lads yielded to the

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<v Speaker 1>temptation of the cool waters. No sooner had they dived

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<v Speaker 1>than large water snakes wiggled around them. The boys comically

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<v Speaker 1>came out of the pond with comical alacrity. We enjoyed

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<v Speaker 1>a picnic lunch after we reached our destination. I sat

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<v Speaker 1>under a tree, surrounded by a group of students. Finding

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<v Speaker 1>me in an inspirational mood, they plied me with questions,

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<v Speaker 1>Please tell me, sir, one youth inquired if I shall

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<v Speaker 1>always stay with you in the path of renunciation. Ah no,

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<v Speaker 1>I replied, you will be forcibly taken away to your home,

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<v Speaker 1>and later you will marry. Incredulous, he made a vehement protest,

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<v Speaker 1>only if I am dead can I be carried home,

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<v Speaker 1>But in a few months his parents arrived to take

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<v Speaker 1>him away in spite of his tearful resistance. Some years

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<v Speaker 1>later he did marry. After answering many questions. I was

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<v Speaker 1>addressed by a lad named Cushi. He was about twelve

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<v Speaker 1>years old, a brilliant student and beloved by all Sir,

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<v Speaker 1>He said, what will be my fate? You shall soon

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<v Speaker 1>be dead? The reply came from my lips with an

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<v Speaker 1>irresistible force. This unexpected disclosure shocked and grieved me as

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<v Speaker 1>well as every one present. Silently rebuking myself as an

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<v Speaker 1>enforterarib I refuse to answer further questions. On our return

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<v Speaker 1>to the school, Kashi came to my room. If I die,

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<v Speaker 1>will you find me when I am reborn and bring

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<v Speaker 1>me again to the spiritual path? He sobbed. I felt

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<v Speaker 1>constrained to refuse this difficulty cult responsibility, but for weeks afterwards,

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<v Speaker 1>Kashi pressed me doggedly. Seeing him unnerved to the breaking point,

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<v Speaker 1>I finally consoled him. Yes, I promised, if the heavenly

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<v Speaker 1>Father lends his aid, I will try to find you.

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<v Speaker 1>During this summer vacation, I started on a short trip,

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<v Speaker 1>regretting that I could not take Kashi with me. I

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<v Speaker 1>called him to my room before leaving, and carefully instructed

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<v Speaker 1>him to remain against all persuasion in the spiritual vibrations

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<v Speaker 1>of the school. Somehow I felt that if he did

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<v Speaker 1>not go home, he might avoid the impending calamity. No

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<v Speaker 1>sooner had I left than Kashi's father arrived in Ranchi

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<v Speaker 1>for fifteen days. He tried to break the will of

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<v Speaker 1>his son, explaining that if Kashi would go to Kolkata

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<v Speaker 1>for only four days to see his mother, he could return.

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<v Speaker 1>Kashi persistently refused. The father finally said he would take

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<v Speaker 1>the boy away with the help of the police. The

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<v Speaker 1>threat disturbed Kashi, who was unwilling to be the cause

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<v Speaker 1>of any unfavorable publicity to the school. He saw no

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<v Speaker 1>choice but to go. I returned to Ranchi a few

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<v Speaker 1>days later. When I heard how Kashi had been removed,

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<v Speaker 1>I and trained at once for Kolcutta. There I engaged

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<v Speaker 1>a horse cab. Very strangely, as the vehicle passed beyond

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<v Speaker 1>the horror bridge over the Ganges, I beheld Kashier's father

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<v Speaker 1>and other relatives in morning clothes. Shouting to my driver

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<v Speaker 1>to stop. I rushed out and glad at the unfortunate father.

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<v Speaker 1>Mister murderer, I cried, somewhat unreasonably, you have killed my boy.

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<v Speaker 1>The father had already realized the wrong he had done

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<v Speaker 1>in forcibly bringing Kashi to Kolcutta. During the few days

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<v Speaker 1>the boy had been there, he had eaten contaminated food,

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<v Speaker 1>contracted cholera, and passed on my love for Kashi and

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<v Speaker 1>the pledge to find him after death. Night and day

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<v Speaker 1>haunted me no matter where I went. Loomed up before me.

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<v Speaker 1>I began a memorable search for him, even as long

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<v Speaker 1>as I had searched for my lost mother. I felt that,

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<v Speaker 1>inasmuch as God had given me the faculty of reason,

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<v Speaker 1>I must utilize it and tax my powers to the

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<v Speaker 1>utmost in order to discover the subtle laws by which

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<v Speaker 1>I could know the boy's astral whereabouts. He was a

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<v Speaker 1>soul vibrating with unfulfilled desires. I realized a mass of

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<v Speaker 1>light floating somewhere amidst millions of luminous souls in the

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<v Speaker 1>astral regions. How was I to tune in with them

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<v Speaker 1>among so many vibrating lights of other souls. Using a

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<v Speaker 1>secret yoga technique, I broadcasted my love to Carshier's soul

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<v Speaker 1>through the microphone of the spiritual eye, the inner point

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<v Speaker 1>between the eyebrows, with the antenna of upraised hands and fingers,

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<v Speaker 1>often turned myself round and round, trying to locate the

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<v Speaker 1>direction in which she had been reborn as an embryo.

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<v Speaker 1>I hoped to receive response from him in the concentration

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<v Speaker 1>tuned radio of my heart. I intuitively felt that Kashi

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<v Speaker 1>would soon return to the Earth, and that if I

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<v Speaker 1>kept unceasingly broadcasting my call to him, his soul would reply.

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<v Speaker 1>I knew that the slightest impulse sent by Kashi would

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<v Speaker 1>be felt in my fingers, hands, arms, spine, and nerves.

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<v Speaker 1>With undiminished zeal, I practiced the yoga methods steadily for

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<v Speaker 1>about six months after Kashi's death. Walking with a few

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<v Speaker 1>friends one morning in the crowded bow Bazaar section of Calcutta,

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<v Speaker 1>I lifted my hands in the usual manner. For the

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<v Speaker 1>first time, there was response. I thrilled to detect electrical

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<v Speaker 1>impulses trickling down my fingers and palms. These currents translated

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<v Speaker 1>themselves into one overpowering thought from a deep recess of

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<v Speaker 1>my consciousness. I am Kashi. I am Kashi. Come to me.

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<v Speaker 1>The thought became almost audible as I concentrated on my

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<v Speaker 1>heart radio in the characteristic slightly hoarse whisper of Kashi.

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<v Speaker 1>I heard his summons again and again. I seized the

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<v Speaker 1>arm of one of my companions, prokash Das, and smiled

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<v Speaker 1>at him joyfully. It looks as though I have located Cushy.

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<v Speaker 1>I began to turn round and round to the undisguised

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<v Speaker 1>amusement of my friends and the passing throng. The electrical

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<v Speaker 1>impulses tingled through my fingers only when I faced towards

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<v Speaker 1>a nearby path aptly named Serpentine Lane. The astral currents disappeared.

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<v Speaker 1>When I turned in other directions. Ah, I exclaimed, Cushy's

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<v Speaker 1>soul must be living in the womb of some mother

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<v Speaker 1>whose home is in the Vein my companions and I

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<v Speaker 1>approached closer to Serpentine Lane, the vibrations in my upraised

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<v Speaker 1>hands grew stronger, more pronounced, as if by a magnet.

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<v Speaker 1>I was pulled toward the right side of the road,

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<v Speaker 1>reaching the entrance of a certain house, I was astounded

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<v Speaker 1>to find myself transfixed. I knocked at the door in

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<v Speaker 1>a state of intense excitement, holding my very breath. I

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<v Speaker 1>felt that the successful end had come for my long,

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<v Speaker 1>arduous and certainly unusual quest. The door was opened by

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<v Speaker 1>a servant who told me her master was at home.

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<v Speaker 1>He descended the step away from the second floor and

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<v Speaker 1>smiled at me inquiringly. I hardly knew how to frame

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<v Speaker 1>my question. At once pertinent and impertinent. Please tell me, sir,

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<v Speaker 1>if you and your wife have been expecting a chart

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<v Speaker 1>for about six months. Yes, it is so, seeing that

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<v Speaker 1>I was a swami or an ancet attired in the

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<v Speaker 1>traditional orange cloth, he added politely, pray inform me how

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<v Speaker 1>you know my affairs. When he heard about Kashi in

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<v Speaker 1>the promise I had given, the astonished man believed my story.

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<v Speaker 1>A male child of fair complexion will be born to you.

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<v Speaker 1>I told him. He will have a broad face with

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<v Speaker 1>a cow lick atop his forehead. His disposition will be

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<v Speaker 1>notably spiritual. I felt certain that the coming child would

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<v Speaker 1>bear these resemblances to Kashi. Later, I visited the child,

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<v Speaker 1>whose parents had given him his old name of Kashi.

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<v Speaker 1>Even in infancy, he was strikingly similar in appearance to

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<v Speaker 1>my dear Ranchi's student. The child showed me an instantaneous affection.

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<v Speaker 1>The attraction of the past awoke with redoubled intensity. Years later,

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<v Speaker 1>a teenage boy wrote me during my stay in America.

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<v Speaker 1>He explained his deep longing to follow the path of Renunciate.

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<v Speaker 1>I directed him to a Himalayan master who to this

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<v Speaker 1>day guidsed the reboron Kashi. End of Chapter twenty eight