The Ballad of Mira Mai

That night I made my bed in the jungle of branches and leaves as had been my custom. I sat in meditation concentrating my attention, trying to ascend. In those days, I believed the vision of the Thousand Petaled Lotus to be the ultimate goal. Now I know it is just the beginning. The Astral Plane, the Region of Sahansdal Kanwal, the Mental Realm, is so vast that the whole Physical Universe, the Pind, is but a large bubble floating in the Akash, the Astral sky. The mental region is highly complex with greater extremes than the physical world. There are visions of wonder and delight as well as visions of horror and hell. At the higher levels one travels at the speed of thought. So many are the enticements that travel through the Astral realm generally delays one on the journey upwards to the Spiritual Heights. Nowadays we just go straight to the Spiritual Planes. However, at that time, the vision of the Thousand Petaled Lotus was my goal. I felt that if I saw it again I would understand the meaning behind the Yogi’s words. “For many hours I sat, striving to go in. But my mind was restless and I tried to focus again and again. But with such effort, I grew weary and fell asleep and got dragged out backwards through the soles of my feet. Meditators know that if you fall asleep while between worlds, you can be yanked into chaos and hurled through space tumbling uncontrollably. What you’re supposed to do is intend yourself back into your body where instantly you’ll be. But for some reason, I was tumbling so fast, traveling thousands of miles a second, whirling wildly through space, that I forgot what to do. “Suddenly I impacted ground so hard that I lost my breath. Slowly picking myself up, I had dirt in my mouth and I was covered with dust. I had landed in a Dark Lower Astral World. Gradually my eyes began to adjust to the darkness and I could see. I was standing beside a single story structure in a mountainous setting adjoined to a large corral. There were other buildings and a high pointed iron fence running along a road above. The mountains and the land were only dirt and stone, stark and bleak. Everything was dirty and smelled extremely foul. Surveying the scene, I could see hundreds of people in the corrals squatting and crawling on their knees, naked and filthy, many diseased. They had ropes around their necks tethered to posts. They seemed dazed and confused, numb with fear. “Horrible creatures armored with swords were farming them for food. Bands of savage dogs roamed the streets along with horrendous demon patrols. Tortured screams filled the air. I had no doubts -- I had landed in Hell! So thick and dense the confusion and fear that I didn’t even think to call on Jesus for help. “Inside the building next to me, as I was standing in the shadows, were the savage creatures partaking a grisly feast. I decided to climb the fence to the road and get as far away from here as possible. I took one step in that direction when I heard something, someone, calling me back. I turned and behind me was a young girl, about ten years old, naked and filthy, covered with dirt. She beckoned me to follow her. She spoke with her thoughts, without saying a word. “Hurry!” she insisted. As I turned back she grabbed my hand and pulled me to hiding beneath the structure. The instant we were out of sight a band of savage dogs came raging down the road followed by a patrol of horrific creatures. “With her tongue she couldn’t speak, but with her mind she told me that she, herself was seeking freedom and had discovered a way out. So I followed her for hours crawling in the dirt, hiding in the shadows and dashing together holding hands. Finally we came to a steep rocky section of road where the ground had eroded beneath the iron fence. With a little digging I was able to work myself through. I was just reaching to help pull her under when the howls of savage dogs approaching fast was heard. I could only turn and run, leaving her behind, still imprisoned on the other side. “In an instant the dogs were on me, barking in rage, I could feel their angry breath upon my heels. I was running down hill at a breakneck pace, a mountain wall to my left, a bottomless abyss to my right. I realized the road kept bearing left. I was spiraling down into the depths of Hell! “Gathering all my energy, all my focus and all my will, I imagined my legs moving faster and picking up speed. As soon as I created a little distance from the pack, I rounded a corner, out of their view and jumped up on the wall to the left, which I began to scale. A second later the dogs tore by, running below they never looked up. “As I ascended the mountainside of dirt and rock, I thought to myself ‘I must get out of here!’ When suddenly, abruptly, it all became clear. I remembered the Yogi’s words “Only love is real.” Of course! None of this was real! This is not love, this place is Hell! It’s not really real! Only what’s real is real! “Instantly, my fear was gone. Somehow I knew I could now go home. But first, I had some business to finish. I thought of the child covered in dirt who had helped me. Returning to the road, I retraced my steps back to where I had left her. Amazingly, she had remained, hiding in the shadows, hoping and waiting. As I helped her under the fence she looked in my eyes silently thanking me for returning for her. Ascending the road from Hell, we walked together, hand in hand. “I had no plan but I felt empowered now, without fear. As we approached the summit we could discern a detachment of hideous creatures guarding a massive iron gate. I thought ‘The Gates of Hell!’ I watched myself deliberately walk right up to the horrible creatures, look them in the eyes and shout, “I’m not afraid of you!” They looked disoriented and confused. Then I heard myself yell “And I’m not afraid of your Boss either!” Almost simultaneously in a ferocious blast of hellfire, the entire horizon, all my eyes could see, was filled with the giant burning red face of the Devil enraged. Cruel horns on his forehead, unspeakable hate glaring through his hideous eyes, evil extreme, wretched and vile. I stepped up to his face at the edge of the abyss, the young girls hand in mine, and I yelled at the top of my lungs “I’m not afraid of you!” “Instantly, the Devils head exploded in a blinding flash of thunderous light. The next I knew, I was back, lying in my jungle bed. I lay there for a moment, my eyes still closed, feeling exalted by the vision, thinking about the girl. It was funny; I had never felt so close, so intimate with anyone in my life. We hadn’t even spoken. It felt as if I were still holding her hand. A little bewildered at the sensation, I opened my eyes. Incredibly, unbelievably, astonishingly she was there lying silently by my side, her child hand in mine, her dark black eyes open wide. “Deeply awed by the majesty and wonder of Existence, ‘ How miraculous! ‘ I mused. ‘I realize the answer to the mystery of life and then I bring my friend back too! ‘ And as she turned her head of unkempt hair, her face besmeared with mud, and looked at me adoringly, I understood, the mystery is love!”