I am Harmony. Radhe Shyam

       BIBLIOGRAPHY AND RECOMMENDED FURTHER READING

       NOTES

       IMPRINT

       "I bow to Thee, O Lord, Image of mercy; To Shiva, Who is affectionate to His disciples, Doer of Goodness, The Destroyer of sins and suffering; To Thee, the incarnation of compassion, I surrender always."

      ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

      On the (1990) publication of this book, I need to make a number of acknowledgements for help without which this book might never have seen the light of day.

      First and foremost, I acknowledge Shri Shri Haidakhan Wale Baba, Mahavatar Babaji, Who, in 1981, instructed me to write this book and Who has, I think, inspired many of its pages.

      I thank "Om Shanti Devi" and Sheila Devi Singh for a vast quantity of translation of Babaji's words from Hindi into English, without which I would have missed even more of the kaleidoscopic activity which took place in Babaji's presence. I am grateful to the many people who shared with me significant personal experiences which illustrate Babaji's teachings and His methods of teaching. Their experiences, the written experiences of people of 'Old Haidakhan Baba,' and my own experiences with Him form the major part of this book.

      I owe many thanks to the generous hosts who arranged travel for Babaji and His followers to many cities in India, who housed and fed us, and whose functions provided opportunities to share experiences of Babaji, as well as stimulating new experiences. I thank the many devotees who lived in Haidakhan and acted their roles in Babaji's earthly play and to those who maintain some semblance of His presence there still.

      I thank Swami Fakiranand for encouraging my use of his voluminous files and stories about Haidakhan Baba. I thank Vishnu Dutt Shastriji again and again for his comprehensive knowledge of the Vedic scriptures and of Babaji's message and teachings, for the beauty and clarity of his explanations and exhortations, and for his generous sharing of his knowledge and wisdom. And I thank Shri Trilok Singh - whom Babaji called "Muniraj," King of the Sages - for his steady and uplifting example, and for his constancy in service to The Divine.

      In the United States, where this book was completed and published, I want to acknowledge and thank Brad Bunnin for sharing his comprehensive knowledge of copyright and publishing law; Bill Bowman, for his assistance in establishing the Spanish Creek Press; and Richard Baltzell for excellent advice on publishing and distribution of the book. I thank Elizabeth Weisiger for finding the Ringier America printing firm and brokering the contract for the printing of this book, and Virginia Masi for executing J.D. Marston's book cover design.

      I am deeply obliged to friends for providing photographs which illustrate the chapters: to Robert Linn for the painting of Shri Babaji on the cover of the 1990 edition; to Paramananda; to Anton Waelti; to Rajendra Kumar Sharma; to Deborah Wood; to Ram Singh Sammal; to Arun Vora; to Roland and Gertraud Reichel; to Lisetta Carmi; and to Balbir Singh Sethi. I regret that I do not know who took the other photographs.

      I bless Jackie for buying the book that gave us our first knowledge of Babaji. I thank my brother Arthur Swan for reading the manuscript several times and especially for a thorough and helpful critique of a near-final draft of the book. I thank Sita Rami for leading me to Babaji and for her constant support of this project. I acknowledge a great debt to Ram Dass (J.D. Marston) and Ramloti (Deborah Wood) for the growing experiences we shared in establishing an ashram in Crestone, Colorado, based on Shri Babaji's teachings, schedule and methods. And I thank all the members of the American Haidakhan Samaj and the Loving Relationships Training who participated to any degree in that experience.

       Crestone, Colorado, July 1990

      FOREWORDS

      FOREWORD TO THE SECOND EDITION

      Since the first publication of "I Am Harmony", in 1990, the book has gone around the world with its account of Shri Babaji's most recent ministries and teachings on Earth. "I Am Harmony" has been translated and published in Bulgarian, Croatian, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Russian, Slovenian and Swedish; it has been translated into Dutch and is awaiting publication; and it is in process of translation into Latvian and Serbian.

      With the original printing exhausted, the American Haidakhandi Samaj has authorized and supported the republication of the book in a new format. The new format allows the inclusion of additional and different photographs from many people, most of whom are mentioned in the earlier forward or are unknown. I would like to thank Emam and Ramloti for their contribution of several of the color images in this new edition. The 2006 reprinting of "I Am Harmony" contains few other changes: the story of Shri Babaji's ministries in the past two centuries has not changed since "I Am Harmony" was published in 1990. For this edition, the first chapter of the 1990 edition was trimmed and moved to the last chapter in the current printing, and a few typographical and other errors have been corrected.

      Thought was given to up-dating this edition to reflect what has been accomplished by Shri Babaji's followers since His Mahasamadhi, but that is a whole new story. You can learn some of that story by going to the listing of Babaji ashrams and centers around the world, which has been added to the information sections at the end of the book. Their websites offer a good deal of information.

FOREWORD TO THE FIRST EDITION

      Paramahansa Yogananda called Mahavatar Babaji the "Yogi-Christ of modern India." The Haidakhan worship service describes Babaji as "Supreme Guru, Lord of mercy", "King of sages" and "Lord of the universe."

      This book is about Babaji¹, a great manifestation of The Divine Who has a history of appearing in a flesh-and-blood human form throughout the course of human civilization to help humankind understand, experience and achieve its relationship to The Divine. The tradition of Babaji's manifestations is that He appears in remote places at varying intervals in time - especially when humanity is undergoing major changes and challenges that have a potential for purification and the elevation of the whole human race - and, by example and teaching, helps transform a few people who may be inspired to share the teachings and help humanity take a few more steps forward on the path toward conscious reunion with the Divine Source of this whole Creation.

      His teaching is not sectarian, but is supportive of all religions that guide human beings toward a life lived in harmony with The Divine. The practitioner of any of the major religions of the world today can find inspiration and support in the life and teachings of Babaji. Babaji taught from the basis of the ancient, eternal truths, but He focused the teachings on present-day problems.

      The experience of Divinity seems a rather rare thing in human lives these days. Many people believe that a relationship or communication with an aware Creator is impossible. But, unless we totally discredit the experiences and statements of thousands of saints and holy men and women of all ages and all religions, it must be acknowledged that some people have seen, heard, or otherwise experienced The Divine in some way.

      There is a mythology of Babaji in the Himalayan regions that reaches back into very early human civilizations. Paramahansa Yogananda's "Autobiography of a Yogi"², published in 1946, introduced the stories and experiences of Mahavatar Babaji to the West in a book which dealt mainly with people's experiences of Him between 1861 and 1920, in India. There are books written about a manifestation of Babaji as Haidakhan Baba in the period of about 1890 to 1922. And now there are books written about the manifestation of Babaji which was experienced by many thousands of people in the period from June 1970 to February 14, 1984. This book collects and shares some of the stories from the long history and focuses on the experiences people had of this latest manifestation of Babaji. People