On a journey into the other world

Malladi Rama Rao

Vijay Gokhale and P K Singh If anyone asks me whether I liked "The Last Marathon" frankly, I have no ready answer.
It took a little more than a month to read the book, though generally I do not take more than a couple of days to go through any new acquisition. What made me buy the book at the outset was the picture of Meher Baba on the cover. The back cover carried a photo of Guru Nanak. That intrigued me. So did the reviews that appeared on the Amazon.
Without exception, the reviews were lyrical in their praise of the author and his narrative about a journey into the world of the paranormal.
The blurb sets the stage, by grandly declaring "For those who believe on God, no explanation is necessary (on the astral world).
For those who do not believe in God, no explanation is possible".
Clearly, the author, Ruzebeh N. Bharucha is targeting the faithful.
Not the likes of me, who, while believing in God, and accepting all that mumbo-jumbo that goes in the name of established religion, are sceptical when it comes to spirits and mediums, which is the mainstay of this book.
Bharucha has no such qualms. He believes in what he tells you about speaking with the dead ones. Well, neither he nor his friends speak directly with the spirit of the dead. They do so through a medium, and by taking recourse to a panchette as and well as through automatic writing. In the 60s and 70s, late night 'talking' sessions with souls was a "regular show" in some university hostels down South. Celebrated author R K Narayan Ruzbeh N Bharucha was known to get solace by talking to his dead wife.
Some ten years ago, while on a visit to Meherabad, I witnessed the auto-writing phenomenon

Bharucha presents excerpts from a long session he says he had with Meher Baba. While I have reasons to disbelieve his claim, what he quotes as excerpts from Meher Baba - Speak, cannot be brushed aside, well, not in their entirety. Most of these quotes tally with what Meher Baba had said in his discourses.

answering questions, and offering predictions on mundane issues troubling you –like, for instance, 'when my daughter will be married'. The practitioner was a person known to me as a devotee of Meher Baba. He is a technocrat who has settled in Nashik after a long stint in Canada. He could not explain how he came to 'acquire' the art of speaking through auto writing. "It is all God's gift", he said exasperated at my insistence for a rational answer. Was I convinced? Frankly, no. My scepticism remained unadulterated, more so since he claimed that his medium was Meher Baba.

Ruzbeh N Bharucha Bharucha presents excerpts from a long session he says he had with Meher Baba.While I have reasons to disbelieve his claim, what he quotes as excerpts from Meher Baba - Speak, cannot be brushed aside, well, not in their entirety. Most of these quotes tally with what Meher Baba had said in his discourses. Also with Meher Baba's known aversion to the stranglehold of the priestly class on the faithful in all religions. "Once India gets independence, you get these Priests, Dasturs and Mullahs arrested and lock them up in Yerawada (jail)", he told Gandhiji as they met and discussed matters of mutual interest while on the London bound ship Rajputana in 1931.
Was Bharucha putting together Meher Baba thoughts to buttress his theories? It may be unfair to say so. There is no apparent reason for him to cook up stories since he goes out of his way to familiarise the reader with what other writers - Indian and foreignhad said on this subject which is no more than speaking with the ghosts. It is this what gives depth to Bharucha's work and makes the reader to put on a thinking cap as long passages appear from "Autobiography of a Yogi" (by Paramahansa Yogananda about his guru Sri Yuketeshwar), "Aliens Amongst Us" ( by Ruth Montgomery), " The Greatest Healer Of Our Times" ( also by Montgomery), "We Don't Die…. George Anderson's conversations with the other side (by Joel Martin

A big plus for the book under review are real time experiences of families who had lost their dear ones, and the consolation they received when the dead one 'returns' to speak about their new life and the guidance from their guides. The whole effort is to deliver the message: "Don't allow the world to make you bitter. Don't allow people and so called loved ones to make you petty. Always live life as though your Master is standing next to you, seeing you, observing you, nurturing you".

and Patric Romanwski),"Your Life After Death" (by Harold Sherman), and "The Tibetan Book Of Living And Dying" (by Sogyal Rinpoche) on birth, death, rebirth and life in the 'other' world.
A big plus for the book under review are real time experiences of families who had lost their dear ones, and the consolation they received when the dead one 'returns' to speak about their new life and the guidance from their guides. The whole effort is to deliver the message: "Don't allow the world to make you bitter.
Don't allow people and so called loved ones to make you petty. Always live life as though your Master is standing next to you, seeing you, observing you, nurturing you".
In a nutshell, Bharucha's contention is that there is life after death. Rebirth is a must too. And that the post-death world is of several planes; it is larger than this world by hundreds of times. Life exists on these planes. Very highly evolved souls live on them.
In the astral journey, the soul first goes to the plane that corresponds to its level of karma and spiritual development.
What if the soul is unwilling to snap life when death comes knocking at the door? Then the Guides (advanced souls) counsel him, administer sedatives if necessary, catch hold of him like a baby and take him to the astral world through a dark tunnel.
Then he emerges into light and progresses, like in a school, on how to live in the other world. If the soul is very gross, all his desires are met and he is allowed to saturate himself till he says "no more my guides I know now this is of no use".
As I reached the last page of The Last Marathon, did I buy Bharucha's narrative? Well, not fully but substantially!



		EDITOR'S MAIL EDITOR'S COMMENT PANDEMIC EFFECTS FRANKLY SPEAKING NEW PANDEMIC REALPOLITIK PANDEMIC EFFECTS NEW PANDEMIC NEW PANDEMIC SECURITY SCENE KERALA MADHYA PRADESH J&K SCENE PAKISTAN WATCH SIGNS OF THE TIMES WATER CONSERVATION OPEC CHANDIGARH DIARY HITS & MISSES PANDEMIC EMERGENCY MEDIA SPACE ENGINEERING OUR CONSTITUTION ESSENCE OF THE GITA ART OF LIVING Issue:May' 2020 Subscribe Now	BOOK BAZAAR On a journey into the other world Malladi Rama Rao Vijay Gokhale and P K Singh If anyone asks me whether I liked "The Last Marathon" frankly, I have no ready answer. It took a little more than a month to read the book, though generally I do not take more than a couple of days to go through any new acquisition. What made me buy the book at the outset was the picture of Meher Baba on the cover. The back cover carried a photo of Guru Nanak. That intrigued me. So did the reviews that appeared on the Amazon. Without exception, the reviews were lyrical in their praise of the author and his narrative about a journey into the world of the paranormal. The blurb sets the stage, by grandly declaring "For those who believe on God, no explanation is necessary (on the astral world). For those who do not believe in God, no explanation is possible". Clearly, the author, Ruzebeh N. Bharucha is targeting the faithful. Not the likes of me, who, while believing in God, and accepting all that mumbo-jumbo that goes in the name of established religion, are sceptical when it comes to spirits and mediums, which is the mainstay of this book. Bharucha has no such qualms. He believes in what he tells you about speaking with the dead ones. Well, neither he nor his friends speak directly with the spirit of the dead. They do so through a medium, and by taking recourse to a panchette as and well as through automatic writing. In the 60s and 70s, late night 'talking' sessions with souls was a "regular show" in some university hostels down South. Celebrated author R K Narayan Ruzbeh N Bharucha was known to get solace by talking to his dead wife. Some ten years ago, while on a visit to Meherabad, I witnessed the auto-writing phenomenon Bharucha presents excerpts from a long session he says he had with Meher Baba. While I have reasons to disbelieve his claim, what he quotes as excerpts from Meher Baba - Speak, cannot be brushed aside, well, not in their entirety. Most of these quotes tally with what Meher Baba had said in his discourses. answering questions, and offering predictions on mundane issues troubling you –like, for instance, 'when my daughter will be married'. The practitioner was a person known to me as a devotee of Meher Baba. He is a technocrat who has settled in Nashik after a long stint in Canada. He could not explain how he came to 'acquire' the art of speaking through auto writing. "It is all God's gift", he said exasperated at my insistence for a rational answer. Was I convinced? Frankly, no. My scepticism remained unadulterated, more so since he claimed that his medium was Meher Baba. Ruzbeh N Bharucha Bharucha presents excerpts from a long session he says he had with Meher Baba.While I have reasons to disbelieve his claim, what he quotes as excerpts from Meher Baba - Speak, cannot be brushed aside, well, not in their entirety. Most of these quotes tally with what Meher Baba had said in his discourses. Also with Meher Baba's known aversion to the stranglehold of the priestly class on the faithful in all religions. "Once India gets independence, you get these Priests, Dasturs and Mullahs arrested and lock them up in Yerawada (jail)", he told Gandhiji as they met and discussed matters of mutual interest while on the London bound ship Rajputana in 1931. Was Bharucha putting together Meher Baba thoughts to buttress his theories? It may be unfair to say so. There is no apparent reason for him to cook up stories since he goes out of his way to familiarise the reader with what other writers - Indian and foreignhad said on this subject which is no more than speaking with the ghosts. It is this what gives depth to Bharucha's work and makes the reader to put on a thinking cap as long passages appear from "Autobiography of a Yogi" (by Paramahansa Yogananda about his guru Sri Yuketeshwar), "Aliens Amongst Us" ( by Ruth Montgomery), " The Greatest Healer Of Our Times" ( also by Montgomery), "We Don't Die…. George Anderson's conversations with the other side (by Joel Martin A big plus for the book under review are real time experiences of families who had lost their dear ones, and the consolation they received when the dead one 'returns' to speak about their new life and the guidance from their guides. The whole effort is to deliver the message: "Don't allow the world to make you bitter. Don't allow people and so called loved ones to make you petty. Always live life as though your Master is standing next to you, seeing you, observing you, nurturing you". and Patric Romanwski),"Your Life After Death" (by Harold Sherman), and "The Tibetan Book Of Living And Dying" (by Sogyal Rinpoche) on birth, death, rebirth and life in the 'other' world. A big plus for the book under review are real time experiences of families who had lost their dear ones, and the consolation they received when the dead one 'returns' to speak about their new life and the guidance from their guides. The whole effort is to deliver the message: "Don't allow the world to make you bitter. Don't allow people and so called loved ones to make you petty. Always live life as though your Master is standing next to you, seeing you, observing you, nurturing you". In a nutshell, Bharucha's contention is that there is life after death. Rebirth is a must too. And that the post-death world is of several planes; it is larger than this world by hundreds of times. Life exists on these planes. Very highly evolved souls live on them. In the astral journey, the soul first goes to the plane that corresponds to its level of karma and spiritual development. What if the soul is unwilling to snap life when death comes knocking at the door? Then the Guides (advanced souls) counsel him, administer sedatives if necessary, catch hold of him like a baby and take him to the astral world through a dark tunnel. Then he emerges into light and progresses, like in a school, on how to live in the other world. If the soul is very gross, all his desires are met and he is allowed to saturate himself till he says "no more my guides I know now this is of no use". As I reached the last page of The Last Marathon, did I buy Bharucha's narrative? Well, not fully but substantially!