Icon Show: Interviews
Brijendra Photo by Raj Kamal |
BiographyBrijendra, or Robert Eaton, was fortunate to be one of the first people to meet Swami Shyam in Canada. He wrote a book about these early days called, "Genesis Dawn: I meet Myself." Brijendra, a born seeker of truth, found that paradise and fulfillment on a material level were not enough. This sense of disillusionment ultimately led Bob back to the city of Vancouver, where he met Swami Shyam, who definately knew where fulfillment exists! Brijendra has been in Kullu full-time for sixteen years, and is multi-talented; a writer and editor of Swami Shyam's books, a visual artist, musician, and teacher of Patanjaali Yog Darshan. Written by Gisele Beaupre |
Interview
Gisele: You knew Swamiji in the early days, was he the same in 1970 as he is now?
Brijendra: He was clean shaven with short hair. The form was slightly different, but the awareness that was burning inside was the same as it is now, the same everywhere. In that moment, where I saw that he knew, I knew. He looked at me in that moment and affirmed that I did know. It was a total affirmation that the transcendent is a reality, and all the forms in the waking state are changing, and the one who is knowing them is immortal.
Gisele: It kind of throws a wrench into the waking state!
Brijendra: Yes. Yes it's great. I love such wrenches. His presence wrenched us out of the waking state. So it started and it has just been like that ever since. He is Guru because of self-recognition, and we are disciples, so called, others who self-recognize. He is so clear that he never loses his awareness. There are many of us with varying degrees of purity. The one who is most pure, we call that one Guru, who is one who helps, brings light and releases the blockages in the personality, which are the impurities. That awareness of contacting Guru is awareness of your own being. When you experience who you are, you are initiated into your own awareness.
Gisele: How long have you been in Kullu?
Brijendra: It is now sixteen years that I've been in Kullu. The time of first contact with Swami Shyam was 24 years ago. But from the state of concentrated awareness of what the reality is; this moment is the same moment as when I met him, so called 24 years ago. When you are in that samaadhi state, you are out of time and space. You are one unchanging being. With Guru, you experience that One unchanging Being. To me, really there is no 24 years ago; I'm just telling a story now because you asked me.
As Swamiji said today in satsang, the Self is everywhere, but when somebody speaks about it, then that being comes into that space. So it comes where it is welcome. You welcome it by speaking about it. All these years, it has been a process of culturing the mind into thinking about it, speaking about it, and through that it comes. The main thing is the 'Awareness'.
Transcribed by Gisele Beaupre