In the backwaters of southern India, a saint works with 'light beings' of Shambala to usher in the New Age

Medititive answer

Excerpts from an interview with Swami Krishnananda:

Your book traces your journey from an ordinary family man into an awakened soul. How did it happen?

When I was in my 20s, I believed nothing would change in this world. But after meeting my guru, Amara, I opened myself to a new worldview. I reveled in the sight of nature, animals, human encounters. All this created positive energy inside me. I learnt meditation and this kept me in touch with my inner self. Meditation is like going into a plane of silence or into another level of consciousness where you get all answers.

How do meditation and prayer differ?

While praying we always "ask" for something. Meditation is concentration within oneself. We silence the system. Once the system gets cleansed, it is prepared to go through higher experiences, which would eventually transform us into higher beings. And slowly we would be linked to our source and receive direct knowledge about ourselves, this creation, birth, death...

How are destiny and karma related? Can destiny be changed?

We are what we are because of our past life karma. We continue to live, collect and pass this karma on a pre-ordained track, which is destiny. But with meditation you can become aware of the future and can alter or reduce the effects of whatever bad is in store for you. For instance, I once had a vision that I had met with a terrible accident and injured a young boy with my two-wheeler. Two months later, I found myself traveling by the same road and I saw this young boy crossing the road. I remembered the vision and braked just in time. New Age, popular in the West, has yet to catch on here... The western mind is open to everything that is new.