Many lives one master

Many lives one master

September 2024

Many Lives,  One Master 

Dr Bijal Maroo probes into the enigmatic charisma of Swami Omkaranandaji to discover the story  behind his uncanny healing powers

Swami Omkaranandaji’s miraculous healings  have helped thousands of people from sixty three countries across seven continents.  A documentary to showcase his miraculous  feats, which include reviving dead people and reuniting family members across lifetimes, is  now underway and is expected to be telecast on an OTT platform.  

Swami Omkaranandji holds a degree  in electronic engineering and a PhD in  metaphysics. He worked as an engineer  at Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL)  before throwing it all away to search for the  reincarnation of his younger sister. He was  initiated as a monk by Pujya Babaji Kalyandas  Maharaj of Amarkantak, MP. He is famous for  his healing work and is currently based out of  the Atlanta and Rishikesh branches of Kalyan  Seva Ashram.  

Swamiji’s amazing cures piqued my curiosi ty enough to interview Him. His luminescent  countenance shone as bright as his achieve ments, and his humility and wonderful sense  of humour made for an enjoyable conversa tion. 

Swamiji, you are an engineer by profession.  How did you give it all up and foray into  spirituality? 

At age six, I was crossing the road to go to  school when a truck hit me. I was caught under  its wheels, but not a drop of blood was shed.  I thought I was dead, but I was very much  alive. It was the first time that I had an out of-body experience, though I didn’t know it  then. Although I was unconscious, I could see  people running around me, surrounding me.  Then I saw myself being taken to the hospital.  I could also see my mother and my one-year old sister crying at home. 

After that, when I was about eight or nine  years old, I saw my past life, but I did not  know it then. Later, I accidentally landed at a  place where everything was known to me from  my past life. This was miraculous. 

As a child, I frequented a nearby ashram  where they lent me books to read. I started  reading one book per day. I would just glance  through the book and know everything written  in it. Very soon, I read 60–70 books, and I  could answer any questions about the content  of those books. Later, when I attended a  conference of Hindu saints, I remembered my  past masters and all the places I had visited in  my past lives.  

One of my sisters was a psychic, and whatever  she said always came true. When she was five  years old, she predicted that I would become  a monk. My mother believed that she was a  goddess. She asked my mother to explain the  Bhagavad Gita to her at the tender age of five  or six years. When she was sick and admitted  to the hospital, she told my mother, “Why  are you eating what you like? Eat what I like  and then when I get better, we will both eat  together.” However, she died, and my mother  decided to eat only what my sister had liked  eating. Everyone thought that my mother  had lost her mind out of grief. She became  adamant and stopped eating completely; she  subsisted on just two or three cups of tea a day.  

After six months, my mother dreamt that  there was a village where her daughter lived  with two monks. After one month, she got to  know that the village existed in reality. She  sent an employee from my father’s office to  that village in search of the monks and her  daughter. The employee went and discovered  that the roads, the pond, the well, and the  temple were exactly the way my mother had  described them. However, there was no sign  of the monks or my sister. This cycle went on  for ten years as her dream recurred once every  three or four months. Though the villages she  dreamt of existed, the monks and her daughter  were nowhere to be found.  

Once she dreamt of a great Sadhu Sammelan  (a conference of Hindu saints) taking place in  a nearby village. However, there was no such  event planned at that time. Six months later,  when the Sammelan occurred, everyone was  taken aback. Even the organisers had planned  it just three months in advance. She sent the  same employee from my dad’s office there, and  

One of my sisters was a  psychic, and whatever she  said always came true.  

When she was five years  old, she predicted that I  would become a monk.  

My mother believed  that she was a goddess.  

She asked my mother to  explain the Bhagavad  Gita to her at the tender  

age of five or six years.

he asked the head monk about my mother’s  dreams. The head monk closed his eyes and  contemplated what the man told him. When  he opened his eyes he said, “Tell Ma not to  search any longer. The monks will come and  visit her soon.” 

In the eleventh year of these occurrences,  I was working at HAL. I took leave to visit  my family when a group of devotees sent a  message that they would visit our home after  three days, on Kartik Poornima. They were  keen on visiting us as our front yard was home  to an amla tree, a bilva tree, and a tulsi plant.  It is said that when all these three trees exist  together, the house becomes a place of Shakti.  A group of twenty-five people came after three  days, and two of the sadhus were those my  mother had seen in her dreams. They had the  same hairstyle, robes of the same colours, and  the same facial features and build. Everyone  was flabbergasted to see the monks she had  described present themselves in flesh and  blood.  

But I was of a logical bent of mind. I could  not believe what was going on, so I asked the  monks, “Everything my mother said about the  villages, the monks, and the Sammelan came  true, but then where is my sister? If she is in  the subtle world, then how can I talk to her  and if she has taken on a new life, where is  

 I went to Portland when a lady invited  me to be part of her podcast. While  staying there, another lady came  

and asked me to teach pranayama to  her daughter-in-law for her health  problem. Though I was meeting this  girl for the first time, she seemed very  familiar. When she started talking,  everything disappeared from my sight,  and my younger sister, my mother, and  my childhood flashed before my eyes.  I thought, Oh my God, my sister is here! she?” After pestering them quite a bit, they  told me that she had taken birth out of India. 

So, I took it as a challenge and told my mother  that I would find her daughter. At that time,  I had no idea about any foreign countries  or how I would travel abroad. I rationalised  that since she had been such a spiritual girl,  I must search for her in places frequented  by spiritual people. At that point, I thought  spirituality was synonymous with yoga. Hence  I plunged deeper into the study of yoga and  pranayama, and completed my Master’s in  yoga from Trivandrum University. I reckoned  that she might come to learn yoga and then I  would meet her.  

Then the thought occurred to me that even if  I met her, I had no way of recognising her. So,  I sought out masters who could teach me how  to visualise other people’s past (in this life or  their past lives) without their knowledge. 

So, did you find your sister and could you  unite her with your mother? 

I searched for her for about 22 years. However,  during the Covid pandemic, when I could not  travel, I gave up searching and lost hope of  fulfilling my promise to my mother. Then, my  master, Pujya Babaji Kalyandas Maharaj, sent  me to our new ashram in Atlanta, USA. From  there, I went to Portland when a lady invited  me to be part of her podcast. While staying  there, another lady came and asked me to  teach pranayama to her daughter-in-law for  her health problem. Though I was meeting  this girl for the first time, she seemed very  familiar. When she started talking, everything  disappeared from my sight, and my younger  sister, my mother, and my childhood flashed  before my eyes. I thought, Oh my God, my sister  is here! 

Unfortunately, I had to leave the next day. I  was agonised that though I had met my sister, I  could not reveal this truth to her. Fortunately,  after a few days, she too felt a close bond as if I were her brother from some past life. I  made light of it and told her that this past life  stuff was humbug. Later, I sent her an audio  on Yoga Nidra which also contained a method  of entering past lives. After a few days, she experienced our past life together and told  me that I was indeed her brother. Now that  she knew, I confessed that I too knew about  it. Thus, I fulfilled my promise and connected my mother with my sister. 

Swamiji, you could find your sister because  of your knowledge about other people’s past  

lives. Please tell me about your training in  past life regression. 

It is very difficult to explain. While looking at  a person’s face, I enter a deep trance in which  

I visualise that person’s past life. I have never  trained in nor have I practised any past life  

regression techniques. All this happens as part of my healing sessions. Most people, although  

alive, lack prana (vital energy). During the  healing, I direct more prana to flow into their  

body. Sometimes, the energy is not able to  flow because of a blockage and they feel pain.  

I let them feel the pain even if it increases  because every pain has a memory. When  

prana continues to force its way, it finally hits  the blockage and explodes. At that time, the  

mind visualises certain specific memories  in their past which could be as old as ten,  

thirty, or even five hundred years, about some distant past life. These memories help them  

understand the cause of their pain, and thus  they get healed.

Your first healing was a very sensational one.  Please tell me about it. 

I was studying at Swami Dayanand Saras wati’s Arsha Vidya Gurukulam in Anaikatti.  My classmate’s sister came to meet me, and I  showed her a Vishnu Sahasranamam cassette.  She screamed in terror and fainted. I got to  know later that she had a phobia of snakes  and hence fainted on seeing the photograph  of Sheshnag on the cassette. I took on the task  of healing her, and in the session, she saw her  past life, in which she was a boy who caught  snakes to sell or eat. Later, a big anaconda-like  snake killed her, and hence she was petrified  of snakes. The very next day, we went to the  Forest Research Institute, SACON. There,  they gave her a snake and she could hold it  in her hand. Her phobia had completely van ished! 

You have also brought the dead back to life. Yes, there was a 64-year-old lady called Man jula Sarangpani at the ashram. When I saw  her for the first time, I predicted that she  would die very soon, though I knew nothing  about her. However, my prediction turned out  to be true as she was indeed dying from can cer. Later, since I knew the method to step out  of the body at will, she requested me to teach  her the same. While I was teaching her how to  go out of the body, she succeeded in doing it.  Subsequently, I informed our acharyas at the  ashram. The ambulance came and the ashram  doctor declared her dead. But our acharyas  told me to search for her in the subtle world  and get her back as she was fated to live for a  few more months. They provided me with a  quiet room, and I sat down to meditate. Soon,  I too left my body and found Manjula’s sub tle form. I requested her to return to her body.  She re-entered her body after being declared  dead for one and a half hours. This was such a  wonderful miracle. 

Swamiji, you can visualise the past of the peo ple who come to you. So, if you just reveal it to  them, won’t that heal them as well? No, if I tell you about your past or your past  life, it will just be like a story to you. It will not  help you. Unless you experience it for your self, it will not heal you.  

Who is your guru, Swamiji?  

I received initiation as a monk from Pujya  Babaji Kalyandas Maharaj. But I have many  masters like Anandamayi Ma, Satyananda  Swami from the Bihar School of Yoga, Swami  Chidananda Saraswati of Sivananda Ashram,  Swami Dayananda Saraswati, Thich Nhat  Hanh in Plum Village, and a few others.  

How do your masters feel when you change  gurus like this? 

As Buddha says, “Aapo Dipo Bhava (Be your  light)!” He told his disciple Ananda, “Don’t  follow my path; find your path.” Some mas ters never bind their students and give them  the freedom to go forward and learn other  disciplines. I have been fortunate to find such  masters who permitted me to learn under oth er masters and find my path.  

How does one know what is one’s path? Finding one’s path on the spiritual journey  can be a deeply personal and introspective  process. Here are some steps that can help you  discover your spiritual path: 

1. Self-reflection: Spend time reflecting on  your beliefs, values, and what truly matters to  you. Consider what brings you peace, joy, and  a sense of purpose. 

2. Meditation and mindfulness: Regular med itation and mindfulness practices can help  you quiet your mind, increase self-awareness,  and connect with your inner self. 

3. Follow your intuition: Trust your intuition  and inner guidance. Pay attention to your gut  feelings, instincts, and emotions as they can  often lead you towards your true path. 

4. Inner peace and harmony: Embracing  spiritual values such as love, compassion, for giveness, and gratitude can cultivate inner  peace, harmony, and a sense of well-being.  These values can help you let go of negativi ty, ego-driven desires, and attachments. Once  you are out of negativity, you will find your  inner path.  

5. Begin with yourself: Embody the values  you expect from others. For example, if you  want somebody to be honest with you, you be  honest first. If you want another to be loving  towards you, you be loving first. 

Dr Bijal Maroo is an art based therapy practitioner, homeopathic consultant, counselling and  health psychologist since 20 years. She reflect on life through her gifts as a writer, poet and  singer. Contact- drbijjalmaru@rediffmail.com or visit www.drbijalmaroo.com