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