Can
64,000
People
Get
Enlightened
by 2012?
From What Is Enlightenment Magazine
Millions
of
people
have
experienced
it, many
thousands
the
world
over are
flocking
to India
to learn
how to
administer
it, and
celebrities—from
movie
actors
to
high-tech
executives
to
self-help
gurus
such as
Tony
Robbins—are
swearing
by it.
It’s
called
deeksha,
and if
you
believe
its
proponents,
this new
form of
spiritual
transmission
is going
to have
quite an
impact
on
spirituality
in the
new
millennium.
Deeksha,
which
means
“benediction”
or
“initiation”
in
Sanskrit,
was
created
by a
South
Indian
couple
known as
Amma
and
Bhagavan,
founders
of the
Golden
Age
Foundation.
Similar
in some
respects
to the
traditional
transmission
of
shaktipat
(the
conferring
of
spiritual
power
from
guru to
disciple),
deeksha
is
generally
conferred
through
touch,
with
deeksha
givers
(who
undergo
a
twenty-one-day
training)
laying
their
hands on
initiates’
heads in
order to
pass on
the
energy.
Current
initiates
include
Arjuna
Ardagh,
author
of
The
Translucent
Revolution,
and
Catherine
Oxenberg,
actress,
reality
TV star,
and
daughter
of the
princess
of
Yugoslavia.
While
recipients’
experiences
vary
considerably,
many
reports
are
beyond
exuberant,
crediting
the
process
with all
manner
of
illumination
and
awakening.
Some
visitors
to the
new
Golden
City
ashram
near
Madras
even
report
that in
addition
to
deeksha,
they
were
told
exactly
when
they
would
reach
final
enlightenment.
As
word of
deeksha
has
spread
in the
West,
Golden
City has
become a
popular
destination
point
for
Western
seekers
traveling
in South
Asia, no
small
boon to
the
reputation
of Amma
and
Bhagavan.
Devotees’
numerous
websites
describe
them as
twin
avatars
(incarnations)
of Lord
Vishnu.
That
title
might
seem
more
than a
little
suspect
these
days
with
self-proclaimed
avatars
proliferating
like
colors
on a
Hindu
holiday,
but
there
is, in
fact,
scriptural
validity
to the
term.
Indeed,
Hindu
texts
tell us
that the
Kalki
avatar
will
help
humanity
transition
out of
the
current
dark
age, or
Kali
Yuga,
and no
doubt
that’s
why
Bhagavan’s
students
spent
many
years
referring
to their
teacher
as the
Bhagavan
Kalki.
But no
longer.
Today,
the
Kalki
references
are out
and
deeksha
is in.
And
Bhagavan
has
speculated
on how
the
transmission
of
deeksha
may be
leading
to a
global
awakening.
He
suggests
that all
we need
is
roughly
sixty-four
thousand
people,
or
one-thousandth
of the
world’s
population,
to
become
transformed,
and a
sort of
golden
age
tipping
point
will
trigger
the
arrival
of the
prophesied
Sat
Yuga
(blessed
age).
What
does
this
popular
avatar
mean by
“transformed”?
According
to one
longtime
disciple,
“changes will
occur in
the
parietal
and
frontal
lobes of
the
brain”
that
will
allow
people
to
experience
“oneness
consciousness.”
Bhagavan
has also
made it
clear
that
humanity’s
transition
to the
Sat
Yuga
is on
the fast
track,
destined
for none
other
than
2012—that
infamous
year
known
for
being,
among
other
things,
the end
of the
Mayan
calendar.
And in
the
“truth
is
stranger
than
fiction”
category,
the
Golden
City
guru is
reported
to have
already
met with
Mayan
elders
about
the
significance
of this
date. So
what
will
2012
bring?
Whatever
the
case,
expect
to see a
flood of
materials
on
deeksha
and the
Golden
City
between
now and
then.
