Here, we have from Dr. Lewis a firsthand account of his experiences with Master days before his leaving the body. Dr. Lewis gave this talk three days after Master’s Mahasamadhi:
Now I’ll tell you one or two things about my own experiences with him the last few days. Lately he has been reminiscing about how we started way back in Boston, 32 years ago. He said, “Remember Electric Avenue?” That’s where we used to live. “All the good times we used to have?” And I said, “Yes.” And he said, “We’ve had a good life, haven’t we?” I said, “That’s right.” I said, “Yes, we might have been hanging around a night club and things like that. But no. This is better. We can let go.” Then he said quickly, without much emphasis, “We’ll be parted for a little while and then we’ll be together again.” But the delusion is so great that even then I wouldn’t accept it. I knew my soul went just right back when he said it. Sure, the Lord keeps it covered up pretty well.
When he said we’d be separated for a little bit but then together again, then he said right at that time, I remember so distinctly, “But remember, I’ll be closer to you when I’m out of this body, than I have been in the body.” So remember, there is the key. So let us not be depressed. Let us not feel bad. God is running the show. We are His children, and His Infinite Light is with us. In that Light is the Master and all great saints. There is nothing to fear except if we do not stay in that Light and Consciousness. That’s all.
And so, I feel better. A load has been lifted. I didn’t know what the load was, with some physical trouble going with it. But the load was that coming events cast their shadow, and the Soul knows it. And so be of good cheer. The Master is not away from us. He is with us more, and more.
Master’s last Evening
Master was scheduled to give a speech welcoming the new Ambassador from India during a banquet at the Biltmore Hotel in Las Angeles. What a fulfillment, an Ambassador from a free India! The freedom movement led by Mahatma Gandhi, whom Master had met and initiated into Kriya Yoga; a freedom movement that came with definite birth pains but was at last a reality—that Master had lived long enough to see it become a reality. The new Ambassador and his wife had come to a luncheon put on by Master, and they all got on famously.
The night of the banquet Master had reserved a room at the Biltmore to rest beforehand. He had been carrying a terrific load in his body, enduring so much pain, heart problems and difficulty in walking. He said that Divine Mother had scheduled that he leave his body well before this time, but he had prayed for more time so he could complete his commentary on the Bhagavad Gita—which he did and pronounced that it was ready to publish.
This is what Dr. Lewis said during that same talk about Master’s physical condition in his last years (remember Master was only in his fifties at the time):
And then, from then on it was a terrific fight. For a long, long time he just laid there. Because you cannot take the karma of thousands of people, thousands of people, without a reaction–that’s the spiritual law. It is not ordinary sickness. People make that mistake. It is because he takes the sins and the karma of others. And he has told me two things which were a direct result of the taking of karma of others. One was the condition of his legs. The other was the condition of his heart.
And so, from then on, for months he laid without moving. Gradually up, and walking about. He said many times, “I have no interest.” He said, “It’s only a few little things I have to make myself want to enjoy the senses,” and so forth. “But,” he said, “for a few of you, I stay.” Now these are facts.
Even though he endured so much suffering in his body, he continued to move the world toward God. So, he attended the banquet and when you see his picture known as “the last smile,” taken that evening you would never guess he was ready to leave the body, he radiates so much light, love and divinity.
Master stood to talk, the room quieted, and he gave a lively, funny and heartfelt talk. He told a favorite story about when he first arrived in America. He had heard about Native Americans scalping white men, and when he saw a number of bald men walking about he thought with horror that the Indians must have been at work! Then, he concluded his talk with a recitation of his poem, “My India:”
Hail, mother of religions, lotus, scenic beauty,
And sages!
Thy wide doors are open,
Welcoming God’s true sons through all ages.
Where Ganges, woods, Himalayan caves, and men dream God –
I am hallowed; my body touched that sod.
Ah, as Master concluded this poem he felt himself leaving the body. He turned to his right, the traditional way for a yogi’s mahasamadhi is to rotate to the right three times. But, as usual Master was in a rush when it came to God, and he only started his first turn when he dropped his body—flying to his eternal freedom in God, flying to the feet of his dearest Guru, flying into the spiritual arms of his Infinite Beloved.
Master was not “taken away,” rather he is now permeating every particle of space, in every flower’s fragrance and the golden sunset. Even closer, he is in your heart and can be heard in your soul’s whispers. Master is ever with the attuned soul, ever waiting for you to follow him into your eternal oneness with your Heavenly Father and Divine Mother.