In 1974, a 22 year old Italian named Alessandro traveled to India. He never went back. The moment he entered Benares, he was captivated. He adopted the life of a Sadhu and was given the name Shiva Das. The gentle soul departed his mortal body in May 2020.
I believe I met Baba Shiva Das at Assi Ghat in Varanasi in January or Feburary 1997. This is what he said to me (I wrote it down):
“Just make silence, the idea of turning off the ego machine and listening with your whole being. Become the harmony that is chanting the mantra, the names of God. Surrender to cosmic Bhakti, Live with balance in nature. Avoid the conflicts and chaos of desire. Realise what you need and travel through what is called days and nights. The moon is soma juice for all plants and from thoughts and actions you create us. Switch off and make the flow go the other way. Then tune consciousness through levels of perception to new states of ecstasy. What is really you is eternal and has been. We are all ascending into energy but there has been a breakdown. There has been a blockage along the way, a disturbance in the flow. Thoughts are self-fulfilling, so what happens if you stop thinking? Reality makes itself. Do not be distracted by your mind. Silence is penance.”
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