Then the music began. I was expecting Tibetan bells or some kind of Indian sitar music. Instead, we got hardcore, rock music, something like Def Leppard or Iron Maiden. “Oh my God,” I was thinking, in shock. “I’m out of here.” I couldn’t wait for a break to excuse myself and leave this spiritual spectacle.

But then, while looking at Rama, my mind started to slow down. My negatively and prejudging thoughts dissipated. I started to see an amazing halo begin to surround Rama, who was way up at the front of the room. I was seated at the back of the room. I began to see that everyone in front of me had an orange glow around them—actually something between an orange and green haze. Then their bodies began to turn translucent, and I could see the candles on the tables through their shadow-like bodies. My body felt like I was floating in outer space. I sat there, wondering how it was possible I could be seeing through people’s bodies. And what was all this golden light surrounding Rama?

I wondered about Rama. “Is this guy doing this? What’s happening?” I realized I couldn’t really hear the music anymore. All I heard was an incredible AAAAAA—UUUU—MMMMM—the sound of a billion humming bees buzzing at the same time. It was loud, coming from inside my heart and up through my forehead, between my eyebrows. I felt incredible ecstasy and love; the same love I’d experienced a couple of times in my life: once when I was younger, praying to Jesus, and twice when I was in the Marin headlands hiking. Then it hit me: The voice I’d heard on the beach, telling me about giving up drinking and how a miracle beyond my wildest comprehension would happen, was the same voice as Rama. A year later, I was connecting the voice with a real person. This was bizarre…impossible! Because of this immense jolt of recognition, I thought for a moment that I was in a dream. Was I really sitting with three hundred other people at the Fairmount Hotel, witnessing miracles? How could this be?

As I watched Rama, he suddenly turned into a woman, then into a Buddha with a long white beard and pointy crown atop his head. Next, he turned into a huge, muscular man, who looked like a warrior from another planet. Then he was a tiny ten-year-old boy with straight, blond hair. Rama’s face was changing every other second, changing into different beings right in front of my eyes. Meanwhile the joy and love I was feeling continued to increase. What was happening? This was a miracle!

The golden light coming from Rama filled the entire room. White light, golden light, and the audience were reduced to shadows. It was as if Steven Spielberg was doing special effects for us. There was nothing subtle; this experience was awesome and dramatic. But it wasn’t just visual. The energy was incredibly strong, such a strong energy that I could hear the buzzing of hundreds of bees inside my head, as well as feel this extraordinary ecstasy throughout my entire being. The hole I’d felt for so long within me was finally being filled¾filled with love. All of my bodies felt whole again—This was the first time I realized I have several bodies, all intertwined with each other. Words appeared across the inner screen of my mind, “The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit all are One.” The trinity I’d always been looking for is locked inside me!

God, my soul, and my mind all appeared separately, and then merged in perfect union. The emerging of the three, and then the absorption into one, continued to happen while I was also being taught profound teachings. However, the teachings were conveyed to me in the most unconventional manner. This is what I learned: The mind, is a simple, but powerful, gift God gave us. It is the mind which is responsible for creating all things, including our personality and ego. It is the ego that is separate from the divine, and it suffers from being alone. We give the mind too much power and it thinks it is running the show. For most people on this planet, the mind is ruling their lives. That is why most people live in illusion. The mind creates many transitory realities that we do not question. Who am I? This question is never truly asked. Make your mind work for your soul, do not be a slave of the mind. If we associate with mind only, we shut the light out. We need the light, because we are light! It is the light that allows us to keep evolving. It is the light that brings us to God.

I was thunderstruck by the profound concepts that entered my being. Furthermore, I was instantaneously grasping everything being shown to me. The teachings were not vocal, nor were they visual. These silent teachings were more like illuminating truth within me; truth that I already knew from a distant past. I was remembering what I always knew to be true, but it was hidden deeply inside—inside of me.

Rama’s presence burned through all of the illusions I had about my religious convictions. What I thought I knew about God was completely wrong.

I heard myself asking myself, “Who told me these illusions?”

I replied, “Society did…I guess.”

“Who is to blame for these lies?” I retorted.

I thought for a moment, then said, “Nobody.”

I realized our society is not motivated by truth. Society is controlled by its own illusions. Illusions are lies told as truth, and yet no one ever gets blamed for telling them. How can you point the finger at the collective consciousness of our entire society? Illusions are hard to shatter too, because it is disheartening for the ego to be wrong. It is especially painful when the illusion you have so desperately protected is exposed as a lie and there is no story to take its place. It is the mind’s job to wrap up all loose ends and assure a logical conclusion to all unknown mysteries. And God is a mystery that can never be wrapped up! No conclusions to this story, my friends—it’s endless!

And I suddenly heard, “AND SO ARE YOU—ENDLESS!”

“I am endless. I am without end.” I actually said out loud, which helped to bring me back to my body.

Then it all began to slow down, the energy began to dissipate. I was overwhelmed, but not at all frightened. Though I’d never experienced such spiritual intensity, it seemed natural and familiar. My soul seemed to know what this was and longed for it. Almost as though every one of us should be able to do this. Can you image how the world would be transformed?

The music ended, and Rama asked if anyone had experienced anything. I rocketed out of my chair, several feet above the floor, and yelped, “Oh, my God! Oh, my God! I did!” Everyone laughed hysterically. Rama laughed, too, and asked for my name. I just stood there, unable to speak. I couldn’t remember my name. It was as though I’d forgotten who I was. I couldn’t think in words or English. Language structures were temporarily lost to me. Finally, I muttered something like, “I can’t talk.” I sounded like a chimpanzee. This made everyone laugh again. Rama suggested I sit down, get grounded, and have some sugar, “It helps to ground you,” he explained. I agreed, and Rama went on to hear from other people who could talk.

Amazingly, many people had similar experiences. How was this possible? How could we have had the same experience?

Rama ended his presentation, and I sat in awe. I didn’t care who this man was, where he was going¾I wanted to be with him. He was what I’d been searching for all my life.

I went up to the front of the room to introduce myself. This time, I thought I’d be able to talk. Rama asked me what my question was. I looked into his eyes. It was like looking into two black holes of infinity. I’d never seen anyone’s eyes like that. It was unsettling, but also absolutely amazing and loving at the same time. Part of me was scared, yet part of me was screaming, “Take me! Take me! This is where I want to go!” My ego was terrified, but my spirit was elated. I was seeing that we are more than a singularity of being. We’re many layers, like an onion. I realized at that moment that I was ego and spirit at the same time.

I stood in front of Rama, still unable to speak coherently. He asked, “Well, what is your question?” I mumbled something unintelligible. He explained that there were people in line, waiting to speak to him, so what was my question? I couldn’t formulate my question, so he decided to answer my question without my voicing it.

“You want to know whether you should continue praying to Jesus or pray to me.” Rama, psychically, went into my mind and found the question. Here was his answer: “Jesus will always be your teacher. And life is more your teacher than I will ever be. Everything in life is God. I recommend you trust life, trust God.”

I was dumbfounded! Not only could this man do what he’d done in the meditation, but he could read my mind and determine my questions without me opening my mouth. I must have looked like I was going to faint, because he said, “Why don’t you go help that woman behind you? She lost her earring, and she’s in the back, on the floor, looking for it.” I turned around and didn’t see the woman to whom he was referring, but I went to the back of the room, and, sure enough, there was a woman underneath a table. How had Rama been able to see this person? I asked her if she needed help. She replied, “Yes, I just lost my earring.” I got down on all fours to help her search. It then dawned on me that Rama couldn’t have known about her losing her earring because she’d just lost it!

Helping her search for the earring on the floor helped me get grounded. The blood came back to my head, yet I was still in a state of bliss¾this entire evening had been a complete and utter miracle!

After the seminar ended, I went swinging on some swings in a playground across the street from the Fairmount Hotel. Everything was glowing. The stars had an extra twinkle to them. The lights on the street had an aura around them. I was full of energy and completely high. This natural high was supreme to any other high I’d experienced before. The phrase, “My cup runneth over…” came to mind. I was filled.

Remarkably, this high lasted a number of days. I was super-energized. That first night, I couldn’t fall asleep. The miracle beyond my wildest comprehension had actually happened! It was amazing! I couldn’t comprehend it all, nothing like this had ever happened to me before. It was much better than falling in love, because I was in love with the universe. Finally, here was a man who could teach me about the hidden realities I always knew existed. I was about to take a plunge into the cosmic sea, and I was ready—or so I thought.

I couldn’t wait to tell my friends about the previous night’s miraculous extravaganza, so as soon as six in the morning rolled around, I began calling all my friends to tell them about my experience. “Oh, my God, oh, my God, the most amazing thing happened to me last night.” I tried to tell them my story, but they countered with, “Oh, Danny, maybe they drugged you,” “It was the power of suggestion,” or “It sounds like a cult to me.”

“No, no. This really happened,” I tried to tell them.

Prior to this miraculous event, I had tried every recreational drug out there, and believe me, what I had experienced was no drug. Besides, you would think that bringing three hundred people to a hundred-dollar dinner, and then drugging them at the most posh hotel in San Francisco would lead to the lawsuit of the century! I learned years later that it was easier for the public, manipulated by the media’s lies, to label us a cult than it was to have the courage to explore the mysteries and miracles we were continually experiencing, drug free, I might add.

Darshan: Communication transmitted by being in the presence of a holy person or place. By merely looking at the yogi and receiving the yogi’s glance, an immense spiritual energy is transferred which can profoundly transform one’s consciousness.

Phone call, after phone call, I kept calling, hoping one of my friends would validate my experience. But they could not believe me. How could they? How could they understand it if they didn’t see and feel it for themselves? This event had to be experienced in person. They literally had to experience it, because most of the knowledge I received was transmitted without words. So how was I to communicate my treasure wordlessly? Later, I would learn that there are more ways to communicate with people than “speaking.” It is called darshan in Eastern philosophy.

Finally, I called my best friend, David, who, at the time, was a confirmed atheist. Actually, I didn’t even know why we were friends, because I ardently believed God existed. We really didn’t have much in common, plus he was nearly ten years younger then myself, but for some reason we became transitory brothers of sorts. Many years have passed since then, and with out a doubt, he is my favorite hobbit. Anyway…getting back to the story, I told David everything I had experienced with Rama. I had to convince David that he had to see Rama for himself. I begged him. It was that important to me!

In retrospect, I believed I needed validation for the miracles I experienced. If someone who knew me well went to see Rama and had similar experiences, maybe it would prove I wasn’t losing my mind to my other friends. Plus, being an atheist made David the best candidate for the job.

Finally, I got him to agree to see Rama the next time he was in town. When David did go, I had a family ski vacation in Lake Tahoe at the same time, so I couldn’t attend the seminar. However, I will never forget the three a.m. phone call I received from David.

“WOW—that was cool!” he exclaimed. He didn’t say much more, he just giggled and kept saying, “WOW!”

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