When he came out of his Samadhi, he made a divine resolve to spread the Name, he sang daily "Hare Krishna" in the Sadhan Samiti, Institute of Spiritual Culture founded by him. He declared: 'I shall give the Naam to all, even to Mohamedans in Arabia and Christians in Europe.I shall preach the Name from door to door.'

The ways of the divine are inscrutable; before he could finish his satsankalpa he left his body. It fell upon Sri Gurudeva (Sitaramdas Omkarnath) to finish this task.

Baba writes: "In 1933, I took a vow of silence for one month with effect from the Uttarayana Sankranti. During Pranava japa ringing of bells could be heard in Nada. Then I heard with both my ears: "Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare, Hare Ram Hare Ram Ram Ram Hare Hare". Naam began to be sung by many voices and to many instruments in the invisible sphere. No man was in sight: only the music of the "Hare Krishna" Naam continued in many voices and to many instruments. A fortnight or more passed in this way. Day in, day out, night in, night out, the music went on without a break. It was thus "Hare Krishna" Naam revealed itself to me."

Then in 1936, Sri Gurudeva appeared before me in dream and said, "The Name has to be preached."

On the night of 24th April 1937, while he was in samadhi, Jagannath Deva appeared holding the flute, aureoled in transcendent light, accompanied with sweet sound of the bell. "Go, go, go and gift the Name (Hare Krishna Mantra) to the people of this world," saying this, He disappeared.

The satsankalap of Param Gurudeva is still left unfinished.and it is the duty of all of us to fulfil it.

In Omkareshwar, in the very place where Sri Sri Sitaramdas Omkarnath communed with God, during the time Sri Sri Vitthal Ramanuja was penning the spiritual classic, The Eternal Festival, in his meditation arose in the sankalpa to take Thakur's massage to the West.

Omkarnath Movement was thus born.

OMKARNATH MOVEMENT

'Omkarnath Movement' is the name of a spiritual movement that has had its beginnings somewhere in the hoary past of ancient India. Today it is an international movement. The great saints and sages of India preserved and nurtured the sanatana dharma (eternal religion). The precious knowledge garnered by them was handed down generation after generation in tersely worded sutras. Disciples learnt and practised the required disciplines, imbibed, realized and then propagated the spiritual beliefs. Through time, their enlightenment has served as living proof of the great truths contained in the Hindu philosophy. In the present age this movement has been given a fresh momentum by the great incarnation of God, Anant Sri Sitaramdas Omkarnath Dev ('Anant' is an appellation that may be attached to the one who has achieved the beatitude of infinite proportions. It is a literal description of His achievement). Sri Sitaramdas Omkarnath is the much beloved of many holy personages and is regarded by adepts as the Saviour of this Dark Age. Sri Omkarnath Dev hailed from Bengal in India, the same Bengal that gave birth to Sri Ramkrishna and Sri Vivekananda some generations earlier. In a long life spanning ninety years (1892-1982), He did much that gave a fresh fillip to the renaissance of Hinduism.

What, one may ask, is the Omkarnath Movement? Is it a journey towards Omkar? Is it a journey guided by Omkarnath? It is both and therefore a journey that holds much promise! This movement is a journey of the spirit, a pilgrimage that is most festive. What is the goal of this pilgrimage? This pilgrimage must lead one to a state that can only be described as an 'Eternal Festival'! Replete as this state is with delightful spiritual experiences, one may approach it in a spirit of celebration! The 'Eternal Festival' is a concomitant of God-realisation. It is a condition characterized by Bliss and Peace.

The Srimad Bhagawatam renders an apt description of this 'Eternal Festival':

Tadeva ramyam ruchiram navan navam
Tadeva shaswat manaso mahotsavam
Tadeva shokarnava shoshanam nrinam
Yaduttamahshloka yashah anugiyate (Srimad Bhagawatam 12/ 12/ 49)

What do these words mean? They translate as 'Only the words and thoughts that bespeak the glory of God lead us to the grand Eternal Festival of the mind and soak thereby the entire sea of human grief.' 'Tadeva shaswat manaso mahotsavam' translates as 'that is the grand Eternal Festival for the mind! Eureka! Here is the hidden treasure one is frantically looking for!!'

How bold and revolutionary an assurance! What a promise to the bleeding hearts and distracted minds of the people immersed in that sea of sorrows called life! By singing the glory of God you obtain the most coveted 'gate-pass' to that grand Eternal Festival! In this dreamland, all sufferings, physical and mental, materialistic and spiritual, will have come to a dead halt! In the twinkling of an eye! You will begin to experience an immense peace and enormous joy hitherto unknown. Such is the impact, such is the intoxication, and such is the magic spell of that Eternal Festival!

The Gita, the Crest Jewel among the Scriptural texts, bears testimony to this world of enchantment:

Yam labdhwa chaaparam laavan manyate naadhikam tatah
Yasmin sthito na dukhena gurunaapi vichalyate (Sri Sri Gita 6-20)

'You will reach the state wherein the entire potential for Bliss and Peace is realized. It will become clear that now there is no greater gain or bliss to be realized. Once established firmly in this state, the most dreadful of sorrows may not shake you.'

If you wish to witness or to participate in this grand Eternal Festival, you need not wait for the Durga Puja festival, the lamp festival of Diwali, the Car festival (Rath Yatra) or the Christmas Eve. You need not shop frantically and spend much money. You do not have to have a tug of war within and without, trying to make ends in the face of a paucity of funds. You do not have to even stir out of your home! The dazzling fireworks, the clamorous meet microphones and other distractions may be ignored. But then surely a long period of sadhana or religious discipline is to be undergone? Omkarnath explains, as does the Gita, that you need not wait long to gain the experience of the few sacred moments! What then must one do to arrive at this stage?

All you have to do is be in any place that is comfortable and at any hour read and reread, discuss, describe, hear and explain the glorious and marvellous Divine Sports of Bhagawan Sri Ram, Bhagawan Sri Krishna, Sri Shankaracharya, Sri Ramanujacharya, Sri Chaitanya, Sri Ramakrishna, Jesus Christ, Gautam Buddha, Paigambar Mohammed, Tirthankar Mahavir, Guru Nanak, or Sri Bhagawan Omkarnath - the most recent and precious of the great saints or incarnations! If possible, slowly but steadily, you have to learn the thrilling technique of contemplation on the gestures and postures, the virtues and natures, the dialogues and speeches, the Divine Sports, even the favourite haunts or holy abodes of these Supreme Incarnations of God. The principal means however would be the japa of your favourite Mantra. If there is none, you may engage in the japa of Mahamantra 'Hare Krishna' or 'Guru'.

What is the Mahamantra? The Mahamantra is a mantra of sixteen words known as the Taarak Brahma Naam of the Kali Yuga. The uniqueness of this mantra is that it may be chanted without obtaining diksha (formal initiation), such is its appropriateness to be chanted in the Kali Yuga by just anybody. It suffices as a means to grant the pinnacle of spiritual experience. It complements and enhances the efficacy of all other mantras that may have been granted by initiation. This mantra invokes Lord Vishnu in the form of Rama and Krishna:

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare

What is meant by japa on 'Guru'? Chanting 'Guru Guru' creates a powerful force that begins the cleansing of the sanskaras (karmic impressions carried over lives). 'Guru' is identical with the Primordial Guru, Lord Shiva. On achieving the state symbolized by Shiva it is possible to have enlightenment in the form of the advaita experience. Meditation on 'Guru' awakens the Kundalini Shakti and reaches Her to the abode of Shiva.

At the approach of festive times we throw away tattered clothes and put on new ones. We decorate our bodies with fine attire, shining ornaments and accessories. We anoint ourselves with oils and perfumes until not only the body but even the mind seems to acquire a new radiance. The achievement of meditation (japa) is similar, only a thousand times more powerful. Your minds will shine during meditation (and even before and after it), with new thoughts and emotions; your hearts will bubble with some unfathomable and unforgettable delight, and above all, a sense of deep fulfillment. And if God so wishes or grants, you may be able, step by step, or without waiting in the least, to listen to the Celestial Sounds (Anahata Naad) or see the Transcendental Light (Divya Jyoti) or have the unique and beatific Vision of God - all within! You may get immersed in unparalleled eternal bliss!

The new dresses or jewellery you wear on festival days must get stained sooner or later. The sense of glamour and good humour, pride and victory, must soon succumb to a sense of total frustration or depression, failure and embarrassment. Futility of life, attacks of disease and then fears of mortal existence then engulf your entity! This is what life is! But not so with the inner life or spiritual bliss! If by any means you can experience a taste of this inner intoxication once, you are bound to want to go deeper and deeper within and soar higher and higher in the spiritual realm. This is not the end of the progress reports. This intoxication will follow also in your next birth or abode. Why, this is the nectarine world that our forefathers had reached in the days of yore and made emphatic declarations about in the Upanishad: 'Nalpe sukham asti, bhumaiva sukham' (Chhandogya Upanishad 7-23-35)- There is no genuine joy in the mundane world; it is all there in the transcendental. The Bible says: 'The kingdom of Heaven is within you. This kingdom within us is the one to which Sri Bhagawan Omkarnath Dev beckons, in a manner that bespeaks much affection and concern. He says:

"Beloved! Come, come to Me! Look, it is not once, but in Age after Age that I am calling you. Come, I am calling you through the Upanishad, the Ramayana, the Mahabharata and the Puranas; I am calling you as holy men and saints. In birth after birth I am calling you as your soul's soul. Come; come, with your vision cleared of illusion, just look once!

How much you have suffered from disease, sorrow, want and so on! O sufferer! Come, come, here I am! Here is my stretched bosom: Keeping you concealed there, I will remove all your pain!

Here there is no scorching heat. Here is only soothing light flooding all around. It's echoing always with Unstruck Sound (Anahat Naad) -music of the lyre, violin, tabor and flute. Here the sky rains nectar perpetually and a stream of nectar flows on. Everything here is made of bliss: Embodied bliss is dancing here all around! Come running! Come and see!"

- Abhay Vaani' ('Message of Fearlessness') - Sri Sri Omkarnath

How does one reach that metaphorical Utopia, that state of eternal festivity? What is the deeper meaning of existence? Such a question is asked by an earnest seeker. He believes it is worth his while to solve the mystery of existence and soul through self-effort. Knowing the near impossible nature of the task, he is happy to draw on the advice and the experiences of the ones who know.