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He
is not a guru, a prophet, a sage or a shaman. As he says, “I
never intended to be anybody.” Yet for many of the people who
have experienced his gifts, Tilak is definitely somebody. Tilak
refers to himself jokingly as “a maitre d’ at life’s feast.
I invite people to partake of the joy and beauty of living. People
may come into the world with special gifts or sensitivities but
they have to be activated. They have to earn their realizations
and freedom.”
As
a small boy growing up in
Sri
Lanka
,
Tilak experienced what he refers to as “a series of pleasant
surprises.”
One of the first of which was an experience Tilak had smelling a
Jasmine flower. “There was a beautiful connection with the
flower but it was more than just an experience of the senses. It
was a mental and emotional understanding of the wonder and delight
of the flower that was in my whole body and in my mind. The flower
and I were one.” Amazingly, Tilak never questioned this or any
of his other unusual experiences or the strange effects he had on
people as he was growing up. He simply accepted them knowing full
well that others around him were not sharing his experiences. “I
felt like I had another world within the world that other people
live in. I didn’t think of these experiences as some kind of
profound, sacred or spiritual knowledge. From the time when I was
a little boy I had a delight and wonder in nature and the world.
When you are a little boy you don’t call this spirituality.
Spirituality is something adults use to describe their
experiences.”
When
Tilak was 21 he had a serious accident in which he was hit by a
bus. While he was convalescing, many of his friends from medical
school and other colleges who came to visit him experienced a
pleasant surprise. In Tilak’s presence, they experienced a
pleasant intoxication of feeling light and giddy. They ran back to
their dorms to study with a raging passion. Word spread very soon
and hundreds of students came to see Tilak to experience his
mysterious gift. When they came they were invited into this sweet
space that not only made them earn incredible grades on their
exams, but gave them a deep inspirational passion for whatever
they were studying. It was through these interactions that
Tilak’s work came to the surface and in the limelight in
Sri Lanka
. Very soon
after this, while he was in his mid-twenties, many scientists and
physicians became fascinated by his unique transformational gifts
and sensitivities. This added fire to his flawless wisdom that
brought him to
England
and then
finally to the
USA
.
Tilak
had to discover a format to expose this incredible space of
lightness. Finally he found a way in which a person could lie
down, as he would sit behind them and blow into their forehead
while gently tapping with his fingers on the person’s temples.
Later, this became known as a “session.” Just like a
strawberry is not the same when it is dipped in chocolate sauce,
in the same way, after a person gets exposed to Tilak’s opening
and transmission, they will never be the same. They will be left
with a profound sweetness and lightness.
Using
this unique perspective, Tilak has developed a teaching that he
calls The Path of Liberation.
“The Path of Liberation is not a release or a traditional idea
of escape. It is liberation from yourself. It is about opening a
new gateway to the creation of a new life starting now.”
According to Tilak, there are five steps on the Path of Liberation
that he elucidates through his teachings and encounters. “The
first step to liberation is what I call Opening a Gateway to a new
life now in this moment. The second is Sweet Surrender. It means
living without friction or resistance to life. The third is
Transformation of Energy, which means to live without reactions. I
refer to it as becoming porous. The fourth is Smart Thinking or a
rapid, intelligent response to whatever happens to you. And the
final step is Unconditional Wonder or Unreasonable Happiness. This
is when you inhabit a space of existing in happiness without a
reason and feel it in your heart and your body. Through these
steps, a person can learn to live without interference from the
self or others.”
Tilak’s
students have experienced profound positive changes as a result of
their contact with him. Many see lights when he blows into their
eyes and feel an inexplicable sense of lightness and joy
afterward. This opens a gateway to live life in excellence as an
outrageous adventure. To this day, Tilak does not question the
source of his gifts. He simply accepts them along with all of the
wondrous mysteries of the world that he is trying to make better,
one person at a time.
YOGItimes
magazine for the modern yogi, June 2004 Issue 23
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