There is a great deal about Sri Upasni Maharaj that parallels shamanic practice. For example, he once described a vision that occurred prior to his enlightenment, when two giants came to crack his head open and let the light out. This "discourse" is from 1924 and explains access to the "Temple of Vishnu" on the bi-monthly Vaishnava fast days called Ekadashi.

This is a Dattatreya lineage and has always been syncretic and extra-Vedic, though Upasni was himself a brahmin ayurvedist from a Vaishnava family. Upasni Maharaj was the student of Shirdi Sai and the primary guru of Meher Baba.




Access to the Moving Temple of Vishnu on Ekadashi

katha with Sri Upasni Maharaj (1924)


It is customary to visit a temple to have the Darshana of God on an Ekadashi day, as the portals of Vaikuntha are supposed to be open particularly on that day. (Ekadashi means observing fast on the eleventh day from the full and new moon days, i.e., twice a month. Vaikuntha is the abode of Vishnu meaning the Infinite Bliss.) Darshana of God on this particular day means one's entry into Vaikuntha.

It should be well-borne in mind that to go for the darshana of a saint is virtually going to Vaikuntha for the darshana of God. Today is the Ekadashi day meant for a visit to Vaikuntha, Sometime ago I have spoken about the story of a moving temple, Anybody who is qualified to enter that temple can do so any time at his will. But on Ekadashi day anybody could get into it. This temple is peculiar in that it consists of halls within halls, which are moving in opposite· directions, the doors of which are located in opposite directions, and whose domes are also situated opposed to each other. If the outer hall has its door towards east, it is moving in a clockwise manner--has its dome in the normal position that is directed above, then the next hall within has its door towards the west, it moves in anti-clockwise direction and its dome is kept in a reversed position - i.e., upside down. The third hall is opposed to the second in every way. The God is sitting in the innermost hall of this temple. It is thus impossible for a commoner to enter this temple and have the darshana. A man who is, however, qualified can enter the temple and pass through the different halls and have his darshana. Just as a guard or a person, who knows how to do it, can alone enter a running train and nobody else, in the same way a man, who is qualified and knows exactly how to go about, can enter this peculiar temple any day he likes, even though it happens to be moving at a high speed. Just as for a commoner there are stations instituted for getting into a train, similarly for a commoner to get into this temple the Ekadashi day is instituted. It is on this particular day that all its doors' come in one straight line, one behind the other, and the temple becomes stationary; anybody can get in on this day. Just as even in a stationary train standing at a station one can get in only when armed with a ticket, in the same way, anybody who knows and observes the cogent regulations can alone have an entry into it on the Ekadashi day. Just as a man without a ticket is not permitted to enter a train, in the same way, a man who has not observed the cogent regulations cannot get into it even on this day. Just as a train always stops at a station at the appointed time whether there is a passenger or not, in the same way, that temple becomes stationary on the Ekadashi day. Just as a person who wants to travel has his food, luggage, a ticket, etc., and is ready to enter the train, in the same way, if a man has been following the various regulations and thus qualified himself, he can have the darshana on that day. A man who is not desirous of having the darshana does not naturally worry about any rules or regulations. The temple becomes stationary at the appointed time and a qualified man can enter it. A person, who knows how to get in and all that, can of course enter the temple at any time he likes; it is for the commoner that the regulations are there; he has to observe a fast on that day; the eleventh day [after full and new moons] is reserved for that purpose for certain reasons. Observe the regulations on that day and qualify yourself to enter the temple.


Now the moving temple is this body. The halls arranged in opposite direction are the three - Sthula, Sukshma and Karana bodies (the gross, the subtle and th causal). The Vaikuntha is the Brahmanda situated in the head. The fasting on Ekadashi day means to starve - to stop the ten senses and the mind' from undertaking any action; to stop the activities of these eleven like that is observing the fast correctly. A man, who observes a fast like that, i.e., observes the Ekadashi, becomes qualified to have' the darshana of Vishnu situated in the Brahmanda located in himself. One can also have similar darshana of Vishnu in Brahmanda by associating with [someone] who has experienced it and who is ever in it, i.e., a Sat-purusha.


(scanned from an ancient, battered 6 vol. set of Upasni's Talks I purchased in Shirdi).