Babaji made me wait about a year before he gave me ekadas bhav. I asked him for it when I first met him, but he wouldn’t do it. He said I should talk to my guru. After going back to the west to preach for nine months, I went back to Babaji prepared to stay with him for an extended period and begged him to initiate me. We both knew he was the only one who could do it, so he did. I was a sannyasi, chanting 64 rounds, was a devotee for seven years, lived in India for two years, and had pretty much proven myself. I had a burning desire for manjari bhav and nothing was going to stop me.
I’m not saying how long a waiting period there will be, but there must be some and it is only for advanced devotees who are ready for it and will take it seriously. It’s about building relationship with me and the disciplic succession. The only way in is through the grace of the guru. There must be a commitment. Persons must be ready. It’s not for everyone. I don’t want a bunch of people running around, saying they are my disciples and doing bad things. This isn’t for everyone.
Today, persons often have gurus already and the relationships between us all have to be clear. I am not interested in taking another guru’s disciples. I also don’t think many gurus would be happy with their disciples taking initiation from me. I also don’t want persons taking initiation from me and then going to another for initiation. This certainly isn’t for beginners. I represent a line of disciplic succession and siddha pranali which goes with ekadas bhav is the link to that line of grace from Sri Jahnava Devi and Bhaktivinode Thakur. This is costly grace. There is a cost of discipleship. I have spent the past 32 years carrying out Babaji’s orders. I am not going to make this a cheap thing.