Ramesh S. Balsekar's enlightenment occurred in 1979 on Diwali, the Hindu "festival of lights," one year after his first meeting with the guru or spiritual teacher Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj. When Sri Nisargadatta passed away in 1981, Sri Balsekar became a teacher and guru in his own right, and seekers from all over the world began attending his daily morning talks in Bombay.

I first met Sri Balsekar in July 1993, at his residence in Bombay. To my knowledge, Sri Balsekar has declared seven of his disciples to be enlightened, and all of them have in turn become spiritual teachers.
During my three year acquaintance with him, I had the good fortune to meet with six of these enlightened disciples. This book recounts different experiences of spiritual search, expressed in the form of questions that seekers ask of their guru Sri Balsekar and his enlightened disciples, and the answers they give.
Through these exchanges, the reader will see unfolding the story of a guru father and his disciple children: how he brought them up and guided them; how they matured into enlightened accomplishment, and how they were gently coaxed into becoming gurus themselves.

The book contains six first-hand accounts of the occurrence of enlightenment and the subsequent transformation from seeker to guru. It tells the story of the guru's acknowledgment and confirmation of his disciples' enlightenment, and their initiation into guruship when they are publicly authorized to teach.
It gives us glimpses of a guru freshman's first baby steps in his new teaching career. It is a story full of the intimacy which ensues when the guru and his enlightened disciples meet in private, and what they say to each other during such private meetings.
It shows how the guru encourages his disciples to ask their questions, and prompts his enlightened disciples to answer them on his behalf. And it is the (at times, painful) story of seekers trying to progress in their spiritual search by getting answers to questions which, with great hope and expectation, they pose to their guru and enlightened guru bhais (fellow disciples of the same guru).

I had not intended to produce a book dealing with such issues.
Indeed, it was not until February 1997 that the idea of compiling material on this subject came to me in a sudden flash of inspiration. I was then preparing another book on Sri Balsekar's teaching and, while thus engaged, the understanding crystallized in me that the focal interest of the spiritual seeker is the actual enlightenment occurrence, which is the culmination of the guru-disciple relationship.
I decided to gather into a book all the talks and conversations between Sri Balsekar and his enlightened disciples that I had witnessed, participated in, and recorded.
In these conversations they describe their search in their own words and how it concluded in final and total understanding and enlightenment.

Looking back, I can now date the book's conception to an incident which occurred in February 1994 during a two-week seminar that Sri Balsekar was giving at Kovalam Beach (Kerala, India).
In one of the seminar's question and answer sessions, I had asked:
"I can easily recognize you as an enlightened guru and master. On the other hand, it is important to me as a seeker to know if your guruship has "produced" one or more disciples of yours who have blossomed into the same complete level of enlightened understanding that you have.
To know of the occurrence of enlightenment in one or some of your devotees would definitely give me great courage to keep my own search going. And it would give me hope to end it possibly eventually successfully. Therefore, my question is, 'Are there any of your devotees who have the same understanding you have? Do any enlightened devotees of yours exist?'"
Sri Balsekar answered, "Do you want me to specify and name some certain people?"
"Well, you can go all the way and name them," I said.
Sri Balsekar replied, "There have been some and there are some, yes. What Henry (Swift) told you yesterday should give you an indication of what has been happening regarding my devotees enlightenment.
(The day before, Sri Balsekar had asked Henry Swift to tell those present at the seminar about his spiritual search and how it had ended.)
In his report Henry made it perfectly clear that he remained a perfectly ordinary gentleman after his enlightenment like me.
For something to happen, for enlightenment to happen, the instrument the body-mind organism has to be ready. And when the instrument is ready, enlightenment can happen from any level, from the intellectual level or any other level.
So, if you mean to ask whether there have been cases in which the understanding has been total, and enlightenment has happened, my answer is yes. In more than one case? Yes! In how many cases? I don't know."

Some two months after the Kovalam Beach seminar, I was talking to Sri Balsekar on the telephone when he said:
"Marc (Beuret) from Switzerland is coming to Bombay for a visit next week. Do you know him? He has the final, total understanding. Come and meet him! Why don't you bring your video camera along?"

A week later I sat opposite Marc Beuret in Sri Balsekar's study.
I questioned him about his spiritual search, the actual enlightenment occurrence and how his life story could assist my own search for enlightenment.
My questions were not prepared or written up beforehand.
Although the camera was running, I was questioning Marc spontaneously as part of my own spiritual quest. The transcript of this first interview is given in Chapter III of this book.

Shortly before Guru Purnima Day (religious festival in India at which disciples renew their dedication to their guru) in July of the same year, Sri Balsekar again invited me to come to Bombay, saying, "Madhukar, you know Margarete (Beuret) from the Kovalam Beach seminar? The total understanding happened to her a few days ago. She will be here next week. Come over to Bombay! Why don't you bring your camera along?"
I recorded the conversations with her, too. The transcript of this second interview is given in Chapter IV.

During the next two years, video-recordings were made of a series of interviews and question and answer sessions involving Sri Balsekar himself and three of his enlightened disciples: Henry Swift, Elke von der Osten and Wayne Liquorman. In Elke von der Osten's case the enlightenment incident was actually recorded live, as it unfolded, during one of Sri Balsekar's regular morning talks in his living room.
Short biographical notes on Ben Pierce, Anne Baerwolf and Bianka have also been included, so as to complete the record of Sri Balsekar's enlightened disciples.

The accounts given in this book are all transcripts of video recordings filmed in India.
A short introductory note has been added to each one so as to clarify the context in which the conversations occurred. To round off the series of conversations it contains, the book concludes with an Epilogue giving an overview of the guru-disciple relationship as taught in Advaita Vedanta.

In homage to Sri Balsekar's guru, Nisargadatta Maharaj, the Appendix features an unabridged re-print of Jean Dunn's article about Maharaj, published in the October 1978 issue of "The Mountain Path" (courtesy of Sri Ramanashramam).
It was through reading this article that Sri Balsekar learned of Sri Nisargadatta's existence and came to find his second and final guru.
The Appendix also contains the transcript of the teachings given by Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj on Diwali Day 1979.

Ramesh S. Balsekar
"There was tremendous sense of Oneness, not only between Maharaj and myself, but a oneness with the whole existence, with Totality.
There was a tremendous sense of oneness which, quite frankly, made words seem so unnecessary. That's why there was certain amount of impatience to get done with the talk. Words seemed so unnecessary.
It is there!
At the same time, I had the reluctant wish that someone else was translating. For then I wouldn't have needed to do the translations, and I could have been exclusively in the experience, without doing a job at the same time."

Henry Swift
"I intended to stand up from my seat. At this moment, something happened which I can only describe with a smile. I felt as if an avalanche was coming down over me and was about to bury me.
Then, I felt myself drowning, as if I was drowning. I couldn't breathe anymore. I was just paning. It happened at a time when there were no expectations anymore."

Marc Beuret
"I was filled and over come by the feeling of a very intense or dense presence. Along with that presence, the deepest possible intuitive knowing came into existence that there is nothing but That.
At the same time, it was known that all phenomena, all things perceived, are just an illusion, and nothing other than That.
I don't know what happened, or how the occurrence came about, or what his presence was. I don't even want to know.
And I don't care. It was so simple and natural. There was no exalted feeling of ecstasy or joy. There were no tears, no thunder and lightning; there was just awareness and certitude, and the feeling of peace and love."

Margarete Beuret
"It was the moment in which the disciple came to the Master without any expectation or imagination. The mind was totally empty, and the heart was full of love. In this moment it happened that the Satguru showered his love on the disciple. And that was the extinction of the last minute tinge, the unveiling was complete."

Elke von der Osten
"All there is, is God! It doesn't matter! It really doesn't matter! There is no better and there is no worse, it just is! There is just nothing, it just is!
I was always seeking for something better! I can't believe it! Oh, God! There is no such thing as enlightenment! Oh, God! There is so much energy, and freedom! And relief, and and absolute love, just love. Not directed to anyone, it is just there. It is so simple! It is so simple!"

Wayne Liquorman
"My body was convulsing in horrendous waves of sadness. I felt myself drowned into this huge, immense pit of suffering. I was falling into a abyss of horrendous pain. Yet there was no resistance to it. Something had let go. The suffering and pain could not hurt me because its reality was not connected to who I truly was."