The sun had set and were it not for the electric torches provided by Swami, I would not be able to see my hand before my face. In keeping with the traditional Indian custom, Swami invited me to stay overnight. I readily accepted. Soon the night's darkness was accompanied by a chilling breeze which blew through the cracks in the cottage, causing whirlpools of leaves to stir on the concrete floor. About 8:00 p.m. Swami Shankardasji fixed me a bedroll of blankets and I snuggled in for the night. Not used to retiring so early, I lay awake recalling the time twenty years earlier when I had met Tat Wale Baba.

It was March 30, 1969. I was at Maharishi Mahesh Yogi's ashram, attending a course to become a teacher of the Transcendental Meditation program. The ashram was located on a hill overlooking the Ganges, just about a kilometer below the retreat of Tat Wale Baba. There were 120 other people from all parts of the world also attending the training at the ashram. News quickly spread that Maharishi Mahesh Yogi had invited "the wise man of the mountains," Tat Wale Baba, to come visit us that afternoon. In the early afternoon we all anxiously waited for our guest to arrive.

At the appointed time several ochre-robed men made their way toward the lecture hall. Along with them was Maharishi Mahesh Yogi who was accompanied by Tat Wale Baba, a muscular golden-brown-skinned Adonis. Also joining along were some of the course participants. Tat Wale Baba's features were much like that of an American Indian. He was naked except for an ochre loincloth which was held around his waist with a brass chain. His black braided hair flowed down his back and was so long that, were it not carried by an attendant, it would have trailed along the ground. The unworldly beauty of this man was unsurpassed by any individual that I had ever seen. I can best compare him with the godlike men depicted in mythology. Tat Wale Baba was also called Mahavir Dash, meaning "Hanuman, servant of Rama."