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Kriya Yoga in Sri Lanka continuedpersons from all of the communities. Its message of“unity in diversity” echoed by all the speakers, struck asympathetic chord in the hearts of listeners. The PrimeMinister came to the Parliament and thanked the organizersfor helping to defuse the ethnic tension.During a visit to Katirgama, Babaji directed YogiRamaiah to a huge, ancient banyan tree which wasgrowing in front of the Thevani temple. He told himthat it was under this same tree that Boganathar hasguided him in the practice of dhyana over a period ofnearly 4 years, from the age of 11 to 15. In this place,he attained Nirvi kalpa Samadhi. After doing so,Boganathar instructed him to go to Courtrallam, inTamil Nadu, to find his guru, the Siddhar Agastyar. In1970, Yogi Ra maiah lamented to me that this samebanyan tree had been cut down by a woodcutter a fewyears earlier. But with deep remorse for what he haddone, the woodcutter ended his life by hanging shortlythereafter.However, the roots of the banyan were coming upthrough the nearby well. Yogi Ramaiah began to makeplans to build a small shrine to commemorate thissacred spot.In 1973 he began sending his Western disciples oneby one to live for up to 6 months at a time Colombo, SriLanka, conducting free public yoga asana classes inschools and colleges, and visiting this sacred spot toperform intensive sadhana at this spot. He also foundeda non profit charity known as Lanka Babaji YogaSangam. These disciples included Edmund Ayyappa,Linga Devar, and Meenakshisunderan. In 1980, heobtained permission from the abbot of the monasterywhich owned the land, to build a temple, the BabajiKoil. A local disciple, Murugesu Candaswamy andMeenakshisunderan, from Baltimore, USA, my longtimeKriyaban built the first “Babaji Koil,” was a smallseven foot square concrete structure, housing murthisof Babaji and Boganathar, accessible through a smalldoor. Since that time, the priests from the Thevani templehave performed pujas to these murthis every day,and visitors to the temple complex come to worship.I make my first visit to Sri LankaFrom 1980 to 1981 I spent nearly one year in SriLanka. I lived most of the time in a one room rudimentaryhut, a stone’s throw from the beach and its juncturewith the Welawatte canal separating Colombo fromDehiwala. I made a vow to perform yogic tapas (continuousyogic practice), which included silence, with onlya half hour of reading per day, no forms of distraction,and a weekly asana class for young persons in a localhigh school in Wellawatte, Colombo, and RatmalanaHindu College. The first three months were very difficult,as the mind sought its usual sources of distraction.But then day and night flowed into one another and adeep state of Ananda, or bliss established itself with anexpanded consciousness.Upon the instructions of Yogi Ramiah, upon arrival, IPage 6brought a beautiful fifty pound, two foot high granitemurthi of Vishnu, from Mahabalipuram, India toKatirgama, to replace the one which had been stolenfrom the side of the Thevani temple.This gift was much appreciated by the templepriests. Yogi Ramaiah subsequently informed myselfand Meenakshisunderan, that the abbot of themonastery had also requested him to recommend oneof his disciples, like the author to replace him as abbotas he felt that he was nearing the end of the life. YogiRamaiah indicated that if we wanted to stay inKatirgama for this purpose, it would meet with hisapproval, but that it was for us to decide. The offer wastempting.In late 1980 under the direction of Yogi Ramaiah,and with the support of one of the supreme court justicesof Sri Lanka, the late H.W. Tambiah, who was thechairman of Lanka Babaji Yoga Sangam, a half acre parcelof land was purchased across from the beach, at 59Peters Lane, Dehiwala, a half mile from the southernboundary of the capital city of Colombo. MurugesuCandaswamy, who supervised the construction of twosmall houses and the foundation for a meeting hall in1980 and 1981 at this beautiful seaside site.In 1983, communal riots broke out in Colombo, andmany of my friends were murdered by roving gangs ofcriminals. My successor, Eyton Shalom, from New Yorkand Murgesu Candaswamy were forced to quit SriLanka.In 1986, I returned to Sri Lanka with Yogi Ramaiahwith two other disciples, Sita Jean Norton, andChockalingam. An initiation seminar was conductedand we visited Katirgama.During the civil war which began in 1983, a caretakerwas appointed to watch over the ashram inDehiwala. From 1990, he began claiming the propertyfor himself. When Candaswamy returned to Sri Lanka,he had to wage a legal battle for six years before regainingcontrol of the ashram property.In 2002, Murugesu Candaswamy sold two thirds ofthe ashram property including the apartment wherehe lived, to a businessman, to raise funds to build ameeting hall on the remaining portion. Constructionof this began. But in December 2004, after a tsunamiheavily damaged the apartments and construction.Murugesu Candaswamy wrote to me and immediatelybegan a fundraising drive to help finish the constructionMore than $6,000 was raised within a couple ofmonths and sent to Sri Lanka for this purpose. InJanuary 2007, I visited Sri Lanka with my wife Durgaand the kirtan singer, Bhagavan Das, a disciple ofNeem Karoli Baba, and three German sadhaks, Satyaand Nandi and Ganesha. Murugesus Candaswamybrought us to Katirgama where he had purchased a twoacre parcel and built a small ashram, adjacent to theManickaganga river. Bhagavan Das had contributed tothe purchase of this parcel as he wished to build a permanentresidence there. We wre thrilled to see thatBabaji’s Kriya Yoga Journal