Kailash has long been seen as a sacred mountain. Sadhguru explains that it is in fact a mystical library, and offers insights into the significance of the destination and the pilgrim’s experience.

Read in Telugu: కైలాస పర్వతం – ఓ మార్మిక అనుభూతి

Questioner: I went to Kailash in 2012, and you did an initiation process there with each one of us. To this day, this has been one of the most significant experiences in my life. Could you please explain a little about it?

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Sadhguru: Normally, an initiation process is towards a particular purpose. If we initiate you into Shoonya, it is so that you can become meditative, have enough energy, and become conscious enough to be able to separate yourself from your psychological process. Likewise, there are different types of initiations for different purposes. In contrast, what we generally do when we are at Kailash is not to bring about a particular experience but for you to become open to the immense possibility that is there – that is the most important thing. An initiation like that is to open the door and see how much you can absorb because the entire space is such a tremendous phenomenon. Each one of you will experience this initiation differently. If you are willing and open, you may find something phenomenal opening up for you.

Questioner: Sadhguru, you have described Kailash as a mystical library. Where exactly is all this information stored? In a particular element, maybe akash, or is it in the entire mountain?

Sadhguru: In terms of storing knowledge, akash is important, but if information is only stored in the akashic aspect of elemental nature, it would be fragile. The whole physical mass, including all the five elements, is made use of to store the information. And more than that, a dimension that is non-physical, an energy that has nothing to do with the five elements, is used as a permanent storage – Kailash is largely that. Because of that, the elements are also reverberating in a certain way. The elements are at their peak there because of this non-physical dimension.

In the modern world and in modern science, what is considered as knowledge is a bundle of conclusions that are drawn by observation of a certain dimension or aspect of nature. By contrast, the knowledge here is not a bundle of conclusions – it is like a powerful stimulant. If you touch it, it opens up dimensions within you and around you. It is not a conclusive knowledge but a stimulating one. If you touch it, you will be on fire within you, and it is for you to read it.

Questioner: You said yogis who have the privilege and the burden of carrying a dimension that is not in the experience of common people have deposited their knowing in the Himalayas. Is that why you travel to Kailash each year?

Sadhguru: You do not go to Kailash to leave your signature. That is the last thing I would do. You go to Kailash because it is something so immense that if you spent a lifetime there, it will still draw you. This is the tenth episode of Kailash for me now, though I am generally not the pilgrimage-going kind. One thing is, if I close my eyes, wherever I am, I am fine – I do not have to go anywhere. I am not going there out of restlessness. I am not going there to find Shiva. I am not going there to find myself. But the sheer immensity of Kailash draws me there. No matter how many times and in how many ways you look at it, still there are endless other ways to look at it. The only reason not to go there anymore should be the legs and the lungs.

The sheer immensity of Kailash draws me there. No matter how many times and in how many ways you look at it, still there are endless other ways to look at it.

Definitely, there are imprints of yogis in many places, such as the Velliangiri hills in southern India, Kailash, and many parts of the Himalayas. Though much has happened in terms of time and events, these imprints are still distinctly there. The imprint of those who worked not with their body or their mind, but with their innermost core, is for always. The imprint will be preserved, but it is important to also preserve an atmosphere that will allow other people to experience it. That is the responsibility of people who are around today. Let us say you set up a marketplace at the Dhyanalinga, the latter will still reverberate, but people will not be able to experience it. Maintaining a certain atmosphere is important for Kailash and any other place like this.

Editors’ Note: Isha Sacred Walks offers a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to experience the legend, the revelation – Mount Kailash and the phenomenon of Manasarovar. Learn more at sacredwalks.org