Surfing the Consciousness
The man known simply as Tilak does not fall into any of the traditional categories traditionally assigned to people who possess special gifts.
As he says, “I never intended to be anybody.” Yet for many of the people who have experienced his gifts, Tilak is definitely somebody. Tilak refers to himself jokingly as “a maitre d’ at life’s feast. I invite people to partake of the joy and beauty of living. People may come into the world with special gifts or sensitivities but they have to be activated. They have to earn their realizations and freedom.”
As a small boy growing up in Sri Lanka, Tilak experienced what he refers to as “a series of pleasant surprises.” One of the first of which was an experience Tilak had smelling a Jasmine flower. “There was a beautiful connection with the flower but it was more than just an experience of the senses. It was a mental and emotional understanding of the wonder and delight of the flower that was in my whole body and in my mind. The flower and I were one.” Amazingly, Tilak never questioned this or any of his other unusual experiences or the strange effects he had on people as he was growing up. He simply accepted them knowing full well that others around him were not sharing his experiences. “I felt like I had another world within the world that other people live in. I didn’t think of these experiences as some kind of profound, sacred or spiritual knowledge. From the time when I was a little boy I had a delight and wonder in nature and the world. When you are a little boy you don’t call this spirituality. Spirituality is something adults use to describe their experiences.”
When Tilak was 21 he had a serious accident in which he was hit by a bus. While he was convalescing, many of his friends from medical school and other colleges who came to visit him experienced a pleasant surprise. They ran back to their dorms to study with a raging passion. Word spread very soon and hundreds of students came to see Tilak to experience his mysterious gift. When they came they were invited into this sweet space that not only made them earn incredible grades on their exams, but gave them a deep inspirational passion for whatever they were studying. It was through these interactions that Tilak’s work came to the surface and in the limelight in Sri Lanka . Very soon after this, while he was in his mid-twenties, many scientists and physicians became fascinated by his unique transformational gifts and sensitivities. This added fire to his flawless wisdom that brought him to England and then finally to the USA .
Tilak had to discover a format to expose this incredible space of lightness. Finally he found a way in which a person could lie down, as he would sit behind them and blow into their forehead while gently tapping with his fingers on the person’s temples. Later, this became known as a “session.” Just like a strawberry is not the same when it is dipped in chocolate sauce, in the same way, after a person gets exposed to Tilak’s opening and transmission, they will never be the same. They will be left with a profound sweetness and lightness.
Using this unique perspective, Tilak has developed a teaching that he calls The Path of Liberation. “The Path of Liberation is not a release or a traditional idea of escape. It is liberation from yourself. It is about opening a new gateway to the creation of a new life starting now.” According to Tilak, there are five steps on the Path of Liberation that he elucidates through his teachings and encounters. “The first step to liberation is what I call Opening a Gateway to a new life now in this moment. The second is Sweet Surrender. It means living without friction or resistance to life. The third is Transformation of Energy, which means to live without reactions. I refer to it as becoming porous. The fourth is Smart Thinking or a rapid, intelligent response to whatever happens to you. And the final step is Unconditional Wonder or Unreasonable Happiness. This is when you inhabit a space of existing in happiness without a reason and feel it in your heart and your body. Through these steps, a person can learn to live without interference from the self or others.”
Tilak’s students have experienced profound positive changes as a result of their contact with him. This opens a gateway to live life in excellence as an outrageous adventure. To this day, Tilak does not question the source of his gifts. He simply accepts them along with all of the wondrous mysteries of the world that he is trying to make better, one person at a time.
YOGItimes magazine for the modern yogi, June 2004 Issue 23