Sri M's first volume of autobiography came out in 2011, here is a little snip from the Gayatri chapter of Apprenticed to a Himalayan Master.
I shall start with the first of my extraordinary experiences.
No one, other than those close to me like my mother and grandmother, noticed the changes in my
personality. I began to be more introverted than I had been and my mother would often find me sitting or
standing under the jackfruit tree staring at the sky or nothing in particular. She also used to say that I
would sometimes talk in a strange language in my sleep. However, she was relieved that I no longer
suffered from that strange malady I mentioned in the first chapter – the screaming and running out of the
house in my sleep. The ghoul like creatures that used to chase me and try to grab me had vanished without
a trace from the day I met the stranger under the jackfruit tree. I would also pester my grandmother for
stories of saints and Sufis. When her stock was over, I did not mind the same stories being repeated.
I began to find great happiness while meditating at night. Many a time, I would drift into deep sleep
while meditating and have vivid and elaborate dreams. Some of these were forgotten, but some remained
deeply impressed in my mind and indicated important events that were going to take place in my spiritual
journey. One such dream occurred three months after the jackfruit-tree incident.
I dreamt of a beautiful green valley surrounded on all sides by towering, snow-clad mountains. At the
foot of one of these peaks, there was a cave. A melodious chant in a language I could not understand came
from inside the cave. Yet, it somehow sounded familiar. I moved towards the mouth of the cave and
looked within. It was a fairly large cave. In the centre of the floor was an open fireplace with orange
flames leaping from the burning logs. At the far end of the cave, on a raised platform, facing me and the
fire, sat a bearded middle-aged man with long, dark hair. The lower part of his body was covered in a
kind of brown tree bark and across his chest was slung a white girdle that looked like cotton rope.
He was leading a chant which was echoed by a number of young boys, also long haired and wearing
similar garments and girdles. The boys sat facing him and the fire in a semi-circle. Carried away by the
chant, I suddenly found myself imitating them in a loud voice.
