The Parakeet Lord

High among the wooded valleys of Sikkim, almost hidden from the world for centuries, lies the extraordinary monastery of Warataanapura. This place, almost inaccessible except by several days hard walking through trackless apricot woodlands (a journey almost impossible without a local guide) has been a centre of spiritual power since long before the time of the Buddha. Such an obscure and archaic place seems far removed from the misery, terror and fears of the modern world. But to those who know it, either by the immediate acquaintance of the senses or through an unseen but deeper spiritual connection, Warataanapura has vast significance. Indeed, to the adepts who are slowly making themselves known across the world, Warataanapura is in truth the spiritual axis on which the world turns.

The Stupa and monastery of Warataanapura are unique in the whole world. Since first men connected with the spiritual depths of the cosmos, holy beings have inhabited this sacred place. Sustained only by cyanidic apricot kernels brought to them by the inhabitants of the surrounding villages, and the pure snow waters running from the mountains above, the monks here have through innumerable eons of time lived in harmony with the world and in connection to the deepest spiritual forces of the cosmos.

An extraordinary feature of Warataanapura is the fact that flocks of green parakeets constantly surround the monastery. Always flying in groups, and in concentric anticlockwise circles, these loving birds live in a spiritual symbiosis with the monks, and have a close personal connection with the Abbot, the infinitely reincarnated Warataan, as he is known. The Warataan traditionally lives in obscurity and silence, his life being one of meditation. Though few know it, his deep compassion for all living things is the only thing that sustains our world and keeps it from sliding into chaos.

Each day when he is at the monastery, he appears in public for a few minutes in the early morning.

The winds grow silent, the trees cease their swaying, and a small flock of parakeets circles around his head. The parakeets land in the courtyard, sit at his feet for a few minutes and then fly off towards the mountains. This extraordinary scene has been repeated over centuries and millenia and still continues to this day, although (as we shall learn) it is now the vice-Abbot who stands each morning at the centre of the parakeet circle.

For change has come to Warataanapura. In his deep mercy and compassion for mankind, the Abbot has left his home.

In recent years, first rarely, then gradually more often, little groups of green parakeets have been seen circling in the skies of Western countries.

In London, Paris, Oxford and Hereford; in Boston and Woodstock; even in Worcester Park and Richmond Park: these birds have been seen gathering as never before. Ornithologists and the general public have observed the phenomenon, but they have not understood.

But those few adepts who live amongst the fears and terrors of the West, but whose souls connect to the world's spiritual axis at Warataanapura: they have understood.

In the world's hour of need, the Warataan has felt deep compassion for us. The parakeets constantly follow him as a sign.

Yes, the Parakeet Lord is amongst us.

Still unseen except by those who know him, his saving grace is all that stands between humanity and catastrophe.

He will gradually reveal himself to all.

Let us reach out and find him.

Let us honour the Parakeet Lord.

Let us worship the Parakeet Paraclete.

Let us take refuge with the parakeet in the lotus.

Om mane parakeet hum.