"Let them go to Kailash. This beggar will pray to Father to protect and guide them".

These were the words of Yogi Ramsuratkumar, God-Child of Tiruvannamalai, which reached by telegram in Como, Italy, and gave us the OK for our yatra, our great pilgrimage to Kailash, the most sacred Mountain in the world, a jewel of pure beauty in the most inaccessible remoteness of Western Tibet.

We had known Yogi Ramsuratkumar one year before, in 1991: just a few days spent at his feet in the small shelter where he used to live, right in the middle of the town. Unforgettable days - out of time, of space, of history. In that shelter there was Reality, and the world was left outside.

Time was so inexistent that the morning of our departure from Tiruvannamalai, we went to him at five o'clock, and the Yogi was already there, ready to bless us again and again, profusely - not only for our journey back home, but for the years to come.

When one day we were offered the opportunity of visiting Kailash, the challenge was extraordinary, but also at the limits of our physical possibilities. In a word, we were scared. How could we imagine to go through the toughness of such a wilderness if especially one of us (Olga) had serious health problems. Olga herself knew that true pilgrims are ready to die during their way. But in this case it was not a question of living or dying: the problem was that she might become a serious handicap for the other members of the expedition. Hence the idea to ask our Yogi, and his immediate positive answer. With such a saint going himself to the feet of the Father to implore protection, how could we still be frightened or even doubtful? We just surrendered and got ready for our yatra.

On the very day of departure, Olga woke up feeling so poorly that she had to be taken immediately to the doctor. But none of us even questioned whether it was the case for her to remain at home. We all left as that was the only right thing to do.

Brave days were to come: we had to cope with landslides, ravines, temperatures well below the freezing point, high elevations always between 15,000- 16,000 feet. The highest point we had to climb during our pradhakshina around the holy Mount - the Dolma La, the Pass named after the goddess of Compassion - welcomed us with a sudden, harsh blizzard. Our sirdar, the head of our Sherpas, shouted at us in the wind: "Me'm sahib, let's go away from here quick or we are going to die! " But, again none of us was scared or doubtful. "Something" or "Someone" was supporting us all the time, to the point that we could not only physically overcome any difficulty, but we had simply no questions.

Near us, walking with us, accompanying us all the time, we felt a Presence. It was so strong that often we were suddenly forced to turn our heads to see who was there. It was the same perception that you have when, being in a room, you know some body is behind you, looking at you, but you cannot see him or her. It is a matter of magnetic fields meeting each other. You feel you are not alone.

Around Mount Kailash, all the three of us had the same, exact experience: we were accompanied by an Invisible Companion who knew what to do in any occasion, no matter how harmless or harmful it might be. We were just confident: each of us like a child walking hand in hand with its father. No questions, no worries: "Father knows".

One of the most striking features of this yatra besides the incomparable wonders of the landscape, besides the deep sacredness of the place, besides Olga's health mysteriously flourishing among physical strains - is now, in our memories, this warm, reliable Hand constantly blessing and protecting us, and that Presence is Sri Yogi Ramsuratkumar.