Beloved One

It’s been a week now at AHAM Ashram. Tomorrow, I will be going to Sri Ramanasramam for the next two months. I may or may not be able to continue this blog at this ashram. We shall see what the connections are once I move in. If not, it will continue after the middle of February.

In the meantime…

The picture above is taken from this ashram’s middle garden, between the main house and the guesthouse. Notice the large tree on the left next to the Guest House. It was the identical spot where we had planted an avocado plant over five years back. This is such a great story; I’ll just have to share it with you.

Here in India, they have huge avocados with very large pits. They are not easy to find, but we managed to locate a few in town. Ramana and I decided we were going to have an avocado tree from one of these large pits. He described exactly what to do….putting toothpicks into the middle of the pit, on all sides. We suspended it over a bowl of water that just barely touched the bottom of the pit….and waited for some action.

Days went by and nothing happened. Each time I would bring the avocado pit & bowl to Ramana to show him there was no progress. He would tell me, “Wait…be patient…let it be.” Then, weeks went by, still nothing happened. Ramana’s response was the same, “Wait…be patient…let it be.” I thought it was dead and was a lost cause, but not Ramana. He had me continue keeping the water in the bowl. Then, after about a month, when I went to show Ramana the avocado, there it was…a gorgeous root growing down into the water and a green leaf coming up to the sun. What a beautiful sight. Ramana was right…it just needed patience, simply letting it be and not buying into appearances.

That isn’t the end of the story…it was planted in a large pot and was put in the kitchenette area by our rooms, at the front of the Main House. Before we left India for U.S.A., one of our India Staff and I went out and planted the avocado plant.

And, here it stands, now as a shade tree over our Guest House to keep the sun from baking that side of the building and anyone staying in that particular room. No avocadoes, as yet…these are still to come.

So, there was such a huge insight in this for me, at the time, and even now as I share it with you. The words of Ramana, “Wait…be patient…let it be” giving us the experience to allow the natural course of things to unfold even when the appearances are not giving us any evidence of anything happening. And, now we can all appreciate this beautiful avocado tree functioning as a shade tree. This might never have happened, if we had of bought into the appearances.

This story fits where I am right now. Not knowing the outcome of this story…just being patient and letting it be…it is all unfolding, moment by moment, in its own natural way. We shall see what comes.

Thank you, Ramana, for this gentle reminder and for the years of your endearing friendship and Love. Leaving this very familiar space, that we’ve had truly beneficial times together, and moving into the unknown. These 32 years, that we have travelled together, have prepared me to fly out of the nest. I am ready.

I feel You as “the wind beneath my wings”…

Like falling leaves, floating away,

Words disappear

And, all I can say is,

I Love You.

I was born to love you.

Beloved One, You set me free.

Beloved One, You set us free.

- A song written by Kamala Devi