فصل 23

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فصل 23

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23

Gainesville Hosts a Guru

We were invited to accompany Baba’s group back to where they were staying in Atlanta. As I drove from the retreat, I contemplated what had happened the previous day. One of Baba’s people told me that the experience was called shaktipat, a special blessing by a Siddha master in which a very powerful spiritual energy is awakened within. When we arrived at the mansion in Atlanta where Baba was staying, his staff just assumed that I would now see Baba as my teacher. They told me it was common that one would be drawn to a living master. What did I know? All this was way out of my league.

I went outside to be alone. There was no question about what had happened the previous day or about the flow of events that had brought it all together. I remembered my commitment to surrender to life’s flow, even if I didn’t understand what was happening. I walked down the hill to the garage area where there were no people. I was very confused, but I prepared to thank Yogananda for his guidance. I closed my eyes to go into the quiet place within where I always felt a connection to him. I inwardly looked upward as if to say thank you, and suddenly the whole space above me opened up into a limitless expanse. It felt as if a veil had been lifted from between my consciousness and that which was beyond me. I immediately felt oneness with all that I had been looking for. It was the most powerful and revealing experience I ever had. It only lasted a few moments, but I came back with an echo in my being saying, Just exactly who do you think you are saying good-bye to? I felt Yogananda’s presence all around me and permeating me from within. From that moment forward, I never questioned my connection to him.

When I rejoined Donna and my friends at the main house, they were making preparations to return home. As we headed back to Gainesville, we were all inspired about hosting Baba in just a few days. When he finally arrived, I couldn’t believe how much attention he drew. Every place we went it was standing room only. And though Baba was not a young man when he came through Gainesville, every day and night he would give lectures wherever people would invite him. I was doing my prison work at the time, and his staff told me that Baba would definitely want to go to the prison. We got it set up, and one afternoon we accompanied Baba into the maximum-security facility. The inmates loved him, and when Baba left, he instructed his staff to continue visiting prisons. To this day, they trace all their worldwide prison work back to Baba’s visit to Union Correctional Institution outside of Gainesville.

The weekend retreat ended up being the largest retreat up to that point on Baba’s world tour. I drove down to the camp a few days early to see if Baba’s staff needed anything. While I was there I noticed a dormitory building that had a VIP sign on the front door. Apparently, these were private rooms assigned to special guests. One of the names posted on a door caught my attention: R. Friedland. Shelly’s maiden name was Friedland, and her brother’s name was Ronnie. My mind said, No way, and I just kept walking.

I was stunned to see Ronnie at the retreat. We had not seen each other for years. It didn’t matter—we were like brothers. How could we possibly have gone our separate ways and ended up at the same place? We were so different. I was living the simple life in Gainesville, and he was a big-time attorney in Chicago. I prided myself on having no belongings, and he had a Ferrari, a Harley-Davidson motorcycle, and a private plane. Ronnie lived in a top-floor penthouse at Chicago’s famous Twin Towers Marina, and he decorated the circular walls of his living room with pictures of Napoleon. What in the world was he doing here at this spiritual retreat hanging out with a holy man from India?

Shelly had introduced Ronnie to Baba, and apparently it was love at first sight. I spent a lot of time with Ronnie at the retreat, and he even invited me to accompany him when he took Baba and a few of his staff to Disney World. It was obvious that Ronnie had something very special going with Baba. I found out just how special when a few months later I received my first mailing from the new organization Baba formed in America. It was signed by the foundation’s first president, Ron Friedland. My thoughts drifted back to that first awakening I’d had while sitting on that couch with Ronnie years earlier. My life had completely changed—apparently so had his.

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