When I sink into my heart, Maharishi is there. Guru Dev, Maharishi, Amma, Maa - blessed beings have taken up residency in my Being. These past few weeks, knowing that Maharishi was leaving this 3rd dimensional existence, I have been sending him light, sending light and scanning all my past interactions with him, all my feelings and emotions, to make sure that I had no residual negativity, no residual hurt or anger or disappointment and I could not find anything but gratitude, gratitude for the multitude of gifts, the teaching, the wisdom, the blessings, even the outrageous plans that made us all think outside the box - the visions of a visionary.
How could I have known when I took my purple irises and peach roses to that funky little house out on Lower Muscatine in Iowa City, May 1972, to get initiated by a former junkie, how could I ever have imagined this life, this path, this journey? I was only going so I could use more mental potential, maybe be more rested and alert as a student, maybe be a happier person. Little did I know that I'd go off three years later to become a teacher of Transcendental Meditation, a follower, a chela, a governor of the Age of Enlightenment, a minister (albeit unanointed minister), a sidha, a chela again for another guru, a disciple. All these labels were not in my vocabulary in 1972. I was going on the testimony of my friend Leroy, some recollection of the Beatles' foray to India in the late 60's and because the poster on the door of Things, Things, & Things with Maharishi's face had beckoned me to show up at the Main Library that night.
This is it, I thought - now is the time and so I went that night to the introductory lecture and later asked permission from my parents to spend the $35. The night before I was to be initiated I barely escaped getting either arrested or clobbered by the National Guard with their batons when they cleared off the intersection of Burlington and Riverside Drive of anti-war protestors. I thought I'd better move if I didn't want to get arrested and miss my initiation the next day, so I did. Priorities, you know? But what I didn't know was that the journey would be and become the big priority - the driving force of my life.
The years roll down - memories, memories, but what presses through to the front is that permeation of influence on the entirety, on my Being, on my soul's path and grace, grace, grace. How blessed I feel to have been part of this history, to have met and breathed in his presence, to have been guided and supported by his work.
Jai Guru Dev
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4 comments:
Sallee,
What a great tribute. And to think there were 12 other women writing at Dana's as you were writing this and I was thinking - Where is Sallee and why isn't she here with us?
Yes, your remembrance of how you were initiated in 1972 brought me back to 1974 when I capitulated to my friend after much requesting on her part that I start. So I brought my $45(inflation)to the center on Leroy Pl. in Washington,DC.
I was looking for rest. And I got it. After the 20 minutes of my first meditation I was entranced by the knowledge that I could do this myself and my mind would be clear. A true treasure that cannot be measured.
Right then I wanted to teach other people. So I wrote to my parents.
They declined. My mother, however, once saw MMY on TV several years later and exclaimed delightedly:
"He looks just like my mother!"
And he did. A little cute beaming face.
Jai Guru Dev
This was a beautiful post.. well written and sincere words.
I just finished reading a book on the Maharishi..it was not one of his, but written by a devotee in California who invited him to stay in their home for many months. It was neat! Also, just came to find out that the film director David Lynch has been practicing TM for many years. Interesting.
Anyway, just dropping in! Saw your page while searching the Bhagavad Gita on people's faves.
~molly
Sallee, He brought us together and our tribe is surviving and many unseen and seen ways flourishing! Love, Kartika
Sallee,
You really are such a good writer. Thanks so much for putting our gratitude to Maharishi into words.
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