The Miracle at Vermont
My wife and I wanted our young kids to experience the countryside, and life on a farm. So we took them to a rural part of Vermont, a state in the northern US, for a vacation. The state is known for its dairy farms and green pastures.
On the way, we stopped at the Matagiri Center in New York, to seek blessings from Mother. It was our first visit there, and we ended up spending half a day, much more time than what was originally planned for. We were the only visitors, and got an opportunity to chat with our host Julian and his wife. It was a memorable first visit.
The trip onwards was plagued by car trouble. The car's transmission broke, and we got stranded on a highway. But it was afternoon time, and we were close to Stowe, a popular tourist town. A farmer happened to be close by and guided us to the nearest garage. We thanked the Mother for the help, booked a rental car, and continued our trip. But even the rental car started showing signs of trouble. My wife felt that a dark force was upon us, and wanted to disrupt our trip.
And sure enough it did. While coming back to the rental home at night, a tire burst. It happened on a remote highway, in the middle of nowhere. I was unsure if my cell phone would work there, as the signal was weak. Tired from the day's travels, worried about the young children, and perplexed by the new challenge in front of me, I took a small pause. Or perhaps, something made me pause for a few seconds, as if help were on the way.
The car happened to stop in front of a house. Soon a man emerged, drove his car towards the highway, and shone his headlights on our car. He had heard the sound of the tire bursting, and came to check on us. He immediately grasped the situation as he came near. He asked for tools for replacing the flat tire. He asked me to shine some light from my cell phone as he reached under the car and began detaching the damaged tire. He did not leave much for me to do, and in a few minutes, the spare tire was installed, and he directed us to safety. I thanked him, asked him what his name was, and we were on our way.
As I got back into the car, my wife and I began to realize what had just happened. A complete stranger had fixed our car, almost immediately as it halted. Houses in that area were sparse, the highways long and dark, and not many people ventured outdoors after sunset. Yet, our car stopped in front of a house, the man who helped us was at home at that time and heard the tire burst, and he willingly came out and pretty much fixed the flat tire himself. We were speechless. No doubt an evil force was at work, but Mother's protection was stronger. What materialized was an act of Her Grace and Presence, for sure.
The incident dispelled any doubts in our minds about the Mother's physical presence. Unlike other paths of Yoga, our masters are not physically present now, and did not institute a lineage. But that is only an outward circumstance; in reality the Mother's presence is ever so concrete and she is closely involved in the daily affairs of Her children.
- Jagrut Dave (USA)
Keywords: Divine Grace, Faith, Divine Help
Thank you for this inspiring story Jagrut! It reminds me of a number of years ago when I had a similar experience driving back from a weekend retreat when I had a flat tire. I was lucky this didn't happen on the mountainous part of the trip, and I was driving on a flat freeway. At any rate, I pulled off to the side of the road. It must have been 11 pm and quite dark. Just as I got off the car and rolled up my sleeves to get to work, a tow truck pulled right behind me on the shoulder. I was surprised since I hadn't called AAA, though I had the service membership, but thought it would be faster to do it myself.
ReplyDeleteThe fellow said that he was driving behind me and saw what happened. In less than 5 minutes I was back on my way!! I thanked the fellow who did not ask for any money and seemed very happy to be of help.
Driving back I felt supported by the Divine and also thought that we are getting help from the divine in every moment of life, but we are forgetful about it often and take so many things for granted. Practically every breath we take is an act of Divine providence, and fortunate are those who have this awareness in every moment of life!
(Don Salmon here). I thank you too for that wonderful story, Jagrut. And I love that observation, Bahman, that "every breath we take is an act of Divine providence."
DeleteI find that having that attitude moves us more and more to recognizing this Grace in every moment. The Mother once said it is the habit of taking things for granted that blocks us from seeing that every falling leaf (even every blown tire!!!!) is a miracle. (though actually, I don't think She mentioned the blown tire - I added that:>)))
(Don again). I've always appreciated Ramana Maharshi's comment to someone who asked why we don't perceive the actions of the Divine Grace more often. He said, "It's because you only think God for the things your mind thinks are "good" and you get upset about the things your mind labels "bad.". When you can learn to thank God for everything, He/She will most certainly will be present to you all the time in all things.
DeleteIncidents like the above open our eyes to invisible forces that are active behind the scenes, both positive and negative. We are truly deluded if we ignore them, focusing only on what we can sense with our physical senses, and perceive with the outer mind.
DeleteI was six years old when a dark being used to visit me at night and haunt me. One day a person from the nearby village came to my father and said that he could cure me. He lit up as long fire and mumbled some kind of mantra and put a thread around my wrist. The being never came back.
ReplyDeleteI did not know the Mother then but She knew me!