Miracle Flower
Rejuvenation
Susan Helene Kramer
The setting was the annual
New Year's Retreat presented by the Integral Yoga Institute at La Casa de Maria
in Montecito, California in 1979. I was taking the silent retreat for a few
days. Sri Swami Satchidananda was visiting the
retreat site to offer satsangs in the evening for the
participants and community members.
During the retreat a special
luncheon was planned in honor of Sri Swami Satchidananda.
As I was taking the silent retreat, it was not till the last moment of
preparation that I was searched out and asked to fill a need helping with the
final preparations.
While the luncheon was
concluding I stood in the background, across the table from Sri Satchidananda as the guests left the room, with the master
being the last of the guests to leave.
Each person carried out a
bloom on a long stem, and as Sri Gurudev left the
room he turned to me and said "and the last shall be first" and the
wilted stem of the bloom he was holding unbent and straightened up like a
fresh-cut flower.
It was incidents such as this that increased my understanding that developing spiritually
was the way to most fully reap joy. That joy was meant to be part of our human
experience, and that we had a hand in bringing it into existence by being
receptive to and living for the greater good of each situation.
In this instance, I willingly
left my silent practices to help out where needed, and I then learned the
lesson that when we are helpful we are rewarded by the experience of warmth,
harmony, and joy in our body, mind, emotions.
Miracle Flower Rejuvenation and photo © 2015 Susan Helene Kramer; (Montecito
Peak), above Montecito, California, looking north.
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