Art of Living Guru Purnima Celebrations 2011
We usually don't miss guru purnima celebrations as it is a sacred day. Guruji says, it is the day the devotee looks at the progress he has made on the path in the past one year. It is the day of the Guru and the disciple. A very special day to be around with the Guru.
After the Berlin trip my confidence was so high. I thought if we could manage the Berlin trip with so much ease, how hard could a trip to neighboring Canada be. Ramiya wanted to go to Niagra and I also wanted to visit our Maternal Uncle who lives in Toronto.
I quickly looked at Google maps. Niagra, Toronto, Montreal all of them appeared so close to each other. I thought the places are quite close and booked my flight ticket to Buffallo (nearest airport to Niagra), booked a rental car from there and planned to drive down to Montreal and Toronto.
I was so proud for making such a fantastic plan. I borrowed a GPS with canada maps from a friend, Prabhat, took printout of directions just to be safe, noted down all the addresses and contact numbers, booked the tickets and was all set to go.
The day before our departure, when I was looking at the directions, I noticed that Montreal from Buffalo is a 8 hour long drive.
Suddenly, there was a pinch somewhere deep inside, did I over look something? We were supposed to reach Buffalo at mid night and drive from there to Montreal. Guru Poornima Celebration was on the next day. Is it even possible to drive 8 hours straight and reach the ashram on time for Guru Poornima Celebrations? Attending Guru Poornima Celebrations was the whole intention behind the trip. If not for Guru Poornima, the whole trip looked so barren. I was concerned.
Before leaving for the airport, I prayed that everything goes smoothly. I prayed that I reach Art of Living Ashram in time for Guru purnima.
Guess What!!!
Our first flight got delayed by 3 hours. The crew found some problem after all the passengers had boarded the plane and when it was ready to take off. We had no choice but to wait for 3 hours on the plane.
All my plans and my doership fell flat on my face. I realized that if we miss the connecting flight, there is no way to reach Buffallo on time, rent a car, do a marathon 8 hours drive and reach the ashram for Guru Poornima Celebrations. For a second, I felt so helpless. I then prayed and prayed to Guruji that I want to be present for Guru Poornima Celebrations. How much i wanted to be for GP celebrations, I prayed with all that intensity. Don't know how many times I changed "Om Nama Shivaya".
So, the first flight landed in texas 3 hours late. Obviously the connecting flight has departed. I was anxious and nervous to find out about the next flight to Buffallo. I went to the counter. The lady at the counter greeted me with a smile and said "Sir, your next flight is tomorrow morning. You have to stay in texas for the night". I said "No, I have to be in Buffallo tonight somehow. Please check again". She replied, "Sir, I understand your situation. There is nothing I can do. I'm sorry". I could not take that answer. I kept telling her "Please check again. There has to be a way". I just stood there repeating the same thing. After 5 minutes, she said, "Wait a minute, there is another plane and you are already checked in on that". She was wonder stuck how that happened. I screamed "Yes" and ran to the terminal. It was the same plane that took us from San Jose to Texas and when all of the passengers have boarded the plane, they discovered the same problem that happened in the morning and delayed the flight by 2 hours once again.
Still it was very unsure if we will land in Buffallo on time. They close the rental car place by 1:30 a.m. We need to be there before that. I started chanting and praying once again. All my thoughts were "I just want to be in the Ashram when Gurudev chants Guru Pooja". After another long wait, we eventually departed from Texas. Surprise. The second flight did not have a stop over on the way unlike our original plan. That saved us enough time and we reached Buffallo exactly when we were supposed to be as per the original plan. I was so happy.
I was so grateful looking at how things have been unfolding the whole day until I found that our baggage did not arrive. I had put all my electronic stuff including GPS on the baggage. I thought i would check at the Car Rental place to give us a car with GPS. We went to the Car Rental and the lady at the counter says "I'm sorry sir. We only keep a limited number of GPS units only for those who have booked for it". I thought how can I ever drive from Buffallo to Montreal without a GPS? I have never been to these places. I just don't know the directions. I told her, "I really need one. Please check once again if you have an extra GPS". She said "I'll see what I can do". She checked her system and after some time, tells me "Sir, we have exactly one more car of the same type you booked with a GPS. Do you want it?" I said "Jai Gurudev".
Though I consider myself educated when it comes to using gadgets, I just could not get the GPS to work. I can not punch in the Ashram's address at all. All I can put in was Montreal and get the GPS to show directions just till Montreal. After trying unsuccessfully for 5 minutes, I thought it is already getting late, may be I should start driving and figure out the rest once we reach Montreal. We started driving. It was such a beautiful night drive. The beautiful full moon was giving me company all through the night. I felt so contempt and relaxed as I drove through those empty free ways one after the other. It was so beautiful to see the first rays of morning Sun Light. We crossed the border and as we got closer to Montreal the traffic picked up and the GPS didn't work after that. We relied on the google map print outs to go to the Ashram from Montreal.
It was like a puzzle. We were not 100% sure about the route, but had no choice to go that way because the GPS didn't work. It was 8'O clock in the morning. I stopped at a gas station just to confirm if we are going on the correct path. The people at the gas station spoke only French and they didn't understand me at all. Once again just when I thought it would make me confident if some one can confirm the direction, a person walked into the gas station and did just that.
Finally we arrive at the Canadian Ashram at 9:30 a.m. I saw a friend James, telling me that Guru Pooja is at 10 a.m. We quickly had our shower and rushed towards the hall. On the way we saw a crowd and people shouting "Guruji, Guruji". And there was Guruji walking barely a few feet away from me going from his kutir to the Meditation Hall for Guru Poornima Celebrations. We happily followed him and as we entered the hall, Guruji started chanting Guru Pooja. My heart felt so full and didn't want to come out from there at all.
All my plans fell flat. All my preparations didn't help. But we reached the Ashram just on time for Guru Poornima Celebrations. Some how things fell in place one after the other and we ended up at the Ashram at the right time. It still gives me goose bumps and gratitude when I think about how it all happened.
