snow yatra and Jesus

[Guest guest]

Dear fellow devotees

I want to share with you an experience I lately encountered during

my winter holiday in Switzerland. My boys Manuel Govinda (26 yrs.)

and Jonathan Mahadeva (23 yrs.) like sports and adventure. They love

to race down the slopes of the Alps on their snowboard. A very good

devotee friend Kumuda from Switzerland has a small but lovely

cottage in the southern part of the Alps. It is surrounded by the

best ski resorts of the world. Famous mountains like Matterhorn and

Mont Blanc are very near. The place is so beautiful; it reminds me

of my beloved Himalayas.

We had the luck to spend a week their just after Shivaratri. When we

arrived there we were welcomed with an incredible snowstorm. We had

to dig our way to the entrance of Kumudas house. The snow was at

least 8 - 10 feet high. I have never seen so much snow. It was fun

to fight with the elements and with 2 young men at my side joining

me we managed to get into the house. The only problem was that

within 1 hour the west wind blew new snow masses against the house.

We simply could not get out. Never in my life have I seen so much

snow.

Actually we were amused and made fun. The next morning we managed to

leave the house from the terrace door facing south. The sun started

to come through and turned the whole area into a fairy tale

landscape. The light was so amazing and everything looked so pure.

The wind slowed down and the sun blessed us with her warming rays.

The blue sky stayed with us for the whole week and we enjoyed a

wonderful time. The nights were still very cold because we stayed at

high altitude. Due to the cold; my car one morning did not want

start.

So in stead of driving, we simply skied down into the valley to get

to the ski lifts. I had a strange feeling this morning and when

joining the ski lift I simply fell out. Luckily there was no injury.

I thought oh my god, maybe this day is meant for something else and

I should not go skiing today. I decided to go back to the house and

take care of the car. I could not get it running. Luckily 3 weeks

ago I became member of a touring car association which helps in such

situations. I called them and 2 hours later a truck came and loaded

my car to transport it into the valley. The driver was a very

friendly man and asked me to join him to drive to his workshop. We

drove down into the valley to get the car fixed. When we arrived at

his workshop he suggested me to go for a walk and return after an

hour or so. The car would by then be ready. I love going for walks

and went into the nearby forest. Here my story actually starts.

After a few hundred meters there was a beautiful little chapel with

a beautiful image of Lord Jesus. It showed when Jesus got baptized

by Johannes. During this process gods voice could be heard and he

said: This is my son and he is very dear to me. (There was an

inscription on the wall explaining this in German language)

I looked at the image while a powerful current of intense love went

through me. The lord was there, no doubt. The love that captured my

whole being was inexpressible. Softly I sank with my knees into the

snow and bowed down before the image. I had intense gratitude and at

the same time felt purified at the bottom of my soul. Jesus became

so alive. This strong sensation stayed for quite a while. Then I

decided to proceed further into the forest. Actually I had to climb

some very steep area. After a few hundred meters there was another

chapel that appeared in front of me. What a surprise. There was an

image where a Samaritan approached Jesus and begged for water. He

asked Jesus to quench his thirst and fill his pitcher so he would

not need to come back.

The image struck me like a blizzard. Some inner meaning would

immediately dawn on me and it made me very happy. The water is the

Holy Spirit and the Samaritan wanted to be blessed by Jesus with

that.

Once filled with that Holy Spirit he would not need to come back.

(My experience is that once the grace of the Guru is with you, Guru

and grace is with you always)

Again I sank into the snow and just feel grace and love. Spontaneous

prayers bubbled effortlessly up in me. I thanked Sri Swamiji for

making me sensitive to be with Jesus and feel the Holy Spirit. I

truly felt that Jesus and Sri Swamiji is one and the same ocean of

boundless love. It is the greatest wealth to have him in our life.

It is the very purpose of being here on this earth. How shallow is

everything without him. I take refuge in his holy feet that spread

blissful nectar.

After some time I returned to the workshop and my car was fixed. The

man did not even want money for his extra work. I thanked him and

asked him a personal question. I asked: Do you believe in god

Sir? "Yes I do" he said. Then I said "Sir, you made my day so

wonderful. You advised me to go for a walk. I went into this forest

and got the grace of the Lord". Then he said: "Yes, so you can see

that a little accident can be the cause of a wonderful blessing. "

Then I thought "wow" I wish I could always surrender to the will of

the Lord and feel blessed every moment. It was a great teaching to

me. Then I asked him about the chapels in the forest. He explained

me that the path I walked was an ancient pilgrim path towards a

church on top of the hill. I was so happy to hear this.

A day later I spoke to a local Swamiji devotee named Maria. She

explained me about a chapel in the forest where mother Mary appeared

to several people. I was so happy to hear this. Surely I will be

back and visit this place next time.

Dear friends, I love photography and made some pictures of our "holy

days" There are pictures of holy caves, chapels, mountains ….

If want you can enjoy. Here is the link to my snow yatra. :

 

http://community.webshots.com/user/agastyamuni

 

With love from Denmark,

Jaya Guru Datta

Yours

Agastya

I also have a new email address: sri.agastya

My website: http://www.freedomexplorer.com/