For Latha

[Guest guest]

I wrote the attached story for another friend at the crossroads of her

decisions. I think it applies to everyone.

My message is simple and it was told to me by Swamiji just a few months

ago.

What's really important is the story, remember the story and walk your

path and like Nitya's story so elegantly said, just keep on keeping

on.

The power of spirit is the power to do what's right no matter what the

state of mind, of heart or of body. In a bad mood? So be it, but I will

do what I have to, to fulfill my dharma. In a good mood? So be it. But I

will not allow it to distract me from what I have to do to eat the

prarabda that I made.

God bless you Latha Maa.

Brian

Here's the story:

NorthwardIn the shade of the sunglasses she wore, lain a

shadow of her future fate. Behind the darkened glass, behind the

lightened frames lay eyes of power, beauty and grace.

She had come from a darkened past, but in her future shined brilliant

light, so here and now she tightened her sun glasses and loosened her

blouse.

The sun beat down as she walked the sands, ocean on her left, rugged

mountain on her right. She walked in low tide, often needed to swim in

high tide, but she kept close to the rugged rocks of the mountain to her

east, for fear of the unknown depths to the west.

The journey was north. Never up nor down. She’d lived in hell, spent a

few months in heaven and decided that neither was for her. Now she walked

the warm beach, northward. There was a slight wind off the ocean. Enough

breeze to tickle her nose. Today was calm and quite beautiful. In the

past there had been few days like this. Now, they seemed to come and go

but she remembered them when they were gone, and that kept her walking

through the storms.

When she was younger she often gave up, seeking the refuge in the homes

along the beach. But she had learned, that these shacks, created by

others who walked a similar path, were places to lose one’s self, and

she’d realized that the warmth was temporary, and came at a high

cost.

Now she walked, patiently, steadfastly, onward toward the North Star. She

didn’t know where she’d end up, but she knew in her heart of hearts, that

was the way for her to go.

A large rock jetted out of the mountain on the path in front of her, and

forced her to walk out a dozen few feet into the ocean. The mountain was

too high, and too steep for her to climb in her bare feet. She’d crossed

hills like this before, but it always ended up with her recovering in one

of those pitfall houses. Both were dangerous and she’d decided to avoid

them at all costs.

The water was calm today, and beautiful, and for the first time in a long

time she looked out to sea. Out about 100 yards was a small island. It

was so attractive she felt uncontrollably compelled to swim to

it.

But she’d tried before and the seas always sucked her under, she barely

survived these incidents and barely made it back to shore. Walking was

safe. Swimming was dangerous.

While walking through the shallows deeper and deeper, trying to round the

ledge, she hit the edge of the giant stone mountain and slipped off the

edge of the beach, falling into deep water. The water was surprisingly

warm, but she panicked and swam as fast as she could northward. After a

few seconds a riptide grabbed her and dragged her 50 yards from the

shore. It seemed the harder she swam, the father out she went.

She knew about riptides, she knew what she had to do; she had to swim

parallel to the beach, so she turned north, and swam as hard as she

could. She’d been in the waters many times, been attacked by sharks,

giant squids, been ripped up on reefs, and even swam in the presence of

bottle nose dolphins. She was prepared to meet this tragedy head on and

she swam confidently.

But she got nowhere.

Looking toward shore she started to swim south. This worked and she even

found it easy to head east for the shore, but how to get around that

giant rock mountain? Could she jump over the underwater ledge onto the

beach on the other side? Was there beach on the other side? From her

vantage point, she couldn’t even tell.

Stopping herself, she found composure and looked out to the island. At

this moment a tiger shark swam by. She’d been in the water with them

before, but this one felt particularly hungry and she worried a bit. As

the shark swam north he too was caught in the currents and could proceed

no further. Turning, he swam by her again and then turned out to

sea.

She watched in amazement while he swam within a few feet of the little

island’s beach.

“Can I make it?” she thought to herself.

“I’ve got nothing to lose and I know northward is my path, so I must

try.”

She began swimming following along the course taken by the Tiger Shark.

The water grew colder, the waves grew higher, and at one point she lost

sight of the island, but she swam in the direction she knew it must

be.

The salt water burned her eyes and all that swimming she’d done against

the riptide had taken its toll, she began to realize that she’d been

better off resting on the shore and trying tomorrow.

But then again, maybe not.

It took her longer than the shark, but she did make it to that island. As

she climbed onto the shore, coughing and heaving for breath she looked

back to that rock, and saw that there was no more land to the north, the

rip tide was the currents coming across the northern side of the island

she’d been walking all this time.

Breathing a sigh of relief she walked north on the eastern coast of this

new little island.

Looking over to her old island she wondered why she’d been so attached to

it, why she’d felt it so important to stay there and why she’d never made

it to any of the islands she’d seen earlier in her travels.

As she reached the north eastern corner of this little island, she saw

that the beach continued westward, and there was a lush and green forest

to the south. This was just the tip of a much larger and unexplored

island.

“How funny,” she thought, “this island doesn’t have the cliff side on it

so I can search the forest for the first time. I wonder why that other

island is so rocky.”

She walked into the forest and tasted a few fruits. Some were bitter,

made her down right sick, but in very little time she identified the good

ones, the edible ones and she didn’t get too sick.

By nightfall she’d found more wood for fire than the total she’d found in

all the years before. Sitting in front of her fire on the beach, she

looked north. Taking a bite of fruit she said out loud, “Time for me to

travel west I think.”