Photo quote de jour


Both Queen Elizabeth and I arrived in Manhattan at the same time yesterday, oblivious of each other’s presence. I grew up in Canada, beginning each day singing God Save the Queen. Nothing could save us from the record-breaking 103-degree heat. Her HRH stood at a memorial to the victims of 9/11 clad in pantyhose, a coat and requisite landing pad hat. She escaped into air-conditioned comfort soon after. Twenty blocks north, I stood for about two hours frying like an egg on the sidewalk waiting to get inside The Manhattan Center. My true queen and guru Amma was in town and I’d gladly wait all day to be in her presence. By the end of the night she would dispense her darshan in the form of hugs to over five thousand people. A staggering amount but not for her. She does that most days, and has for thirty-six years to millions of people worldwide. The Sanskrit term darshan means, "vision", and it is used to describe the meeting with a holy person, especially a Self-Realized master or sage.

What does a hug from her feel like? Better than the best hug your mother ever gave you. Some staggered away in tears of joy or stunned by her grace. I consider it a yearly spiritual shot in arm to keep me on my path and to continue to speak my truth. As wise as some people think I am, after sitting through the evening program of listening, watching and simply be-ing, my ego and I realized we have a long way to go before even glimpsing a shimmer of enlightenment, but as Amma says, by taking every step you take towards God, Gods takes a hundred towards you.

Some like it hot. This what some of us early birds in the crowd looked like.