Miracles

Till date I have written only about Guruji's words of wisdom, Sutras etc. My friends and people who read my blog, and had not done any Art Of Living course, silently wondered why I am so passionate about it. So from now on, I will share few stories. Stories from real life. Everyone in Art of Living has an experience to share, a story to tell. EVERYONE- including me. Our lives have been enriched. 

Today I will start with someone's story.

The following miracle has just recently happened in Taiwan. It has touched many people and moved them to tears. Thanks to Peak Wan for translating this Chinese article into English for sharing with everybody.
The Miracle of Blessing

Article by Wu Chao-Chuan Translated by Thow Peak Wan

I had felt to write down something to share with everyone about the experience of my child receiving the blessings of Guruji. But as I had been very busy, I never got round to it. But seeing my child kneeling in front of a picture of Guruji last night really moved me. I could no longer resist writing down the experience with the hope of giving some food for thought for those who have either just started the Art of Living or who are hesitating at the door and have not entered in as yet.
Before the age of 8 my son had always been a strong, handsome and smart boy. I loved taking him out to play because I felt proud as a mother hearing the praises heaped upon him by people. But the year he was going into primary 3, a car accident on the highway put an end to both of our dreams. The aftermath of the huge impact to his head meant that schooling was difficult for him and plus the fact that the surgery on his skull left an area which was bald and could no longer grow hair, he became the butt of the other schoolchildren's jeers and insults. Names such as baldy, stupid, crazy were continuously hurled at him. The constant jeering left him feeling humiliated and angry but other than clenching his fists, he could not find any other way of emotional release. From then on he became the weak pupil in the eyes of the teacher. It was for him the beginning of an uncontrollable fall into an abyss of darkness. He was no longer a pupil with good marks, a lovely and lively boy. I could no longer see his clear bright shining yes and innocent smile.
I could only see hate in his eyes! I know he hated the car accident and the man who had knocked him down with his car. Brain injury needs a long time to heal. But I and my son were very impatient in our quest to return to the good old days. This resulted in a lot of conflict and pain for us. Especially in the area of his studies, it was like taking a big fall. Every night I painstakingly accompanied him in his studies but there was not any improvement at all. In the end my child begged me to please give up on him. When he spoke those words he was only 9 years of age. That night I was so heartbroken I fell on the floor crying. In the midst of my tears I kept asking myself "What kind of a mother am I really? What kind of mother am I?"
From that night on, I told myself that no matter how bad his homework is, he is sure to have something in him that is better than others. I have to think up means to help him regain his confidence; at least I have to let him be happy again.
After that, I let him learn drawing and jazz piano. This is not for the sake of art but for him to get some form of emotional release. He did both of these really well and from these activities he got some pleasure of achievement and joy. But I knew that he was still unhappy about the fact that his schoolwork was not as good as the others. But he pretended not to mind. But the higher the grade, the closer he got to the top of the class, counting backwards. But we wryly smiled to ourselves in an effort to comfort ourselves, saying, "Never mind! At least he did not come out last!" But as he was such a fine student before we could not help feeling somewhat disappointed. We spent a few years like this. This year my son finally successfully graduated to middle school. We heard that the school will group the students according to their results. Of the 3 subjects - National Language (Chinese), English and Math's, he only managed 30 marks in each of the subjects. It did not take too much of a guess to know which class he would be put into. But still we smilingly said, "Oh, never mind". I tried to encourage my son saying. Maybe in the future you will be the dark horse which will surprise everyone!" When my son heard this, he just blankly said, "Oh, don't be silly!" It seemed that my son no longer held out any hopes as regards his studies.
But the Blessing Course held in the mid of September this year in Taiwan changed the destiny of my son forever. My sister was attending the blessing course held in Wulai Yun XianRecreational Park. She was continuously calling to urge our whole family to attend the last satsang of the course which was held the night before the course ended. She said "Swami Pragyapad will be giving blessings to everyone. This is a very rare opportunity, so you should not miss out!" But because of various reasons, I just could not make up my mind to go. Finally, there was a dramatic turn of events and overcoming all manner of difficulties and mental obstacles, I drove my parents and the 2 children northward for the satsang. Rankly, I innocently went and quietly enjoyed being there. Whilst receiving Swamiji's blessings, my mind did not have any desire for anything. Neither were there any thoughts. I just told my child: "Have a humble and grateful heart when you go forward to receive Guruji's blessings and feel blessed!"
Afterwards, on the way home, I got lost on the way in the mountains and only reached home in the middle of the night. The children were very tired so I did not let my son do any preparation for the next day's tests. I just hurried him off to bed. The next day after school, my child told me in an excited tone of voice that I had not heard in seemingly a few hundred years: "Mummy, Mummy, today I had 90 marks for my National Language (Chinese)!" My instinctive reply was "Stop joking!" My child shook his head earnestly and said, No, no, really - I really got 90 marks!" I was stunned for a couple of seconds and then yelling with joy, I picked him up and holding him turned him round and round in celebrative joy.
During these few years we had never seen such high marks It came as such a surprise! Especially in the subject of National Language (Chinese language). Because of the past brain injury, my son was not able to remember many words. Even words that a primary 1 or 2 pupil should know, he was still not able to write them out. How is it possible that overnight he could know them all? Who will believe such a thing? The following 2 weeks, every day my child will come back home and with that high pitch excitement tell me: "Mummy, Mummy, today I got 100 marks in my math's test.!", "Mummy, Mummy, today I got 90 marks in my English, I was the second in my class!", "Mummy, Mummy ......."
With every passing day, my son loved his studies more and more and his smile blossomed more and more each day. For so many years, I had not seen my son like this... I had thought that I would never ever be able to see him like this. Because of this, I could not help crying at night, but this time it was because I was moved to tears. Looking at Guruji's photograph, I sincerely knelt down.....crying, speechless with gratitude. The huge change in my child's studies, if it were not because of the blessings of the Guru, what else could be the reason?
I finally experienced what grace was - it is when you have not prayed for anything and it descends on you when you really need it. Seeing the scene of my son kneeling down in gratitude, what I am really grateful for is that Guruji has taken the hatred which was in my son's heart away and opened up his closed up heart and brought back to him his own innate kindness, confidence and happiness. This is the miracle that we had not dared to wish for.
Because of gratitude, I could not help but kneel down in front of the picture of Guruji. I feel so fortunate that I have met Guruji and have him as my Guru. It is only because of this that my son has such good karma today.
Jai Guru Dev

Taichung

Wu Chao Chua, Public Servant, Nantou.

(Currently studying in Life and Death Research Centre in Nan Hwa University)

2008.10.22
PS: Blessing Course is a beautiful Art Of Living course where-in after completing the course you become a channel for Guruji’s grace to flow and heal people.