Follow up

None of the previous 20 people returned to the Ipswich follow up program on Oct 20, but 5 new people came. They were all aborigines. One of them was a tribal elder with 32 grandchildren. One of her grandchildren was sick in hospital and Atul gave her a photo of Shri Mataji to give to the child. The child got better and now she has nothing but praise for Shri Mataji and Sahaja Yoga. Jai Shri Mataji!

The Realise Australia Tour has officially launched in QLD last weekend on Oct 6. A bunch of Brisbane yogis, including the bhajan group, went to the Ipswich City Council to give a public program with music performances. About 20 people came and got their self-realisation. Many stayed back afterwards to purchase some CD's and have a chat with the yogis over a nice cup of tea and some cookies. One could see the glow on their faces and how their attention had changed after the program. They seemed to have enjoyed the bhajans as they joined in with the singing and clapping during the performances. I think music is really the best way to reach out to the public and give them self-realisation. I hope they all will be back for the follow-up program on Oct 20.

I wasn't sure if it was just me, but I felt really hot (could be from the stage lights too) and had a headache throughout the program. Later on I found that a few other yogis felt the same thing too. Anyway, I decided to drive home that night to have a bit of a rest, and rejoin the tour on the following day. The next morning, after enjoying a nice cup of hot cappuccino at the Nicolai's, we set off for our journey to join the rest of the group in the wild wild west. It was a very long drive, and by the time we got to Chinchilla, we've already missed both programs that were held that day. However, we were told that only 1 person turned up combining both programs together, so I guess we didn't miss much, even though it's quite disappointing. But giving self-realisation to that 1 seeker made the journey all worthwhile.

That afternoon 10 of us (6 men & 4 ladies) continued our journey to Miles, where we stayed the night at a Caravan park. We booked 3 cabins and they all came with a kitchen, bathroom and air-conditioner, which was very luxurious according to Sahaj standard. The ladies went grocery shopping after settling in, and that night we had a nice big meal of barbeque and salad, plus a wide selection of drinks, thanks to Uncle Paul. We ate and chatted in front of the BBQ fire, with bhajans playing in the background. It's a nice homey kind of feeling when yogis from different nationalities all join together like one happy family to do Sahaj work. After dinner we watched the video of our Ipswich bhajan performance and then headed off to bed. I had trouble sleeping that night with the constant disturbance of insects crawling on me so I got up at about 5:30, took a shower, and meditated. Breakfast was a big feast of yogurt, cereals, bacon & eggs on toast and fruit juices & tea. The 10 of us must've been working out the nabhi chakra (like the 10 petals of the nabhi). It's unbelievable how much food we ate during that trip!

The first program started at 10:30 so we all got there at around 10:00. We were a bit worried when we arrived because the venue was locked and we couldn't find anyone to open the door for us to set up. We waited on the street, which seemed really deserted as if we're in the middle of no where, and we couldn't help but wonder if anyone would turn up at all. We all did a bandhan for the program, and miraculously, 5 ladies showed up and someone appeared at the venue to open the door for us. The ladies were real seekers and they all felt the cool vibrations. One of them actually drove for over an hour to attend our program. All of us felt so much joy after the program and we just thanked Mother in our heart for giving us this opportunity to do Her divine work of spreading Sahaj. Even though 5 people didn't seem like a lot, but based on the 1,500 population in Miles, this is a really good percentage.

After Miles was another 1.5 hour drive to Roma. We didn't have time for lunch before the program which started at 2:30 p.m. Four ladies came and got their realisation, but somehow the vibrations of this program were not as strong as Miles. After the program, we took all our left-overs from dinner and breakfast and started improvising with our lunch on the grass area in front of the venue. Due to the lack of utensils, we made our BBQ chicken sandwiches using cucumbers as "spoons" to spread the melted butter onto the rolls, and we "drank" the warm yogurt from the container. It's primitive, but fun! And it really was the best-tasting chicken sandwich ever! We headed home after our nabhis had been satisfied. And during the 6-hours drive, we took pleasure in admiring the beautiful sunset scenery as the gigantic egg-yolk-looking moon changed colors as it slowly rose from the horizon into the cloudy sky. This is something city people don't get to see everyday. Thank you Shri Mataji for this nice adventure in the "outback".

11 Oct 2006