Conversations with Avant-garde Sages - The Wizard LLC

Conversations with Avant-garde Sages
On top of Arunachala, monks, surrounded by scores of monkeys,
were igniting a giant cauldron of clarified butter or ghee into a
sacred blaze for all to see. The feeling was of happiness and
tranquillity. I was awestruck. Here, a population of people I had
pitied for their poverty was enjoying more genuine happiness than
many Americans back home, besotted by their material goods.
The next day, we were taken by Ganesan into the bowels of the
oldest temple in India, ceilings blackened with thick crusts of
incense smoke accumulated over three millennia of rituals and
men in loin cloths tending fires in ancient subterranean caverns.
Old friends were encountered in town; a beloved sage magically
appeared on the back of a motorcycle at the last possible
opportunity. Love songs of devotion were sung at the edge of a
tranquil reflecting pond while a kingfisher delighted us with his
plumage. Everything unfolded effortlessly; all in homage to the
icon of the formless Self, Shiva.
I set off to on a trek up Arunachala to its peak, where the cauldron
sat atop the sacred hill. I had the gall to ask for more than I had
already been given. I asked that a sign be given so that I would
know for sure that I am being that which the mountain stood for.
Two things then transpired. A stone from a cave that had sheltered
the young Ramana Maharshi was picked up and given to me by
our guide – a stone I had been quietly desiring but unwilling to
take for myself. As we left the cave a large boulder of spiritual
significance to the natives, “Shiva’s Foot” was pointed out by our
guide. As we neared the top a large bird could be seen soaring
directly above this stone. I had never seen such a bird and was
excited to learn from my guide that it was an eagle – only the
second species of eagle I had ever seen. I turned to my companion,
Paula, who was thirty yards below and shouted to her to look up at
the eagle. At the moment we turned our attention to this eagle it
stopped in mid flight and beat its wings six or eight times –
holding its position stationary in stillness during flight like a
hummingbird. I was astonished. I did not think any other bird
could accomplish this feat. This was yet another sign in a sea of
synchronicity.
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