Once while Yogi Ashwini was in Europe, we had the good fortune to take a walk with him in a park. It was an unkempt park with very few visitors.
He stopped at a point near a pond, turned to me, pointed towards a tree and asked me to communicate with it.
I was dumbfounded. How would a tree speak with me? And, why would it? Does it have anything to say? With all these thoughts clouding my mind, I closed my eyes and connected with Yogiji. I had heard him say earlier that every task given by the Guru is for a purpose. I didn’t know what the purpose behind this task was, but I knew that no task could be completed without his blessings. (Even if the task remains incomplete, it is a blessing because it helps us realise our shortcomings).
So, I asked Yogiji to help me out with the task that he had assigned to me. After that, what happened was a flow…
I looked up at the tree and placed both my palms on its bark. Keeping awareness of my Guru, when I closed my eyes and tried to focus, I could very clearly feel the emotions of strong fear and extreme unhappiness. I was surprised how a tree that looks so dumb could have this level of emotions.
I turned away and had just walked a few steps, when I spotted some tree stumps (a small portion of the trunk remaining after the tree is cut with the roots still in the ground). It looked like these trees had been recently cut and suddenly the picture became clear. The tree was terrified and unhappy because of its impending death.
This was the first time I had experienced what the fear of death feels like.
I narrated my experience and interaction to Yogiji. He explained that there was a factory nearby which needed wood, which was being procured from here. But he said that there was still more to it. He sent me again to the tree to find out what was in the ground beneath the tree.
This time when I closed my eyes and placed my palms over the tree, at first I could see some dark shades of red and brown. I connected with Yogiji and focused once again. This time, I clearly saw a coffin!
Later Yogiji explained that the whole park and parts of surrounding areas were standing over graveyards.
At Dhyan Foundation, Yogiji always talks about experiencing ourselves rather than listening to discourses. Being a muslim, somehow, I never believed. But when you experience something with your Guru, you must believe it, because it’s a real experience. And truly, only experiences transform individuals because whosoever could see death like this, would never forget it again. Nor would they be dumbfounded at the thought of talking to a tree!
Author: Karima Jaria
