#7, #8 and #9 'On Leave'

#7 On Leave Atmic Folk Fair

His hands and feet are everywhere and His leelas are continuous. This is the story of a really huge leela. It’s a super leela.

In 1974 I went to see Swami from St. Petersburg Florida for the first time. Then I returned to Los Angeles to continue working as a social worker. In 1975 my sweet sister came out to California to arrange for the wedding of her youngest daughter. While there we all went to the annual Renaissance Fair held in Thousand Oaks. I don’t know if they are still doing those fairs as I haven’t been in California for a while but I went to a couple of them and loved every minute. There was Elizabethan music of course and madrigal dancing and wonderful Celtic food and of course Shakespeare and arts and crafts. My sister Betty fell under the spell of the Faire and was determined to replicate it in some way back in St. Petersburg. Within a year she had started the St. Petersburg Folk Fair….popularly known as SPIFFS for the Bi-centennial of 1976. These were busy years for both of us as I returned to India to have an interview with the Lord in 1977. I became an ardent devotee of Sri Sathya Sai Baba who has always advocated unity in diversity and the Spirit of Brotherhood. My sister founded the extremely popular faire here in Florida. It presents the various cultures of from 25 to 50 separate international groups which live in the area and are based on the philosophical concepts of Brotherhood and unity in diversity.

After I returned for summer school, I lived in India almost continuously from 1978 until 2010 when this terrible visa problem fell from the sky, sending me away from Mother India. When she wasn’t writing for the newspaper, my sister spent all of her time, mothering, guiding and nourishing the Folk Fair until now actually.

The territory for the Renaissance Fair in Thousand Oaks goes on forever and probably no one could actually see the entire thing. The Folk Faire is perhaps a couple of miles in diameter and consists of little villages and huts from cultures all around the world plus many stages for the entertainment and many a kitchen for the various ethnic foods to be prepared and sold. It is every bit as rich and entertaining as the California Faire besides having such an important message for us today. Obviously it was done by our Swami through my sister who probably doesn’t buy this idea at all. The Folk Faire is not essentially spiritual although we hope that this year there will be church choirs and temple chanting as a fitting part of every culture. Always before they had studiously avoided any mention of religion or politics. We think that this year if every group has an opportunity to share different religions and their spiritual wealth with us, it will speak of tolerance and understanding and brotherhood.

When I returned from India this trip, a fragil and disheartened 75 year old woman I found my 85 year old sister to be equally frail and disheartened because of uncomfortable family matters. Her grandchildren wanted to take the family home, ostensibly because she needed care. She doesn’t and, in fact takes my arm sometimes when I get wobbly. We are two old ladies and we match up pretty well now after some growing pains. Betty has lived an extremely active life here in St Pete with her pet projects such as being on the Library Board, and the wonderful SPIFFS which is like her own child. A couple weeks ago she resigned from the Library Board and was about to do the same with her other child, SPIFFS. I immediately recognised the Lord’s leela and felt that He wanted her to continue because it is such a worthy project. I feel that it might always need her inspiration and mothering, as we seem to!

My Episcopal sister, Betty has a unique relationship with Swami. She thinks He is a fine individual and knows that He has been my good teacher all these years. We don’t discuss His divinity even though He carries her safely in the palm of His hand every moment of the day and night just as He does me. He never would have let those cheeky grandchildren grab this house even though she never asked for His protection.

I finally persuaded her to renew her relationship with SPIFFS as she was really sort of tired of all the stress so we went to a Board meeting. Now we’ve started to think and discuss ways to help the program this year. It seems that the main difficulty is money because of the economic down turn. Even the schools aren’t being given money for Social Studies. The elementary school kids study science, math and reading period. I wish I could write a Grant to the federal government so we could get money for all the groups but I never had to do anything like that at the ashram. I wrote notes to Swami when I really wanted something. He was and is a lot closer than Washington.

#8 Atmic Health Care

For 30 years I enjoyed the free health care available to one and all in Swami’s Hospitals. A while back it couldn’t have easier to use. You could just sort of wander down the street or walk behind South Prasanthi one, grumbling because of the somewhat steep climb. At the gate the pleasant seva volunteer would open it for you and once inside the ever smiling lady doctors would cheerfully ask for the little lined book which we kept our own medical information. God help you though if you had forgotten your little book. Once I remember a dressing dowm from a somewhat younger doctor when I had to go to the hospital as a n emergency….without the treasured book.

It became more and more difficult to use the services of the smaller ‘General Hospital’ as the numbers of patients increased. This was a pretty good free, community hospital used by people of all races, castes and religions as shown by the number of long black barques and face scarvs,

It became harder and harder to see the smiling sweet lady doctors as they became older and more frazeled. Then they enlarged the facility and put in an out patient building and several laboratories. I remembered when we ladies would go over and scrub the floors of the entire hospital in an afternoon.

These days you had to go very early and line up in the back field in order to see the medical clerk who would take your little book and assign you to a regular doctor inside the hospital. Then you would be checked by a seva dal who would tell you where to wait for your doctor. It was not at all easy as I for one never went all the way up that steep hill in the first place unless I was practically dying. Most of the smiling lady doctors have retired. But the health care at the end of the ordeal was worth it as the doctors were intent on doing seva for Swami and it was easy to feel His presence every where.

Fortunately I sat in a group of wonderful ladies several of whom were very good doctors as well. They were not the regular doctors . One was retired and another worked on Swami’s hospital bus which went into the villages every day around the ahram. I was glad not to have to stand for long periods in the open field behind the out patient department.

‘My blood sugar has been high lately, Dr. Parvathi.’

‘How high?’

‘200’

‘Are you eating ice cream or any sugar?’

‘No Doctor, I never do.’

‘Are you excering?’

‘Not enough I guess.’

‘Well excersice alittle more and see if it comes down.’

Oh how sweet were those exchanges and how I miss everyone.

If I took Prasad after the Bhajan I always got lots of looks from all the ladies.

‘Why are you taking Prasad?

‘No Aunty I’m taking this to the seva dal on duty.’

Everyone would giggle.They were the kindest most self controlled people I ever met and they have propelled India to the top of the underdeveloped countries, not the soft wear engineers. The comradery was always so full of love and tenderness. I never viited them at home nor did they visit me but the love, the spiritual love from these Indian ladies was always extraordinary.

Those were the days of….Atmic health. Now I’ll write about our health care here in the USA but I think I’ll make that a separate blog.

#9 Health Care in USA

My general health isn’t so good and I wobble when I walk almost falling down sometimes. Don’t know why. There were times at the ashram when I had to use my wheel chair. On the trip over here from India I asked for a wheel chair and it was wonderful. They met me at every stop and made sure I was in the correct place to wait. All you have to do is to ask for a chair and its there. Something for you to remember but it helps to be 75 and to wobble. I have found that the general population of the world is getting older and people are being kinder to the elderly.

When I arrived in Florida I expected it to continue, this new kindness to the elderly and the oppressed. Wrong. Maybe because everyone is elderly here and it’s no big deal.

Because I have a pension of just over 500 a month and I’m 75. I applied for Medicaid and got it. ‘ Ask for food stamps,’ I was told and there’s even money because of your low income. I really wanted a complete medical check up and so I thought I would go to my sister’s doctor. My last complete check up was at Manipal in Bangalore and cost about 3350 rupees. I was looking forward to seeing my sister’s doctor because she really likes him.

I went in with her for her appointment and was told I would have to wait for two months for an appointment. At the time I was thinking that I would see a good doctor, get some good antibiotic for my eternal virus infection and get back to India for Guru Pornima. But not if I had to wait two months to see him.

After about one month of waiting I hit my forehead on the door to the freezer and really whapped it good. It was a Heavily stressful period and I so ignored it The dark red color bothered me as it looked like squamous cancer. Doctor at the Sai Center said that cancer doesn’t act that way so I forgot about it even though it was throbbing. It was the size of maybe a quarter and dark red and alittle to the right of my third eye, bless its heart. Maybe it was part of the ride Swami was giving me to take me home. Besides it does look like a bindi which I had stopped wearing when I left India.

Meanwhile my cough was getting worse and worse and so was my sister’s although she swears its an allergy. I pray a lot because she has very bad asthma.

Finally my sister drove me to the doctor for the appointed day. I would undertand all about my health issues, at last!

I sort of wobbled into the office, the spotlessly clean beautiful office.

‘Could I see your insurance card.’

‘Yes, I smiled, ‘here it is,’

‘ ‘We no longer take ‘staywell’ insurance.’

‘But I’ve been waiting for two months with a whole in my head,’

‘Well, fill out these forms. You can see the doctor today at least.’

‘Why couldn’t you have called me so I could find another doctor instead of waiting?”

She looked at me as if I were a little insane.

I sat down with my book of forms and filled out some of them. I was so disappointed frankly that I could’t think straight. Then I returned to the desk.

‘If you don’t fill out every one of these forms, the doctor won’t see you at all.’

It was just like at the ashram where they make such a big deal out of the little book. My sister helped me fill out the forms.

‘Susan, the doctor will see you now.’

We went into another room to wait another half hour or so. It was very clean and very cold from the air conditioning and…..the lack of love!

I ate some peanut butter biscuits as the stress level makes my sugar act crazy.

Finally he came in with a great show of affection for my sister who is beloved by one and all everywhere we go and I always hope for the left over crumbs.

‘How’s your breathing,’ he asked.

‘Not so good,’ I replied before realizing that he was speaking to my sister.

‘What are your problems?’

I pulled out a sheet I had drawn up listing eight health problems I felt I needed help with.’

‘Very good,’ he said looking at the whole in the head.

‘Could it be a concussion? It’s been a month,’

‘Did you loose consciousness?’

‘No’

‘it is a contusion’ It will take another month for that scab to come off. Keep it clean.’

‘What about my heart? I had an echogram and they said I had a slit in my aorta which could be a …like when a tire blows out.’

‘very unusual for a woman.’

I didn’t get a chance to ask about the virus my sister says I don’t have. I coughed so much the other night I threw up into my hands. But he was in a hurry. Listened with his stethoscope. Felt my waist .

‘I don’t know about these insurance companies,’ he said. ‘My office staff isn’t here today. Call me tomorrow.’

On the way out I said to the lady who had been so rude, ‘Shall I call tomorrow?’

Lady said, ‘Don’t call us, we’ll call you.’ She really did.

Conclusion: Maybe I tend to be rather a hypochondriac and expect someone to give a rat’s tail about my health. Doctor Swami will give me the care I need….not want. He’s been riding around in that chair for some time now.. We don’t know how much pain He’s in or if He even allows Himself to feel it. I remember once long ago he said the pain was unbearable. But He has been in that chair for sometime and sometimes we look at His feet and weep because they are so puffy.

He is our example and He is teaching us to get over body consciousness. How can we know that we are the Atma when we think that we are this body? When that goes only Atmic consciousness is left.

I think maybe gratitude is also a factor. I complained about that General Hospital every single time I went. That general hospital staff of sweetly smiling ladies, my friends, who worked themselves every day climbing up that steep hill. They never refused to see me, demanding as I was, even when I didn’t bring that damn little book. Please Swami. Please Doctor Swami, forgive me for being unkind to your living saints at general hospital.