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Guru Ram Das, SSS Ji's Legacy for South America

10/20/2005

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    Here is another report from the Guru Ram Das Lord of Miracles Tour through South America. This one is by another friend in the group, Guru Kirin Kaur.

    Greetings from Beautiful La Paz, Bolivia:

    We are winding down our trip in this beautiful city. Last night after Hari Dharam's sweet class full of stories of the Gurus and lovely chanting, Simran Singh and myself gave a short Gatka presentation, and people were delighted. Needless to say, we were both quite out of breath, since excersing in this altitude takes its toll!

    This morning several of us attended group Sadhana here at the hotel. There were about 15 people from the Bolivian Sangat, and Sat Kirn Kaur led the meditation with live music, which was greatly appreciated and highly regarded. We had literally no time to go home and rest afterwards since the day was jammed packed. After breakfast, Guru Bachan Singh, Sat Kirn Kaur, Deva Kaur (our beautiful hostess), Hari Purkh Kaur (another devoted yoga student) and myself went to visit a lovely lady who collects antique weavings from the indigenous people of the area. When she greeted us in perfect english, Guru Bachan Singh mentioned her perfect pronunciation, and it turns out she's american but has been living in La Paz since 1976! She has had exhibitions at the Smithsonian and other major museums and at present, she has a whole exhibit in storage in Santa Fe, NM waiting for the perfect exposure!!

    Some of the pieces she showed us were tightly woven traditional alpaca skirts, chieftain ponchos and other assorted cloths with simple yet elegant designs in vibrant blues, reds, indigos, whites and yellows, which was amazing since ALL of them use natural dyes from local plants and insects (ugh!), and are all quite old.... some dating as early as early 1800´s.

    Right after that, we all rushed to our next appointment: a meeting specially set up for us to meet with several doctors, and psychologists working in a Drug Rehabilitation Center. Thanks to another connection with a Kundalini Yoga student whose husband (Dr. Rodolfo Lopez) runs the State Mental Health Ministry, we were able to talk to these dedicated group of professionals. Guru Bachan Singh and Sat Kirn Kaur gave a short summary presentation on 3HO SuperHealth, its success rate, and our willingness to share these precious teachings with them, and there seemed to be genuine interest in exploring the possibility of setting up something here in Bolivia in the near future!! We left feeling this could be the beginning of a partnership with the Bolivian Drug Rehabilitaion world, where it is so needed.

    After lunch we had yet another meeting set up for us.... this time in the poorest section of La Paz. This particular meeting happened through the synchronicity of Guru Ram Das! It so happened that when we arrived at the airport, there was quite a short lady there waiting for some other passenger, but when she saw our dazzlingly white radiant group, she approached us and begged us to come see her place and the work she was doing. This destination turned out to be a project to give help and aid to orphans and the poorest elderly folk. The lady we had met at the airport and her husband both run this project by providing clothing, food, toys, and basic needs to these people who have nowhere else to turn to.

    When we arrived we were guided up some dark stairwells to the second story into a room that was FULL of children and some elderly indigenous people.. You could hear a pin drop, it was so quiet. But as soon as we walked in, as if waiting a cue they all broke into loud applause with HUGE grinning faces. All of them were moved to see these strange white ¨foreigners¨here in their humble surroundings visiting THEM! They literally all rushed to hug Guru Bachan Singh (who even sitting down towers over everybody!), Jai Hari Kaur, and myself. The kids swamped us and GBS was so touched he started crying. Later in the car he said that in each of those children's faces all he could see was the Siri Singh Sahib's face. It was quite moving. The children ranged between a few months old to teenagers.

    GBS gave a short talk about how Guru Ram Das himself had been an orphan, and how he grew up to become a great Saint who had changed and touched many many lives, even to this day. And then much to the kids surprise, we brought out cookies and candies we had bought earlier. The children were SO excited! At one point while the goodies were being passed around, we asked all of them to close their eyes and take a few long deep breaths. Well, many of the kids were NOT going to let go of their cookies, so with the cookie sticking out of their mouths they were tightly squeezeing their eyes and trying to breathe deep! It was precious!

    It seems everywhere we go, the Guru points the way.... sets up the meetings with whomever needs to hear our message, and the doors open for all kinds of amazing connections at every level. Our impact is felt by many, young and old.

    Finally, we finished our busy day by having a lovely dinner at the house of the Ex-chancellor of Bolivia, someone in the political realm equivalent to Dick Cheney. He basically ran the country behind the scenes, with the last president. His lovely wife has an angelical voice and she delighted us with the sweetest bolivian songs. This enchanting evenning ended our lovely tour of this beatiful country. A country that really feels like the Tibet in Latin America. Perhaps it's the high altitude, perhaps it's the majority of indigenous people who never got assimilated into the western mind-set.... perhaps it's the rugged countryside (it looks like the city was built inside the Grand Canyon!).... perhaps.... perhaps.....but there is a deep spiritual feeling permeating the crystal-clear air.... and it beckons us to keep coming back, which is our prayer we all will someday!

    So, for now... signing off yet from beautiful Boliva, till we sign on again from Paraguay..... the yatra of the tour of miracles in honor of Guru Ram Das.

    The Lord of Miracles Tour, read more

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