A Sweet High Family

Special Events

By Carmen L. Brocklehurst, Albuquerque, NM

Sri Dadubhai, a holy man from India, recently came to Albuquerque to visit “Justinji,” as he calls him. (Dadubhai comes to the States to raise money every two years or so.) His record of service is very impressive. Dadubhai’s foundation, for instance, pays for thousands of eye operations annually. (Eye disease is one of India’s biggest problems.) His ashram includes a facility for old people so that they can spend their final years in dignity. His ashram’s school has graduated students who have gone on to become doctors. And as if to complete the circle, some of those doctors are now performing eye operations at the ashram. The foundation also helps poorer families by marrying 100 couples at a time; otherwise the costs to marry would be prohibitive. And the list goes on. It is exhausting work, as there are always people needing operations, children requiring schooling, old people living in poverty, and young women wanting to marry. What does he charge the people for these services? Not a dime. He simply tells people, all around the world, about the work taking place at the ashram. Donations of generous hearted people flow in and support the work.

Another work also goes on at the ashram. Sri Dadubhai’s teacher was Swami Krishnanand, the son of a Maharaja who, like the Buddha, left the soft life to be of service. Sri Dadubhai created the ashram for his teacher, only to be put in charge of it after Swami’s death. When Swami was in America and was asked why India was so poor he said, “India is not poor. It is America that is poor. At our ashram the name of God is being chanted 24 hours a day.” And the tradition continues; every other word out of Sri Dadubhai’s mouth is “Ram,” the name of God. When asked, he joyfully blessed us with the singing-chanting of the Gayatri Mantra found on page 106 in Meditation For Healing. It is a cure for many things, but mostly it brings forth Joy.

Why does Sri Dadubhai come to visit Justinji? To learn and be blessed by him. After an evening of meditation and reading from a book by Nityananda, with comments by Justin, Sri Dadubhai was asked to comment on the reading. He smiled sweetly and talked about what an extraordinary evening it had been, about how what seemed like a simple, pleasant evening was really so unusual. He praised Justin for his tremendous insight — both for what he had chosen to read and for his comments. He also said how unusual it was to find a group who would rather be with Justin listening to “high thinking” than out doing other things. He wondered if we realized what a “sweet high family” we had in T’ai Chi Chih. My mind immediately went to all the teachers and practitioners of T’ai Chi Chih around the world.

We talk about the power of the chi, but there is something else in our practice: a special sweetness. Many who have been in desperate straits and come to T’ai Chi Chih have felt it immediately. It has soothed them and helped them heal. I believe that each one of us who has felt this sweetness feels very grateful.

It was a very special evening, one that we will long remember and which will encourage us to love and share the chi.