Tribute to TCC Student Ruby Harper, Hindu Swami

Some students enroll in T’ai Chi Chih (TCC) classes with a multitude of blessings which are part of their very nature. Ruby Harper was such a student.

Ruby took TCC classes with me for years at the San Leandro Adult School, in the San Francicso Bay Area. Other students were drawn to her because of her kindness, humor, and loving nature. She stood out in a group because she was also a Hindu Swami, a renunciate who always wore orange robes. When the pandemic shut down all classes, she looked for other ways to help others and stay connected.

Ruby was interested in all forms of meditation and healing. She offered hands-on healing, body massage, Reiki classes, and past life regressions at her home. She was open to all religious practices: Christian, Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim, and more. The walls of her home were filled with photos of gurus, saints and healers, including Jesus.

Each summer, she planned a trip to India to be with her Guru. She stayed several weeks at his Ashram, and worked there, helping poor people on the streets.

One morning at 6 a.m., Ruby was meditating with her Guru when Justin Stone came to her and asked her to write down what he dictated to her. She ignored him. The next morning, Justin returned to her, insisting that she write down a message. After writing it down, Justin also insisted that she sign his name at the bottom.

When Ruby returned to the U.S., she came to see me and showed me the message. Justin wished that he had talked more about breathing when he was teaching TCC. He hoped that students and teachers would continue to know the importance of natural breathing, and how it relates to the practice of TCC.

When I read the message from Justin and saw the signature, I was startled. Justin’s name was written the same way he signed all his paintings: in an ascending slant on the canvas. Later, I showed it to Sandy McAlister, and she agreed that it looked very much like his signature.

How amazing that Ruby never met Justin in life but received this communication from him in India after he passed.

This September, I received a call from Ruby’s daughter in Phoenix. She said that her mom was ill and taken to ICU. I called a close friend and asked her to go to the hospital. I could not go as I still had COVID.

Nancy and her husband Peter went and stayed with Ruby, connecting with her psychically and energetically. They both confirmed that Ruby “was getting ready to depart from earth.” Nancy remarked that there were many spirits in the ICU room, and they were there to accompany Ruby when she was ready to depart. They were carrying a golden robe for Ruby to wear. It was clear to Nancy that Ruby was in the process of dying.

Those of us who knew Ruby and were close friends want everyone in the TCC community to know that she lived a life devoted to loving and helping others and practicing many forms of meditation including TCC.

We were blessed to know Ruby and to have many adventures with her: lunches, dinners, art events, band concerts, ukulele performances, and lectures by professors from around the world. We feel blessed to have had the opportunity to be in Ruby’s company for so many years, and to feel that loving connection even now.