Synchronicity

Anyone who knows anything about collecting antiquarian books from Eastern spiritual gurus understands that the ultimate achievement is owning a signed copy. I invented the "knows anything" part because, honestly, I'm not sure how many people worldwide collect these books. But I digress.

There was an Indian guru who was known for leaving little messages in books that were being sold at his ashram so that his devotees would find little surprises. I read a story about one such devotee who bought a book on eBay and was excited that it was a first edition book in great condition, but didn’t know how excited he would be when the book arrived, and he realized that he was one of those lucky few recipients. Ever since that moment, I flip through each and every book I add to my collection for the small surprises. Sometimes there’s a really beautiful inscription, a photo used as a bookmark, a receipt from when the book was originally sold…the little surprises tell awesome stories that add to the rich history of the teachings. I had just never held a book that I knew, without a doubt, was in the hands of any of my teachers.

Fast forward to last week. I decided to order myself a physical copy of Krishna Das’s book, Flow of Grace, as I devour his versions of the Chalisa on a daily basis. I ordered a used copy and when it arrived the first thing that I did was open it up to even see if the CDs were inside. I laughed because 1 CD was missing and I realized I haven’t owned a CD player in at least a decade. I walked it out to my office and placed it up on the shelf, not thinking twice.

The next day, I'm sitting at my piano for hours playing KD's version of Om Namah Shivaya, wondering what chanting in a room in his physical presence would feel like. When I finished playing, my spouse looked at me and said, "You know, he's still here. You can go chant with him." I smiled and, taking that as their blessing to book the next retreat KD is at without hesitation, walked out to my office and grabbed the book. I decided that I was going to start playing the Chalisa and wanted to read the words I had already heard KD speak.

I opened the book and BOOM. There it was. "All Love" - KD Ram Ram

❤️