Extraordinary
Evidence > Adi
Da & Elemental Forces > This Isn't Alaska
"This
Isn't Alaska.
Why Can't You Grow a Watermelon?"
Eileen
Haight
Eileen
Haight began reading the Teaching of Adi Da in 1973. She became
a formal devotee in 1980. A member of the Adidam Mate Moce (death
and dying) Guild, Eileen presently lives and serves in the devotee
community in Trinidad, California.
The
following story is from Eileen's book, Alzheimer's Caregivers: The Choice
of Love, which you can read online.
Eileen was on retreat at Adi Da Samrajashram as she begins her story.
I entered the small Fijian-style thatched Temple where a life-size
Murti
of Beloved Adi Da had been installed. I knelt before it and spoke
to Adi Da as if He was physically there. I thanked Him for the
retreat process and for all the answers to my prayers and then
I said, "Beloved, You have given us endless Gifts, including
self-understanding and freedom from egoic bondage on this retreat.
Now I have a prayer for Jack [Eileen's son]. I want to take him
some Prasad
from You and I feel the Prasad should be humorous."
I spoke very forcefully
and earnestly because I really felt Jack was at a place in his life and practice
where he needed help — and knowing Jack quite well, I thought if the Prasad
was humorous it would be most effective. After contemplating Adi Da for a while,
I left the temple. I wondered if I had asked for too much as He had already answered
all my other prayers.
Then, on the last day of our retreat, departing retreatants
were invited to come and sit with Adi Da. This is a time when Adi Da offers Prasad
to each of His departing devotees. I was eagerly awaiting the special Prasad I
had prayed for, so that I could take it to Jack. But when I looked at my Prasad
it was just like everyone else's. "Oh dear", I said to myself. "I knew
I had asked for one thing too many!"
I went back to my room and started
packing. While I was packing, Ruth, a friend of mine who served Adi Da most directly,
came into the room. She said, "I have a gift for you", and she held
out a small plastic bag with what looked like dried leaves. "What is it?"
I asked, as I took it from her and examined it carefully.
"It's dried
leaves from the watermelon plant Beloved Adi Da grew", she said.
I
burst out laughing. I told the story behind the leaves to Ruth [who had no idea
what this gift might be about].
* * *
When Jack lived
on the island, he was in charge of the garden and the self-sufficiency program.
Adi Da asked him to grow some watermelons, but Jack was not successful. The climate
was so hot that the melons would burst open and rot. All kinds of critters would
eat into them before they matured. Jack tried one thing after another. He built
a shade canopy over the rows. He experimented with all kinds of organic and chemical-free
pest controls. All to no avail!
Then one day, Beloved humorously said to
Jack, "This isn't Alaska. Why can't you grow a watermelon?"
Then
Beloved took some watermelon seeds and threw them on the ground.
In due
course, they grew perfectly.
When they were ripe, Beloved invited Jack
to His house for a watermelon feast!
* * *
In that
moment, remembering that story, my mind was stopped.
This was a perfect
gift for Jack . . . and definitely humorous!
