The
Peach
This story was first published in Love
of the God-Man, by James Steinberg.
In July 1978, Avatar Adi Da Samraj invited the children of Mound Builder
Free School (the original pre-school and elementary school for young devotees
in the Way of Adidam) to a devotional occasion at The Mountain Of Attention Sanctuary
in Northern California. The children were to sing and offer gifts to Avatar Adi
Da and then receive Prasad (Blessed Gifts) from Him. Through this simple ceremony
of giving and receiving gifts, the devotee enacts the principle of life and devotional
practice, which is mutual sacrifice, or service.
During the
occasion, Avatar Adi Da was Radiant and obviously delighted by the simple devotional
energy of the children. As the children chanted, they approached Avatar Adi Da
one by one and offered the gifts they had prepared for Him. When all of the children
had given their gifts, Avatar Adi Da began to distribute to the children the Prasad,
Gifts of fruit He had Blessed. He carefully chose a piece of fruit for each child
from the basket just below His chair, and handed it to the child.
As
the children began to approach Avatar Adi Da to receive His Gifts, an eight-year-old
girl turned to her practice guide (who was accompanying her on this occasion)
and whispered “I want the peach!” The guide looked in the basket and saw there
was only one very large, juicy peach perched invitingly at the top of the basket
of fruit. She whispered back to the girl that she should accept whatever was Given
to her and be happy. The girl nodded her head and returned her attention to Avatar
Adi Da.
Just then, Avatar Adi Da reached over and picked up
the peach with His left hand. The girl and her guide watched as He turned it
slowly in His left hand while He continued to offer Gifts with His right hand.
A dozen children stood ahead of the girl, who by now was sure that she would not
receive the peach.
But Avatar Adi Da continued to distribute
fruit with one hand while turning the large ripe peach in the other. When it was
our eight-year-old's turn, she and her guide approached Avatar Adi Da together
to receive His Prasad. The young girl bowed to Him and held out her hands as she
looked up into His face. He suddenly extended His left hand and gave her the peach!
She stared in delight and wide-eyed amazement at her Heart-Master for a few moments
and then bowed.
When she returned to her seat, she looked at
her guide and gave her a big smile. She had been given more than a peach — she
had felt the Love and Blessing of Avatar Adi Da Samraj, and felt the Mystery of
Who He Is.
186,104 people have liked our site's pages and shared them with their Facebook friends - Most Shared Pages
© 2024 Copyrighted materials used with the permission of The Avataric Samrajya of Adidam Pty Ltd, as trustee for The Avataric Samrajya of Adidam. All rights reserved. None of these materials may be disseminated or otherwise used for any non-personal purpose without the prior agreement of the copyright owner. ADIDAM is a trademark of The Avataric Samrajya of Adidam Pty Ltd, as Trustee for the Avataric Samrajya of Adidam.
Technical problems with our site? Let our webmaster know.