The Oranges
We have satsangs at home on every Sunday and on one Sunday the 11th of January 2009 we were invited by a colleague (I’ll call him Mr.G) to conduct a satsang at his house at 7:00 pm. The community where he resides is just 3 miles away. This is what happened on that Sunday, as usual we started our first satsang session at our home at 4:30 pm. Until 4:45 nobody arrived and finally one member showed up with his daughter. So we continued the satsang and talks with him and his daughter until 5.15 pm. And the end we gave them oranges as Prasad.
After they left, we were getting ready for the second satsang at 6:00 pm and also the satsang at Mr.G's house.
A new member was expected to join our 6:00 pm satsang. At 5 mins to 6:00 she called us from a public telephone system asking for the routes as she was lost. My husband asked her to wait at the shopping complex from where she was calling and suggested that he would come and pick her up as it was only a 5 minute drive from our house. Now as I was chanting the Hare Rama maha mantra and waiting for this one member and my husband to arrive soon, the phone rang. That was strange, we generally mute all the Land line phones and mobile phones once the satsang starts, but since it was getting delayed today we had forgotten about it. It did not strike me that it could be the satsang member or my husband from the shopping complex trying to find each other or something. But anyways it was neither of them, but another satsang member who usually turns up for the 4:30 pm satsang sessions.
Mr.A as i want to call him going forward, requested that he and his family would like to join our 6:00 pm satsang. I was overjoyed and informed him to come in as soon as possible as it was already 6:00 pm. In another 2 mins or so, my husband and Ms.C (the member who was waiting at the shopping complex) arrived while i was chanting. She was an American lady and had never been to our satsangs before, so my husband tried to explain in brief about our satsang and requested her to chant the maha mantra along with us.
As we all were chanting, Mr.A arrived with his family. We settled soon and continued with the chanting, kitans and my husband gave a talk on why we chant, the purpose of your lives and benefits of a satsang gathering. By the time we completed our last round of chanting and discussions it was 6.50 pm. Yes we will be delayed for our third satsang session at Mr.G's house. So i immediately distributed the orange Prasad to all the members. So as soon as the members left, (of course Ms.C was stating back as we were had to drop her back at the shopping complex as her car was still parked there) my husband called Mr.G and informed him that we'll be late and would arrive before
7.15 pm. So as we were gathering the kirtan materials and some satsang materials like newsletters. As we were leaving the house i grabbed the oranges basket and off we went to drop off Ms.C and rush to Mr.G's house for the satsang.
As planned we arrived at 7:15 pm and my husband explained the flow of the satsang and we all chanted and sang kirtans and he gave the same talk on purpose and benefits of nama sankirtan. It was a really intense satsang of 40 mins. Everyone was so immersed in nama sankirtans and very interactive during the discussion on why we all should gather like this once a week. We were so happy that there was at least 1 representative from each of the 5 Indian families that reside in that community. As the satsang concluded, I as usually picked up my basket to distribute the Prasad. Suddenly a thought struck me, "Did I check if I have enough fruits for everybody in this satsang?" I did not want any member to go back home without Prasad. I was chanting the maha mantra and started distributing the Prasad, to my delight (as no one including my husband was aware of what was going on in my mind) there were 8 members for the satsang and exactly 8 oranges in my basket.
I would not overlook this as mere coincidence...
We have satsangs at home on every Sunday and on one Sunday the 11th of January 2009 we were invited by a colleague (I’ll call him Mr.G) to conduct a satsang at his house at 7:00 pm. The community where he resides is just 3 miles away. This is what happened on that Sunday, as usual we started our first satsang session at our home at 4:30 pm. Until 4:45 nobody arrived and finally one member showed up with his daughter. So we continued the satsang and talks with him and his daughter until 5.15 pm. And the end we gave them oranges as Prasad.
After they left, we were getting ready for the second satsang at 6:00 pm and also the satsang at Mr.G's house.
A new member was expected to join our 6:00 pm satsang. At 5 mins to 6:00 she called us from a public telephone system asking for the routes as she was lost. My husband asked her to wait at the shopping complex from where she was calling and suggested that he would come and pick her up as it was only a 5 minute drive from our house. Now as I was chanting the Hare Rama maha mantra and waiting for this one member and my husband to arrive soon, the phone rang. That was strange, we generally mute all the Land line phones and mobile phones once the satsang starts, but since it was getting delayed today we had forgotten about it. It did not strike me that it could be the satsang member or my husband from the shopping complex trying to find each other or something. But anyways it was neither of them, but another satsang member who usually turns up for the 4:30 pm satsang sessions.
Mr.A as i want to call him going forward, requested that he and his family would like to join our 6:00 pm satsang. I was overjoyed and informed him to come in as soon as possible as it was already 6:00 pm. In another 2 mins or so, my husband and Ms.C (the member who was waiting at the shopping complex) arrived while i was chanting. She was an American lady and had never been to our satsangs before, so my husband tried to explain in brief about our satsang and requested her to chant the maha mantra along with us.
As we all were chanting, Mr.A arrived with his family. We settled soon and continued with the chanting, kitans and my husband gave a talk on why we chant, the purpose of your lives and benefits of a satsang gathering. By the time we completed our last round of chanting and discussions it was 6.50 pm. Yes we will be delayed for our third satsang session at Mr.G's house. So i immediately distributed the orange Prasad to all the members. So as soon as the members left, (of course Ms.C was stating back as we were had to drop her back at the shopping complex as her car was still parked there) my husband called Mr.G and informed him that we'll be late and would arrive before
7.15 pm. So as we were gathering the kirtan materials and some satsang materials like newsletters. As we were leaving the house i grabbed the oranges basket and off we went to drop off Ms.C and rush to Mr.G's house for the satsang.
As planned we arrived at 7:15 pm and my husband explained the flow of the satsang and we all chanted and sang kirtans and he gave the same talk on purpose and benefits of nama sankirtan. It was a really intense satsang of 40 mins. Everyone was so immersed in nama sankirtans and very interactive during the discussion on why we all should gather like this once a week. We were so happy that there was at least 1 representative from each of the 5 Indian families that reside in that community. As the satsang concluded, I as usually picked up my basket to distribute the Prasad. Suddenly a thought struck me, "Did I check if I have enough fruits for everybody in this satsang?" I did not want any member to go back home without Prasad. I was chanting the maha mantra and started distributing the Prasad, to my delight (as no one including my husband was aware of what was going on in my mind) there were 8 members for the satsang and exactly 8 oranges in my basket.
I would not overlook this as mere coincidence...
