by Christopher Greenwood
Day 145 – Slovenia Centre Fruit Tree Planting
Yesterday was the first time I visited our land in Slovenia, where one of our main centres will be: a Centre of Benevolence.
We had arranged to go there with a group of volunteers to plant fruit trees as part of the fruit tree plantation drive. This is the drive I had mentioned a few messages back, under which, rather than just planting any tree, we plant fruit trees so that it gives fruits to animals, people and birds. Whilst it is a tree, and that’s obviously good, it would also keep giving fruits over time, so it’s like a continuous annadaan.
A small group of us gathered together, and we met at Devi’s apartment before heading to the land.
People had brought all the required tools, plants, snacks and drinks; it was a really nice atmosphere.
If you haven’t been to the land or seen it, it’s very picturesque. It’s located in a very small town in Slovenia, which is such a green country, with many trees and fields. The road to get there is very narrow. It is a single-track road, and it winds between farmlands, farmhouses, and fields, and goes up and down various hills through trees.
It was a beautiful sunny day, the polar opposite of today, when it’s actually snowing.
As we were driving, we were imagining what it would be like in the future with all these various buses, transporting people to and from airports, and these small towns having all these people driving through them.
As you arrive, you turn off the road onto a green patch of grass, and there are old wooden houses and farmhouses that look like they were self-built. We gathered all the tools, plants, fertilizers and compost from the car. Mohanji picked up his tools, and he led us down to the site, and it really is beautiful. You walk from where you park the cars up a small hill and then back down, and then you just have this beautiful view across all of the land at the bottom. It’s situated right on the top of a hill, quite a steep hill.
The bottom of the land is like a flat place, and the air is very clean. There are forests and trees to the left and to the right, and the point where we stood and looked down from the hill is where the Sai Baba idol will be installed. Sai Baba will sit facing down the land towards the bottom, where there are some marshlands and a small pond. This will be dug out to make a bigger pond for all the various animals, turtles, and fishes, and Dattatreya will sit there in nature, facing Sai Baba.
Then to the right, as you look down the slope, there are various woodlands and trees, and this is where Sage Agastya and Lopamudra will sit alongside all the other Rishis and Munis. This will be a place of meditation.
Knowing Mohanji and his vision for the centres, I could picture the grounds well and could imagine many people walking back from their meditation spots in the forest, or feeding the fishes and turtles in the pond.
As we walked down, it was very steep. I walked closely with Mohanji. He was telling me that this land is very good. It has good energy. It is said to be placed on a strong meridian line running through the site.
Normally, lots of people would have had to do some activity there, such as maybe conducting yagyams or poojas, to raise the energy of the land to that level. But this land was like this naturally, so it was very good.
Once we reached the bottom, the team organized efficiently. I find this is usually the case with Mohanji and his presence. Two guys were digging the main holes. We would follow them and plant the tree, place the soil, compost and fertilizer. Then another person would come and water it and press it down, and like that, we quickly planted many trees.
We planted apples, hazelnuts, and blackberry bushes there. At the top of the hill, the land is different . It is drier and more sheltered, and so, we planted plums, peaches and cherries there, as they require better conditions.
There are already very nice walnut trees there, which must have been planted a long time ago.
Mohanji left to walk next to the boundaries of the land, and I stayed with the rest of the team to plant the last of the plants and trees. I really loved it as I haven’t done manual work like this in a long time. It was great having the feeling of soil on my hands and touching the earth rather than typing on the laptop. It was good, wholesome, hard labour.
It was exciting to see the land and perform these activities because it made it tangible for me. Soon, we would actually have our centre there, our own place where people would be able to come, visit, stay and enjoy the land. It will be of benefit to many.
Later, when I returned home, I saw that Mohanji’s foot was swollen. I have noticed that, depending on what activity we’re doing, his body changes. The same thing had happened when we had visited the Ganeshpuri land. As always, he never says anything, he does his work in silence. I believe he took a lot from the land that day and cleansed it.
As he said earlier in the day, he wants to speed up. So, whilst I’m here in Slovenia, we’ll probably be looking at more activities that we can do on the land.
Hope you have a great day.
Day 146 – The problem with pleasing others
I received a message from someone who had listened to one of the lessons, which was “Don’t try to tackle the situation, tackle yourself”. They enjoyed this one because they now found a quietness to life, which also gave them confidence because they no longer needed to please people.
This prompted me to share this lesson today. If I was to boil down all of Mohanji’s teachings, everything which he has spoken about before into two words, it is simply: “Be you. Be totally, authentically and unapologetically you”. Because, as he rightly points out, there is no one else like us in the world. We’re all unique creations, made of a variety of flavours and colours, and our uniqueness is our expression into the world and our signature.
Before meeting Mohanji, and even actually before living with him, I had a destabilizing trait of wanting to please others. So, I would often bend backwards, forward, sideways, and turn myself upside down to accommodate others. With friends, for example, I would compromise my own time or on the activities that I wanted to do so that they were kept happy in some way. At work as well, often, I would take on a role that would fit in with the culture rather than really selecting a role in which I could express myself fully. So, I was always making adjustments and compromises. What I learned from staying with Mohanji for more time is that I had mistakenly thought of this as being flexible. But what I’ve learned, or what I realized, is that this attitude or approach was using up a lot of energy unnecessarily, because I wasn’t fully being myself in some situations. Being with Mohanji more, seeing how he works, it has encouraged me to fully be myself.
And before that, to actually explore myself more without an apology. It’s not that I would like going out and showing off or being egotistical about something, but having an appreciation for what people think while no longer having the fear, judgement or worry. Knowing full well that people can either accept or reject you, and that’s fine. The feeling I have now is one of relief, because there’s more energy for productive activities rather than spending time bending to the views and opinions of others. This helps you focus on what needs to be done. I’ve also come to realize that a secondary benefit of that activity of being you is that it starts to make it very clear which people in your life are actually with you and are supporting you for being completely yourself.
Mohanji has a great podcast on this that I’m resharing here as it’s a great reminder of “Be authentic. Be yourself”.
|| JAI BRAHMARISHI MOHANJI ||
Edited & Published by – Testimonials Team, 24th July 2022
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