Whale Watching Trip with Mohanji

On Thursday evening barely a day into HIS SFO trip, Mohanji expressed a desire to see whales. I was talking to him making recommendations to go to the Aquarium in Monterey. Monterey is a little town about two-hour-drive from SFO. He mentioned he would like to see them in their natural surroundings and handed Naren and me a brochure asking us to plan a whale watching cruise in Monterey.

My mind was doing its dance, I told HIM that the cruise may be just a farce and we may spend about 2-3 hours in the middle of the ocean without seeing anything and return back disappointed.

Well little did I know what the MASTER had planned for all of us. HE was persistent.

Naren, generously bought tickets for all of us …Initially Hardeep and her husband Mehnaz didn’t plan on joining but later confirmed that they would also come with us. We had planned to do the 1:00 pm cruise on Sunday afternoon. However when we called to book our tickets, Mohanji mentioned that we should do the morning cruise. How could Naren not comply to the Master’s will? It was a two-hour-drive to Monterey and our cruise was at 9:30 am. We started at about 6:15 am giving us more than enough time to get to Monterey.

                                                    The morning of the whale watching trip

It was a beautiful Sunday morning. I had barely got enough sleep the previous night but was yet energetic and ready to get up and go through the day. Wonder where all the energy came from . My mind however kept questioning – “WHAT IF there are no whales to watch ? “ . I just wanted Mohanji and Naren’s family to enjoy their SFO trip.

Well we reached Monterey at about 8:30 am, had enough time to stop for breakfast and then all of us proceeded towards our cruise. On the cruise, we were enjoying the ride, I loved the deep blue colors of the ocean and the colorful jelly fish in the water not knowing what to expect.

I was standing beside Mohanji on the cruise and was watching the beautiful rays of the sun on the deep blue sea. He said “Shirdi Baba is with us. Do you want to see him?”

I jumped and said “Yes”. He pointed to the sky and said “Look there”. I couldn’t see anything. HE asked me to close my eyes for a minute, pray and said now “See where I am pointing”

I saw a beautiful vision of Shirdi Baba in the clouds. I couldn’t believe what was happening. “Baba was right there with us”. The wind was blowing and the weather was rough. The ocean was roaring. Our cruise was riding on the strong under currents however strangely everything seemed under control despite the bad weather. I knew deep within that Mohanji and Baba were protecting us .

Our cruise kept heading deeper into the sea where there was more likelihood to see the whales. We were all waiting anxiously. The first whale showed up and we barely got a glimpse of it. It was there just for a few seconds.

                                                                  There is our first whale

For the next few minutes our cruise was just proceeding forward and there was no sign of any more whales. I kept asking myself – Is that all ?

When Mohanji is with us, life is full of beautiful surprises. It’s about how receptive we are and how much we are willing to surrender. Suddenly few minutes later another whale showed up close and then the next one and the next one.

                                                          Watching the tail of the whale

I was standing next to Mohanji watching the beauty of creation but my mind was not done with it. It wanted more and so I repeatedly kept saying out loud “ Come again”. At one point in time, it was as if Mohanji was using me to give commands to the whales. I clearly remember saying out loud “ show me the complete dive” Up until now we were struggling to see the entire whale in and out of the water. Right at that instant there was a whale that did do the dive. And then I said “Once More” and the same whale did the dive again. I was not yet satisfied and said “Once more again” and there was yet another somersault. I knew then Mohanji was giving the commands through me.

                                                           There was the complete dive

Well my story does not end here. The whales tirelessly entertained and pleasantly surprised us by somersaulting, showing their tail and doing their dives but they did their grand finale in the most beautiful way. Just as our cruise was about to head back to shore and we thought that we were done, one of the whales flapped its fin three times in and out of the water as if to say “bye”. We were all spell-bound. This was nothing short of a miracle. You don’t need a common language to communicate with another soul. You just have to watch and listen .

 

Bus Ride to SFO  

Day 3 – trip to San Francisco around the city.

Saturday morning, we had a great start to the day. It seems like my prayers of many life times were answered. I had a beautiful experience of visiting the Shirdi Sai Temple in Milpitas with Mohanji . What a better way to visit Baba.

                                                         Shirdi Temple in Milpitas

Right after the temple we decided to do a day trip in SFO city. SFO has a great public transport system and even after living there for such a long time, I never really used it. I live 40 miles away from the city but always prefer to drive. However this time as per Mohanji’s wish we decided to explore San Francisco city as tourists. We took the BART (train) into SFO city. Having a car , I never cared to use the public transport much. However Mohanji’s desire to see SFO how a tourist would see, allowed me to have a different experience of SFO city. We reached SFO city around 3:30 pm on Sat afternoon.

We bought ourselves tickets for Big Bus tours that takes you around the city to the popular spots but also gives you the flexibility to hop off and hop on at every favorite destination you like .

We started off with the beautiful Union square, which is one of the main shopping districts of SFO, then we covered the clock tower, market street and fisherman’s wharf. I had a beautiful experience just being guided for a change. I like being in control and prefer driving and showing people around SFO city .

                                                    Mohanji & Naren at Union Square

However the Big Bus trip was all about just letting go and enjoying the ride.

It seemed like I was the tourist and Mohanji knew SFO very well.

                                                                   Big Bus Tour

                 Mohanji

On our way back from SF, we took the bart back towards Fremont Bart Station where my car was parked earlier that day. I got into the car and was backing out with my attention in a conversation that Mohanji was having. As I started to back up in the parking lot getting ready to leave I saw that I suddenly went and bumped another car parked diagonally across from me.

While backing up I had not noticed the other car at all. Unfortunately the other car was not just stationary and had a driver who was about to back up, too. I knew I was at fault and was worried that the driver may be upset. To my surprise when I stepped out of my car to see the damage done, there was not a single scratch there. It’s like my car had lovingly kissed the other car …. The other driver seemed to be well and nothing happened to his car, either, except a very fine scratch. We didn’t need to exchange any insurance information. How did it happen that my car touched another car and there was not a single scratch .

This was one of other Mohanji’s leela.

And the Magic Still Continues    

 

A couple of weeks after Mohanji left I had planned a trip on the labour day weekend with some friends to wine country – Paso Robles.

                                                                   Paso Robles

                                                                        Paso Robles

On the way back to San Francisco, I was sitting on the back seat of the car staring out of the window. As much as I had a good weekend with great company and a fun time with my friends, I hated the fact that because of peer pressure I had drank some wine. I don’t usually drink .

I was sitting there thinking to myself , will Mohanji forgive and will Mohanji stay with me ?

I was randomly looking out the window when suddenly I saw Mohanji’s face appear in the clouds…I kept rubbing my eyes thinking that I was imagining things. Mind is like that  …it constantly doubts even after so many experiences. It cannot easily accept the GRACE but the image in the clouds stayed longer than a mere imagination.

So I knew that I was not dreaming then. I did write about my experience to Mohanji and I am quoting below part of the email response from HIM “I never leave your hand. I only look for your inner purity and connectivity. Nothing else matters. This is what I demonstrate time and again.”

I just had to share this experience for I am sure many of us time and again doubt the GRACE in our lives.