How many times is your agenda so important that you’re not really able to appreciate the trees that are dancing?

While I was in India following my passion, I found myself in a beautiful villa on the banks of the Ganges, in a wonderful city named Uttarkashi.

The man who ran the villa was a beautiful man. One morning as we had breakfast I asked him, “You don’t happen to know where any really fabulous gurus are, do you? Are there any gurus in the area you know that I could go and interview?”

He thought for a moment and replied, “Well, as a matter of fact, I do!” I said, “You do?”

He said, “Yeah, my Master!” So I asked, “Where is he?” He said, “Well he lives about five hours up the mountain.” I said, “Five hours up the mountain?” He said, “Yes! Oh, he’s the real deal but he might not see you.”

He thought again for a moment then said, “But maybe, maybe if you take him some of my roses and put the bucket of roses at his gate, there may be a possibility that he’ll see you!”

The man who ran the villa had a beautiful garden on the banks of the Ganges, which had the most beautiful roses. I said to him, “Really? Well, that’s a big risk!” But he replied, “Maybe it is. But it’s worth it!” So I said, “Okay!”

So he filled a bucket with his roses, and I took this big bucket of roses with me up the mountain. After about 5 hours of being driven up the mountain, we finally arrived. I walked down a little hill to the gate. The gate that the owner of the villa had described to me how to get to.

I put the bucket of roses down on the ground, and as I did that I saw below that there was a Master, and there were a few disciples sitting around him.

The Master was swinging on a swing, and it was such a beautiful sight. It was so majestic beautiful to watch. All of a sudden the Master turned and looked at me and said, “Oh, look!”

He said to his disciples around him, “Look! My disciple has come! Let my disciple in!”

This “disciple” that he was referring to was the bucket of roses, his disciple in the form of his disciple’s roses. Not me.

I went inside to see this Master, whose name was “Laughing Baba”. He was called Laughing Baba because he laughed all the time. I sat next to him on the ground where he continued to swing. We started to talk and I began to tell him how I was making a film, writing a book and doing many things, but he seemed unconcerned and continued to swing.

For some reason, I suddenly started to feel really ill. It was like my whole physiology was in a washing machine. The next thing I know, I’m looking at Laughing Baba and he’s there in 3D, then not there at all. I couldn’t see him, then he was back there in 3D, then not there at all, over and over again.

While he was becoming invisible again, I all of a sudden thought to myself, “Oh my God! I have to be able to interview him!”

So I said, “Excuse me, but I have to interview you! I’ve come all this way! May I please interview you?” Laughing Baba just looked at me and said, “I am not of this world. I am not interested in your propaganda.”

I began to plead with him, “Please! I’ve come so far, five hours! I must have an interview, please can I interview you?”

He just continued to swing, unaffected, enjoying the beautiful day.

He looked at me and said, “Do you see the trees? They’re dancing. Why aren’t you dancing?”

All of a sudden, I stopped. I breathed in deeply.

That was the first moment I was finally “in the moment”. That whole time I was with him I was so stuck on my agenda, I wasn’t really with him or myself. I was so out of the moment.

My question for you today is this:

How many times do you take yourself out of the moment?

How many times is your agenda so important that you’re not really able to appreciate the trees that are dancing? 

With love

Janet Bray Attwood