Chapter II

What was this? Where was I? This wasn’t the ferry. I had never seen this place before. What had happened?

Then a warm and friendly voice said to me: “Come in, Tara, come on in! Nice of you to drop in. I’ve been expecting you.”

So it had happened. I had gone mad. Or was I perhaps dead?

“No, Tara, you’re not dead. You’re very much alive”, answered the voice.

The light was so blinding I was unable to see who or what was around me.

Had I been thinking out loud? No, I hadn’t spoken – definitely not. But how did the voice know what I was thinking and where was the voice coming from?

“Come, Tara! Come in and sit down for a moment!”

Only now was I able to look around me. What a strange place!

Obviously I was on a kind of raft, the floor of which was covered with a soft, light-coloured carpet; a white flowing fabric fluttered about opposite me and a wonderful yellow light imbued this sunny place, and then I saw HIM: an elderly man sitting on a yellow cushion in the lotus position. He wore white clothing, a turban, and a long white beard adorned his face. He smiled at me and his hands motioned me to sit down opposite him. I felt as if in a trance and did his bidding, seating myself down on a second yellow cushion that seemed to be simply waiting for me. Now I was able to take in the man more closely. I had never seen such eyes before! I stared at him as if spellbound.

Incredible! Brown and warmly radiant eyes looked back at me tenderly. His face shone like the sun itself. He looked like a saint.

A wave of warmth flowed through me. It was like coming home – unspeakably wonderful! I was overcome by this radiance.

I cannot say how long I sat there, taking in the love and affection that came from his gaze.

However, after halfway collecting myself, my worldly thoughts regained the upper hand.

What was I doing here? Why was I in this strange place?, I thought to myself.

“You’re here to learn something”, said the Indian in a friendly tone. That’s surely an Indian, I thought.

And again! I think something and he answers! He can read my thoughts! Everything seemed to be coming from another world. I felt almost like I was in a film. The only thing was, I didn’t know what role I was supposed to be playing.

“My darling child”, the Indian interrupted the silence, “this morning you collapsed and your inner voice called for help. Now I’m here. I’m here for you.

I shall help you if you want me to.”

“Who are you?” I asked, transfixed.

“Call me Guruji”.

“Guruji? Is that your name?”

“Yes, at the moment that is my name. I’ll explain to you what it means: ‘Gu’ mean