It was the winter holidays, the last week of the year, and a time of great excitement, and promise. A year was coming to an end and another was about to begin. There was a sense of quiet around, as the world was getting ready for a different possibility.
I was amid my Shri Ram Sadhana, working my way to get in sync with the Divine residing within us. And, there was this time, when a thought arose that said — I needed to visit the Sankatmochan temple that I had heard so much about.
A bit of context — I live in the Bay area in California. It's a beautiful place and you will find plenty of Hindu temples around. I had heard my neighbor speak highly of their experience at the Sankat Mochan Hanuman temple, about an hour from where I live. The conversation had happened a while back once and then somehow the memory stayed with me.
You would think, what's the big deal about visiting a temple? You drive, park, and visit. Not this temple. Because of the mountainous location of the temple, there are only limited parking spots, and reservations are required to visit the temple. And the thing is, reservations are available a few days a week and they get filled up pretty fast. I had tried once in the past. I couldn’t get a reservation and I gave up. This time too, I asked my better half to try booking, and as expected, I couldn’t get a reservation. I did not think too much about it. The outcome was in expected lines.
I think it was the second or third day of the Shri Ram Sadhana. It was a cloudy afternoon and I was lying in bed, scrolling through Facebook (FB). And there it was! Someone had posted on a Bay Area Indian FB group that they had a spare reservation ticket for the Sankat Mochan temple and they were giving it away as they couldn’t make it because of some family emergency.
I couldn’t believe my eyes. I double-checked if what I was witnessing was real. It was around 2 pm, and the person had posted about a couple of hours back. I immediately messaged the poster, pretty sure that they may have given away the reservation, and that my attempt was futile. But surprise, surprise, the poster immediately responded and gave away her ‘ticket’, wishing me a great visit!
To appreciate the uniqueness of the situation, I would like to point you to the improbability of the event. First, the FB group that my benefactor had used is typically used for things like finding cooks, helpers, and nannies, and at times, mundane things like suggestions for spots for car repairs, or calls to find roommates. No one had posted anything remotely related to something like what I was experiencing.
Second, the act itself. It's so difficult to get a reservation, that people who manage to get the reservation, hold on to it. No one would give away their reservation, and even if they did, it would be typically someone that they know of. Very rarely would someone take the pain to post on Facebook and that too at the right time.
Third, the post was up for about a couple of hours before I ‘stumbled’ into it. Given that the group comprises around 81,000 Indians living in and around the Bay area, it's amazing that no one had claimed the reservation before me. And the post was up for about two hours before I came into the picture.
Fourth, the time of my discovery. When I discovered the post, I had the exact amount of time to complete my errands and be ready to traverse the hour to be at the temple on time. If I was not on FB at the exact time, if I had been in front of the TV, or reading a book with my afternoon tea, I would have missed out on the post.
And finally, the causal relationship. What are the odds that I would come across the post after a failed attempt to secure a reservation and during a time when I am deep in a Sadhana of Shri Ram? I don’t think there's really an answer.
Despite the odds, the reality stands that I did get a reservation, reached the temple at the right time, and spent a blissful evening with my family at the temple, singing the glories of Lord Hanuman.
Sometimes I wonder what a miracle means. Is it something astonishing like Lord Ganesha drinking milk or something as mundane as the sun rising every day without fail? Or the wonderous realities of us breathing, or the trees swaying in the breeze, or the beauty of the world around us that we take for granted?
In reality, miracles are happening all the time around us. Our life is a miracle! It's just that we have to open ourselves to these possibilities to experience these miracles.
Amen!
