It was the first time I’d been to India. I had a suitcase full of Shri Mataji’s things and when we arrived at the airport in Mumbai this suitcase was missing. The others went off to the camp and I had to stay back and deal with the bureaucracy. I finally arrived at the camp and there was nowhere to sleep. My mind was just racing. Then we went out of Mumbai to Rahuri. Someone broke into our room and stole my money, and it was one thing after another. In Rahuri, there was a procession and Mother was on a bullock cart and all the people were dancing in front of Her and going to a programme. I tried to dance and throw myself into this procession and was knocked over and cut my knee right in front of Mother and felt a real idiot.
It the end of the programme, all the Indians rushed to Mother’s Feet, and there was a cordon of people holding everyone back. I had gone up close because I’d never seen anything like this. At a certain point, one of the Indians in the cordon said that the Westerners could come. He grabbed my arm and literally threw me at Mother’s Feet. I would never have done a thing like that otherwise. As I knelt at Mother’s Feet, I thought, ‘Please forgive me,’ because I was in a real state. I felt Her pat me on the back.
‘Excellent, excellent! Tremendous vibrations, wonderful,’ Shri Mataji said.
‘Me?’ I looked up and said.
I got up and walked away and burst into tears. I realised the nature of the Mother. She will do anything, say anything to put you right, to make you feel good. For the rest of the four weeks of the tour, I was just in meditation, no problems at all. It was a deep realisation, especially for Westerners who grow up with the concept of God the Father, who punishes you if you are not all right. Instead, we have God the Mother, who will do anything just to put you right, to make you feel OK.
Robert Hunter