{FN47-1} The chief disciple of the Christlike master
Sri Ramakrishna.
AT ENCINITAS IN CALIFORNIA
“A surprise, sir! During your absence abroad
we have had this Encinitas hermitage built; it is
a ‘welcome-home’ gift!” Sister Gyanamata
smilingly led me through a gate and up a tree-shaded
walk.
I saw a building jutting out like a great white ocean
liner toward the blue brine. First speechlessly,
then with “Oh’s!” and “Ah’s!”,
finally with man’s insufficient vocabulary of
joy and gratitude, I examined the ashram-sixteen unusually
large rooms, each one charmingly appointed.
The stately central hall, with immense ceiling-high
windows, looks out on a united altar of grass, ocean,
sky-a symphony in emerald, opal, sapphire. A
mantle over the hall’s huge fireplace holds the
framed likeness of Lahiri Mahasaya, smiling his blessing
over this far Pacific heaven.
Directly below the hall, built into the very bluff,
two solitary meditation caves confront the infinities
of sky and sea. Verandahs, sun-bathing nooks,
acres of orchard, a eucalypti grove, flagstone paths
leading through roses and lilies to quiet arbors, a
long flight of stairs ending on an isolated beach
and the vast waters! Was dream ever more concrete?
“May the good and heroic and bountiful souls
of the saints come here,” reads “A Prayer
for a Dwelling,” from the Zend-avesta,
fastened on one of the hermitage doors, “and
may they go hand in hand with us, giving the healing
virtues of their blessed gifts as widespread as the
earth, as far-flung as the rivers, as high-reaching
as the sun, for the furtherance of better men, for
the increase of abundance and glory.
“May obedience conquer disobedience within this
house; may peace triumph here over discord; free-hearted
giving over avarice, truthful speech over deceit,
reverence over contempt. That our minds be delighted,
and our souls uplifted, let our bodies be glorified
as well; and O Light Divine, may we see Thee, and
may we, approaching, come round about Thee, and attain
unto Thine entire companionship!”
[Illustration: Encinitas, California, overlooking
the Pacific. Main building and part of the grounds
of the Self-Realization Fellowship—see
encinitas.jpg]
This Self-Realization Fellowship ashram had been made
possible through the generosity of a few American
disciples, American businessmen of endless responsibilities
who yet find time daily for their Kriya yoga.
Not a word of the hermitage construction had been
allowed to reach me during my stay in India and Europe.
Astonishment, delight!
During my earlier years in America I had combed the
coast of California in quest of a small site for a
seaside ashram; whenever I had found a suitable location,
some obstacle had invariably arisen to thwart me.
Gazing now over the broad acres of Encinitas, {FN48-1}
humbly I saw the effortless fulfillment of Sri Yukteswar’s
long-ago prophecy: “a hermitage by the
ocean.”
