Stories about Subarata

Sophie (left), Subarata (middle) and friend at The Blue Bird.

When Subarata passed away, I arranged a small table with her photograph on it in our meditation room, and bought enough roses for everyone in the Auckland Centre. We honoured her by each placing a rose before her picture as we slowly filed by.
After the meditation I collected all the flowers into vases. When I placed them in front of her picture it was so alive - her smile so beautiful! I could feel her saying, "Thank you, Sophie." - just as I had heard her say it on many occasions.

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One night, not long after Subarata had left the body, I dreamt that all her friends were struggling with the same feeling of missing her, feeling only her absence, that she had gone and left us alone. At the same time everyone was hearing her voice, not actual words but a whispering, very close by. A helping, encouraging message that was always near and was constant. Still everyone was talking about how much they missed her! I woke up thinking how funny that we miss her when she is still so close to us!

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Once, in a dream, I saw Subarata's husband, Jogyata's, smile - and although his features were just the same, the smile and expression were Subarata's.

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At meditation one evening I was praying for more purity. I thought of Subarata and fleetingly I asked her to make me as pure as she is. Immediately I felt her presence, so tangible but so subtle. A light-filled, sweet, rare, subtle, fragrant feeling just like a beautiful light, fragrant, sun-filled flower garden.

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I drove to school to pick up my children one afternoon after working at The Blue Bird - our vegetarian cafe in Auckland. For some reason I was intensely thinking of Subarata and asking her to help me feel her presence. It was a long drive but just as I was nearly there I felt her so strongly. She was all around and inside me, even inside my arms and hands holding the steering wheel! This feeling lasted for a few minutes.

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