The Second Time Guru Saved My Life

In March of 1994, when I was coming home from my job in Manhattan at about 7:30 in the evening, I was held up at gunpoint. It was cold and windy, and I had just reached the driveway near my house when, on the left-hand side, a young man leaped out from behind the forsythia bush and grabbed a hold of my coat. He said, "Don't yell, I have a gun." I looked down and saw the gun pointed at my chest. He started pulling me toward the garage. I thought, "He is going to kill me," and I said to him, "I have money. I will give it to you." In my shoulder bag I had about $90, plus credit cards. I started to pull the zipper on my bag to open it but my hand was shaking and he became so impatient that he pulled the bag from my shoulder and ran away. After he released me I ran into the middle of the street and started shouting for help. I was shaking with fear. 2 of my fellow disciples heard me and ran to help me and called the police. I feel it was Sri Chinmoy's grace that the thief did not injure me—he was on drugs and could have shot me when I was shouting at him. Years later, the night before the New York City Marathon, Guru asked the runners to pass in front of him. He told me later that when I passed in front of him, he saw death on my head. I wasn't sick at the time. I did run the Marathon and nothing happened to me. The next time I passed before Guru, he said, "You frightened me before the Marathon the other night." I didn't know why he said that, but again on my birthday, on January 5th, he said that I was supposed to die during the New York City Marathon. This was the second time Guru saved my life.

Sulochana (New York)