Same Yellow Hat

Toward the end of one seven-day race, I had a very powerful inner experience while I was out walking at around 3 a.m. Just for a few minutes, I felt that I "became" Guru, that he was inside me. I felt that I was walking the way Guru walks, with his leg problems, and wearing one of his hats that he wears on very cold days, that comes down around his neck—it was yellow. Not with words but in his presence, I felt that Guru was consoling me that injuries were forcing me to walk most of the race. About two weeks after the race was over, I was out running on the Grand Central Service Road when I saw Guru walking toward me. It was an unseasonably warm morning and Guru was very overdressed. Usually, when you meet Guru out running or walking, he just smiles or waves and then returns to his meditation. But that morning he was looking at me as if he wanted to say something. When we were a few yards from each other, he swung his arm and threw something at me. By some grace, I caught it and saw that it was his hat. In silence I offered him my gratitude. It was not until a block later that I realised that this was the same yellow hat.

Pragati (New York