The Selected Quirks of Madjag
The Madjag Chronicles were compiled as memoirs and mental snapshots of my experiences during the 1978-1982 guerrilla growing years in Madjag Canyon and beyond. Importing weed from Mexico, lining up connections with the Colombians, and living for months in Jamaica to set up a 1/2 ton Ganja flight were some of my subsequent adventures. In recent years I have been a medical marijuana grower, a pollen chucker, and an Admin/Moderator for several online cannabis forums.
The Weave of Life – Miracles Come Your Way
Think about it and I’m sure that you could summon up at least 3-4 miracles that have happened to you at one time or another. Real miracles, the kind that blow your mind, are not commonplace by any means. I find it valuable, as a part of an Attitude of Gratitude, to pay careful attention to any moments that come close to qualifying, even if they don’t totally transform your life like Jesus walking on water or Moses parting the Red Sea.
Pay attention and you’ll not only see more miracles, you’ll attract more.
My good friends Michael and Rukmini made their first, once-in-a-lifetime journey to India back in 1970. They took the overland route, from London to Delhi, with their friend Kabir at the suggestion of Chogyam Trungpa, Rinpoche, with whom they had been granted a private audience after attending one of his seminars. Based on their interests he said, “Go to India” and they did. Their journey included many months of dirt road driving, staying in funky hostels, and crashing in dingy hotels along the way. The trip offered a view into the 3rd world that they still recall as life-changing and beneficial. They spent considerable time in Afghanistan, perhaps around the same time that Sam Skunkman was trekking over the same landscape, searching for fine landrace cannabis, and establishing his well-deserved reputation as one of the founding fathers of the Weed Era.
Eventually they reached India and made their way to the Kainchi ashram of Neem Karoli Baba, also known as Neeb Karori Baba, NKB, or Maharaj-ji. There they met Ram Dass (Dr. Richard Alpert of LSD fame), Hari Dass Baba, Dada Mukerji, and the rest of the famous ashram gang. About a decade later in 1979 a beautiful book was published, Miracle of Love, consisting of a wonderfully diverse collection of “miracle” stories narrated by Ram Dass. It detailed Maharaj-ji’s many miracles, some kept secret for decades because he had sworn the person or witness to secrecy. The stories were lovingly told by numerous devotees, Indian, European, and American.
When M and R returned to Arizona they shared their tales with their closest friends, inspiring some of them to make the journey to India themselves and seek out Maharaj-ji. As an herb smoker and inner space explorer you can certainly testify that you have to experience certain things in person. Other people’s explanations or well intentioned words fall short by a million, zillion miles. It’s just that way in life isn’t it? For instance, how do you explain what “getting high” is to someone who isn’t and never has been?
One of the young seekers that did make the journey was a Harvard undergrad student named David who had come out to Arizona to visit M and R because he was married to Rukmini’s sister or some close connection like that. Time isn’t helping me with that one so please continue with love.
He was a somewhat serious fellow who had studied many different spiritual paths and was willing to go all the way to India in order to see for himself what the big deal was about Maharaj-ji. He was skeptical for sure and it was big of him to put out the dollars and time to go in person instead of just writing it all off as speculation or exaggeration. Also, like many devotees-to-be, something drew him there, something unexplainable at the time, though perfectly clear later.
When he arrived at the ashram, Maharaj-ji was sitting on his tucket, a wooden bench that was large enough for him to stretch out on when needed. He was in the middle of a crowd of noisy devotees who were busy talking, laughing, and eating while Maharaj-ji did the same. The constant, happy sound was almost like chanting in the same way that hearing a foreign language often sounds more like music than talk. The spicy smoke of incense and perfume permeated the entire courtyard as well, making those present even more mindful that it was always a special place and a special time to be in NKB’s presence. David leaned against the wall of the doorway where he had entered and remembered what Meher Baba, his personal guru, had said in his early writings: that at any time on earth there are only 5 Avatars, 5 true saints. The remainder of wise spiritual beings are just that, wise, learned, yet still bound by the laws of Karma in the way that we all are. The 5 Avatars are not bound in that same way, if at all.
As David stared at Maharaj-ji across the courtyard, perhaps 75-100 feet away, Maharaj-ji suddenly lifted his head, made strong eye-contact with David, and stared directly at him over the crowd of seated devotees. Maharaj-ji lifted one hand and by slowly lifting each finger and his thumb one at a time, counted out 1-2-3-4-5. He then dropped his hand, kept David in a final, brief, locked stare, and then turned back to those immediately surrounding him, chatting happily with the devotees at his feet. He never looked at David again during that Satsang. Needless to say David felt that his mind had been read; he had been thinking about 5 Avatars, saw Maharaj-ji single him out with a stare, count out 5 fingers, and then look away. Like Ram Dass had experienced several years earlier when he had received a similar jolt by Neem Karoli Baba, David began trying to figure out what had really happened. How did he do it? Was it a trick? Blah, blah, blah….his mind began short-circuiting and talking to itself in circles .
Heavy stuff that makes the grade, eh? Or do you have to see for yourself, too?
My Miracle list continues to grow, like my cannabis plants, over the years. By being tuned into that etheric channel I have definitely felt the manifestation of energies that constantly move behind the scene of daily life. I call it “Maharaj-ji’s Hidden Hand”. Even at the instant of a single event there are quantum implications by the trillions and normally we cannot see them until they have become a “reality”. Some folks, though, tap into that stream and know everything in every moment without limits. They serve as doorways and make new energy available from the Universe, like the flowers of the sacred herb can provide, or meditation, or physical challenges.
It’s always there, however every person has to discover their own passageway for getting to that place.
What’s yours?