the RETURN


The following article is an extraction from the book - 'Women of Spirit : A Sourcebook of Saints, Teachers, Goddesses and Sisterhoods East and West.'

Returning to the plains, She visited one of the ashrams She had stayed at previously. While She sat innocuously reading a discarded newspaper, one of the ashram's most long-standing disciples, who had practiced under three successive Masters in the lineage, unreservedly performed a full-body prostration before Her in full view of all around, touching and even kissing Her feet. Of course, Supreme Master Ching Hai was startled and overwhelmed, as She later explained. "That was not the first time we met; we had worked together for several months and had had tea together. However, he prostrated to me after I came back from my trip to the Himalayas. I was afraid that my ego might grow as tall as the hill! Like everyone around us then, I was really startled. I was so shocked that I couldn't think of anything. My mind went blank and couldn't give the incident a further thought. I only knew that I should leave." And so She did, immediately.

She tried desperately to remain inconspicuous as She traveled widely throughout India. However, Her sublime Inner Light was impossible to conceal.