How I Came to Be a Wandering Monk by Brian Lottman
“One elephant,” Swamiji said, “was walking through the forest, searching for water to quench his thirst. His family members followed him as he broke through the trees and discovered a lake covered by the pollen of lotus flowers. Running across the beach and into the lake, he began to drink the nectarean water. As he placed all of his attention on the water, a crocodile clamped its mighty jaws upon Gajendra’s leg and began to pull him into the deeper water. Then, for a thousand years, the elephant and crocodile fought in that lake while Gajendra’s family members watched helplessly from the shore. Finally, the elephant, exhausted from the fight, sank into the water and realized he was dying. Suddenly he remembered a prayer to the god, Narayan, from his previous life. But what to offer his god first? He looked around and saw a pink lotus flower floating by. He picked up the flower with his trunk and held it to the sky. His heart sang as he spoke the following words:
‘Oh, Govinda, You are the Supreme Being, king of my heart. I bow unto You. I am dying now. You are my only hope. Please rescue me from certain death.’
The Lord Narayan, who was relaxing on a sea of bliss in heaven with his consort, Lakshmi, heard the words of his devotee, immediately dropped his chadra, and rushed away without even boarding his steed, the Garuda. Flying down to the lake, he cast his chakra, cut away the crocodile and pulled Gajendra to safety.
As I heard these words, I realized that I, too, felt exactly like Gajendra. My mind would not let go, and I had been suffering for eons now - hundreds of thousand of lifetimes caught in the illusion of Maya. “Hold my hand,” said Swami Purna. “Hold my hand, and I will take you across the ocean of suffering.” My heart bowed down at the holy feet of Swami Purna, and I mentally surrendered my life to Him. Forevermore, I was devoted to His Grace.
For the next 4 years, I continued to attend Swami Purna’s retreats. More and more, I spent time practicing the mantras and meditations that he had passed down to me. These spiritual practices were my life. I felt the energy. Two years after meeting Swami Purna, it was time to leave a 10 year marriage. My wife and I had diverged and were following different life paths. I left for Santa Fe, NM to study hypnotherapy at the Hypnotherapy Academy of America and became a certified hypnotherapist. For the last 10 years, I had been running a financial planning business with my ex-wife, and now I was heading in a new direction. Then I moved to Austin, TX to connect with a spiritual teacher named Brian, and for 2 years, I spent a lot of time alone in meditation.
My life changed completely in 2012 when I attended another retreat with Swami Purna in Miami, FL. He called me in to his room for a darshan. During this 3 minute conversation, he asked me to set out on the road for 2 years to hold satsang across the US and Canada. I simply said, “yes,” and went home to begin my preparations. After this darshan, the immensity of this “yes” slowly began to settle in. I had spent years of hard work to get to this point - schooling, certifications, a successful business, money, a comfortable life. My situation represented the American Dream - what I had been working for my whole life. In a few minutes, it was gone.
I was now an “American Sadhu,” a sort of renunciant. I sold my Honda Civic and financial planning business and gave away most of my clothes and things. Then I bought a big white van that I called “Persistence.” On the outside, I had a solar panel installed for electricity. On the inside, I put a small Honda generator and a twin bed. This was my new home. Over the course of the next 2 weeks, Persistence broke down about 10 times before I finally managed to leave Austin, TX.
We are looking forward to hosting Brian for Satsang on Friday, May 31.
