A Dream

by Andrea Dahman
Augsburg, Germany

It was in the year 1987 that I started to be interested in Eastern philosophy. After reading Buddhist scriptures, I made several attempts to meditate, but I just did not know how to do it.

One night I had an extraordinary dream. I found myself in a huge church, waiting in a crowd of people for something, though I did not know what. Suddenly, somebody cried out: "Here come the Masters!" A door on the left side of the altar opened and out came in a long row the Masters of the world. As they were passing by, I saw that they were of all ages and nationalities, wearing costumes of great variety: Indians, Chinese, Christian monks and so forth.

Then I saw a kind of giant approaching. He was taller than all the others, very strong, an athlete. His skin was brown and shiny, his head was shaved, and over his bare chest he wore a big towel. When he was at my level, I noticed to my great astonishment that a person that looked like me, an image of myself, had leapt out of my chest. This other self stopped the giant, talking to him intensely, begging again and again. I could not hear what my other self was saying, but the giant turned his face to me and gave me a warm, compassionate smile. A moment later, he turned and walked away.

I woke up immediately. "This was my Master", I said to myself. I was sure beyond a doubt. It was my soul that had shown him to me. But where was he? What was his name? Was he still alive? I started looking around, asking people whether they had heard anything about a spiritual Master with brown skin and a bald head. But nobody had.

Time went by. At one point I met a spiritual group with an Indian Master. I told them about my dream.

"This was our Master, surely", they said. "He meditates on Light and Sound and he does not take any money."

'Please send me a photo,' I answered. The photo came. It showed a friendly man wearing a turban and a beard. "Sorry, this is not my Master", I told them.

Some time later, I started working in Heidelberg. One day, on my way home from work, I was walking through a small street called Kettengasse. In front of a music shop, I suddenly stopped. The door was open, and I glanced inside: there he was! In a big photograph just opposite the entrance, I saw the giant of my dream! His skin was brown and shiny; his head was shaved. He was lifting up a huge weight.

"Who is he?" I asked the girl inside.

"This is Sri Chinmoy, a great spiritual Master," she answered.

"Then he is my Master.", I said, and told her all about my dream. "Has he written anything?" I wanted to know.

"Oh yes, a lot", she said. "Start with his book Meditation!" I bought the book and went home. I felt an incredible relief and started immediately to study it. I even tried to meditate on the picture of him that I found in the book.

After some weeks his students took me to a concert of the Master in Frankfurt. I was thrilled by his music, his luminous appearance. However, although he looked like the dream Master, he was only half the size! "That is alright", they told me. "Guru is a giant in the inner world, but in this world he looks quite normal."