Stories of foreign yogis in Beijing in the 90's ( Julian returned to China again and now working in Shanghai & Lyndon has returned to Australia )

You can run but you can’t hide!

 Julian ( 2006/11/6 )

I received my self-realisation at the relatively young age of 17 by way of my mother, however it took me a number of years to settle down and meditate every day.  In fact, it wasn’t until I was an overseas student in Beijing , China between September 1995 and August 1996 that the penny finally dropped.

 For the first four months of my year in Beijing, I was busy soaking up the unfamiliar yet intriguing world of China’s capital city – I wanted to know everything about China, at the same time as learning to communicate as fast as possible (I had completed one year’s language training as part of my first year at university in the UK, but this was a far cry from needing to decipher Beijing taxi drivers’ heavy accent to get around and saying basic sentences to make myself understood.). During this time, my attention was focused on the external – new sights and smells kept my senses occupied, while endless ‘China’ experiences ensured a steep learning curve (11 years on, and again living in China, the learning curve is still pretty steep – such is the complexity and multi-faceted nature of one of the world’s great civilizations). However with the onset of winter and the approach of China ’s Lunar Spring Festival, my attention inexplicably became more inward – it is now of course clear that the Param Chaitanya was calling in one of Her ‘missing’ flock and my malnourished kundalini was responding enthusiastically.

 Feeling that there was a mysterious depth to Mother China, I decided to start meditating again. I unpacked the small, yet beautiful picture of Shri Mataji smelling a rose that I had brought with me to Beijing , and placed it by my bedside. Within weeks, Shri Mataji had showed me how the loving embrace of the global Sahaj family can reach into every corner, however disparate.

 One day, a Serbian classmate was in my room, and noticing the photograph at my bedside, exclaimed, “Do you know, there is another person with a picture of that Lady in this building, and his room is just across the corridor!” I was speechless – China was considered a vast unknown in the Sahaj world then, and the last thing I expected was any yogi north of Hong Kong, let alone in the same building as me! As it turned out, Lyndon De Valle, who had accompanied Shri Mataji to Beijing in September 1995 for the UN Women’s conference had decided to stay behind and help spread Sahaja Yoga in Beijing .

 The story goes that after the conference, Mother had mentioned that someone should stay on in China . Lyndon’s decision to remain in China hinged on finding appropriate work to support his family. Mother suggested looking in the local English-language newspaper for teaching jobs, as Lyndon was a teacher back in Australia . The Divine play was slowly revealing itself, as in that very day’s paper was a job suited to Lyndon’s qualifications. Needless to say, he shone during his interview and was given the job!

 So, Lyndon and I met (across the corridor) and began meditating together - the Serbian classmate also got her self-realisation and joined our mini-collective.

 Mother’s unending love ‘had pushed into my heart’, and shown me that however far away from ‘home’ I may be, once the Adi Shakti has you in Her sights (or rather, you have your attention on Her) …you can run, but you can’t hide!

Reply of Lyndon from Australia 
( filling in the missing pieces of the Divine jigsaw! ) 2006.11.8

Hi Julian

Nice to hear about our ‘chance’ meeting again. For the record, yes my staying in China did hinge upon me finding a job, but your recount did not quite identify the amazing arrangement of events that needed to take place for you to be found again.

The conference concluded in Mid-September, well after the academic year started. Applying for an academic position at a Chinese university usually requires an application through an agent six to twelve months in advance, so the chances of me finding a post at any university were virtually nil. I simple went ‘cold-calling’ around several schools as well as the British Council, but was not able to find any immediate position. With my list of possibiliites dwindling to virtually zero and with an afternoon to spare I got my tourist map out and decided to give a few universities a try anyway. I had no idea which ones even had English courses. The title ‘Beijing Normal University’ sounded broad and non-specific. I tried the telephone but that system of enquiry was hopeless (as it usually is in China, even for others with good Mandarin skills). On my map it looked like I could get there without too much difficulty from the hotel where I was staying, so I simply hailed a taxi and gave the old cold call another shot.

The staff member in the university foreign office seemed completely taken aback at my enquiry, but delayed me for a few moments in the office while he ducked outside. When he finally returned with an incredulous looked on his face he was able to report that there was a position available and the meeting proceeded to formalities about qualifications, visa status etc. Over how this arrangement had come about, the university staff seemed just as amazed as I was.

It transpired that one teacher who was supposed to arrive in August had not shown up and for the past month the university had arranged for one of the foreign language students (who had partly completed a teaching degree in Australia) to take some of the classes until something could be done about the desperate situation.

The fact that I got a job at all in this situation is extraordinary. Applying for an unadvertised position made it more so, especially because I only had a few days to look and this was the first university I called upon. Even more amazingly, the situation had been brought about by circumstances that had occurred well before Shri Mataji’s visit to China, and before I had even made a decision to attend the Women’s Conference, let alone before I gave consideration to staying or working in China.

Due to the difficulties of finding suitable education for my son, I had to leave China and return to Australia after three years. While we had some minor successes, it seemed to transpire for a number of people who worked on programs in China at this time that the time was not quite as ripe as we had assumed. What is of further amazement is that Shri Mataji was to find such great help from you Julian because you were able to find work in Shanghai and the story of Sahaja Yoga in China has progressed so beautifully from there. She has been watching over you all the time.

I hope you do find a place for this story as it is indeed truly miraculous.

Jai Shri Mataji

Lyndon

The Joy of Kundalini Awakening - Collective Memories of Hongkong Sahaja Yogis

靈量喚喜網 ── 香港霎哈嘉瑜伽士集體回憶