Steve Manus

A couple of years ago I was in seclusion at Ananda Village and decided to hike in the Grouse Ridge area, an hour or so away by car. I’d heard about the beauty of the area, and as this was my first visit, I eagerly anticipated the hike. This was an unplanned excursion, and being in seclusion I decided to wing it without a trail map.

Past the highway, I slowly made my way up a pitted and rocky dirt road to the top of the ridge where the trailheads lay. My heart leapt as I viewed the beautiful lakes and forest spread out before me. I happily noted a large wooden board which showed a variety of trails and destination points, and chose a particular lake as mine to find.

Going down the trail I began to chant to Divine Mother and fill myself with Her presence. It was exhilarating. I went down for quite some time, until the trail leveled out and I began to search in earnest for my lake. I’d never been on the trail before, but I knew the lake was nearby. Hiking another 15 minutes I came upon its shores. I sat to meditate, eat my lunch, and write in my journal.

I remained there for a couple of hours, writing in my journal to Master. I spoke to Him of my gratitude for His presence in my life and felt a deep sense of satisfaction. I wrote specifically that if I was unable to find my way home I would be content to die in that very place, if this is what He asked of me.

After a brief meditation, I packed up my things, bade goodbye to my lakeside haven and turned to hike the trail which would bring me back up to the ridge. As I turned I was stunned to realize that I’d somehow gotten off the trail on my way in, and hadn’t a clue how to find my way back. And, I thought how ironic that I’d just written to Master of my willingness to die in this place, when now, finding my way home seemed like a much better idea. I also remembered the appellation "Wrong Way Manus" which a hiking friend of mine had bestowed on me years earlier.

I knew I’d better move beyond these thoughts. I remembered a story David Praver had told after an India pilgrimage during which many of us were caught in a huge fire at a temple outside of New Delhi. Needing to escape from an enclosed patio area, he began to chant - "Master, Master, Master" - and felt himself carried by our guru over a high brick wall and cradled on the way down as he leapt over it to safety on the other side.

I, too, began to chant - "Master, Master, Master . . . Master, Master, Master". Though I didn’t know where I was going, I knew I had to simply start walking. As I hiked, I continued to chant Master’s name. I would go for a while and intuitively know to turn left here, turn right there, not to take that side trail, as I continued to call to Master.

This went on for quite some time. All I really knew was that I needed to find my way "up there" from "down here". As I progressed I did not recognize any landmarks; I only saw the direction of the sun. Yet I continued to know where to turn, until, after an hour and a half I came to a spot I’d noted on the way down, a trail crossing which ultimately led me home.

As I realized, standing at that spot, how Master had come to me, I wept tears of gratitude and was filled to overflowing with His presence. It was a moment which fundamentally changed my relationship with Master. I knew then and have found out many times since, that He is always with me. And in that knowing, I have begun to be genuinely happy in life. My glass became more than half full on that day. I continue to learn just how much I can rely on Him, and to know that even when things get very difficult He leads me through the uncertainty, over and over again. I know in my heart that He will never abandon me, that all which comes to me comes through Him, and that he is doing it for me, not to me.

Master wrote, in Metaphysical Meditations, "I will seek safety first, last, and all the time in the constant underlying thought of God, my greatest Friend and and Protector." And so He is.