Chapter 14: Linda—Focusing On The Light
We begin with Nayaswami Asha, the principal narrator for Linda’s remarkable story:
“ONE DAY I FELT to go to Linda’s house. It turned out to be intuitive timing. Just the night before, her doctor had told her that her cancer was terminal. She had taken all available treatments and there was absolutely nothing more they could do for her—it was over. “She was alone in the house. Her husband couldn’t sit with her all the time; he had to go to work. And she was dealing with his absence. “She was crying as she said, ‘I know this is going to sound silly, but I actually thought I was going to get well!’
“I Want to See Swami Now!”
“SOON AFTER SHE WAS diagnosed, she made the decision to visit Swami Kriyananda in Italy. Against the advice of her doctors, she insisted, ‘I want to see Swami now! I’m not going to wait. I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to go again, or if I’ll live until he comes back.’ In fact, she did live to see Kriyananda one or two more times, but at that point, she believed it might be the last time she would see him.
“Linda’s husband, Jim, invited David and me [Asha] to go with them, and the four of us went to Italy for a week. Shortly after our arrival, Kriyananda came to greet us. He brought Linda a beautiful bouquet of roses, a gift which touched her deeply. Linda and Jim had long been generous supporters of Ananda; Swami wanted to show his appreciation and to honor Linda’s deep commitment and sincerity. It was very moving.
“During the time we were there, we went to Swami’s house several times, but we hardly talked about the cancer at all. Swami works on more subtle levels. He did say something simple to Jim, like, ‘Better that you have a little time to say good-bye than that she should just drive away one morning and die, perhaps in an accident. Then you wouldn’t have any time to prepare.’ That was all Swami said. The rest of the time, we were just together.
Swami’s Words to Linda
AT THE SERVICE JIM, Linda’s husband, shared Swami’s words to Linda during a visit that took place only a few weeks before she died; an excerpt follows:
Swami was asked to describe the astral world to Linda, and this was his response:
“It depends upon a person’s spirituality,” Swami said. “Because Linda is very spiritual, she will go into light. It will be a very beautiful experience.
“Linda, you will have angels and people helping you there. You will meet people you love on that side. You will understand a lot more clearly than you can now, because the brain here is a very limited instrument. Also, the body prevents us from feeling the joy we ought to be feeling. Here, we are hemmed in by flesh. Without the flesh, the feelings of joy are vastly improved and intensified.
“Beauty and love, joy and light, define the astral world. Otherwise, it’s like this world. What you see here, you see there, only it’s much more beautiful. It’s not vague and sort of cloudlike. There is beautiful scenery. This world is a copy of that world. It’s not as if it’s a coincidence. This world is made from the astral world. “The things that we do here, we’ve also done there. When we have a desire to create beautiful things, to have beautiful experiences in this world, it is because we remember them from our life in the astral world. We want to recreate them here, to recapture the memory of our time there.
“The more we can rid ourselves of the wish to be in this world—the more we can say, ‘I don’t need this world’—the freer we are. The astral world can fulfill all of our desires for beautiful music, beautiful sights, beautiful feelings, and beautiful colors. In fact this world is a prison, compared to the astral world. If we can shed the need for this world, we can feel fantastic there. We get to mix with saints and people who are highly advanced spiritually.
“When you go, Linda, keep your mind on Master, and he will come and take you there. But when you get to the astral world, don’t fall asleep there, spiritually. Don’t say, ‘I have everything I need, here in the astral world. I don’t need more than this.’ There is always more. Always think of God. That is the key to everything.
“Linda, these are realities that have been experienced by many people. It’s not a myth. It’s valid and true. You will find your sense of beauty gratified a thousand times more there than here.” Linda said, “It’s such a joy for me.”
Swami replied, “Yes, Linda, you’ve brought a lot of beauty to people, and that will bring beauty to you.”
Linda said, “Beauty and love are what life is all about.” Swami ended by saying, “You’ve been a blessing, Linda—you and Jim and your family—a blessing for all of us. I wanted to come and say good-bye. It’s been wonderful to see you. Master blesses you. Thank you, and God bless you.”
