Miriam's Mumbai Experience
To be honest, I didn't plan to share the details of what happened, as I have been telling people that my trip to India was the best trip of my life. I felt so free and alive in India. It was a personal transformation that resulted from all the 17 years that I have meditated with Master Charles.
Yes, I felt guilty that there was so much suffering and loss and yet my experience was one of peace and love. My journey on the Wednesday evening/night was a journey of choices that I made in a moment and the consequences which unfolded.
Yet many others found this Christmas to be among the best ever. Less emphasis on the material and more on values - sharing, gratitude and appreciation for those close to us and all the good things we do have.
On that Wednesday evening, after the meditation at The YB Chawan Centre, Mureen M. (my friend and roommate) and I came back to The Oberoi Hotel. I looked in the direction of the restaurant wondering if I should go for a snack but decided, as Mureen did, that I was tired and better go up the lift and to bed. After all, Ganeshpuri was on the agenda for the next day.
I went to bed, as did my roommate, and after some moments heard what I thought were fire crackers. Only later did I find out that the so-called firecrackers were gun shots. However, after a few more minutes I heard an explosion. I checked outside the window of the 18th floor - all seemed calm. I tried to press the buttons on the hotel phone in order to get a response from the various available services but none came. Suddenly I heard a louder explosion which wasn't as distant as the one before. I realized that it was from within the hotel. Mureen tried Rudrani and Linda's room - no one answered. Mureen opened the door after I shouted "Don't, you don't know who is out there". Once the door was open, thick smoke came in and the smoke alarm went off. Mureen screamed "I'm not staying in this fire". My response was getting my nightie off and putting on some clothes and at the same time shouting to Mureen "Get your passport and let's go."
I was so blessed that Mureen had noticed previously where the fire escape exit was and where the torch was in the room. She went out first and I followed her. At the door I hesitated for a split second wondering if it was the right thing to do. When Mureen called out "Have you got the key?" I said " I have but I'll be damned if I'm going to look for it now". The door slammed behind us and I knew there was no going back.
We walked arm in arm with the torch in Mureen's hand. We fumbled our way in thick, heavy smoke and darkness down the fire escape stairs seeing some light by the time we got to the 6th floor. We continued until we came out of the hotel and onto the street where locals - perhaps taxi drivers - helped us. We were black from the soot and I was coughing non-stop. Someone offered to take me to hospital which I declined. Another offered some water and a third gave me his hanky. Kindness and compassion were everywhere.
Mureen and I sat on the footpath. I kept on saying "Where are the Synchro people? Where is MC?" We sat for about 2 hours waiting - no one came. We were helped to move across the road as the explosions continued. We sat on the stairs watching some tourists who escaped as we did.
It was about 1 or 2am and the people in a nearby art store insisted that we come in. Without a fuss they put some foam squares on the floor to be used as mattresses and bubble wrap to be used as blankets. By then we were about 15 people. We slept or meditated and at 7 am, using my mobile, I called Melbourne and Mureen called Queensland letting our families that we were alive and safe.
At that time an Oberoi car came (who knows how?) and told us that the army was inside and everything was under control. We still didn't know what was happening. We were told that we'd be driven to somewhere safer. We ended up at the back of a car park which was close by. We were told that we'd be taken to a hotel but suddenly all the hotels were full. Many people were at that car park. I recognized a manager from the restaurant. We exchanged smiles. I noticed blood on his shirt and yet he said nothing. So humble. In fact, there were many people from the hotel staff. No one said anything. They stood silently. People were looking after us, bringing some food and drink. Who knows from where? It was there that we saw Carol W. and she shared her story. We kept on looking around for other Synchronicity people but no one was there.
I was tested again regarding trust. A local man invited us to come to his place "to get refreshed". The three of us got into his car and after 20 minutes we found ourselves in a very comfortable Mumbai apartment with his wife and daughter welcoming us. They looked after us with so much love and compassion. Their servants washed our clothes and cooked for us. We then saw on CNN what was happening in Mumbai. There was not a lot of information about the Oberoi, mainly it was about the Taj and Yarraman House. Carol phoned the Virginia Sanctuary to let them know where we were and to find out where everyone else was. We stayed overnight as we had nowhere to go. The next day I was again tested on the subjects of protection and safety.
We went to the nearest shopping area to find some fruit and flowers as a thank-you for our hosts. Coming back at lunch time our taxi driver [who spoke no English] took us a different way and we found ourselves in the Muslim area where hundreds of males were kneeling down on the footpath and praying. Suddenly there were screams everywhere that there were bombs. Our driver panicked and stopped the car yelling at us to get out. We tried to give him more money which didn't help. We were feeling the stress, too. We decided to change our tactic and send him love and light. It helped only for a few minutes. Three times he tried to push us out of the car. I remembered my mobile and Mureen called our host. Our host told the driver to take us to the nearest police station. We were taken to a police check point and then to a police station. The police were not friendly but did their job.
Our host sent her driver and a staff member and finally we were back at her apartment. The bomb was a hoax, but all of Mumbai was in a panic and I, of course, needed to experience it a second time as I didn't fully trust that I was protected while escaping from The Oberoi. I finally understood the lesson and trusted the process. When we got back to the hosts' apartment we heard that the Synchronicity group was leaving the Oberoi and for us to join them at the Four Seasons Hotel and we did.
How grateful I was for my guidance and trust that all my needs were met. How lucky were Mureen and I to escape from Room 1855. The General Manager of the Oberoi Hotel called me in Melbourne last Tuesday night and wanted to see how I was. He also told me how lucky I was to have gotten out when I did, as the terrorists stayed with their ammunition in the room next to us. He wouldn't elaborate on the details but said a lot happened on the 18th floor. I have heard that the terrorists killed everyone on the 18th floor. I had my confirmation that escaping the 18th floor was the right thing to do. Trust???
For me the number "18" is symbolic as the numbers are equivalent to the letters in the Hebrew alphabet which spell "CHAI" which means "LIFE". The manager also told me that all my shoes are not thereb& GONE. It is also symbolic that I am to walk a different/ new path. I am so grateful for this journey. I know that I have rescripted so many of my bottom lines and I know that I have a new lease on LIFE.
All along, in Mumbai and in Melbourne my cough continued. I needed to take time off work and it was then that I accessed the emotions that I couldn't verbalize. These emotions were:
1. Feeling guilty that I am alive but Alan and Naomi are not, as well as so many of Mumbai's people. It is a pattern I took on from my mum who I lost 8 months ago. She was the sole survivor of her family who perished in the Holocaust.
2. Feeling angry expressed in my burning throat.
I was screaming internally for my existence. I was screaming "I am Miriam". I released this pattern which I had held from the age of 11 when I came to Australia and a friend of my late uncle insisted that I Anglocise my name to Mary - I refused but still carried the emotional charge.
3. Having the right to exist. I am alive. Releasing the affirmations on my Core Dynamics 10 CD
"I am that I am"
"I am life"
"Here and now in this moment and in all moments...."
(which I seem to hear my taped voice affirming daily in my meditation).
Yes, my cough has subsided but occasionally when I cannot verbalize how I feel it is telling me where I am or where I am not. I have changed during the "India" experience. I am noticing that I am accepting myself more and am more kind to myself. I have more compassion for myself and am not punishing myself as in the past. Of course this is also reflected in regards to others. My "India" experience has been one of great personal transformation. I have removed many masks. One important one is the racial mask. The mask of the One God being my God. I truly experienced the "One God in the many".
This was through my Lakshmi experience of abundance and my Ganesh experience of helping me get through my obstacles, including getting through the Oberoi saga and letting go of my old baggage. Most important to me was experiencing the love of the Guru. How grateful I am to my teacher/my guru, Master Charles.
I understand now why I didn't go to Ganeshpuri. It is because Master Charles is my teacher, and although there is the guru essence and lineage in Ganeshpuri, Master Charles is the guru in this moment and in all moments i.e. NOW. It is Master Charles (and Ganesh) that I saw while lying on the floor covered in soot and coughing non-stop, and it is his guidance that brings the love and light. India has changed me, bringing me more into the experience of the love and the light. India gave me life and balance.
Thank you, Master Charles, for being in my world and for bringing India to me. Thank you for being in the here and NOW.
With love and gratitude,
Miriam Broder
Comments (0)