By Abraham, Nigeria
When I was a student, I was short on food and money to last through the semester. I asked my parents to help me out, and they agreed. A short time later, a family member was on the way to deliver everything I needed.
I was so happy. With my parents’ generous gift, not only would I have food for the rest of the semester, I would still have enough money left over to attend an upcoming Eᴄᴋᴀɴᴋᴀʀ seminar.
The next morning, my family member left my hometown to bring me the food and money. Usually, the drive only takes a few hours. But the person didn’t show up until late in the evening.
When she finally arrived, I asked why she was so late. She said she’d been robbed and had only half the food and money left to give me.
I was upset and suspicious. What kind of robbers leave the victim with half the money and food? When I made further inquiries, I discovered that she had given away the other half of the food and money to a friend.
I was so angry. Why would she do this to me? Now I would have to go hungry for part of the semester. My plan to attend the ECK seminar also evaporated.
Then I heard the inner voice of the Mᴀʜᴀɴᴛᴀ.
“As an ECKist, you should know by now that everything that happens to you has a cause,” the Inner Master said.
I began to calm down as I realized the truth of the Mᴀʜᴀɴᴛᴀ’s words. Everything happens for a reason and is in its rightful place.
I reconsidered the circumstances and began to sing HU, an ancient name for God. Singing HU is a spiritual exercise that opens the heart to more love. It helped me release my anger so I could listen more carefully to the Holy Spirit’s insights. Then I went about my day, putting aside my disappointment with the situation.
Before going to bed that night, I did another spiritual exercise. Inwardly I told the Mᴀʜᴀɴᴛᴀ, the Inner Master, that I was not happy with what my family member did, especially since it affected my plan to attend the ECK seminar. I needed more help and guidance on why this happened to me. That night, I had a dream of a past life.
In the dream, my family member and I were brother and sister. She had several children but was having difficulty raising them. She asked me to help her by taking some of the children into my home. I agreed. But in my heart I knew I didn’t have the capacity to give them the care they needed.
One day a horse trader visited our village. I seized the opportunity to reduce my responsibility for the children by giving him one of my sister’s sons. This was a breach of trust, but it was something I felt I had to do. My sister was devastated.
Later on, war came to our village, and I was killed.
When I woke up, I was shaken by the dream. It took me some time, but gradually I saw the connection between my actions in that past life and my situation today. I had broken the trust with my family member first. In this life, the roles were reversed, and she had broken a trust with me.
Although I had forgotten my past misdeed, the ECK had not. This was a lesson for me in understanding the role of karma, or cause and effect.
Immediately, my attitude changed from anger to love. I forgave my family member completely and put the incident behind me. With my new understanding, we restored the harmony between us.
I now understand the entire situation was actually a gift of love from the ECK, the Holy Spirit. It was a chance to recognize and accept the value of this karmic lesson to gain a greater level of spiritual freedom for myself. For that, I am very grateful.
