My cousin Pushpita

There are many, many people who do not believe in the soul. Let them be happy by not believing in the existence of the soul. We believe in the existence of the soul, and we get joy. This very morning I told a juicy story about a disciple’s soul.

Two or three days ago my cousin’s soul came to me. Her name was Pushpita. She was my mother’s sister’s daughter, and most of the time she lived at our place. She joined the Sri Aurobindo Ashram with my sisters Arpita and Lily.

Two or three days ago, very early in the morning, Pushpita’s soul came to visit me, and she looked so beautiful. Immediately I knew that she had left the body, and then she came to see me. In India it is customary for souls, right after they leave the body, to visit their dear ones. That is our Indian theory. If they have some very dear ones, they go to see them first. She showed me utmost affection, and she was blessing me. She was telling me that I used to always brag in the family, in front of my sisters and brothers, but not about my spirituality. She said to me, “You never bragged about your spirituality. Now I see that you are such a great spiritual figure.”

I said to her, “You were the first person to observe my occult power.”

She said, “What?” She had completely forgotten! I have told this story many, many times. She wanted to kick me playfully, and I asked her how she was going to kick me. She showed me. She lifted one leg, but then it did not come down. Luckily she was holding on to a pipe on the wall.

Pushpita’s affection for me was boundless. Our astrologer predicted that I would die as a young boy, in the water. My mother was horrified. Pushpita put me on her back and took me into a pond. She caught a tiny live fish, and she said to me, “If you can eat this fish, then you will be able to learn how to swim quickly.” I trusted her. That little fish entered into my body, and then for fifteen minutes Pushpita taught me frog swimming. She was very, very happy, and she made my mother very happy.

Alas, two years or three years later, the astrologer’s prediction almost came true. That story also I have told many times, about my experience in the Karnaphuli River.

When I met with Pushpita for the last time, I spent half an hour with her. She could not recognise me. In so many ways I tried to help her to recognise me, but she could not. A few weeks later she wanted to know why I had not sent the pictures that I had taken of her! I was taking pictures, but at the time she did not recognise me at all.

Pushpita was very fond of Mantu, and Mantu passed in February. Now this cousin has also passed. She was our dearest cousin. Her mother died three or four years ago, at the age of 104.

11 June 2005 Aspiration-Ground Jamaica, New York