A little story about our beloved Brother Bhimlananda who just passed on and is now with Master. Some years ago, when Brother's brother passed on, Brother Bhimlananda inherited his mobile home which was moved to the SRF monk's retreat up in Anza.

Brother loved staying there on retreat but, as the roof leaked a little and the summer heat beating down on the roof was unbearable, he asked me if I would build a roof over it for protection and I, of course, told him that I would be honored to do so. And so I had the great blessing to be on retreat with him for a week or so while the project was taken on. We did our daily meditations together and while I was working up on the roof, Brother lovingly prepared our meals. One morning at breakfast, Brother told me that he had been in such pain the night before that he couldn't even lie in bed. He got up at 3am, did his energization exercises and began meditating. But the whole time he was telling me this, he was as happy and blissful as ever. It was almost as if he were talking about someone else.

I share this story because, since Brother was ALWAYS so happy and blissful, many thought life was easy for him. But he had challenges like the rest of us and his exemplary behavior during difficult times should be an example for us all.

In Divine Friendship