Lakshmi Puja, Solar Eclipse, Diwali - October 23, 2014

Every Thursday, for the past five months, I have had the privilege of working in the kitchen preparing prasadam at 5:30am. Most of the men come for an hour or so before going to work and do some volunteering. Very few people stay for the entire preparation from beginning to end.

As I have retired and do in fact have the time I would end up staying for the entire time until it’s time to clean the place. On this Thursday, it was raining and cold and my wife asked me “do you really have to go with your health condition?” I claimed “there are only a handful of volunteers who actually stay for the completion of the prasadam making so even if one person is missing it becomes very difficult for the rest of the volunteers.

The temple prepares about 300lbs of rice or 1,500 packets of prasadam. We finished our task of making prasadam. The temple management needed help in organizing for the Lakshmi puja. I was unable to stand and ready to leave when a volunteer came forward and said “Koushik ji, please don’t leave and stay for the puja.” I told him “I am sorry I am not able to stand.” He went and got a chair and placed it in front of Lakshmi. Now the manager of the temple, Sujatha, requested that I stay for the puja. Although I wanted to leave the universal force wanted me to stay.

A friend and his wife came whom I had not seen for years due to him being very sick. They came to be a part of the Lakshmi puja and had I left, I would not have seen them. We have known them for 31 years.

My wife had met him while working in a hospital in New York. He was working with a C.P.A group; Pete Maverick. At the time him and his wife were newly married. They had a son a few years later. He always wanted to be in business. His in-laws had a very prominent business in India. But after a few years went by, he quit his job as a C.P.A and purchased a franchise, and the year after that bought another. Growing accustomed to the fame and fortune, he wanted to sell his condominium in New York for a townhouse as the family was getting bigger and wanted more space.

As he was selling, we were approached, and being friends I did not negotiate in my mind. A friend will not look to cheat or use you for profit. We were ready to purchase the unit for said price. After the closing when we saw how much he purchased for and how much he was selling for we were appalled that he took advantage of our friendship. As time went on they started to entertain less as now they were in a higher bracket than us. Years flew by and due to this purchase it was draining our finances as we could not sell the property as the market was at its low. Finally we had to give the property back to the bank and walk away.

They had sold their franchises and purchased some other businesses which were sold to him through another friend. He took a mortgage on his house and paid for this (financed). The person cheated and walked away not taking any blame. This totally ruined his finances because no money was coming in and as a result that impacted his health. He had a nervous breakdown and finally went into a coma and lost all of his memory.

After several months in the hospital and going through therapy he was not the person we knew. They have lost everything; finances, friends, etc. He had no long term memory as that was completely wiped and had to be re-taught everything like a child.

He had to meet me in the temple in front of Lakshmi, goddess of wealth. What goes around comes around in this lifetime. When he cheated us he did not think about the repercussions but when someone else did it affected their life.

Do good and especially don’t hurt your friend who has put that utmost trust in you. As they say while you are climbing up, remember the people at the bottom; you may need them on your way down.

Our heart goes out to the family that had to go through such difficult times in their lives. We can only hope the lord showers his blessing on this family. The children are continuing their stuudies,the son, on his own, received grants and scholarships and is pursuing medicine. The daughter is going off to college to pursue a degree in Food Science. The husband and wife have a variety of medical problems and are in a state of assisted living.

Help Ever Hurt Never.
Om Sri Sai Ram.