The Miracle of Anna

by John Nelson

  As the day approached, she received another surprise: a postcard from Thomas in India, saying how much he liked the ashram and the advanced Kundalini Yoga practices he was learning. Maggie noted that he didn’t press her for a further connection, and just left it at that. But thoughts of Thomas and their night together did arouse her, and she realized that in focusing on Anna’s development, she might have neglected her own. She made a resolution to start back with her yoga discipline after the first of the year, and would probably enroll in a Kundalini Yoga class at the Center to help raise the energy from her lower chakras. At this thought Anna threw her rubber toy across the room for emphasis, or so Maggie entertained. Talk about projections, she said to herself.

  Driving up to her parents’ house on Christmas Eve was a sheer delight; from the back seat Anna could see all the houses lit up with their multicolored lights as they threaded their way through the neighborhood. The displays were spectacular, and Anna was mesmerized by the lightshow. At the house Grace and Mark help her unload their luggage and gifts, and when they stepped inside, Maggie was taken aback by the large fully decorated Christmas tree. Her parents had stopped that tradition after the girls had gone off to college, but while she had missed last year’s festivities, she assumed they had decorated a tree for Jill’s little boy and had just kept the ornaments.

  “The tree looks wonderful, Mother,” Maggie said, holding Anna and taking her for a tour around it and letting her touch the ornaments. On closer inspection she spotted the lighted angel at the top and smiled: this looked new and was possibly a peace offering over their row about Anna’s trance states.

  At dinner Maggie made her own concession to a more peaceful holiday visit. “On the book tour, we stopped in Seattle and Anna’s father Thomas showed up for the signing.”

  Grace practically choked on her mouthful of food. “Oh, how wonderful,” she finally said. “How did Anna respond, or did she?”

  “Well, I’ll have to admit she was taken with him, holding out her arms for him to pick her up.”

  “So he acknowledged that he was the child’s father?” Mark asked, as his wife frowned at him.

  Maggie took a moment to respond. “He did, and we left it open for him to be a part of our lives in the future.”

  “Does Anna look at all like him?” Grace hurriedly asked.

  “Yes, she seems to have his brown eyes and hair.”

  “So, how did the tour go?” Mark asked.

  “Exhausting, but the ashram had alerted Ma hi’ Ma’s devotees, so there were plenty of them at every stop buying books and adding to the tour’s success.”

  “Well, as they say, ‘never look at gift horse in the mouth,’” her father added.

  “So you took a nanny and she stayed back at the hotel with Anna during the signings?” Grace asked.

  “No, I brought her along, and they sat next to me.” Grace looked at her daughter for a further explanation, but Maggie was still not ready to share her guru’s prophesy with them, which is why the devotees showed up in such large numbers.

  “Well, all my colleagues are impressed: a New York Times bestselling author. If we sell a thousand books, we’re happy,” Mark said without a twinge of jealousy.

  The next morning everybody woke up early and converged on the Christmas tree to exchange presents. The gifts between Maggie and her parents were modest, but they showered their granddaughter with clothes and toys, almost to excess in Maggie’s mind. Since it was their way of showing affection, she didn’t say anything and was especially grateful for the new clothes. Anna was growing so fast that it was hard to keep up with her baby wardrobe given her modest income.

  Mark took the family to their traditional Christmas brunch at a local restaurant where he had a standing holiday reservation. The owner, Max, was pleased with the new family addition —he remembered Maggie from years earlier—and asked if Jill and her family would be joining them.

  “She’s in Michigan with her in-laws,” Mark said. Max set a table for three with a highchair for Anna.

  When ordering for them, her father was pleased to learn that Maggie was now a lacto vegetarian and would eat eggs for breakfast. After the waitress left to retrieve their coffee order, Grace asked her daughter:

  “Why the switch, if Anna is still a vegan?”

  “I need the protein, and I tried feeding her cow’s milk and eggs but she wouldn’t touch them.”

  Mark frowned. “Well, shouldn’t the mother determine her child’s needs?”

  Again Maggie waited to respond. “Well, in this case, I think my daughter knows what’s best for her.”

  Mark shook his head in consternation. “Well, let’s hope that dictum is not universally applied, or you’re in for a rough ride with her.”

  Grace quickly changed the subject. “So, are you working on another book?”

  “Yes, Mother. It’s called Heart Lines, and it’s about Lisa’s heart connection with other children.”

  “Do you have a publication date?” her father asked.

  “No, I just started it… wanted to see how Lifelines would sell first.”

  “So, how much money is there in bestselling children’s books? I mean, can you support yourself with writing alone?”

  Grace just sat back in her chair and shook her head. Her husband just didn’t know when to let up and keep his mouth shut.

  “I’m not expecting to. I think once Anna is older, I’ll go back to teaching, but who knows what will happen. I never expected this windfall, so I don’t know what else is in store for us.”

  Mark was about to say something, no doubt to comment about the futility of waiting for more windfalls, but held his tongue. Their breakfast was served, and they focused on eating their meal and returning to their house, expecting friends and neighbors to stop by for Christmas get-togethers.

  Maggie dressed Anna in one of her new Christmas gift outfits, and as would be expected she was the focus of everybody’s attention and goodwill, and given that she was older now, Maggie let people hold her. One neighbor in particular, an Hispanic woman, Marie Chavez, who appeared rather sickly—Maggie would later learn she had stomach cancer—held Anna for the longest time and refused to give her up.

  “You know children’s energies are so healing,” Marie said, trying to explain her attachment to Anna. “It’s why we place the cribs of babies in the old people’s bedrooms at night, and your Anna’s energy feels really wonderful.” Maggie watched her as she spoke, and for the first time she could detect a person’s aura and saw several red splotches in Marie’s field starting to turn white. She couldn’t wait to share this story with Ma hi’ Ma, but wondered if Anna had healing abilities, in which this was seemingly its first manifestation, and what it might bring into their lives. Finally, Marie and her husband Jorge left. A month later, when Marie’s cancer went into remission, she didn’t associate it with her Christmas day visit to the Langfords.

  When hearing the news, Grace did start to wonder about her granddaughter and Marie’s claim about a baby’s healing energy, and on their next visit would suggest that Anna’s crib be moved into their bedroom at night.

  Chapter 9

  As Anna grew and her hand gestures were more expressive, it became clear to Maggie that she was communicating with spirit beings, or could at least detect their presence around her and would smile and wave her hands in the air at them. On trips to the park, Maggie was asked by more than one mother about Anna staring into space and waving her hands. She was not prepared to share her intuition about these episodes to complete strangers, and just said her daughter had a lot of energy and these hand gestures were just an expression of that. One woman replied, “Well, buy her Legos and puzzles when she gets older to keep her hands busy, before this becomes too disruptive.”

  While Maggie didn’t want to interfere with her spiritually precocious child’s spirit exchange, she also didn’t want her daughter’s behavior to draw too much undo attention to her. In the past she had just waited for her daugh
ter to talk to her and hoped that she would sense her mother’s discomfort and respond. But, as these episodes increased while shopping for groceries or just taking her out for a stroll down the street, Maggie impatiently waited for that contact. One day at home, while Anna was apparently telepathically conversing with the spirits in the house, she turned and stared at her mother. Maggie became very quiet, and again heard a voice in her head, but now she was able to respond telepathically:

  “Why you concern? Is speaking with spirits not good?”

  “It is good, but hand movements draw attention to you, and best you stop waving your hands in the air.”

  “Very well,” Anna replied telepathically. She continued her exchange with the others in the room, but without gesturing. She followed through with this practice in public, and this behavior soon became a nonissue. But, it made Maggie think about her daughter’s future spiritual development and how that would be increasingly hard to conceal from public scrutiny. It was spring, and while Maggie had told Gary Pritchard that she would visit Ma after the holiday season, the publicity duties of a bestselling author with its many radio interviews from home had delayed that trip. Now, as this telepathic exchange between Anna and her spirit guides grew to include her, Maggie thought it was time to pay Ma hi’ Ma a visit. She wanted to explore her concerns about Anna’s spiritual expression and how it might be perceived as disruptive by less-than-enlightened public health and school officials in the future.

  Ma was delighted by the proposed visit, and she picked a weekend that would be unusually quiet at the ashram with few outside visitors. Maggie arrived on Friday afternoon. She was told to leave her car keys with Prema, who would move her luggage to their room, and she and her daughter were whisked away for an audience with Guru.

  After Anna was situated on a pile of decorative pillows next to Guru, much to the child’s delight, Maggie and Ma were served yogi tea. There was an exchange of pleasantries about Anna and then about the ashram and its news.

  “So, Maggie,” Ma said. “What’s bothering you so much that you would take a trip to Northern California?”

  Maggie composed herself. “Anna is apparently communicating with the spirits around her, and making hand gestures that have alarmed others.” She paused, as Ma nodded her head.

  “Doesn’t sound like much of a problem to me,” Ma added. “Tell them it’s none of their business.”

  “But, while she is only a baby now, when she gets older, I’m concerned that her spiritually precocious behavior may draw attention to her and maybe even concern by health officials.”

  Ma considered this dilemma. “Of course, that would not be problem here in the ashram, but I understand your desire to remain… in the world.” Her guru paused. “Have you asked Anna about this… telepathically?”

  “She did ask me about my concern with her hand gestures, and I was finally able to have a conversation with her, and she modified them.”

  “May I?” Ma asked, turning to Anna who was watching the two of them closely.

  “Of course.” Maggie watched as Ma focused on Anna and the child on her. After a minute or two, Ma said, “I’m not getting an exchange with her. You try.”

  Maggie turned to her daughter. “We are concerned about how your spiritual life may draw unwanted attention to you.”

  “I know. My guides say they will protect me always. But, do what you must.”

  “Thank you.” Maggie turned to Ma and related the message.

  “Well, I think we need to consult with James Edwards.” Ma reached into her pocket and withdrew an iPhone. Maggie gawked at her. “Dear, you can’t run a twenty-first century ministry with smoke signals.” She punched out a number. “James, I’m here with Maggie Langford and her spiritually precocious Anna, and I have a question for you.” Ma set down the phone and activated the speaker.

  “What may that be?”

  “Anna, as we’ve spoken about, is an advanced soul, a former Hindu Guru and Tibetan Rinpoche, and even as a baby, her… spiritual behavior has drawn attention to her.”

  “I see and understand Maggie’s concern.” There was a long pause. “There isn’t much legal precedent for this, but the easiest and simplest solution is to make Anna, at an appropriate but early age, a recognized guru or priest in a spiritual tradition such as your Hindu line. This way her ‘spiritual expression’ is protected by religious freedom.”

  Ma looked at Maggie who was considering this proposal. “Would this need to be made public?” Maggie asked.

  “Well, just within the Hindu spiritual community, but we would need the appropriate authentications to show any wary health officials later on.”

  “And if she starts talking to Krishna on the playground, this would protect her from their inquiries?”

  “Any inquiries about such behavior can be deflected by her religious status, but I would recommend homeschooling and a marshalling of her contact with the general public until she is old enough to consider these concerns and adjust her behavior.”

  “Thank you, Mr. Edwards. I’ll take this under advisement.”

  “James,” Ma added, “I’ll speak to you about this later. Thank you for your time.”

  “I am always available to you, Ma. You know that.”

  Ma disconnected the phone call, and turned to Maggie who was still considering the implications of this suggestion.

  “I know you don’t want to… specialize Anna—I think that is the word you’ve used—but with ‘lions be a jackal,’ and it’s best to prepare for this kind of scrutiny.”

  Maggie nodded her head. “Yes, Ma. The reason for my visit.”

  “Okay, so that’s taken care of… or for now. I’ll let you return to your room and freshen up, and we’ll meet for dinner. I believe they are preparing a banquet of sorts, but nothing too elaborate or specific to Anna.”

  Maggie stood and picked up Anna. “Thank you, Ma. We look forward to it.”

  The remainder of the visit was very pleasant, and the devotees knew not to treat Anna with any special attention, but it was obvious that her energy like their guru’s affected those open to it. Driving home Sunday afternoon, Maggie had to give Edwards’s suggestion some serious consideration. Again it was exactly the kind of spiritual status bestowed on young Krishnamurti that she was trying to avoid, but she also didn’t want to get into pitch battles with health officials over Anna’s mental condition. Maggie got a partial answer when they pulled into a restaurant in Monterey on the long drive home. Anna was seated in her high chair and staring into space off to the side, no doubt in communication with ethereal beings, while everybody else was looking out the windows at the churning ocean. A woman walking past them carrying a tray stopped and stared at Anna for a long moment, before somebody “accidently” knocked into her tray and spilled her soft drink onto the floor. This drew her attention back to the accident and the clumsy teenager who had caused it. Maggie was watching the whole scene develop, when she turned and looked back at Anna who was smiling at her. She got the message: her daughter was protected. Maggie also realized that her guides would need to be made aware of such “problems” to address them earlier than later in Anna’s development.

  Chapter 10

  Now being able to initiate telepathic communication with her daughter allowed Maggie to express her safety concerns as they arose for the most part. While Anna no longer waved to invisible friends in public, Maggie’s silent telepathic exchanges with her in grocery stores or on walks through the park did draw some attention. Most just figured Maggie was giving her child stern looks to discipline her behavior, but this was San Luis Obispo, a West Coast spiritual hotspot, and there were metaphysical practitioners here who suspected more was happening. While the local Ma devotees were sworn to secrecy by their guru, it was hard to contain such rumors. When Anna was old enough to play with the local children at the park, Maggie noticed that she was very hands-on with her friends, or those with runny noses or colds, which soon cleared up. Maggie asked her daughter if she w
ere healing them, and she confirmed her mother’s suspicions. For the most part, this went unnoticed by the other mothers at the park or at the yoga center playroom where Anna stayed when her mother attended classes.

  Maggie picked up and started to reread her copy of The Autobiography of a Yogi, because she remembered Yogananda addressing these concerns with his devotees: when do you interfere with someone’s karma by healing them. She also read that Anandamayi Ma only healed people when prompted by Spirit. Maggie didn’t want to run back to the ashram and question Ma hi’ Ma every time such an issue arose and trusted that it would work itself out. The first real challenge arose when a sickly little boy, Martin, appeared at the park that summer—his head was shaved and Maggie figured he had cancer and was taking chemotherapy. Anna’s first impulse was to be taken over to him, but Maggie denied her request.

  Anna questioned her mother, “I not to heal him?”

  Maggie was differently conflicted. “For today, let us avoid contact with him.”

  “As you wish, Mother.”

  That night after dinner, Maggie placed her daughter on the living room rug but in eyesight of her while she washed the dinner dishes. She noticed that Anna had gone into one of her swaying trance states, and Maggie finished up and stepped over to the sofa to watch her. The sacred energy generated by these states suffused the house and Maggie just naturally went into a meditation. After a while she felt a shift as her spirit left her body, and she found herself in an altered spiritual dimension or space, a park-like daylight setting with a natural spring. Across from her she saw her daughter, somewhat older in her spirit body, sitting there with a man in a gleaming white suit whose saintly aura was quite pronounced. They were dangling their feet in the pool of spring water. Anna waved her mother over.