Protection, protection, protection!¹

Around 7:35 this morning, if not for Divine protection, I would have gone to God! I was jogging very slowly on 150th Street, near my 300-metre mark. I was on the sidewalk, going towards the Grand Central Service Road, when I saw a car approaching from the side street on my right to cross 150th Street. It was coming at about 50 miles per hour. Another car was approaching on 150th Street. It was going towards the 150th Street hill at about 30 miles per hour.

All of a sudden, both cars saw each other and tried to stop. But the car that was coming at 50 miles per hour from the side street lost control of the steering and smashed into a telephone pole less than 10 metres away from me. The car went up onto the sidewalk. It finally stopped when it hit the fire hydrant which was right in front of me.

The whole thing was over in a matter of seconds. If that car had gone a little more to the left, I would definitely have gone to the other world. But at the moment before the car hit the fire hydrant, my whole body was lifted up over a little hedge and a part of the lawn belonging to the house on the corner, and I landed on the first step of that house. You all know the story about the time in India when I jumped from a moving train and landed quite safely far away in a paddyfield. This time there was no jumping on my part. My body was just lifted up and I landed in a standing position on the first step of the house, about five or six metres away.

What a crash there was! You have no idea what a loud noise it made. The sound was so terrifying. But the man who lived in that house did not come out to see what was happening. I was the only witness and I was also almost the victim.

The car that had been travelling on 150th Street collided with the one that hit the fire hydrant, but not seriously, and it stopped about five feet away. It was driven by a gentle, old lady. Her car was slightly damaged but, fortunately, she was not injured.

The old lady got out of her car in an absolutely panicky way and started screaming at the Puerto Rican lady who had been driving the other car, “What made you drive so fast?” Alas, the Puerto Rican lady could not come out of her car. The lower part of her face was covered with blood.

While the accident was taking place, these ladies did not see me standing there. But afterwards, the old lady was looking at me. I would have been another victim, like them. There was broken glass everywhere and parts of the first car had also flown all over the area. The first car was totally smashed.

I prayed in silence for a few moments.

Then I said to myself, “What am I doing here?”

So I started jogging again. I went to my 800-metre mark and started coming back. Usually I never talk to anybody while I am running, but when I came to the accident place I saw Pragati. I asked her, “What happened?”

Pragati said, “O Guru, there was a terrible crash!”

Then I told her the whole story. She was so horrified. When I was talking to her, my physical body was shaking. If not for God’s Protection I would have been in Heaven. Then I also saw Anna, Aaron and Sulochana at the place where the accident was.

By that time, quite a large crowd had gathered. You cannot imagine how many people had come in five minutes’ time. They were all discussing the accident. I saw an ambulance, but there were no policemen. They took the Puerto Rican lady out of her car and put her in the ambulance. They did not put her on a stretcher, but they carried her into the ambulance. One man was holding her head. Perhaps her neck was broken. There were two or three more people in her car, but they were all right.

Afterwards, I took Databir, Radha and Nilima to see the place where the accident happened. The owner of the house was sweeping up the glass. I could still see pieces of glass near the step where I landed. Another old man said that he has been living there for thirty-five years, and he has been trying to get the city to put a red light on that corner. So many accidents take place there, according to him.

So I always say to meditate for one minute before you drive or before you do anything. The old man who was fighting to have a red light installed said to me, “You should pray to God and thank God that you are still alive.”