In a recent Sunday service at the Self-Realization Fellowship temple in Encinitas, the minister read this letter from Judy, a member of the congregation. Her story was so moving it brought tears to my eyes. After the service, I asked Judy if I could share her story here. It is a powerful reminder of a truth we must always hold on to:
Never lose hope. You may be one prayer away from a miracle.
THE TOUCH OF THE MASTER’S HAND
Rosa said of Paramahansa Yogananda: "That's him. He came to bring me back."
Rosa is a twenty-nine year-old Catholic, Hispanic teacher who had just finished her Master’s Degree in Education and had started teaching in the inner city of L.A. She was devoted to her five-month-old little girl, Maria, who was always laughing and giggling.
Her family and I were close, so late one night when I received a phone call saying that Rosa had just had a sudden heart attack I was stunned. She had been rushed to the hospital, and on the surgical table her heart had stopped four times. Though the doctors had revived her, she remained in a coma—on life-support systems and kidney dialysis as she awaited open heart surgery and a liver transplant. One hundred family and friends were crowded into the L.A. emergency room. Her parents slept nightly by her bedside, refusing to leave. As she wavered between life and death, her right hand turned gangrene, and her white blood cell count spiked to 48,000, indicating a major, life-threatening infection.
She had been unconscious for a week when I walked into her ICU room and stood at her bedside. Her sister, Ella, had begged me to “just come and pray,” so I made the two-and-a-half hour trip to Rosa’s side. Though I’d been a nurse for thirty years, I’d never seen a human body so sick—so many machines, at least ten hanging IV antibiotics, a ventilator breathing for her. I was overwhelmed by what she and her family were experiencing.
Ignoring appearances, I gently took Rosa’s arm and asked Yogananda (my spiritual teacher) and all the Masters to come and help her. I reminded her sister of Christ’s words, “When two or more are gathered in my name, there am I.” So we prayed together for Rosa. My heart surrendered and riveted on God. I affirmed her complete healing as I surrendered her situation to God’s grace. After about ten minutes I intuitively saw the image of Rosa at the Christ Center (the point between the eyebrows). She was laughing and smiling. Though minutes before it felt like her body, mind and spirit were energetically scattered, suddenly they locked into place. I opened my eyes to see her staring right at me. She was alert and responsive to her family—itself a miracle as the doctors had thought she would have brain damage.
Day by day she healed slowly, but her condition remained drastic. A week later her Mom frantically phoned me asking me to come back that night to pray. I was tired and wanted to go the next day, but my heart gave me a clear message to go “right now.” I walked into the ICU at 10:00 PM to see Rosa again unconscious. This time, however, her jaundiced gaze was fixed at the Christ Center. I could feel her death was imminent. Her parents and family were frantic and terrified.
Gently lifting her arm, I again silently prayed to the Masters—saying their names over and over. I prayed out loud believing and calling on Yogananda’s presence. In my thoughts I said to her, “This is where your body is. Focus HERE,” and I put my finger at her Christ Center on her forehead. A deep peace came over the room, and as I opened my eyes, Rosa was again looking directly at me. She was completely conscious and alert enough to respond to her husband and family.
The next day Rosa told her father that as I was praying by her bedside, she had already crossed over to the other side. She told him that I came to the other side (even though I was not aware of this) with “an Indian man” to “bring her back.” She described Yogananda in detail even though she had no idea who he was. When I showed her his photo on the cover of Autobiography of a Yogi, she kept nodding, “That’s him. He came to bring me back.”
She said, “When I asked him who he was, he said, “I’m a friend of Judy’s.” And then Rosa said, “Judy said to me, ‘Focus HERE,’ showing me where my body was.” Even though my words “focus here” were only mental thoughts, Rosa received them, and even though she had already crossed over to the other side.
Yogananda and the saints promise to watch over us and those we love. Rosa had no idea who he was, but by my simple loving request, he healed her and brought her back from two comas. Since this story Rosa has returned home and has made an amazing recovery. She now lives with her husband, little girl and family in Los Angeles.
This true story is testimony to the living power of God’s love.
UPDATE FROM JUDY: 4/20/2012
I just visited Rosa and her whole family in L.A. last week. She is doing well, and Maria, her little girl, is now about three. Rosa and Ella wanted to make this story public to inspire others.
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June 1, 2012 at 8:12 PM
Beautiful story. Yogananda and the Masters are definitely working overtime for us! ;)
June 1, 2012 at 8:15 PM
That they are, Mike, that they are!