“God has sent me to you. My help will always be given to devotees all over the world, if they keep in tune with me.” Yogananda
A few months after my twelfth birthday, I ran into an old Italian woman, dressed in black, on a street in my neighborhood. She stopped me, and asked me in broken English, “Are you a La Villa?” I answered, “My mother’s maiden name is “La Villa.” She replied, “I thought so; you look like a La Villa and have their mannerisms.” I never saw her again, but I never forgot her. She reminded me that I am a branch on the La Villa tree, possessing certain genetic traits of my ancestors. What is true in the natural order is also true in the spiritual domain. Through our connection to the guru (the vine), grace (spiritual sap) is given to us which empowers us to evolve. Though the force of our will is great, we don’t transform ourselves! The very life of the guru pulsates in us and within us, and we begin to take on the characteristics of the guru because their consciousness is imprinted in the depths of our hearts.
My beloved Gurus,
You are the vine,
I am the branches.
