The Response that Changed My Life
Life Response is the phenomenon that occurs when an individual alters his consciousness on some way, and as a result, sudden good fortune descends on that person. E.g., as a result of overcoming a negative attitude, an ongoing problem suddenly disappears, or a golden opportunity suddenly and most unexpectedly presents itself. It occurs quite often in people’s lives, though we are normally unaware of its occurrence. The key however is to invoke it consciously so that we are able to elicit these miraculous-like results on demand. We can evoke life response in this way by first developing an understanding of its subtle workings, and then by applying the right inner and outer behaviors that tend to attract these miraculous-like results. Sometimes the response that comes alters the very course of our lives, as I believe the following incident will attest to.  

By December 1974, I had graduated Syracuse University and was living with my parents in New York City. After working as part of a group of four house painters, who also happened to be close friends, I headed west to California by van. When I settled into the San Francisco Bay area, I was free, but as yet unable to sustain myself due to lack of work. The truth is I made little effort to secure that work, since I was enjoying my freedom too much!

Soon thereafter, I met a woman there with whom I got involved. I drove back to New York, and from there flew to Brussels, Belgium where I met up with her. Together we then went on a wild bus excursion across the continent, from Amsterdam to Athens. After enjoying Athens and having a mystical experience at the Acropolis, my friend informed me that she planned to continue on to the Middle East in order to visit Egypt and Israel. However, realizing that I had strayed too far off the path, I informed her that I could go no further. And so in a dramatic scene worthy of a romantic film, we said our tearful goodbyes and separated at the Athens airport. From there I flew on to Geneva, Switzerland and then across the Atlantic to New York.

A year earlier, I had intended to go to the Graduate School of Journalism in Berkeley when I first ventured to California months earlier, but on arrival there, I decided not to attend. Nor, did I take to working in order to support myself, as mentioned before.  Therefore, I floundered on my first stay in California. This time, however, as I mulled over my future from my parents home in New York, I was determined that if I returned to California, I would make a serious go of it -- i.e. I would seriously seek out and secure work to sustain myself.

As it turned out, a friend of my family had moved to California years before, and now was a very wealthy businessman in Southern California. From New York, I called this gentleman by phone, and he offered me a job at one of his giant Lumber City retail outlets in the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles. And so once again, I headed across country, this time by Greyhound bus, and arrived once more in California. (I accumulated a lot of road mileage during these years!)

Before I headed south to Los Angeles, I met up with old friends in San Francisco, and stayed at their home for several months. During that time, I painted the large house we all lived in, and then I used the money I earned to purchase a used car. With a means of transportation, I then drove down to Los Angeles with a friend to work at one of the Lumber City outlets run by the (previously alluded to) wealthy friend of my parents. After several months, I settled in and worked every day -- driving from my Santa Monica beach home to the inland valley suburb where my outdoor retail job was located.

One day I decided to drive to an area not far from downtown LA, and visit the “East West Center”, a sort of mini ashram dedicated to a blending of eastern and western spirituality and culture. That day I met a woman there who told me of people living in the nearby San Fernando Valley who were importing gift items from the Sri Aurobindo Ashram in Pondicherry India. I had a keen interest in the sage and seer’s teachings for several years and was looking to find an outlet to pursue them in the LA area. I hoped that the East-West Center would serve that purpose, which was the reason I visited that place that day. However, I was also looking to blend my spiritual interests with real work experience. I.e. I wanted my work to be an application of -- an extension of -- the spiritual knowledge I had begun to embrace. Thus, when I learned of the potential opportunity of working with the devotees who lived in the Valley, I was eager to meet them.  

Shortly thereafter, I set up an appointment and visited their home. It did not take but a few moments to see that there was a powerful connection between us. Realizing our great mutual interest, we quickly arranged that I would begin selling their products by going door to door at appropriate retail outlets in the LA region. It was not only fun and invigorating being outdoors in the warm, golden sunshine during the winter months, but financially and spiritually rewarding as well. Most importantly, I had now established an entirely new direction in my life.

As it turned out, I would continue selling and working with these same individuals in a variety of capacities for the next 30 years. In fact, Growth Online itself began as a collaborative effort that was a direct outgrowth of that relationship.

And so it was on that day so long ago in Los Angeles that I made the connection with the people at Mother’s Service Society that changed the course of my life. That relationship not only aided me in my spiritual pursuits, but also provided me with a practical outlet by which I could apply these inner principles. In that way, I had finally melded together two cornerstones of my life -- spirit and work -- creating a new unity of purpose.  

However, none of this would have happened if I hadn’t made one critical decision. It was when I decided to seriously work. When in New York and later in San Francisco I committed to working at my parents friend’s Lumber City outlet in Los Angeles, I set in motion events that changed the course of my life. It created the vast opening that allowed me to come in contact with the Aurobindo followers in the San Fernando Valley. That inner and outer commitment to hard work attracted the fulfillment of my heart’s desire. Or to put it another way, overcoming my poor attitude toward work brought me my very life’s purpose.