Messenger or Charlatan?

Today as I was walking on the street in Bangsar on my way to restring my tennis racket, a tall hefty man walked across my path. I was scarcely aware of his presence until he called to me after we passed each other: "You have a very lucky face, and don't worry April 2010 is a very lucky month for you!". I turned around and assessed the man, he had a pleasant confident air about him and he was well groomed and dressed. He pulled out a notepad and began jotting down some bits of information while introducing himself as an astrologer from India and producing a laminated business card. I didn't doubt the veracity of his statement, and my intuition told me to hear this man out. I thought back to the other 2 unplanned encounters with clairvoyants in my past, I thought to myself "it's about time I had another message".

He spoke a lot but I didn't quite capture all the details.

"You have a very, very lucky face", he looked at me more closely. "And you have a good heart". I was not impressed...

"2008, 2009 were not good for you." Yeah no kidding, wasn't there a global economic meltdown... "But don't worry, this April you will have 3 incidences of good fortune. PHS. Do you know what P.H.S is?" I shook my head. "Peace, Happiness and Success." He repeated again his message about April, he seemed completely certain that April was going to be a big important month for me. He then tore a piece of paper and rolled it into a ball and put it in my hand. He then asked me to name a flower, and pick a single digit number and say my age. I did so, and when I unrolled the paper all the information was in it.

He asked me for a donation and I gave him $10. He pleaded for more for his teacher whose picture of an old yogi he showed me. I told him no, I felt comfortable with that amount and I asked him for his number and name. He wrote down on a paper Surej - Yogi and a phone number, I told him that I would call him in May if his divination came true. I was impressed that the whole time he carried an air of absolute confidence.

Surej didn't walk away immediately. "Do you mind sir if I tell you your weakness? You have one weakness." I tensed a little, was he going to start chastising me for my love affairs? Instead he said, "You have good intentions but in a circle of friends when you are all seated you are too frank with your friends. That is why sometimes when you are in need of help, your friends are not coming to help." I nodded in agreement, this is true of me and I have known this. He could not have surmised this from the little I had said in this short time. Less reason to doubt this man.

After he left I felt elated but with each step my mind began to reason and cast it's shadow of doubt: This man must be a complete sham, likely he walks around town all day long telling random people April is their month and then impresses them with his parlor trick of foretelling the flower, single digit number and age. But then again, I do hold dear that April will bring glad tidings for me because I would be in between work contracts, traveling overseas and I had resolved to earnestly pursue opportunities abroad. Furthermore, as my journal entries attest since I began the Bright Path, that the years of 2008 and 2009 have been very challenging for me.

In the end I concluded that if this man is a fraudster then I must admire the artistry of the intelligent force that guided and timed his steps to cross paths with me on that day to bring me this message of goodwill that reinforces my expectations of the month to come. Then it becomes possible that this man is both a Messenger and a Charlatan.