Then, I heard about an upcoming silent retreat at Fallen Leaf Lake in 2012. I had no means to get there and such a trip seemed extravagant given my living circumstances, but then I saw that there were scholarships to attend. To my surprise, I applied and the Foundation said yes. In the beautiful mountains of the Sierra Nevada, I did have a chance to sit with Gangaji. As I stared her in the eyes and she looked right back, my troubled story simply fell away. Maybe I would have to return to a living nightmare when I got back to New York, but in that moment, I could finally say, as Gangaji pointed out, “yes to myself.”

Fourteen years later I now have my PhD, I manage software engineers for a living and live a life made possible by the opportunity to ask, “who is it who dies?” In that, I said yes to life itself. Gangaji’s message and the Foundation’s support was truly a miracle that helped me realize all my problems were not who I really was, and I could ask for help with them. I got the critical care I needed for my health and for, as I found out, my lifelong Complex Post-traumatic Stress Disorder. I found my freedom from suffering.

Now, I am in a position to offer this help to others whose lives may also be saved by this simple message. I hope you join me in making a donation of $250 (or whatever is in your budget) to the Foundation Scholarship Program today. Poverty, hardship and illness are enormous challenges. From my experience I can say confidently though that they are met all the better when others have helped you find just a single moment to know who you really are.