The Lizard

This lila happened on the day of the remembrance service for Paula Arnold (the mother of Kris Sebesta, one of Louix’s disciples). It started the previous night when I was cleaning up at Louix’s home late in the evening. I was out on the back veranda putting away pictures that Ariel had drawn earlier in the day and had been left to dry on the table outside. With them was a cloth that had been placed on them to prevent the pictures from blowing away in the wind. I brought all of the items into the house and inside the cloth was a lizard. The lizard was quite determined to stay in the house, but I picked her up and placed her outside the back door.

At 7:00 a.m. the next morning, I was back helping to get the children up and ready for school. A little while later, Louix came downstairs with Ariel to have breakfast. Ariel asked for the back door to be opened and she found the lizard that had been placed outside the previous night! She asked Louix to have a look at the lizard she had found. It was about four inches long and quite friendly. As Louix reached out to touch it, the lizard ran up His arm and settled on His head. For the rest of the morning the lizard wouldn’t move; it just stayed on Louix’s head. Louix went upstairs, then shaved and dressed. The lizard stayed put! Louix had breakfast, and then walked around the house. The lizard didn’t move! At this stage, I felt this was something special happening, so I grabbed the video camera and took some footage of this persistent lizard.

On Fridays, Louix would normally go to the market to buy fresh flowers and fruit for the house. He asked Ariel what should be done with the lizard. She suggested that the lizard come to the market. Louix drove to the farmers’ market, and the lizard was quite content to sit on His head, despite the twisting and turning of the car and the turning of the steering wheel. Once at the market, a few of the merchants made comments about the lizard. “Do you know you have a lizard on your head?” they asked. Louix just smiled and confirmed that it was there, and that it had been all morning. We shopped for about an hour and then drove home. The lizard didn’t move at all! It was a warm, sunny day, and the lizard was in the sun a lot of the time at the market. This didn’t deter it at all; it just calmly stayed in Louix’s hair.

Back at Louix’s home, Lynda (my wife) and I prepared lunch with some of the vegetables bought at the market. We shared lunch with Louix and other disciples, and still the lizard stayed. After lunch, while other disciples cleaned the table, Lynda and I were gifted with a discourse from Louix. The lizard stayed for most of the discourse, then at one point started to move from Louix’s head and down His arm. Louix placed the lizard in the garden, and it went on its merry way. I was able to capture this event on video, too! The lizard stayed in place on Louix’s head from 9:00 a.m. until after 2:00 p.m., and even left gracefully, gently walking down Louix’s arm into the garden!

This event had further significance. In the evening there was a service for Paula, who had passed away earlier in the year. It was a beautiful service on the beach, with a bonfire, and an altar bearing a lovely picture of Paula (taken during the India pilgrimage in 2002). At one point during the service, Louix described how the lizard had come to Him during the day. He explained that it was Paula who had come to be with Him for the day of her birthday and remembrance service. It was quite a remarkable day!

- Ron Hansen
Melbourne, Australia