I was in New York when, in 1926, my dear friend passed away. In
tears I thought, "Oh, I would gladly walk all the way from here to
Santa Rosa for one more glimpse of him!" Locking myself away from
secretaries and visitors, I spent the next twenty-four hours in
seclusion.
The following day I conducted a Vedic memorial rite around a large
picture of Luther. A group of my American students, garbed in Hindu
ceremonial clothes, chanted the ancient hymns as an offering was
made of flowers, water, and fire-symbols of the bodily elements
and their release in the Infinite Source.
Though the form of Burbank lies in Santa Rosa under a Lebanon cedar
that he planted years ago in his garden, his soul is enshrined for
me in every wide-eyed flower that blooms by the wayside. Withdrawn
for a time into the spacious spirit of nature, is that not Luther
whispering in her winds, walking her dawns?
His name has now passed into the heritage of common speech. Listing
"burbank" as a transitive verb, Webster's New International Dictionary
defines it: "To cross or graft (a plant). Hence, figuratively, to
improve (anything, as a process or institution) by selecting good
features and rejecting bad, or by adding good features."
"Beloved Burbank," I cried after reading the definition, "your very
name is now a synonym for goodness!"
LUTHER BURBANK
SANTA ROSA, CALIFORNIA
U.S.A.
December 22, 1924
I have examined the Yogoda system of Swami Yogananda and in my
opinion it is ideal for training and harmonizing man's physical,
mental, and spiritual natures.
Pages:
455
456
457
458
459
460
461
462
463
464
465
466
467
468
469
470
471
472
473
474
475
476
477
478
479