– Note: This blog was still in draft at the time of Gurumarka’s passing so previously unpublished –
all true
diamond ring from my mother’s mother. we never met, as she died before I was born.
in college got engaged, my mom offered the ring to use. we got the ring, got an estimate for the diamond, and had it reset for my partner Margy. She lived in Rochester, I visited, we went to Niagara falls, photo of us there. we remained friends but did not go through with the marriage. she gave ring back and it was placed in a security box at the bank in Surfside.
some years later, I was planning my marriage to Ram Rattan at the Miami ashram. I wanted to surprise her with the ring so needed to drive to Surfside to pick it up. I had lost my drivers license from too many points, assigned mostly from speeding. Then my fiance ran through a stop sign and destroyed my car. she said she was surprised since she was chanting. so to get the ring as a surprise I borrowed her car. I am a great driver, so went at the correct speed, and doing all the needed effort to obey the driving rules. But I was stopped by the police.
It turned out the car had a expired registration sticker. I did not know since this was not my car. But now it became a problem since I was driving without a license. At the station, I was arrested. some of the police recognized me since my father was a past politician and fire chief of the town, so they were relaxed, but still needed to follow the rule of the law. I eventually ended up with a court case a was given jail time to be served on three consecutive weekends.
Back to the ring, I did manage to get it after my arrest, and was able to give it to my soon to be wife. but she did not want to wear the diamond. prefered to a simple wedding band. now was the time to sell the diamond ring. went with my mother to the Seybold building in downtown Miami. it had dozens of jewelry dealers spread throughout the six story building. My mother knew one of the dealers, so we went there to get an estimate. He did not offer very much to buy the ring, but said it could be worth $1500. I remembered my mother telling me it was originally estimated at $2000.
heading back down in the elevator I meet Stu. He was the marijuana dealer I bought product from for a few years when going to the university of Miami. We first met when he came to the fraternity house and I just happened to be the one he met. I bought some pot a few days before Christmas break and shared 6 nickel bags with my fraternity brothers. Stu asked what I was doing in the building and I informed him of my desire to sell this diamond ring and how it was valued at $2000. He instantly expressed an interest. He looked at the ring and diamond, offered $2000 in cash and the deal was done.
I shared this with my mother who was shocked since she said I was mistaken since the ring was only valued at $1500. So my ex-pot dealer gave a generous amount.
No diamond rings, or marriages since the end of marriage to the mother of my two grown kids. There is on added reference to diamonds, but this time it was for earings. I saw some nice diamond earings at Costco when visiting my daughter’s family in California. There were given to my partner who loves wearing them for more than ten years.
Did you know diamonds are not the most expensive gems? And diamonds are not the hardest mineral? And coal, the dusty black mineral, becomes a diamond when put under tremendous pressure? Many spiritual traditions use this metaphor how the pressure of life can help us become radiant like a diamond. So diamonds are a reminder, but not a replacement for becoming a radiant human.