Drawn to Discovery

I decided that the trip must be made now before I get too old and arthritic. As it turns out, there are many coincidences between Sara Bull and me, one being that I am sixty-one, the same age as Sara when she passed away. In November 2013, during the cold and rainy season, I made the trip by train from my home in New Bern, North Carolina, to Wells, Maine, in less then 24 hours. In Wells, I picked up a rental car and my adventures began!

I wasn’t looking for Green Acre. I just happened upon it while I was in the town of Eliot trying to find the Town Clerk for a death certificate for Sara Bull’s daughter. When I rounded the curve in the road and saw Green Acre sloping down the curve, my eyes were dazzled by the sight. The Green Acre property is very visually beautiful. At the same time there is sweet feeling of peacefulness. I was overcome with emotion while there, being moved to the depths by the remembrance of Vivekananda’s having spent time there, and in my knowledge also of what Green Acre had meant to Sara Bull. Believe me when I say that the feeling of what had once been is still present there and it is a vital feeling, as if a union of past and present. There was talk of putting a plaque at the site of the pine and naming the spot “Swamiji’s Pine.” I do not know where the spot was located, but one can feel the presence of Swamiji there, at Green Acre.

It was the resting place of Olea Bull Vaughan, daughter of Ole and Sara (“Saint Sara”) Bull, in the small graveyard next to a winding road that let me know that I had arrived at the family home in Lebanon, Maine. I had seen pictures of the urn in books, so when I saw it on rounding a curve, I knew I was in the right place!

I had read Saint Sara by Pravrajika Prabuddhaprana and other writings about Sara and her family. In the pretty town of Alfred I found the York County Courthouse, where I began my own research into the court case brought by Olea to contest her mother’s decision to leave a major portion of her estate to be used in the work of the Vedanta movement. I believe the employees of the Probate Office learned to enjoy having me sitting under a bright window for many hours on end in the Probate Office. The Head Clerk of Probate said she wanted to come back to North Carolina with me! 

Throughout my journey I was aware of the special bond that exists between guru and disciple, which in this instance manifested itself in a mother’s love. All that I read in the testimony affirmed that Sara Bull felt herself to be the American mother of Swamiji in the very sweetest and truest sense. She was happy to carry out his will, using every resource available to her, and this effort was carried out faithfully to the end of her life.

I feel blessed and humbled to have been able to “touch” this piece of history. While I would like to return in a warmer time of year, I felt called to go when I did. Despite the rainy weather, which could have been troublesome, my trip was wonderful on every level.