A Struggling Young Reader Gets Help in a Dream

By Yetunder Raimi

My son was six years old and in first grade, attending a new elementary school after our move to California. He was having difficulty reading, so his teacher contacted me to discuss the situation.

The teacher explained how they’d developed a color-coded reading chart—red, yellow, and blue. Red indicates the child is underperforming. Yellow shows the child is getting there. And blue is where the teacher wants the child to be. My son was in the red, and the teacher was concerned. “What can we do to get him off red?” he asked.

After the meeting with the teacher, I was confused, unsure how to help my son. So inwardly I sang HU, a love song to God, to open my heart. Then I said to myself, “I will help him as best I can, but I must remember to surrender the situation to Wah Z (the MAHANTA, my inner spiritual guide).” Then I let it go.

One night, after my son and I read an ECK youth discourse together, we sang HU. I told him what his teacher had said, and I asked him, “What do you want us to do about the situation?” He paused for a moment. Since he wasn’t saying anything, I said, “You don’t need to feel bad. You just need to know you can do this. You can help yourself by working hard. But the most important thing you can do is ask for help from the MAHANTA.”

“Do you think Wah Z can help me?” he asked.

“Yes, Wah Z can help you. So this is a time for you to sing HU and ask Wah Z for help.” We did a spiritual exercise together, and he went to bed. As I tucked him in, I told him, “You can ask Wah Z to come help you in a dream and then explain to him what you’re going through. He will come.”

The next morning he shook me awake and said, “Mommy, Mommy, Wah Z came, Wah Z came!” I opened my eyes and said, “Wow, how did it go?”

“He came, and he showed me all my alphabet in flashes and flashes. I saw it.”

“OK, that is good. So, did you go for a lesson or something?”

“I can’t remember,” he replied. “But Wah Z came.”

Inwardly I just said, “Thank you, MAHANTA.” And outwardly, I started helping my son as planned. Gently encouraging him, I suggested he read things on the bus. He was also getting some tutoring in school for the month.

Two or three weeks later, the teacher sent me a new request for a parent-teacher conference. Worried, I was thinking, I hope this hasn’t gotten worse. But I went to meet with the teacher, and when he saw me he was very happy.

“Oh, Mrs. Raimi,” he said, “welcome. I have good news! In fact, I have splendid news!”

OK, what’s going on? I wondered.

He turned his computer screen toward me and said, “See where your boy is? He didn’t move to yellow; he moved all the way up to blue. Now he’s doing really well and reading about a hundred words a minute!”

Wow, that’s amazing, I thought. I asked the teacher, “How did you do that?”

“I didn’t do anything,” he answered. Then he said, “I don’t know what you did, but whatever you did, you did well in such a short time. I was expecting him to maybe move to yellow and then later progress to blue. But he jumped from red to blue, which is a very, very rare thing. And I’m so happy. It makes me feel proud.”

“You should be proud of yourself,” I said to the teacher. “You’re doing a good job.” Inwardly, I kept saying, “Thank you MAHANTA, thank you MAHANTA, thank you MAHANTA.” Because I know it was not just me, and it was not just the teacher; it was the help from the Inner Master that made the difference. My son asked for help, and he got it!

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Would you like to get help in your dreams? Try this spiritual exercise. Or print this Dream Log for a fun way your kids can record their dreams and discover answers in their dreams.