A moment from Friday evening

6-7-04

I was in New York last Friday evening when Sri Chinmoy held a
meditation for seekers at the Aspiration Ground. I want to recall a
few moments from that evening.

What struck me most was a period when Sri Chinmoy was meditating
with the seekers. He was sitting in a chair facing the bleachers of
the tennis court, and the seekers were sitting on the ground or in
chairs in front of him. Those on the ground were protected from the
dirt by a large white plastic sheet set there by the attendants.
They were in all shapes and sizes, these seekers, from those quite
dressed up for the occasion to those in lounge-around clothing, such
as jeans. There was a long silent stretch where Sri Chinmoy was
silently meditating in front of them, and then he looked from face
to face to offer a very personal blessing.

When the men were meditating there was a celebrity among them, and
he sat in a chair at the back of the other men seekers. He had come
to know of our group through attendance at a vegetarian restaurant
owned by one of Sri Chinmoy's students. He sat most respectfully,
but from some unknowable clues, you could tell that this was a very
new experience for him.

There were two meditation sessions of several minutes each--one for
the women, and one for the men. At the end of each session, Sri
Chinmoy personally handed each of the seekers a bag of Prasad
(blessed food). When the celebrity's turn came, he also approached
Sri Chinmoy, and leaned over and took the Prasad. Again, you could
tell (perhaps by the way he stood or the way he walked) that this
was a new moment. I love these moments, when someone steps into a
world of deep spirituality and is enjoying the novelty of the
experience. I was touched.

Earlier, an up-and-coming singer who is is a friend of the Centre
took her Prasad most respectfully; she was dressed to honor the
occasion. After both the men and women had finished their
meditation, Sri Chinmoy called for some of the singing groups to
come down and sing some of his songs. But just as these singers were
stirring from their seats, Sri Chinmoy interrupted the movement and
immediately called for the up-and-coming singer to offer a song to
us. She did, and I was moved close to tears. She sang "Amazing
Grace" with such feeling and movement that I just could not hold
back the waves of emotion. Then she continued on into a song to
which she added the words "Guru Chinmoy" over and over in varying
phrases and movements. It was deeply touching.

At the end of the function, everyone took Prasad in a single file,
passing right in front of Sri Chinmoy so that we could get a good
close look at his smiling face and so that he could offer each one
of us his personal blessing.

A wonderful evening.

Yours,

Nayak