Looking for Satisfaction
by Menaka
Ottawa, Canada
I grew up in France, in a Paris suburb, in a non-practising Muslim family. My parents were nonetheless God-believers. My father taught us the important surats of the Quran. He showed us the beauty of Islam, and respect for all religions.
As a young teenager, I was introduced to India and Hinduism by a friend. I recall being attracted by India. This land of spirituality was foreign but at the same time so familiar. I was told that with the power of meditation man could do extraordinary things, and I believed it. I knew already that the only thing that would really matter in life was spiritual growth.
In my early twenties, I moved to Montreal to pursue my studies because I was not satisfied in France. I fell in love with Canada and decided to stay. Even though I had everything to be happy, I could still not find satisfaction. I had the feeling that I was wasting my time, not achieving any spiritual progress but on the contrary diving more and more deeply into purposelessness. Even though I was aware of it, I could not find the strength to control myself.
Then my mother’s cancer reappeared. I will always remember that phone call in December 1999. My mother was confident that everything would be fine and that in six months she would be in good health again. As I hung up, I had the strong feeling that she would not survive this time. My mother had always felt that she would die young. When she first got breast cancer, I was 15 and my younger brother only 4. I remember praying to God to give her another few years so that at least my younger brother could be independent enough. God had been kind enough to give her another 9 years. This time, even if it broke my heart, I could only say, "May Thy Will be done."
I struggled in the two years that followed. For some time I would try to get closer to God with prayer and meditation (prayer mostly, as I had real trouble sitting still for more than a few minutes), and then I would fall deeper into material life so that I could avoid facing reality and my mother’s suffering. One day as I was in deep desperation at my incapacity to discipline myself and my total helplessness, I prayed to God to help me find a Master, someone who could guide me in my spiritual life and help me make progress. At that time I thought of a Sufi Master, because I was Muslim and I liked the universality of Sufism. However, I never made a step in that direction. Sufi groups were not lacking in Montreal, but something was holding me back.
In August 2001, my mother passed away. This was a wakeup call. I could not go on like that with my life. I decided to start a PhD with the goal of getting a job at the United Nations. I quit my job and moved to Ottawa. I needed a concrete change in my life and moving to a new city would help me to start fresh (and force me to learn English). So in January 2002, I started a new life in Ottawa. I was still desperately looking for something.
At the beginning of September 2002, as I was walking to university, my eyes were attracted by a pink meditation poster with a black and white picture of a lotus flower (a very basic poster, but somehow I was attracted by it). Not long after, I saw the same poster inside the university; this time what attracted me the most was the word 'free'. I thought that if it was free it was probably a sincere offering, so I decided to write down the number. I waited a couple of weeks and finally called; a class was starting the following week.
At that point I was thinking of going back to Montreal, as the PhD programme in Montreal was of a higher standard and one of my previous teachers was trying to convince me to come back. But I had to act fast, as the session had already started. I remember making a list of pros and cons of staying in Ottawa. In the pros list was the meditation class.
Finally I decided to stay; I did not care that much about the PhD anyway. During the last meditation class, one of the teachers said that if we cared for the spiritual life and wanted to be serious about it, we could apply to become a student of Sri Chinmoy. This resonated with me. Yes! That was what I had always wanted: to give first and foremost importance to my spiritual life. So I decided to try this path. Slowly I discovered my Master and realised that God had not only answered my prayer to grant me a spiritual guide, but had given me much more than I asked for or could even dream of. I have never finished my PhD and I am not working for the United Nations, but I have something much more precious than that. My life has become meaningful and I have never been happier than since I became a disciple of Sri Chinmoy.
The Inner Promise
by Jamini Young
Seattle, United States
When I was 19 or 20 I became very interested in spirituality and meditation because I felt there had to be more to this life than just studying to get a degree, embark upon a career, etc.
Whenever I wanted to learn something new I would go to the library and get all the books I could on the subject. I would come home from the library with my stack of books, and Guru’s book The Inner Promise would always be among them. Somehow it spoke to me, but when I would get home I would be unable to read it as the essays were so lofty and philosophical. I would say to myself, "Oh no, not this book again!". It just didn’t have the practical, mental information I was looking for as a college student.
In my third year of college I took a few months off and spent some time working in Alaska. I was in a very small town but they did have a library. Once again I went to check out all the meditation and spirituality books they might have. Surprise! There was only one book on meditation – The Inner Promise! I clearly remember holding the book in my hand and shaking my head in disbelief. Someone was playing a cosmic joke on me.
This time, I took the book and really tried to dive in. I remember looking at the drawing of Guru in meditation next to the title page and trying to meditate.
In the fall when I returned to college there was a tiny notice on a bulletin board in the psychology building for a free meditation class. I was a psychology major in college, but by that time I was completely fed up with the subject as it did not have the deep answers about life’s meaning that I was searching for. I thought this class was sponsored by the psychology department and wouldn’t have a spiritual basis. But I went anyway. "Oh well, it’s free, I’ll just go."
It turned out that a student of Sri Chinmoy was teaching the class. When he said that he was a student, I thought "The author of that book is a real person! I want to be a student of Sri Chinmoy!" Everything sort of fell into place for me inwardly and I was soon making the drive to Seattle (my college was about an hour south of Seattle) to the Centre meditations. I still have that copy of The Inner Promise. At the beginning, I even cut out Sri Chinmoy's picture on the back to use for meditation. It is definitely among my most cherished possessions.
Interview with Prachar
In this interview, at Sri Chinmoy TV, Prachar Stegeman talks of how is interest in meditation was kindled as a way to calm his nerves during his work as a concert pianist. Prachar also relates how becoming a meditation student of Sri Chinmoy created a whole new range of possibilities and changed his outlook on life. Prachar now helps to organising the Sri Chinmoy Oneness-Home Peace Run in Australia and puts on different running races and triathlons in his home town of Canberra.
The video was recorded and produced by Kedar Misani of Sri Chinmoy TV.
New Radio Recordings
Recently, at Radio Sri Chinmoy, we have published a selection of new recordings by various members of the Sri Chinmoy Centre.
Music plays an important role in the spiritual path of Sri Chinmoy, and his students often arrange and perform his music for CDs and in public performances.
Sri Chinmoy writes:
Music is inspiration, soulful inspiration. It inspires the human in us. Music is manifestation, fruitful manifestation. It manifests the divine in us. Music is satisfaction, supreme satisfaction. It satisfies the Pilot Supreme in us. (The Vision-Sky of California)
Recent recordings at Radio Sri Chinmoy, include:
- Paramanande - An album of Sri Chinmoy’s songs performed by the talented Achenbach family from Vienna. Using Western classical instruments, they offer a soulful instrumental performance of Sri Chinmoy's music.
- Songs of Peace and Light A selection of songs and arrangements from a recent concert in the Christ Lutheran church in New York. Performed and directed by Paree Atkins.
- Endless Energy, sleepless speed Songs for the inner runner. Songs of dynamism, arranged by Premik and vocals performed by Satisfaction-Cry and Lotus Groves.
A Guided meditation by Kaivalya. Sri Chinmoy's student give many meditation classes. Guided meditations are a popular exercise during these classes. This is a simple breathing exercise.
Stories at Sri Chinmoy Centre
A new section at Sri Chinmoy Centre.org publishes a wide variety of accounts written by students of Sri Chinmoy. These stories include how and why people felt drawn to following a spiritual life. There are also written accounts of meditation functions with Sri Chinmoy and other experiences on Sri Chinmoy's path.
These stories gave a glimpse into the diverse experience of being a student of Sri Chinmoy, and how it can open up a new world of possibilities. It is also interesting to see how people from all walks of life can be drawn together by the common goal of seeking a deeper meaning to life.
"A seeker is he who fulfils his soulful promises both to Heaven and to earth. His self-giving role fulfils his promise to Heaven, His self-ascending role fulfils his promise to earth. To give is to become. To ascend is to become. He gives what he has and what he is, and eventually he sees and grows into the universal Reality."
- Sri Chinmoy [1]
We hope you enjoy these short stories, photos and listings; we will be adding more over the next few months.
- Stories at Sri Chinmoy Centre.
- First Steps at Sri Chinmoy Centre
[1] Sri Chinmoy, Simplicity, Sincerity, Purity And Divinity, Agni Press, 1987.
A Christmas meditative retreat
Every Christmas, Sri Chinmoy used to travel with his students to different countries on a Christmas retreat, a tradition his students still honour today. Noivedya Juddery gives an account of his retreat experience in Indonesia.
The Indonesian island of Bintan, a short ferry ride from Singapore, is the kind of palm-lined tropical paradise where many people (including some Australians and many Singaporeans) can escape from the busy urban world. For the bulk of Sri Chinmoy's students, who prefer their travels to be exciting rather than restful, it might not seem to be the most obvious destination. While the island is charming, and the people are sweet and friendly, it is not clearly immersed in spirituality like Bali, or the site of brilliant landmarks like Yangon. However, like Pangkor Island, the relaxing world of Bintan is perhaps an ideal Christmas Trip location. Directly outside the hotel, there is little to distract us from the reason that we are there: not as tourists, but as spiritual aspirants, fortunate to be on a dynamic and versatile Path of the Heart.
Mind you, within the resort, there is plenty to keep us busy. Beautiful running trails, surrounded by green forest. Energetic beach activities. A buffet restaurant serving a variety of dishes on par with some of the best food from any Christmas Trip. In case we find ourselves indulging in the meals too much – a perfectly reasonable vice – we are lucky in that we enjoy sporting activities more than other spiritual people.
The evenings, as always, offered theatrical productions of spiritual stories, a highlight of which was a 20-minute dramatisation by Abhinabha (from the Netherlands) of Sri Chinmoy’s story The Scholar and the Thief. Theatre people often suffer for their art, and Abhinabha was no exception, dislocating his shoulder during a particularly vigorous rehearsal the night before. Fortunately, as one of the cast, I can honestly say that it was all worth it. (Then again, I didn’t dislocate my shoulder.) The night had already delivered a few surprises in the play-world, with Satyakarma’s short play starting with the usual craziness, then ascending to become perhaps the most soulful play of the night.
However many hundreds of plays have now been performed at Christmas Trips, there is no end to the embellishments of Sri Chinmoy’s tales. This was never more obvious than on Improv Night, organised by Sadadand, in which the entire audience was split into teams and given 20 minutes to perform one of Guru’s stories, with certain rules (such as the presence of the line “We all live in a yellow submarine”... well, naturally). Some of the results -- such as a girls’ play that was mostly a cross between a dream sequence and a Russian ballet, and another in which Susebika (Auckland) hilariously interrupted the story by dancing around and cheerfully repeating “We all live in a yellow submarine!” for no discernible reason (apart from the rules) -- had to be seen to be believed. In fact, I saw them, and I’m still not convinced I believe them. But despite (or because of) the lack of preparation time, pure entertainment was the order of the evening.
Also in Bintan, Hridayinee gave a soulful (but regal) performance in her own play, Grahak added another pirate play to their continuing adventures, and Prachar gave a talk (not a play) in which he named three things that he has learned on Guru’s Path… but the first of those was “I know nothing”, so we can’t be sure about the rest.
As I write this, we still have a few days to enjoy Bintan – though for the next two days, most students will be across the water in Singapore for the World Harmony Run and the Music of the Heart concert. For now, we enjoy the sunshine and greenery of a meditative paradise, with the smiles of the Indonesian people to make us feel at home.
Visit to Childrens' Hospital
Recently, volunteers from the Slovakian branch of Oneness-Heart-Tears and Smiles visited a children's hospital in Russia to offer free entertainment to the children being treated there.
One of the entertainers was Vlado Kulíšek, from Trencin, who works as a a professional mime artist. He often performs without charge for children who are severely ill or who have experienced suffering as the result of a natural disaster.
Recently, he has performed in Japan, in areas affected by the devastating tsunami, and in orphanages in Vietnam. This last journey was to St. Petersburg, Russia, where he played at the Raisa Maximova Gorbachev oncology clinic.
Vlado said of the experience:
"It was great to be able to put a smile on the faces of so severely ill children. "The most difficult visits were with children in their rooms. These children are hospitalized in their rooms because their illness is most severe and the most difficult cases. But all children promised to me that they will meet with me in the future - right in the theater, to participate in the entertaining fun program.”
The Oneness-Heart-Tears and Smiles - is a humanitarian organisation founded by Sri Chinmoy. It often offers aid and friendship to people around the world, who have been affected by poverty and natural disasters.
Contributors: Ashish Zubaty, Vladimir Kulisek (photos), Tejvan Pettiner (editing
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