Keep doing the right thing
This is one of the stories in our Story-Gems project, a collection of our experiences with our Guru, Sri Chinmoy. Project homepage »
One weekend in New York I was invited to a disciple’s birthday party, celebrated in Guru’s customary way—disciples sitting on Guru’s living room floor as paper plates of curry and birthday cake were passed around. It was a typical time for chitchat with Guru. “So, Marion,” Guru said, catching me by surprise (Guru so rarely spoke to me), “when will you open your restaurant?”
I nearly choked on my curry. “Wha - wha - what restaurant, Guru?”
“First choice restaurant, second choice health food store.”
“But I don’t have any money, Guru!”
“Your parents will give you,” Guru reassured me. “Can you have it open by April 13th?”
But that gave me only six weeks to convince my parents, find a location, buy the equipment, and set it up. And I had never even run a cash register, let alone a business!
When Guru asked us to do something, he would put an incredible force on it. It was as though a divine wind was blowing inexorably towards a particular goal, and all I had to do was to spread my sails to catch the wind. In one way it did feel like an enormous amount of hard work, but in another way, it felt effortless, as though everything was already done.
My parents immediately balked at the idea of a restaurant, noting how often restaurants go out of business, but did not close the door entirely to the idea of a health food store. I found a location, a tiny storefront on Charles Street, in the heart of Boston’s historic Beacon Hill. The current tenant, a graphic designer, created an architectural drawing of the floor plan complete with fixtures. I negotiated a lease with the landlord and stalled for time, saying I had to get money transferred from out of state.
A wholesaler helped me create a list of products to stock for the opening. A banker helped me with a business plan. I wore a sari everywhere I went, an act of courage and surrender if not total idiocy. A retired grocery executive, volunteering for the Small Business Administration, gave me advice on running a food business, despite his doubts. “Lady, you’ll never make it on Charles Street, especially not if you’re dressed like a gypsy!” he said.
This all took several weeks. Afterwards, paperwork in hand, I went home to Delaware to ask my parents for the money. To my amazement, they said the amount I needed was the exact amount they had set aside for me to go to graduate school, and if I wanted to consider the health food store my educational expense, they would give it to me.
When I first became a disciple, I thought I was obliged to “convert” my family and friends (a delusion left over from my born-again Christian days). But people have to feel something from within. I found a better way to relate to my parents, based on Guru’s dictum, “You have to please people in their own way.” I encouraged them in their own forms of spirituality: my father found peace of mind through running, my mother through gardening. When I was with them, I would imagine their heart chakras full of light.
After the first year or so, I never actually talked to my parents about my life on the path—in fact, I avoided their questions—but I felt their increasing acceptance. I knew, even if I could not tell them, that Guru was giving them the opportunity for some really good karma by helping me with the store, and that they would understand once they reached the higher worlds. In fact, when my father left the body two years ago, I had the inner experience of Guru welcoming and guiding his soul.
The health food store turned out to be a wonderful way to share Guru’s message while also providing great vegetarian food. I recall one steady customer, a regular-Joe type of guy. He was a real estate agent who was not particularly spiritual, but used to say, “When I eat your food, I can never have bad thoughts, I only have good thoughts.”
I put Guru’s poetry on the labels of my cookies and sandwiches, using my little calligraphy pen to copy out a two- or four-line poem on each tofu salad or tempeh reuben label. Customers would collect them, taping them to their refrigerators.
Once, after a concert Guru performed at Harvard, ten years after I closed the store, I had a remarkable experience. A disciple from Maine brought over a spiritual seeker to meet me. He had been coming to classes at her Centre and recited a poem perfectly, by heart:
Keep doing the right thing.
God Himself will go
And collect the gratitude-buds
That the world owes you.Sri Chinmoy 1
The young man had grown up near my store on Charles Street, and his father had taped that poem over the kitchen sink where he could read it while doing the dishes! Not only that, his father became the state Secretary of the Treasury, and who knows how much courage that poem gave him to pursue the right thing amidst the notorious corruption in our state government? It just goes to show, you never know what seeds you are spreading. After all these years, I still have people coming to meditation classes who saw Guru at Harvard more than 40 years ago, or who remember my little store.
Gratitude is the food of faith.
Faith is the food of love.
Love is the food of peace.,
Peace is the food of God.Sri Chinmoy 2
- 1. Ten Thousand Flower-Flames, Part 7, #456
- 2. Ten Thousand Flower-Flames, Part 32, #3129
'See, sometimes the Supreme speaks to me'
This is one of the stories in our Story-Gems project, a collection of our experiences with our Guru, Sri Chinmoy. Project homepage »
After a wonderful meditation session on Australia’s Gold Coast, Sri Chinmoy was heading towards the elevator. He saw a bunch of us boys, looked at us pointedly and said, “What, no frisbee?” This is a fairly rare comment for Sri Chinmoy to make, and it seemed somewhat incongruous. However, it was also extremely welcome. What better thing to do after a beautiful meditation than to run around on the beach with your friends playing the great game of Ultimate Frisbee.
Fifteen minutes later about twelve of us were fully immersed in an intense battle of Frisbee down on the beach. As we were about to begin the next point, I saw two boys from the other team running into the surf. The next thing I saw was them carrying Kritartha, a Czech student of Sri Chinmoy, out of the ocean with quite a deep and nasty gash in his calf muscle. I ran back to the hotel and borrowed a van to take him to hospital.
I went into the function room to explain the situation to Guru. That was the first time I had ever given news like this to Guru, and it was fascinating to watch his reaction. He was very focused, and with each nuance of the situation he would take it in and meditate for a second or two. The gist of the news was that the injury happened while Kritartha was surfing and is a fairly common occurrence in these waters. The cut was quite deep and there may have been muscle damage. If so, they would then need to cut the leg further to stitch the inner muscle. Fortunately, this turned out not to be the case, and I am convinced it was due to the force that Guru put on the situation.
After I told Guru all the news, he inquired, “Why were you on the beach? Were you surfing?” “No,” I replied, “We were playing Frisbee like you said we should.” Guru looked at me fixedly and with a twinkle in his eye said, “See, sometimes the Supreme speaks to me. It would have been much harder for him if you all had not been there.”
I mumbled something in agreement, while wondering if there was ever a time when the Supreme actually did not speak to Guru. I personally do not think Sri Chinmoy uttered a single word or even thought a single thought without it coming from the Supreme.
God’s watchful Eye
Is protecting my life
Every day.Sri Chinmoy 1
- 1. Seventy-Seven Thousand Service-Trees, part 28, 27894, Agni Press, 2002
How I learned from Sri Chinmoy
This is one of the stories in our Story-Gems project, a collection of our experiences with our Guru, Sri Chinmoy. Project homepage »
The way my Guru Sri Chinmoy affected me, in a large sense, is how we are all affected by each other’s consciousness. When you spend time with someone who is really happy, you come away happier than you were before.
Why do we choose someone as a friend? It is because we feel reinforced by their presence. This may not be conscious, but there is an inner kinship, and you are touched by that person’s life. You feel a sense of well-being in their presence. Of course, the opposite is also true. So on a very casual basis, all of us are affected by the consciousness of those around us.
With a spiritual Master, however, it is also more than that. To be in the presence of someone whose spirituality is that powerful lifts you. You walk away spiritualised by the encounter regardless of its nature. With a spiritual Master, you try to soak in what they are constantly emitting. This is something that has stuck with me throughout the years about Sri Chinmoy.
When I was with Guru, we could talk about anything. Just to be with him, in the authority of his spirituality, was uplifting, regardless of what we talked about. When you were sitting with Guru, you wanted to breathe in the consciousness that was there. Certainly, Guru gave me advice and instruction. I was privileged to spend a lot of time with Guru privately and personally, and that interaction could take the form of my asking him, “May I ask your advice, Guru?” Our conversations could also take the form of him saying, “Oh, good boy, you have to do this.”
Sometimes Sri Chinmoy would assign his disciples various responsibilities. One time he had me give meditation classes in Santa Barbara, California. I was spending a lot of time with the students there, and whenever I had the opportunity to be alone with Guru, there was a checklist that he would go through related to things that he knew were happening in my life. How were the classes in Santa Barbara going? How was this or that disciple doing? How was my work? How was my brother? There was a whole sphere of influence that he attached to me. But in truth, we could talk about anything. Sometimes we would talk about Chicago pizza.
I think the relationship with a spiritual Master is misunderstood. It’s very, very intimate and deeply personal. You come to view the Master as an extension of your own inner life. When Guru advised me to do something, I would try to take it as though my own soul was telling me. I knew that he would never tell me something that was not in accordance with my own inner being. Of course, the spiritual life is not all black and white. Sometimes there are grey areas, and you are confused and not sure. The beautiful part about having had that experience is that it was nice to have been able to ask Guru, “Is this the right thing? Is this the wrong thing?”
Sometimes my questions were like hallucinations that had no bearing on my life at all. Guru would say, “Where did you come up with that idea?” In any case, I always trusted him to tell me what was right for me.
The time that I spent with Guru was sacred. It was precious beyond my ability to really appreciate how precious it was. I don’t have the capacity to be grateful enough for the way in which Guru shared his life with me. But I am as grateful as I can possibly be for my experiences with him through the years.
My first and last lesson in spirituality
Is my sleepless and breathless oneness
With the Will of my Lord Supreme.Sri Chinmoy 1
- 1. Twenty-Seven Thousand Aspiration-Plants, part 245, #24500, Agni Press, 1998
The love is always there, boundless
This is one of the stories in our Story-Gems project, a collection of our experiences with our Guru, Sri Chinmoy. Project homepage »
It was during Celebrations. I don’t remember how old I was, maybe in my early twenties. I remember being very insecure and feeling that Guru outwardly didn’t give me enough attention and felt a little bit like Guru loved other people more than me because he didn’t talk to me. I felt insecure and down and a little bit unloved or not loved enough. Guru loves everyone else more than me, that is how I felt. I remember it went on for quite a few days. My mind was very strong. I was really down for a few days.
One day out of the blue, Guru calls me up and without really saying anything gives me a little gift bag. And we have a photo of it. It’s a blue gift bag, that’s right. In the gift bag was a little stuffed animal or something. But the most precious thing was that Guru wrote on the gift bag, it’s very faint, He wrote, “My dearest Aruna,” and then is the printed “I love you,” and then underneath Guru writes, “Guru.”
Guru didn’t say anything. He just gave it to me, and it just blew me away. I was so happy and also at the same time I felt so stupid for feeling for days before that Guru didn’t love me, or ignored me or didn’t pay attention to me. It just made me realise – and it still counts today – Guru always knows everything and He loves us infinitely no matter what happens outwardly. But He knows everything inwardly. The love is always there, boundless. This gift bag is also one of my great treasures because it just shows Guru’s infinite love not just for me, but for all his children, all of his spiritual children, his love, his boundless love.
When the Master comes to me,
He never forgets to bring
His all-seeing eye
And His all-loving heart.Sri Chinmoy 1
- 1. Seventy-Seven Thousand Service-Trees, part 33, #32865, Agni Press, 2003
'Christ has stolen her heart and brought it now to me'
This is one of the stories in our Story-Gems project, a collection of our experiences with our Guru, Sri Chinmoy. Project homepage »
Dodula: I was a happy nun at my convent. I had friends and was successful in my job working with children. The institution where I worked and lived was situated by the lake with a view of the mountains. I felt like I was at the zenith of my life. No outer circumstances could have made me leave the convent.
In 1988, I was taking an advanced training course at the University of Zurich so I could serve as a therapist for children with behavioural problems. I was hoping the course would help me to serve these young people better. I was looking for teachers whose theories reflected life; however, with the majority of the professors, I did not see any correlation.
One evening after the lectures, I was on my way out when I saw a poster in the foyer that said “Introduction to Meditation.” I thought to myself, “When I studied here in my younger years, this topic was unknown. But the Bible says, ‘Try all and keep the best.’” So I decided to attend and see what the evening had to offer. The lecture was given by psychologist A.K. Beyer (whom I now know by his spiritual name of Kailash). In his case, I felt that word and deed went together. After the lecture I registered for an upcoming meditation seminar.
Gunthita: When Dodula first came to Kailash’s lecture, she was dressed in her black nun’s costume. To everybody’s surprise, she was one of the ten people who signed up for the follow-up. Kailash spoke the first evening, and I continued the remaining three evenings. Kailash told me that in case this nun continued for the entire course, I had better not speak about how to become a disciple, in order to avoid problems with the church. Sure enough, she was one of the few people who stayed until the last class.
Right from the beginning she was so open to Guru. She loved his Transcendental photograph; she said it was always smiling at her. She bought many books, which she also gave to her nun sisters and the Mother Superior. She also bought quite a few pictures of Guru and put them up in her little room.
When I was in New York, I was inspired to tell some of the experiences she had with Guru’s music and with the Transcendental picture in connection with the children she was teaching. The stories were as beautiful as fairy tales, but they were real! Guru’s only comment was: “Is she not a disciple?”
I answered: “No, Guru, she has been a Catholic sister for 27 years!” Guru just smiled compassionately at my answer.
Dodula: In these classes I learned to meditate, and I also bought two books by Sri Chinmoy—one about happiness and the other about meditation. While reading, I recognised the message as being the same as the one Jesus had offered humankind 2,000 years earlier. Sri Chinmoy’s philosophy even helped me to understand the Bible better and to love it more.
As I read more of Sri Chinmoy’s books, a new spiritual horizon opened up for me. Meditation filled me with joy and a greater love of God. Sri Chinmoy’s disciples told me that he had been to the Vatican several times. Pope Paul VI once told him during a private audience, “Your message and my message are the same. When we both leave this world, you and I, we will meet together.” Sri Chinmoy had also met several times with Pope John Paul II.
The fact that a human being could have such oneness with the divine made a deep impression on me, and I subsequently had several spiritual experiences of my own.
Gunthita: After a few weeks, Guru came to Munich, and since Dodula came to our Madal Bal store every week, I told her, “Next time I will not be here; I will go to visit Sri Chinmoy in Munich.” She said that she had written a poem for him and asked me if I could translate it and give it to him. I opened the envelope, and there was a photo of her inside. I asked her why she wanted to give Sri Chinmoy a photo of her (since I never told her how to apply to become a disciple). She said that since she had so many pictures of him, she wanted him to have at least one of her, just so that he knew who was thanking him for all his blessings and help.
Then I had to tell her that Sri Chinmoy happened to be not only a peace philosopher, artist, composer and poet but also that he was a spiritual Master of the highest order who accepted his disciples through a photo. She had tears in her eyes and said, “If he is not my teacher, then who is my teacher? I learned from him much more in these few months than I learned in all my 27 years as a spiritual sister in the convent!”
When Guru saw her picture, he accepted her as a disciple and said, “Christ has stolen her heart and brought it now to me.”
Dodula: In 1989, Sri Chinmoy expressed the wish to visit a convent in Switzerland. He gratefully accepted the invitation of the prioress of the convent in Cham. Upon arrival he first went to the chapel, where he prayed, meditated, and sang. After this, he answered various questions from the nuns. At one point Sri Chinmoy came to my table and invited me to come to New York in August.
“How is this possible?” I asked.“Through God’s Grace,” he replied.
After this event, however, I did not think about this invitation anymore because I did not see any possibility of going to New York.
One evening I prayed with all my heart that Jesus would reveal his will to me. That night I had a dream that was more real than life. I saw a health food store and went in. Gunthita was at the counter selling a big crystal for a good price. A lady was sitting in front of a pillar, and when I looked at her, I realised that she knew everything about the present, past and future. I asked her if I should stay in the convent or not, and she replied, “For you it is better to leave.”
I wanted to know why. Her clear reply was, “They do not understand you, and they are preventing you from living according to your inner destiny.”
In this way I received the answers through my soul itself, represented by the woman in the dream. Later, Sri Chinmoy told me that Jesus himself had brought me to him, and this I can confirm.
Once you have established
A solid inner link
With your spiritual Master,
Yesterday’s Master, today’s Master
And tomorrow’s Master
Will all become one in your life.Sri Chinmoy 1
- 1. Twenty-Seven Thousand Aspiration-Plants, Part 92
Every time I look at the picture, it says: ‘I love you!
This is one of the stories in our Story-Gems project, a collection of our experiences with our Guru, Sri Chinmoy. Project homepage »
Before Dodula became a disciple of Sri Chinmoy, she was Sister Elda, a Catholic nun. When she started meditating according to Sri Chinmoy's teachings, she was working at a school for children with learning and behavior problems, running the therapy station for the most troubled children.
With the meditation practice everything became more meaningful, deeper, vaster. I was able to understand Christ’s message better than before and I could feel the essence. And I got so much strength and joy.
I did not say anything about my meditation practice but these sensitive children immediately felt something in me. They behaved in a different manner – even the most difficult child. Not only children felt the peaceful help. Many friends, the President, the Director, the Principal of the school, teachers and other staff came to me for consolation and advice.
John was only seven years old when he came to the children’s home. When he had to go to a public school, he disturbed the whole class. Finally he was sent for special education to us. His mother, who was about six feet tall, told me it was like hell at home. John treated her worse than a dog. He ordered her about and did not obey her and his father. In the beginning he tried the same behavior with us and he was not able to follow the teacher’s instruction. That was why he needed special therapy and was sent to me.
He was very curious, too. As a result he discovered my meditation picture of Guru on my desk. Each time when he came for therapy, he would first come slowly around my desk and look at Guru’s face. With a loving expression and a smile he would turn around and go to his seat. During our sessions he behaved like an angel.
One time, John went to the church to pray, accompanied by a different nun. Inside he spotted the picture of Jesus that had been created from the Holy Shroud of Turin. He suddenly exclaimed “No! No! That’s not it! The picture on Sister Elda’s desk is very similar but still different. And every time I look at it, it says: ‘I love you!’ ”
As an individual
Often dresses in different clothes,
Even so, Krishna, the Buddha, the Christ
And many others
Are the same God
Clothed in different garb.Sri Chinmoy 1
- 1. Ten Thousand Flower-Flames, part 77, 7648, Agni Press, 1983
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