the story continues - part 12

I came back the following week and told Kishore that I would like to become a member of the Sri Chinmoy Centre. I wrote a short letter to Sri Chinmoy and attached a photo of myself. Kishore said he would take my letter personally to Sri Chinmoy, as he was spending time with him over Christmas, and that he would let me know the outcome sometime in the near future. We parted company for three weeks or so.

Sri Chinmoy

Early in the New Year Kishore called to tell me that Sri Chinmoy had been very happy to receive my letter and that he was very happy to have me as his student. The festive period had, up until that point, been devoid of any real inspiration. I had spent the time mooching around with friends, camping at a music festival, and had not taken the time to practise meditating. My doubts about my own sanity in applying to become the student of a spiritual teacher were fueled by my friends’ inability to comprehend what I was doing. But when Kishore rang me with this good news I felt suddenly happy.

I returned to the Centre the next week eager to explore the implications of becoming Sri Chinmoy's student. Kishore talked of his own personal inner connection with Sri Chinmoy and how such a relationship between teacher and student provides an inner compass for the student, helping them to deepen their meditation and progress along the spiritual path, navigating the obstacles that invariably fall in ones way. He also gave me a picture of Sri Chinmoy, the same one we had meditated on during classes, encouraging me to try meditating on it when I felt ready. I took this photo home, found a frame for it and placed it, at first, rather unceremoniously on my desk amidst a rabble a books, CDs, and guitar music.

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