Sri Chinmoy center activity – Page 7

The 47 Mile Race, 2011: Pioneers

During the early morning hours of August 27 1978 some wonderful and historic super 8 film footage was captured by Abakash. The very first 47 mile race had begun in the pitch darkness starting at midnight hours earlier. At that time 38 nervous young runners stood motionless at the starting line, having no real idea of what was before them or even certain whether or not they could complete the distance. Yet much stronger than all our fears and doubts combined was our love and admiration for our spiritual teacher, Sri Chinmoy who had created this unique race, 47 miles long. He had invited us all to run and as he now solemnly stood before us as we anxiously waited for him to personally start the race at 12am.

This all happened more than 30 years ago. Time has removed the sharpness and clarity of many moments of my life but the start of the first 47 I am certain is etched so deeply into my heart and life, its sweet memory has yet to fade or dim. I can still clearly remember as Sri Chinmoy stood in powerful silent meditation in the darkness. An almost indefinable outline, illuminated barely by far off streetlights, and a couple of dim flashlights. Yet where our eyesight’s failed, another part within us was acutely aware of his presence and his gratitude that we should participate in this great new undertaking. On this night and at the moment as the clock ticked past 12 it became his 47th birthday and the race began.

What we did not know then was that this race was his gift to us and to future generations of runners. An unprecedented 47 mile long spiritual journey whose goal was infinitely longer than 40 laps of Jamaica High School. Yet for each and all who participated it would also be in turn a powerful opportunity to bring to the fore some small measure of our own self offering. The very act of running a perfect gift to him who inspired us in the first place. It was and remains to be both an unprecedented sporting event and a unique spiritual exercise, that many continue to take advantage of, and seems destined to remain as a timeless tradition.

In the weeks leading up to that midnight start he had made clear that the 47 mile race was going to be something new and challenging like nothing before. We simply had but to let go of our doubts and fears and surrender fully to the experience. A short while later he coined a unique expression that clearly and beautifully defined what this sport of running could offer both outwardly and inwardly, “Run and Become, Become and Run.” Spiritual progress and athletics and fitness can and must go together. Continue reading “The 47 Mile Race, 2011: Pioneers”

It’s About Perfection

He is someone who not only has a keen understanding of the significance of the 3100 mile race but has also performed a very practical and vital role there as well for many years. Pradhan is someone keenly suited to finding solutions to the obstacles confronting the runners on many levels, not just the physical. In simple and practical ways his chiropractic treatments helps enable many of the athletes running there to perform at their maximum capacity, day in and day out. He is a chiropractor of extraordinary talent and though he no longer maintains a professional practice he still has been able to serve at nearly all of the multi day races that Sri Chinmoy Marathon team has organized in New York. This is no small feat as he is a resident of Chicago and yet has found time during his busy schedule to visit New York and willingly serve those who are trying to test the very limits of their physical capacity and endurance.

As exceptional as he is as a giver of chiropractic adjustments, Pradhan is also keenly aware of the world beyond the physical. He knows first hand that these exceptional runners sometimes also need encouragement and inspiration on the mental, emotional and spiritual level as well. Physical problems sometimes may be the least of the many obstacles the runners encounter when facing such a momentous task as running 3100 miles. He has great and lengthy experience in dealing not only with the athletes who attempt the impossible but also understanding the great challenges of the spiritual life in general. I had an opportunity during the race to interview him and ask him for some of his thoughts on what these incredible athletic events are all about.

Talk transcribed by Bhadra

Photos by Arpan, Prabhakar, Jowan

Utpal: Why do you think Sri Chinmoy created this world of multi-day races?

Pradhan: I think it was an actual extension of – you know –of his spiritual philosophy. It was something that evolved. He used it as a metaphor for what we’re trying to do inwardly. On our path, there are people who run regularly all the time. And it is understood that the runner accomplishes his goal by placing one foot in front of the other.

And the multi-day races evolved. In the early days, it was just a mile, two miles. I remember in the early days – it was like, the guys ran 3 miles – can you believe it? –it was unbelievable. We’d often have Games Days, or Olympic-style races – these guys would often run outside the field, they’d run out on the street. They’d go three miles, or five miles – then, applying the principles of self-transcendence, eventually it came to be a multi-day race. And the multi-day races, especially the 3100, lend themselves to an inner demand, where you have to go within in order to accomplish the task. So I think that’s why the multi-day races are such an important part of the Sri Chinmoy Centre.

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Reaching New Heights

In many ways it is a typical Queens backyard. There is a nice Cherry tree in the back corner and a chain link fence by the street that keeps the rambling expanse of green secluded and private. For 50 weeks of the year you wouldn’t pay much notice to it at all. It is in those 2 special weeks in late August however that for the past few years it has become a place of playful wonder and amazement.

Car drivers zipping past are probably unaware of what takes place just yards from the street. The gaze of pedestrians making their meandering way up the sidewalk however must certainly be drawn in befuddlement at the unique creations that begin to appear there just over the fence during the steamy heart of every late summer.

It all seems to all happen in a brief yet explosive burst of activity. One moment there will be piles of lumber, great mounds of bagged sugar, or enough popcorn to feed several circus crowds many times over. The whys and wherefores of this puzzle are easily understood when you learn that the man behind the unusual goings on is Ashrita Furman. He is a human tsunami wave of energy and enthusiasm. It is he who is the creator and breaker of the most Guinness book records ever and is the instigator of the unusual constructions that appear across the wide expanse of rugged green lawn.

It has happened for many years now that Ashrita and a crew of fellow disciples have engineered and manufactured world record marvels in order to honor their spiritual teacher Sri Chinmoy. Since his passing in 2007 the tradition has continued. Last year a giant edible lollipop was constructed. This year Ashrita decided upon building the worlds largest see saw. Don’t ask me why, and came up with the dimensions of 79 feet long to match what would have been Sri Chinmoy’s age on his birthday August 27th.

Yuyudhan is this years job foreman and when I come upon him first he was in the early stages of trying to put together this typical playground apparatus, but of the almost impossible dimensions. His good humored reply as to how he got involved, “trickery. We have got 2/3rds of a teeter totter going here, or what some in England would call a see saw.”

It is still fairly early in the building stage and it appears that there are few, if any glitches that are likely to slow the inevitable progress of its construction in time for its final installation on the 27th. For now Yuyudhan and his crew are trying to just get the object assembled and see if it is going to work.

At this point in its construction he says, “we are just trying to get things going. We are now assembling 2 of the 3 main pieces of the see saw.” He then admits that some wrong bolts where purchased which will have to be replaced. Only a small inconvenience.

He has been working for almost a week at this point and it becomes clear that there has been a real collaboration on its design. In some mysterious way, a crew seems to come together almost spontaneously, of the right capacity and number, at just the right time each year as well. He says that Bishwas was principally responsible for designing the stand and that he did much of the structural fine tuning of the see saw portion.

When asked where the ‘trickery’ came in with his involvement he says, “I was supposed to build it, and not get into the design and all that.” Clearly though he is relishing his involvement in constructing the world’s biggest see saw. As simple as it appears it takes real skill to super size such a simple device. He came up with some important ideas that would allow the see saw to achieve its great length with a minimal amount of weight.

He goes into some technical discussion on how and why he chose certain materials. At this point it looks close to being operational but he says that is still a day away. It will take at least 12 guys to pick up the see saw and put it in place on the stand. This will happen in the next 24 hours he says.

The almost constant rain has been a major factor in slowing down the early production. At this point he has August from Iceland and Keith from New Zealand as his crew. He says, “It is not that hard for one or two people to put most of it together. The problem is that once you get the sections together one or two people cannot lift this thing.”

He describes how the pivot in the middle will be 10 feet high and that the rider on the end of it will rise up 20 feet. With all the trees in the yard I wonder how it is even possible to adequately test the see saw. “It will fit,” he states categorically. He also has been designated as one who will have the dubious distinction of being the first test pilot, I mean rider. He is convinced all will go well. “It is going to be a great teeter totter and a record breaker.”

Yuyudhan interview

[audio:http://perfectionjourney.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/yuyudhan.mp3|titles=yuyudhan]

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The Gift

Sri Chinmoy’s long distance running life started in a simple and spontaneous way. On June 1 1978 while visiting in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park where he had just planted and dedicated a Peace tree. It was a typical late spring day, overcast and coolish. A not untypical San Franciscan day. After the formalities of the Peace tree inauguration he invited the small gathering of his students to go out and run with him in the park. They did not run far and they did not run fast but it was something new and it was a clear sign that a great shift in life in the Sri Chinmoy center was about to take place.

Click to play Golden Time

After the run, and still slightly out of breath, he invited all who were there to come and run the New York city marathon in the fall of the year. It was an invitation that would spread out far and wide, to all of his students everywhere. Running the New York city marathon became a tradition that continued for many years until 2002, when the marathon team then sponsored their own race in August during the yearly celebrations.

There were of course many recent events in the year leading up to June 1 1978, that had given us strong clues that distance running would become the next big thing in the center. The Liberty Torch relay had crisscrossed America just 2 years earlier and Canada’s Oneness Heart had traversed the country from coast to coast the summer before. From these events Sri Chinmoy’s students had received a small sampling of what running could accomplish both within and without. He was obviously inspired to provide even more opportunities for the young men and women in the center so that they might find opportunities to excel and transcend themselves in sport. No one realized of course that Sri Chinmoy the sprinter would soon become a distance runner himself.

Click to play Practice

What no one knew, on that cool spring day, was that an even greater opportunity for progress was soon to arrive. It would come even before most could even digest fully the significance of running the 26 mile marathon in New York.

A few of us had been fortunate enough to be just slightly ahead of the pack. A handful had run the 1976 NYC marathon and an even greater number, including myself had run in 1977. But a little more than a month after this recording was made, and probably less than a month before his 47th birthday, Sri Chinmoy offered us all a totally surprising and unprecedented invitation. Starting at midnight, on August 27th, when his 47th birthday was to begin we were all invited to run in a 47 mile race.

Many years have passed since we all heard this news. It is a distance now that is minuscule when compared to the thousands of miles that are now run regularly in many of the marathon teams scheduled events. At the time however it was such a formidable number that even the young, trained, and very fit runners could not really comprehend how it could be done. To make it even more interesting it was to be run on a course that started on the gritty cinder track of Jamaica high school and then meander around the outer block with its bumpy sidewalks, sharp turns, and the formidable Margaret Tietz hill. It was an unbelievable challenge and most had no idea what to expect. It was after all almost twice as far as a marathon. It was hard to even imagine if we could make it to the track for that last victory lap and still be able to grab the flag and make it through to the finish line.

No one can truly comprehend the totality of a Spiritual Master. Safe to say his task is to be but pure guidance, compassion and love for his disciples. He never forces anyone to do anything beyond their capacity and, he has a clear insight of what course will take us most directly and speedily to our goal. We may not ever understand him, but we do have the obligation of understanding and developing fully our relationship to our spiritual Master. This comes in many ways and over time. Principally through spiritual practices and disciplines is it gradually and steadily nurtured and obtained. Over a life time it slowly evolves and blossoms. Each day more and more is revealed but most of us have a limited capacity for serious and lengthy meditation. To transfer sedentary meditation to active distance running is another matter. It is a unique way to occupy the mind and body with the challenge of long distance while simultaneously allowing the heart to come to the for.

What I, and most of us discovered that first night we ran the 47 mile race was that this race would be like no other. It was a unique and dynamic spiritual act in its own right. True it would be hard, long, and difficult but the reward we all gained over the hours on the road were immeasurable. For many it was but one long sustained meditation. An opportunity to see that even in the most difficult things in life, our teacher, Sri Chinmoy, was in fact acting in and through us. By simply letting go of our limitations he would open up our inner unbounded capacity and we would be able to see, that in fact. nothing was impossible, if it was truly inspired from within.

But there was something more about running throughout the long dark night of the 47. Every moment you could not help but be aware that it was our Guru’s birthday. That whatever inner connection you felt or held in your heart for your spiritual teacher was almost always constantly present with each step and with each additional mile achieved on our way towards the goal. You could not help but be conscious of all the countless things that he had done to inspire your life, for the love and affection he provided, and the guidance and care that can only come from one who has accepted a deep and personal responsibility for your spiritual life. In other words it was impossible while running to not be aware of just how lucky we all were to have a true teacher, and be offered a unique and golden opportunity to help in our inner growth. And to add to all this, on 2 occasions he himself ran the full distance running with us over the course of the long dark night.

I am not sure at what moment I really understood what the 47 really meant to me. The first race was 32 years ago. I seem to recall however, that even from my first step that took us all forward, about 12:07 that night, that for me this race would be my gift to Sri Chinmoy. There was nothing I had that he needed or wanted. He was all about giving to his his students. In return the least I could offer to him was my absolute best effort and my heart’s dedication in this 47 mile race. A gift that I gave for quite a few years and is one that many still find able to give even today.

47 mile photos by Bhashwar

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Most of us expect, at some point in our …

Most of us expect, at some point in our lives, that we will take a journey. It may be something as simple as travel to distant lands, or one that is more difficult to assess and measure, an inner journey. Here there are no simple and reliable vehicles of transportation. The scenery we pass along the way, is the pure landscape of our own consciousness. There are paths we wander down that may seem predictable and others, in which the destination is just beyond the unknown. Snatak is one, who for me has taken a journey with his life, that is both profound and unique. It is one in which has seen the shifting goal of his life move from the improbable to what one can almost say is the impossible. Yet for spiritual seekers, and for those who have the benefit of a spiritual master like Snatak, impossibility is a just a word to be stepped upon, as they boldly move forward in the great adventure, we call life.

A native of Iceland, for the last few weeks he has been in Columbia with a group of Icelandic friends. They are here conducting meditation classes in various parts of the country. His visit here, which is just over 5,000 miles from his home, is not unique. For many years, he traveled for a few weeks each year, during the winter months, with his late spiritual teacher Sri Chinmoy. It is a tradition that has continued on. Besides his 3 Icelandic friends he is also joined here with a group of about 100 fellow students of Sri Chinmoy from around the world, who are enjoying the groups first visit to Columbia. Over the years Snatak has visited dozens of countries, and he has seen his own spiritual life blossom. He has also attempted to share the philosophy and the teachings of Sri Chinmoy, wherever he goes.

“I am a spiritual farmer. God, out of His infinite Bounty, has entrusted me with the task of plowing the spiritual land. This is my first visit to your beautiful island. I have been here for about four hours. During these four hours, I have felt the Indian consciousness here in Iceland. India’s natural beauty I have observed here; India’s inner peace I have felt here. My presence here makes me feel that my life of aspiration and your life of aspiration in the inner world have built a bridge between spiritual India and spiritual Iceland. My Indian heart offers its soulful gratitude to your hearts of aspiration, for it is you who have given me the opportunity to be of dedicated service to you today. Nothing gives me greater joy than to be of dedicated service to the Supreme inside aspiring human beings.”

Excerpt from My Rose Petals, Part 4 by Sri Chinmoy. Continue reading “Most of us expect, at some point in our …”

Lelihana: The Climbing Flame

When she was a little girl lelihana says she used to look out from the windows of her music school and long to be outside with the children playing there. For 7 years however, from the age of 7 until 14, her time was caught up in studying the piano. The adventure and thrill of the sports world was always enticingly just beyond her reach. At that young age she was simply following the steady predictable path that many Russian children do if they want to be able to reach University. With her mom working in a kindergarten and her dad working as a cook the family did not have much interest in athletics. The rarefied world of international sport was far from being an easily anticipated option in her life. She admits that at the time, she just didn’t like music.

Of course great dreams and divine opportunities can stride into one’s life at their own time and in their own unfathomable way. It was the encouragement of one of her music teachers who was able to shift the focus of her life. He, along with others, saw in her an unquestionable wealth of talent that she had as an athlete, that far surpassed her musical abilities. It was clear to many that her feet could move her much further and faster than her fingers.

So at age 14 she at last found herself able to be outdoors, but it was not at playing frivolous games. Instead, she quickly became focused on the disciplined and challenging world of track and field. As she talks about it today she speaks with an easy confidence, as if she was destined for the life of a world class sprinter. She advanced very quickly in the sport and by the time she was 15 she was winning meets. When she was just 17 she represented Russia at a World’s junior competition in the 100 meters. She ran her personal best at this time which was 11.84. She says of this experience, “I was a little bit scared but otherwise it was okay.”

She has been competing internationally now for more than a dozen years. Her specialty has become both the 400 meters and 4×400 relay. The track and field world knows her as Olesya Zykina, but to those who are her fellow students of the late Indian Spiritual teacher, she is Lelihana, which means the Climbing Flame. When asked what her spiritual name means to her she says, “I like it. It is beautiful, this is my name. When it is difficult for me I repeat my name.”

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The Sweetest Item We Could Think Of

It has to be one of the humblest of all confections. The lollipop is simply a small piece of hard flavored candy on top of a stick. With absolutely no nutritional value. Its sole purpose is to offer a modest measure of sweet joy to the consumer and perhaps allow them some brief time to enjoy its diminishing glistening sweetness in their hand as it is slowly licked into oblivion.

For Guinness champion Ashrita Furman, who has often taken on simple child like pleasures and escalated them into herculean accomplishments the task of constructing the world’s biggest lollipop seemed like a worthy challenge.

On the anniversary of his spiritual teacher’s birthday he has often turned to creating extraordinary sweet treats to honor him. In what would have been Sri Chinmoy’s 77th birthday last August 27th he and a large group of students created a birthday cake with 47,000 lighted candles.

http://heartlotus.blogspot.com/2008/10/lighting-up-world.html

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The 47 Mile Race 2009

Somehow it was slipping away from me. Like it always does, the 47 mile inspires and touches my heart like no other running event. This year the night of the race was perfect. The evening air was cool and light as the midnight start approached. An impressive group had turned out to participate in a run that has now taken place on every August 27th for the past 31 years.

I had taken hundreds of pictures in and around the track lit bright by candles and dangling light bulbs. Out on the still twisting streets I flashed even more shots of the smiling faces of the intrepid runners who ran with light and determined steps, at least during the early laps.

Throughout the long night more and more precious moments from the race where being captured by my camera and my microphone. Those fragments of joy, of determination and of selfless service had inexorably gathered into a mountain of data stuffed onto digital memory cards. After the race I faced the daunting task of unraveling a story that now seemed much more difficult than tying on shoes and running the 47 miles itself. A persistent case of nagging procrastination dogged my heels for weeks. I felt myself almost uncontrollably sliding towards a precipice where the story was heading towards some digital oblivion.

Then on a recent bright Sunday, which seemed to be gilded more by the soothing promise of Spring than the gray dullness of late Autumn, I found myself out running on the 47 mile loop. On an afternoon flooded with light and warmth I felt myself caught up in fervent tide of sweet memory. From whence it came I do not know but soon my dawdling middle aged footsteps were feeling the selfsame effortless lightness and unbridled hope of all those many times I had run the 47 as a much younger man. It was though my own countless cherished memories of running the race were reaching out to me from my own not too distant past. But it was not just my own memories that were calling out to me it was as well as though the inspired experiences of those who had just run weeks earlier were calling out to me to bring that magical night back into focus. To find a voice for a magical event in which impossibility itself becomes banished in the boundless enthusiasm of those who take part in this most sacred of Sri Chinmoy Marathon team running events.

As I rounded the corner near goose pond and made the sweeping right hand turn, across from Jamaica High school and looked ahead, I had a profound moment. It was a vivid experience in which I felt as though I could clearly see Sri Chinmoy running on the road ahead of me. He had run the full race himself on 2 occasions and had run on the course during the race at least one more time. I remember clearly, during one race, coming round this same corner only to be shocked to see the familiar form of my Spiritual teacher bobbing along under the dim street lights in front of me.

At the time he would have been either 48 or 49 years of age. I was in my running prime and gradually I was overtaking him. As I came up behind him, each step I took I felt myself repeating his name in silence to myself.

This was after all his birthday and it was in honor of him that I ran. It could not escape me what a beautiful experience it was to thus find him there on the course as well. I can remember my slow and inevitable approach from behind him and then my sweeping pass on his right side. I can remember saying something as simple as, “Way to go Guru, way to go.” I am not aware of any comment or remark that he may have made in return. Nor do I remember any other time that I passed him again, though most certainly through the night I must have passed by him a few more times. What I do recall however is how so much I wished to carry him with me throughout the night and lighten the burden of his steps. Yet inevitably in time I would understand, that all along that it was he who was actually carrying me.

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All the Melodies of the Universe

“It was like he was touching all the melodies of the Universe.” Pavaka describes his first impression of Sri Chinmoy’s music when he first heard it. That was 14 years ago when he first became one of his students. Now he has just released his second CD based on some of those same melodies. He says that in his new CD he is trying to more powerfully embody what he describes as the ‘universal aspect,’ of Sri Chinmoy’s music.

“It is a very challenging project as a musician. I would say it is the most challenging thing I have ever tried to do.” He says that what he is attempting to accomplish is to take his teacher’s spiritual music and by using his understanding and abilities as a ‘regular musician’ translate that spirituality so that it might sound more familiar to western ears.

The result of his efforts is not only a fine new CD but also a new understanding in himself of the direction he wants to take with his life. He feels a new fulfillment in focusing almost exclusively and creatively on Sri Chinmoy’s music and says, “I am no longer interested in playing any other kind of music.”

His first CD he describes as being an almost 10 year effort to produce. Before it was finished he sent some of the recorded tracks to New York for SriChinmoy to listen to and he was very pleasantly surprised to hear later how much it was appreciated by his teacher. He was also surprised to find that children as well seemed to enjoy the eventually completed CD. He tells me he has heard many stories from parents that their kids wanted to hear it again and again.

He had performed for Sri Chinmoy on several occasions and on each he was encouraged by his teacher. It was however in June of 2007 that he made his last and his most memorable performance for his teacher. It was a brief solo concert, of what he calls his looping bass piece. At the end of which Sri Chinmoy is heard to say, “very nice, very nice.” Pavaka says that the recording of that performance is something he will always cherish. “That has meant a lot to me.” Pavaka, June 23, 2007

He has now become a regular on the Songs of the Soul concert tour. He describes however that his live performances are quite different from his recordings. The main difference being that in the recordings he has access to an ensemble of musicians, where in concert he doesn’t have the same luxury. He calls his live performances, “little bits of this and that. You don’t really get a chance to dig in.” Yet he is very inspired by the concert format which now has staged concerts in many countries across Europe and North America. He says, “it is a privilege to share Sri Chinmoy’s music that way.”

His own introduction to music came at the very tender age of 4 or 5 when he first took up cello lessons at his home in Winnipeg, Manitoba. He tells me that he started composing his own original works almost as soon as he learned how to write music. He thinks he was about 8 or 9 when he first did this. He took great delight in his new found love of composition. He remembers asking his Mom at what age Mozart was when he first started composing. He laughs even now as he describes her answer. “He was 4 but he was a genius.”

This did little to discourage him. He continued to study the instrument for 10 years when he was then inspired to enter whole-heartedly into the world of rock music. He tells me that he decided to dedicate himself to the bass guitar which he selected because he mistakenly thought was tuned the same as a cello. He was surprised to discover that in fact it was not.

After a short time of learning the bass guitar he devoted himself to trying to create rock music that represented his own French-Canadian sensibilities. He felt there was lots of 90’s rock music that understood the mood and culture of English speakers across the spectrum but very little at all the represented his own French perspective. He says, “I performed a lot, with a lot of different groups, and in a lot of different venues. There just wasn’t any good French heavy rock so we will write it. So we did rock in fact.”

He describes that of course his tastes have changed dramatically as he himself has immersed himself in his spiritual path. He still feels however that spiritual music has yet to be expressed adequately in the popular world. That in fact there is a need for spiritual music to be expressed in Pop, rock, jazz, and all other more traditional forms of music. His own hope is that on his part he can bring forward Sri Chinmoy’s consciousness into this world so that more can appreciate and be inspired by it.

He says that there are many of his musician friends who are concentrating solely on presenting soulful interpretations of his teacher’s music. For himself though, he is clearly inspired and focused on bringing forward his teacher’s music in a dynamic and pragmatic way. He feels there is a real need and a wish in audiences worldwide to have access to this inspiring music. He hopes as well that his music can both entertain the mind and also perhaps offer some consciousness to the heart at the same time.

He feels that of all of Sri Chinmoy’s music his keyboard compositions were his favorites. In his own way he tries to imbue his guitar playing with some of the same form and intensity that Sri Chinmoy seemed to use so instinctively well. When referring to them he calls Sri Chinmoy’s works as, “brilliant pieces of music. When he played on the organ in particular I think it was phenomenal.”

On a warm afternoon in August Pavaka quietly released his second CD. Most of the musicians who had helped in the recording were there to help launch a project that he had worked on painstakingly and with real devotion for many months. It was a quiet affair that can best be described as neither dramatic nor pretentious. It was simply Pavaka and friends sweetly and beautifully playing their teacher’s music.

The little concert also in a way marked a major change in the course of Pavaka’s life. He had just recently terminated his job and was now embarking on a new direction in his life. One in which recording and performing Sri Chinmoy’s music was taking a more center stage in his life. When he is asked whether performing live or people listening to his CD is more important he says simply, “what I am interested in is people listening to Sri Chinmoy’s music.”

He laughs now at the difficulties and challenges involved in the current CD’s creation. His first recording was well received and he thus felt a real challenge in surpassing and transcending his first effort. He received lots of input in trying to make it listenable and that the spiritual aspect of it fit in seamlessly and naturally. He is confident that he is fulfilling an inspiration that comes from within to be more involved in the musical world. His teacher on many opportunities encouraged him to take this path. Sri Chinmoy praised his first CD and as I listen to the sweet full rich sound of the new one I am sure he would appreciate this one even more.

The Garland of Divinity’s Love moves

Flowers are perhaps the most beautiful of all of nature’s offerings. Beautiful and yet at the same time fragile and fleeting. Stores that sell them however we consider in quite a different light. Kanan’s flower store, Garland of Divinity’s Love has been at its Parsons Blvd location for longer than most people can remember. Even Kanan himself scratches his head when asked to remember when he first opened up its location there.

For the last year that particular block of Parsons blvd has been through a lot and then some. There were problems with a building near by, that were not going be fixed, neither simply and easily, or more importantly, anytime soon. Scaffolding hanging overhead had made his shop look dark and gloomy for many months. It was also very hard to park. The Health food store and the Stationary store had already moved months earlier.

On the last weekend in May a most surprising, though not unexpected, event took place. The Garland of Divinity’s Love picked up its roots, its pots, its petals, and everything else and moved.

Its new location is next to the Laundromat, around the corner from the Greek Deli. When Kanan moved in on May the 25th things were a bit of a jumble, as could be expected. The old sign overhead had yet to be taken down. There was some wording on the glass in front however that somehow provided a little comfort and encouragement to this big change for Kanan and to the neighborhood.

Progress

For the students of Sri Chinmoy it would be hard to imagine the Parsons blvd. block without The Garland of Divinity’s Love. Whether they lived in Queens, or just visited from far away, all at one time or another have come to Kanan’s shop to purchase some flowers. And even if they were not in New York they would call and fax his shop to buy a flower, a bouquet, or an arrangement which would then be offered to Sri Chinmoy with gratitude. For birthdays, for celebrations, for anniversaries you name it, in the spiritual life flowers always find a place to brighten and inspire people.

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