by Michael
One of the nice things about the culture of our meditation group is the get-togethers that we have each month or so. Our meditation teacher Sri Chinmoy encourages his students to have what he calls 'Joy Weekends'; informal retreats where our members from all over New Zealand gather for meditation, running, sports, singing, plays and just generally having a good time in each others company. We usually travel to some remote part of the country where there is plenty of space and fresh air and are occasionally joined by some of our Australian friends as well. Plenty of joy and plenty of food - thats the ticket!
I have been with the Sri Chinmoy Centre for about six months now, since two members of the Auckland Centre started offering free classes down here in Dunedin. I have had so many wonderful experiences since I started to meditate with Sri Chinmoy as my spiritual teacher or guru. It makes me smile to think that over the last six months, I have changed from a happy young man to a VERY happy young man. There are many stories that I could share and this one is about my second joy weekend in Auckland in October 2004.
I flew up to Auckland by myself and having been very busy leading into the weekend I was unsure of how I was going to get from the airport into the city where all the rest of the students were. I rang the Blue Bird Café which is run by members of the Auckland Centre and spoke to one of the woman there. She happily informed me that things were in hand and that one of the guys was on his way out to get me. I had only ever met some of the group briefly but she said "don’t worry - you will know him, our guys are easy to recognise".
It was so true, I was waiting at one end of the terminal and I saw my new friend walk through the doors at the other end. Although he was over 100m away my attention was immediately drawn to him. Dressed in light coloured clothing, he had that soft, peaceful and happy yet dynamic glow of someone who has a real inner happiness and wholesome lifestyle. His walk showed the grace of someone who is physically fit and healthy and his face beamed a happy smile for all the world to enjoy. Ahhhha - the beginning of the joy weekend.
For the next three days, I had the absolute pleasure of hanging out with one hundred people who all shared this light and a joyful approach to life. I was instantly welcomed into friendships and together we meditated, sang, ate, run, played soccer, played frisby, ate some more, meditated some more, ran some more, organized humanitarian aid, ran some more, laughed, sang, watched plays, sang some more, smiled, mediated, told stories, ran, ate… There was no end to happy activities, it was a weekend overflowing with joy!
This weekend was a veritable gift for a young man attempting to live in a positive and spiritual way. Here I was surrounded by inspiring people who shared a common love for spirituality and who were all happy to share, guide and give of their own experiences. I left feeling super positive and super confident that I could become an even happier, more giving, more inspiring person myself.
Throughout the whole weekend, I was aware that it was Sri Chinmoy’s personal example, his challenges, his teachings and his caring concern for our spiritual growth that was creating this dynamic, pure and inspiring community. We were all together thanks to him and his consciousness was reaching out and creating this magic environment of true joy and happiness.
How lucky we all are to have such a guide on the path we are walking together. I am deeply grateful to Sri Chinmoy and to all my new friends from the joy weekend.