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Wednesday 12th
After meditation I head down to the track, determined to get some
intervals in. It's half seven, yet already the track is filled with
people getting the day off to a good start, many of them students of
Sri Chinmoy - in addition to runners on the track, there's the usual
Frisbee game, an impromptu game of football at one end, and some yoga
taking place at the other. It doesn't feel so bad doing the
intervals; maybe it's because I'm not going as fast as I should be, but
I don't think so.
There's a whole flurry of practices going on at the same time; the Dublin Centre was founded by two New Zealanders, Jogyata and Subarata, and we have a lot of close links with New Zealand so we invariably sit in on their performance also, and then they're joined by the Australians for another performance for which it would be rather rude to leave, and then we also are performing some more songs with the British and French...and
that's just the ones we're part of! All around the park there are
singing groups from all around the world, their voices mingling in the
air.
It's funny how some days are easy and some are hard; a
couple of days ago I was having very good meditations very easily, now
as I am sitting in Aspiration-Ground, I have to really aspire to get
anywhere near the same height. The problem is once you have a good
meditation, a little complacency sets in and you don't try as hard for
a while, and then it gets a little harder.
After meditation
they need help at the printing press - they want to get a very special
book out for tonight. February saw the passing away of Ongkar, who was a student of Sri Chinmoy
for over thirty years, and whose smile and wit was treasured by
everyone who came into contact with him. Just before his passing away,
he stayed in Malaysia with Sri Chinmoy and his students. Ongkar was
quite ill at that time, and so Sri Chinmoy meditated with him twice a
day, reciting a prayer he had written for him each day. These prayers -
62 in all, corresponding to Ongkar's age - were compiled into the book
that now lies before us to assemble. The main help required is with the
photo pages - there were many pictures taken of Ongkar in Malaysia and
we now have to insert these pictures into the right place in the book
before the lot can be bound together. I get a lot of joy from looking
through the pictures as I am working - Onkgar was someone who brought
great warmth to everyone he came in contact with; even now he still
does when we think of him.
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Then off to help somewhere
completely different. Every April, on the eve of the anniversary of Sri
Chinmoy's coming to the West, many of his students participate in a 12
hour walking race, starting from seven in the evening until seven the
next morning. There's always need for volunteers, from counting the
laps, to serving the food or medical tent to the water stops. I signed
up late so I got the job of heading out so some far outpost of the
course and making sure there's nothing untoward happening. It's lucky I
brought my flute. I actually don't know all that many meditative songs
on the flute, so I try to repeat each one and stretch it out for around
ten or fifteen minutes, roughly long enough so each of the walkers can
hear it once. The time flies by. Tomas from Austria is with me, I
believe he's trying to set a record for the longest time spent clapping
and cheering on the walkers. Cheerfulness is the main ingredient for
the walkers as they head late into the night, so occasionally Tomas
announces a "smile-checkpoint" and asks to see everyone's
"smile-passport"! I take some requests from the runners and promise to
have the song learnt by the time they come around again. |
The shift is supposedly 6 hours, but they're short on stewards and I don't mind staying on. When I do get a little tired, along come Arthur with his harmonium and Sandin with his tablas; the three of us cobble together some of Sri Chinmoy's mantric songs and the whole thing works surprisingly well. Smiles of mutual appreciation are exchanged between us and the walkers; we're inspiring the walkers, the walkers are inspiring us, the walkers are inspiring each other, it's all one big team effort. I manage to get home and get some shuteye at around 5; tomorrow's a big big day...
(the winner of the men's race, Smarana from Vienna, is a very
accomplished ultra-distance runner and has three times finished in the
top three in the world's longest road race - the 3100 Mile Self
Transendence race held in New York from June to August. He has just
written a very nice article titled Why run 3100 Miles? )
