Coffee Ice Cream

I used to have some problems with my health. At one point when I was finding it difficult to work, I decided to take a vacation, spending a week or so in New York with Sri Chinmoy to try and rebuild my strength. He was doing a lot of weight lifting while I was there, which included lifting aircraft on calf-raise equipment.

One day he went to an airport out of town to lift a particular jet plane. It was all totally amazing; I could hardly believe my eyes as he repeatedly lifted the plane, complete with passengers. It was particularly amazing to me because I was feeling so physically weak in those days.

On the way back, I really didn’t feel that good, and just wanted to get home. Strangely, at the same time I was struck by the most overwhelming craving for coffee ice cream. It was strange partly because I was not generally given to cravings. In addition, to try to improve matters, I almost completely excluded sugar, dairy, and caffeine from my diet. This has changed rather considerably since then, but back in those days it had been the case for so long that such things rarely even entered into my thoughts. Add to that the cold November weather, and coffee ice cream did seem a rather odd desire.

It was a very persistent desire though, and its intensity only increased. Its only keen rival was the increasing desire to go home. In my mind’s eye I could see myself traipsing round shops with my unseasonal request, but it all seemed too ridiculous. I decided to just get over it and go home.

As I went up the steps, someone was leaving. She said Sri Chinmoy was at Aspiration Ground (our outdoor meeting area). Now I had another dilemma: how bad did I feel? Should I go or stay? I had a strong urge to go, which I followed, and I’m very glad I did.

As I arrived, Sri Chinmoy was just about to offer prasad (blessed food), which was a kind of large dessert on that particular day. Someone had made a sort of tiramisu with lots and lots of cream and sugar, and with a very distinctive coffee flavouring, plus the cold weather meant that it was all pretty much frozen. Needless to say, that put paid to my desire for coffee ice cream. The most incredible thing was that I had hardly even tasted it, when I suddenly felt infinitely better physically. I had more energy than I had experienced for a long time, and it lasted for a very long time afterwards. That type of food ordinarily would have made me feel very ill, but I even took seconds, and ate that too!

It seemed that perhaps I had not been seeking coffee ice cream after all, but in some way sought and received Sri Chinmoy’s blessing.

Sumangali Morhall
August 2005