Considering that I stumbled into this world as a fourth-generation atheist, who would have predicted a future for me on a spiritual path? My immigrant grandmother had never been exposed to the world of spirituality, nor had my mother, who arrived in America when she was all of six months old.
One summer day in the summer camp I ran with my husband in Glen Wild I was visited by an old violist friend, Sol Montlack, whom I hadn’t seen in several years. I recalled that the last time I had seen him, he had been with another spiritual group. A friend had told him of my new interest in yoga. He was no longer with that group or any of the many other groups he had tried. He said, "I have found a Guru who is everything I have been looking for. His name is Chinmoy." He pronounced Chinmoy so that it sounded Chinese. The thought raced through my mind that I would meet his Guru and that he would be my Guru, which surprised me. I was not even sure what a Guru was.
I learned that my old friend Sol was now Dulal, meaning 'favourite son', the spiritual name given him by Sri Chinmoy. He also was president of the Aum Centre, as the Sri Chinmoy Centre was known in the early days. At the end of summer camp, the conversation with Dulal flashed through my mind and, with a feeling of great urgency, I phoned him and said, "I’d like to meet your Guru." Dulal mentioned that he had shown me Guru’s picture at the camp. Although I had no recollection of that, I learned later that when you see a picture of the spiritual Master who is meant for you, the bond may be established then and there. I do believe it was!
I was living in Westchester at the time, but Thursday happened to be the one day of the week that I regularly went into Manhattan for a Spanish dance class. Luckily, it was also the day Guru held meditations for seekers in Manhattan. The following Thursday after my dance lesson I tucked away my castanets and Spanish shoes and, sweaty clothes and all, grabbed a cab and made it crosstown just in time for meditation with Guru.
My first meditation at the AUM Centre
September 21, 1967
I climbed four flights of stairs in an old brownstone building on East 84th Street to a small railroad flat apartment. This was the early home of the Aum Centre and its young Guru. Everyone sat in the living room, most of us on chairs, and a few on a sofa against the side wall. The room was filled with the delicious aroma of incense and a small shelf in one corner held a flickering electric candle. The Guru stood with folded hands in front of us. The silence was profound. I had already been meditating for over a year on my own, so I closed my eyes and turned inward to enjoy the peace that I felt in this room.
After a few minutes, my eyes flew open spontaneously to find Sri Chinmoy standing right in front of me with a small flower in his folded hands. He looked at me with a warm otherworldly smile and gently put the flower into my hands. As he placed his hands over mine, I felt a thrilling vibration flow through my whole being.
Then he turned to a tray of flowers held by an ethereal woman, whose name I soon learned was Alo Devi. I watched him as he moved about the room offering a flower to each meditator. I had no idea that this was the beginning of a 45-year blessing for this former atheist!
Guru then sat cross-legged with folded hands and meditated with us some more. When the meditation was over and everyone had gone home, Dulal introduced me to Guru, who bowed humbly. In my naïveté, I asked Guru if I could have an interview with him. He very kindly offered to speak with me on the following Thursday after the meditation. Some time later I learned that one usually did not obtain an interview until they had been attending meditation for several months. But Guru was all kindness to this new ignoramus.
