In this April in New York on a cold wet day, Sri Chinmoy invited his seven hundred or so visiting disciples to a walk-by meditation and prasad in front of his house.

A steady downpour had led to the cancellation of our function at Aspiration Ground; instead we would receive this walking meditation blessing. A long line stretched for over three blocks, and we inched forward under umbrellas and a bright assortment of raincoats while light rain fell.

Sri Chinmoy sat before the window in the porch of his home in Queens and for over an hour concentrated on the slow procession of disciples as they came before him, a passing parade of souls from all over the world, braving this winter cold for these precious moments.

Filing by slowly, I was reminded how Sri Chinmoy had prepared himself for six hours before receiving darshan (vision/blessing) from Sri Aurobindo on those few occasions he would see his Guru in the physical – during our forty minutes of shuffling forward in the queue, we were trying to feel that selfsame intensity and gratitude, to lift ourselves up to our own spiritual heights and our most receptive consciousness. Then in the window at last there was Sri Chinmoy, leaning forward intently and concentrating first on the person before me, then me, then the person following. You have four seconds in which to grasp this abundance then all the time you like afterwards to assimilate inwardly what you have managed to receive, absorbing and grounding into your being whatever of this benediction you can retain.

Sometimes in such moments, epiphanies and little miracles can occur, as though that last touch of silent and wordless grace had removed another veil to understanding or a block to deeper meditation and your life can be somehow different and better. Perhaps you might have an inner experience that was awaiting such a moment to unfold, and the memory of this will help you for a long time to come. So the longer you stand there in the rain, and the more intensity you can bring, then the higher your meditation can go, the more you can prepare yourself and the more you will receive from these precious moments when an Avatar looks into your eyes and into your soul and brings the enlightening and redemptive grace of God into your being. This is the single greatest fortune you know you will ever have in your long search for happiness. You can add these moments to your little treasure chest of memories.