Aventurina King

The first of my 4-week meditation classes unfolded in a high-ceilinged, baby-blue carpeted suite in downtown Manhattan. It was lead by two small and smiling women who work together at the UN in international development. On an altar near the window, there was a clear vase with a few pink roses, and three white candles in front of 2 pictures of the late master Sri Chinmoy both taken when he was in deep meditation.

The first 30 minutes of meditation were quite painful. I was constantly shifting in my seat. The electricity went out with a bang of the air-conditioner, then it came back on. “If there are any disturbances, please just bring back your focus to the candle,” mused Pragathi’s colleague during the blackout. Then the flame of the candle was supposed to be visualized within our heart center, expanding, until finally we were calmly sitting within it.

We chanted four mantras:

“Aum Govindaya Nama” (Mantra for Protection)
“Aum Rudraya Nama” (Mantra for Transformation)
“Aum Aparajitaya Nama” (Mantra for Divine Victory) (I wonder what this means, victory of the divine over our modern undivine lives? or victory of God against Satan, Good against Evil?)
“Aum Amritaya Nama” (Mantra for Delight)

And just before that, one of the leaders, then cross-legged before a mini reed-organ, told us to “turn around and tell the person next to you that they have a beautiful voice.”

The class ended with a 7 minute video speech of a serene Sri Chinmoy with flowers around his neck, about the necessity of daily practice, and within this daily practice, of an inspirational object. It could be a beautiful flower, or the smile of a child which is all “purity and light.”

My favorite part of the evening was the post-class hanging-out with Sri Chinmoy’s students, one of whom had swum the English channel and joked about how his tongue got swollen because of the salt water. The man next to him suggested he speak about fending off the infamous channel jelly fish when he next lead the meditation.