Celebrating birthdays at Guru's house

Guru was very, very kind to us and lavished food on us. If it was a guard's birthday, there would be a big celebration with Guru at his house. We'd all go.

Those were my favourite moments. If I look back at my favourite moments in my discipleship, it was sitting with Guru on the porch of his house with all the boys, the guards, and Guru just lying on his couch, sitting back, relaxing and just telling a story. Stories from the ashram days or stories about when he first came to America, or a story about some famous person.

Guru was in a sweet mood, a happy mood, a comfortable mood, and he could just relax with the boys and tell stories. Those are my favorite moments, because you felt Guru was happy and he was comfortable with us. He could just tell these stories and they were like golden moments and you didn't want them to end. You just wanted to sit on that porch for days and days and days and listen to these stories.

And of course, while Guru is telling you these stories, food is coming all the time. There's food, American food, which usually is big desserts and big cakes and big this and big that and a big drink. Then there would be someone's birthday, one of the boy guards’ birthdays. Then there would be birthday cake for the boy, a big birthday cake. Guru said it's an insult not to eat a piece of the cake for the birthday boy. So you had to eat the cake, the piece of cake you got.

Then Guru would have prasad, which would often be lots of pastries and sweet things in a big array. So you would want to take every piece of prasad because it was at Guru's feet as you would go by.

This would be in the morning. Then Guru said, "Go over to the court and I will come over soon."  Then Guru would come to Aspiration-Ground and he would give another prasad for everybody and you would have to eat that too.

Guru is offering all the time that love and that compassion and that kindness. And it's up to us and our receptivity to be aware of it and to receive it.

Empty your heart;
God will fill it
With His Abundance.

Sri Chinmoy 1

• 1. Seventy-Seven Thousand Service-Trees, part 39, Agni Press, 2004