On Meditation
I was attracted to meditation because I needed to alleviate the stress that I found inside me as I dealt with my lifestyle, being a PhD science student (with a scholarship from MAF) and an odd-job professional musician.
Toshala hard at work in The Blue Bird
In the first class I attended I lapped up meditation like a thirsty camel and enjoyed it so much that after finishing my PhD I took time out to set up a café that people could come to and experience Sri Chinmoy's world of meditation and joy. I also wanted to give myself time to focus on developing a spiritual life, which was very important to me, and had been lacking previously.
But the laugh is on me because now I am so busy there is no time to do anything else but work!! However there is now no – or at least very little – stress involved as the café where I work is a meditative place – a place where food is prepared and served with love, and where harmony and joy reign supreme. Work itself is a meditation, and although I am not at too much leisure to write a paragraph, I am pretty fast at writing lists. So I present my list:
Meditation Is:
- in soulful music
- in living a wholesome life
- in friendship
- in making right choices
- in caring for the world around you
- a joyful experience
- a blissful communion with God
Return to: The Homepage of Toshala Elliott
Cross-posted from toshala.srichinmoycentre.org
About the author
Toshala Elliott
Auckland, New Zealand
A singer and accomplished piano accordionist, Toshala is also a member of the international women's group Shindhu.
Audio »
Toshala plays 'Amal Dhabal Pal' by Sri Chinmoy on piano accordion. This recording was part of the 'Shindhu 8' album released by Shindhu.
Related stories
Sri Chinmoy's students describe their inner and outer experiences.
Time seemed to freeze
Brahmata Michael Ottawa, Canada
The day I saw my Guru for the first time
Natabara Rollosson New York, United States
My inner calling
Purnakama Rajna Winnipeg, Canada
President Gorbachev: a special soul brought down for a special reason
Mridanga Spencer Ipswich, United Kingdom
In the Right Place, At the Right Time
Eshana Gadjanski Novi Sad, Serbia
Running and Me
Garga Chamberlain Bristol, United Kingdom
How I learned from Sri Chinmoy
Pradhan Balter Chicago, United States
Connecting the dots
Lunthita Duthely Hialeah, United States
'When you perform for me, always choose devotional songs.'
Gunthita Corda Zurich, Switzerland
Just go with it and jump!
Gabriele Settimi San Diego, United States
The Ever-Transcending Goal
Preetidutta Thorpe Auckland, New Zealand
Learning to love songs ever more
Patanga Cordeiro São Paulo, BrazilSuggested videos
interviews with Sri Chinmoy's students
Growing up on Sri Chinmoy's path
Aruna Pohland Augsburg, Germany
What meditation gave me that I was missing
Purnahuti Wagner Guatemala City, Guatemala
Starting a spiritual café
Toshala Elliott Auckland, New Zealand
Selfless Service
Brian David Seattle, United States
How meditation helped me swim the English Channel
Abhejali Bernardova Zlín, Czech Republic
A childhood meeting with Sri Chinmoy
Devashishu Torpy London, United Kingdom
Love, devotion and surrender
Pradhan Balter Chicago, United States
Except where explicitly stated otherwise, the contents of this site are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. read more »
SriChinmoyCentre.org is a Vasudeva Server project.