Sarama: 45 Yogic Years with Sri Chinmoy

Sarama Minoli joined Sri Chinmoy's spiritual path in 1967, and was a beacon of inspiration for many of her fellow students who joined the path afterwards. Here we present reminiscences by Sarama written in the later part of her life, interspersed with Sri Chinmoy's affectionate comments and reminiscences by her fellow students.

Reminiscences: The whole world is our ashram

This is the very first of a few memories of my early childhood.

My childhood summers were always spent on "The Farm," as it was called by my great-grandparents, and their eight (of thirteen) surviving children. All of them had made their homes in New Jersey after emigrating from Russia to America. Their families and visiting relatives and friends made up our little community, which was always called "The Farm," although the only animals ever seen there were a stray cat or, occasionally, a visiting dog.

There was Skaritka’s farm next door, however, where we got delicious fermented raw milk and fresh cottage cheese made from it. We kids were allowed to pick all the Concord grapes we could eat at their grape arbor. For the rest of my life, Concords were always my favorite kind of grape.

One sunny summer afternoon when I was less than two years old, Mom and Dad wheeled me in my carriage over the grassy field to a brook at the edge of the woods behind Aunt Lena’s house. I had been a sickly baby, but now healthy living was turning me into a strong and lively youngster. Finally they allowed our exuberant dog, Tuffy, to play with me. In a moment of rare parental inattention, Tuffy leaped up to lick my face and — splash! I was in the brook. Daddy scooped me out, weeping and soaking wet. I recall crying myself to sleep in the baby carriage. Perhaps that unexpected "baptism" in the brook set the stage for my future spiritual life?

Although my childhood did not include any formal education in spirituality, I was always fascinated by the incomprehensible concept of infinity. I spent the summers of my childhood at Grandma’s house on the edge of Lake Farrington, near Milltown, New Jersey. I would sleep on her sun-porch, which was all windows on three sides. At night, I would lie there, gazing at the endless night sky with its millions of stars and the Milky Way, trying to absorb the concept of infinity. I would imagine more space behind the luminous display of stars, and more space behind that space, and more space behind that space, and more space, and more space, until, head spinning, I finally fell asleep.

By 1967, I was married for the second time and had two children in high school. They had also known The Farm when they were little. My husband, a teacher of special education, was starting a small summer camp for "special" children in Glen Wild, New York.

Inspired by a couple of old books by Yogi Ramacharaka, we took a healthful yoga vacation at Val-Morin in Canada. We returned as vegetarians and I started to teach yoga, moving easily into that new field after 25 years as a teacher of dance. We also integrated Hatha Yoga into our campers’ daily schedule.