5 plus 1 = inspiration and fun

I just turned 51 about a week ago and at first it all seemed rather anticlimactic after turning the big 50 last year.

Last night I was reading in Live in the Eternal Now, a new book of previously unpublished talks given over the years by my spiritual teacher Sri Chinmoy. When I woke up this morning, I felt energized and inspired by one idea in one of the talks which suggested that one could do certain activities and projects drawing upon the number of years one has been alive on Earth. For instance, he recommended that if someone was a good singer and liked to sing, they could sing every day the number of songs that corresponded to their age.

Suddenly I no longer felt deflated about turning the page on being 50 – the big half century! I could think of things to do with the number 51 in them and find inspiration in the notion of 5 + 1, feeling like a child at heart to counteract the other ways that my pace has slowed down as I get older.

Right now I am in New York for a few days to observe the 4th anniversary of Sri Chinmoy’s passing on October 11, 2011. Students of Sri Chinmoy from around the globe have gathered for memorial activities, prayer, offerings of flowers and incense at the Samadhi burial shrine and a candlelight vigil starting at midnight on October 11th and ending midnight the following day.

While in New York for the memorial observance, when I woke up this morning I wanted to go walking on the 3100 mile race route which is only about a mile from where I stay when I come to New York for prayers and meditation with the Sri Chinmoy Centre.

As the year wanes, sunrise arrives at about 7:00 a.m. so I found myself walking the 3100 mile race route as the sun rose. I contemplated my inspiration to do things with the number 51 in them now that I turned 51 and next thing I knew I pulled out my camera and took 51 photos of the 3100 mile race route. I am quite fond of these photos – probably because they make me think of the immortal achievements that happen on that route, amidst the hustle and bustle of a service road onto a parkway, a park with playground equipment for children, an area to play handball, a baseball field and a vocational high school.

I hope a little of the enthusiasm and inspiration I woke with rubs off on you as you look at the photos. I am SO grateful to Sri Chinmoy for the myriad ways he finds to sleeplessly inspire humanity even though it is 4 solemn years since he walked among us on Earth.

Other posts about Sri Chinmoy’s Samadhi: