Today I met with a few Chinese citizens during my walk. This morning I was so tired, so exhausted. Instead of coming downstairs at 5:00 to go out walking, I came down at 5:30. Mentally, physically, vitally and in every way I was exhausted.
At my Bayside route, I started walking very, very slowly. With greatest difficulty I covered two miles. I had one more mile to go. A very old and short Chinese lady came up to me from the other side of the street. She was perhaps eighty years old. She was carrying a small stick wrapped with a piece of cloth. “Good morning, good morning,” she began.
“Good morning,” I replied.
“You feel no good, no good,” she continued.
“Yes,” I replied. “I am not feeling well.”
“You need energy,” she said. So she waved that stick in front of my nose to give me energy.
Meanwhile, another old Chinese lady was approaching us. The first lady said to her very enthusiastically, “He needed energy, so I gave him energy.”
I said to myself, “Now is the time for me to get away from this situation.” I had been walking slowly, but the next 200 metres I walked quite fast so that they would not catch up with me. O God, all of a sudden I felt so sick. My stomach, my chest, my throat, even my nose – I felt sick everywhere. Before that I was feeling full of weakness. I had no energy. I was tired and exhausted because of Dr. Chur’s passing. But ever since the Chinese lady gave me energy with her stick, I felt so sick. I walked a few metres and then stopped. I walked a little more and then stopped again. Like this, I had to walk one mile plus 300 or 400 metres to reach Vinaya’s car. Vinaya always drops me off on this route and then waits for me at the end of the three miles.
At 400 metres before the finish, another Chinese lady greeted me, “Good morning, good morning.” She started walking with me at my speed, although she could have gone much faster. Finally she left me, saying, “I go.”
Then I saw two Chinese men walking together. One was walking backwards, and one was walking forward. They were chatting with each other. They kept a distance of about five metres between them. For at least 400 metres I saw them talking and talking in Chinese. Sometimes they raised their hands. This is how they chatted: facing each other, one going forward and one going backwards.
Meanwhile, Vinaya was worrying and worrying. He knows approximately how long it takes me to complete three miles. Five minutes more passed, 10 minutes, 15 minutes, and still I was not coming. He could not drive to look for me because it is one way the wrong way. The only other road he could take was a highway where he would have to drive at least 40 miles per hour. So Vinaya got out of his car and started walking to look for me. Vinaya usually never gets out of the car. After 400 metres or so he still could not see me, so he went back to his car worrying.
Finally I appeared dragging my body. “What happened, Guru?” he said. “Why are you so late today?” Vinaya said he had been arguing with himself, thinking that maybe he had made a mistake when he looked at his watch.
“No, you are right,” I said. “I am sick.” The Chinese lady meant well, but my body did not accept her medicine. My spiritual energy did not accept her energy. I did not blame her. With such concern and such affection she was trying to give me energy because she saw that I was unable to walk. She was a motherly figure, full of affection and compassion for all human beings.
17 July 2002, Aspiration-Ground, New YorkFrom:Sri Chinmoy,Depend on Grace, Agni Press, 2023
Sourced from https://srichinmoylibrary.com/dg