Mayhem in Donadea

Be happy, be happy!

Unless you are happy,

Your outer life will not succeed

And your inner life will not proceed.

Sri Chinmoy .

Sri Chinmoy once told his students that he only wanted two things from them: he wanted them to be happy, and he wanted them to realize God. Well, the goal of enlightenment or God-realization might be somewhat in the distance yet for most of us, but at the Dublin Sri Chinmoy Centre we most certainly do our best to at least fulfill the first part of that request and stay happy!

In addition to our meditations and the events we put on for the general public (which also go a long way towards keeping us, it must be said), we also put a strong emphasis on plain old-fashioned fun. Once a week or so, we'll gather together for an evening; occasionally we'll have a day outing or stretch it out for the whole weekend.

Recently we made the trip out to Donadea Forest Park. The weather was very kind and there was a beautiful walk around the lake. However I think all that mattered to the boys was there was a flat bit of grass somewhere were they could have a game. Ambarish had brought a few hurleys in the back of the car; we weren't intending on having a full-blown game of hurling as we have some Germans and Russians in our group, as well as most of the Irish not being from strong hurling counties. However we had a bit of a practice and those unfamiliar with the game soon began getting the hang of it, so we decided to try a game after all and it ended up being great fun.

As well as hurling, there was also some games of soccer and frisbee played too...of course, these are games we all played as a child, but then as we grow older we stop playing, unless it is in some kind of competitive sense as part of a club. It is so nice to recapture some of that childlike spirit with a few spontaneous games between friends.