Sumangali Morhall's Blog, page 2

The Cheerful Loser

My running life has had a chequered past. I know I’m not alone in having detested cross-country at school, but that’s no true prediction of one’s relationship with the sport anyway. Who wants to be clambering through mud and weeds in the dead of winter, clad only in shorts and a polo shirt? Very few. A sadistic glint in the eye of our games mistress was never more apparent than on those frosty and overcast days. Only the heart can heal such misadventure, and inspire one to try again in later...

Why do I meditate (and why do I write)?

[image error] It is often said that while meditation is simple, it may not be easy. In a growing culture of ever-quicker fixes, those new to meditation are prone to giving up early, convinced they lack the aptitude. In truth, few take to it naturally right away. It is the effort, the direction, the giving of priority, of time, of space, which are pivotal. One cannot sow a seed and force its growth in the space of a day. Even a good meditation cannot be measured like a waistline or a golf score. One may not...

Laosen Does the Impossible

Based on the story by Sri Chinmoy
Laosen does the impossible. Performed for students of Sri Chinmoy on a winter retreat, January 1st 2017.

CAST

Sun God
Karnasen
Ranjabati
Laosen
Gaur
Kripan

SCENE 1

[Enter Sun god from East, exit West]

[Enter Karnasen]

KARNASEN:
I am Karnasen, although perhaps you doubt my word.
This figure may not tally with the stories you have heard
from years long past, now lost within the annals of my youth.
Yes, I am Karnasen – it has turned out a heavy truth –
while I...

The Best Spiritual Memoirs

(…in my subjective opinion). This is a work in progress – I hope to collect more spiritual memoirs and autobiographies here as I read them, and write more on the ones I found the best. Do leave me your own recommendations in the comments, as I’m always looking out for more. Although my reading is somewhat skewed towards the Indian tradition – because that’s the basis of my own spiritual path – I enjoy sincere spiritual writing from any background.

Twelve Years with Sri Aurobindo

Nirodbaran

I...

Agnikana’s Group in York

We were very fortunate to welcome Agnikana’s Group to York on October 27th, for a concert entitled ‘Music for Inner Peace’, at the De Grey Rooms.

The music group is based in the Czech Republic, with members also from Slovakia, Switzerland, Austria and Canada. They perform solely the music of Sri Chinmoy, and have toured many countries across the world. The concert was part of their autumn tour of the UK and Ireland.

With a range of instruments – including the Indian harmonium, guitar, concert...

Borrowdale

The lone lamenting of an owl
kept me from my sleep –
that and a deep silence
foreign and exotic to my ear.
I stood inside the open door
by marsh and brush
to gaze out on a nightscape
free of any human sign.
The far off fells were as yet
rough charcoal sketches.
Wind funnelled up Borrowdale,
bending dry autumn grass
that glowed in the starlight.
Above me they hung
cold and mysterious:
my old friend the Plough
and all her pale neighbours
and all the bright emptiness
that had often brought me pe...

Revelations of Divine Love

I’m currently reading Revelations of Divine Love, by Julian of Norwich (1373). Nobody knows Julian’s real name or where she began, and most other details are based on conjecture. But we do know she wrote some of the greatest prose of her time, and was even the first woman to write a book in English (as far as anyone can tell). What fascinates me particularly is that the book opens as a spiritual memoir– a genre very close to my heart.

I confess the above is not a picture of Julian. We don’t k...

For the Love of Blighty

It was early on a summer Sunday I took myself walking through small enclaves of meadow and marsh, pondering how my love of England has grown as I’ve grown –from the petty resentment and boredom of teenhood where everything disappoints, to the middle of life with twenty years’ spiritual practice behind me. From this point, so much can be seen as rich with promise and inner charm.

Since finding ‘home’ in a spiritual community, not only have I lost the urge to run away (to just about anywhere) f...

The Mystery Plays

Since the Mystery Plays chart the story from Creation to Last Judgement, there is only God at the beginning – God with a Yorkshire accent. There’s a certain kindliness, a kind of certainty to a Yorkshire God –you’d probably know where you are with Him. He’d be firm but fair. “Ah, merciful Maker, full mickle is Thy Might,” speaks the first seraphim, as the planets and realms are made. All angels rise and Lucifer falls. Christ is born on earth.

It’s only the second time in 700 years the Mystery...

Fountains Abbey

It was here before, just so –
the long straight avenue
between luxurious chestnut trees
and families of deer browsing
up to the Burges church
festooned with gilded angels
and parrot-coloured windows.
But was it I who walked it
with a teen heart full of frights
and a head of broken melodies?

It was there, just so –
the old tearoom staring out
to that lake shore reflecting
its hazy woodland double.
The jackdaws with grey buzzcuts
and blue marble eyes
still scratch for crumbs of baking
under ter...