Love At First Sight!
A veteran devotee first met Pujya Gurudev Swami Chinmayananda in Bombay in December 1957, after the Mahasamadhi of Parama Guru Swami Tapovanji Maharaj. There were posters put up: Talks on Kenopanishad by Swami Chinmayananda of Uttarkashi.
His friends decided to attend the talks but the devotee felt that the Upanishads were not for him. He went on the second day but sat in the last row, so that he could quietly get away if he did not understand the talk.
But when Gurudev started talking, it was like a Niagara let loose! “The English was perfect. I regretted not sitting in the front It was love at first sight!” the devotee exclaims.
Before entering the text, Gurudev spoke for one week on “Why Religion”, analysing why buffalos have no religion and why only humans have religion. “He brought out the logic of spirituality so beautifully and systematically that even a person like me, without any background could understand it well. I would take down notes, trying to absorb all that he said, like a desert sand absorbing water.” he remembers fondly.