A Precious Morning

On the way to Jamaica High School I saw a man about my age wearing a suit. He looked like a perfect gentleman, and he had a briefcase in his hand. As soon as I crossed the street and ran past him, he gave me a very, very broad smile.

You know I may be miserly in other fields, but not in offering smiles. So I also gave him a very broad smile, but I didn't stop running.

All of a sudden I heard someone running behind me. I turned around and saw the same gentleman running after me. This time he was almost shaking with a kind of reverential awe.

"Are you Sri Chinmoy?" he asked. Usually I can't speak when I run. It takes time for me to catch my breath. So I just looked at him and again gave him a very good smile.

Then he said, "What a precious man and what a precious morning!" I continued running. When I had covered another ten metres, I turned around and I saw him still standing there, looking at me.
 
-21 July 1979
 

[Source: "A Precious Morning" in Sri Chinmoy, Run and Become, Become and Run, Part 1, Agni Press, Jamaica, New York, 1979.]