My name is Smarana and I work together with students of Sri Chinmoy in a gift store in Vienna, called Sewa. It is rather a big gift store in Vienna’s busiest shopping street, the Mariahilfer Strasse, with up to a few thousand customers per day.

Truth to tell, I never had anything to do with business life and now here I am the manager, right in the hustle and bustle of a store in Vienna. We sell dignified gifts, crystals, spiritual books, household goods, sweets - in a spiritual atmosphere with spiritual music.

The idea of working together with people who meditate, and are consciously working on transforming their lives for a more peaceful and harmonious coexistence on earth thrilled me.
Where else would I get such an opportunity, to join forces with spiritual adepts that are living in the world, right in the whirlpool of Vienna, accepting the challenge of life and consciously striving for a higher goal.

Once Sri Chinmoy was asked to describe his way of living in one sentence, and the first part was, “The Acceptance of life for the Transformation of life…”. Gone are the days of retreat in a cave and the chill of peace in a secluded area. Take life by its horns, deal with the obstacles ahead, transcend them and blow the conch in the earthly battlefield.

Once a worker - a student of Sri Chinmoy's - asked Sri Chinmoy in the store, “What is the  best way to offer something to a customer from our spiritual life?” Sri Chinmoy replied,” Give him a sincere smile.”

Everything that we are doing can be a part of our sadhana, can be a prayer to God,  the inner attitude always makes the difference. Just remember the last time a child gave you a heartfelt smile, how immediately you felt your own heart respond and widen.

I did not want to create the impression that all the workers are already saints. We all have our rough edges and we will have to rub against each other to smoothen our corners, but there is always an underlying understanding, that is helping us to overcome issues and progress one step further. If we see it from the psychological point of few, then we can say that others are like mirrors for us. If we have a problem with him or her, we can rest assured, that there is something for us to have a closer look at. Whatever happens to us in the outer world, we always have to be grateful to others, for they help us to understand ourselves better. It is in our hands to consider a glass half empty or half full.

 Gratitude carries the message of Immortality
 
And enters into God's Heart
 To see God's universal Satisfaction-Smile.

Sri Chinmoy