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Two weeks after I move to Westchester, I meet a suburban mom who tells me about an amazing meditation teacher in town I just have to meet. How appropriate — I could use a little centering since my move from the city. I went from stressing about walking through crowds of tourists on 42nd street to worrying about getting Lyme disease. I email Roger Elkrief and get a reply the same day. He would love to meet and show me what he does. Right on, or Namaste! That Saturday we connect. Roger is originally from Morocco, has dark hair and looks like a stern man in his 50′s. But when he begins to speak you realize he is gentle, nonjudgmental and completely soulful. My kinda suburban, I think! We first meet at the local cafe where everyone around us calls out to him, “Hey Roger! Great to see you!” Apparently, the local lawyer, dentist or maybe postman are all his students? Wow, this guy must be good, I hope. We head to his home office, which I realize is down the block from my new country home, and sit in cushioned chairs facing each other. He explains that there are no plans to actually meditate, sit in silence or even close our eyes. Instead, he teaches how to live in meditation. He explains, “We are meditation. That is our true nature — so I teach how to live life out of that place.” In a soothing voice he begins to share wise philosophies, ask questions and make comments that get me deeper in the moment with him in my chair, in his comfortable carpeted home office. I somehow start to get past the chatter in my mind and connect to the heart region on my body, where Roger explains lies the real me. And also lies some heartburn at the moment, I think. “The thoughts we have about ourselves aren’t really who we are. They only seem real because we all believe them. Our thoughts are illusions and the reason why people are lost is because they answer to them. You must have a shift in perception. Learn to see your life from the true self, which doesn’t judge and operates from love, rather than from your mind.” I breathe and again try to feel my stomach and heart area. Tingling, empty…hungry I sense. I watch the random thoughts in my head about how I want my coffee or that I should really be meditating. I peak around the room, making sure there’s no mat to sit on, Indian style. “Anytime you think you should do something, it’s coming from your mind/thoughts.” Wow, this man can see right through me and actually read my mind? I’m impressed. I catch photos of an Indian woman on his walls and ask how he became a “meditation” guru in Westchester. He explained that he used to be a control freak, know-it-all businessman who made lots of money, but wealth never made him happy. He even wrote about Happiness for newspapers, but never experienced the emotion. He then joined Est and was blown away and afterwards visited an Ashram called, Shri Muktananda, where he finally learned how to experience peace. Soon after, he sold his businesses moved near the Ashram and committed himself to studying with Gurumayi and Baba Muktananda. Yes, the more syllables in your name, the more holly you are, I think. After years of study, a whisper inside him told him that he must teach people what he learned: how to connect with your true self and find clarity. So one day in my little town of Hastings on Hudson eleven years ago, he put out fliers listing his services to see what would happen. That week, his phone started ringing, and he’s been busy being the local spiritual counselor ever since. After an hour of softly speaking with Roger, connecting, getting rooted, I felt like I had actually meditated for an hour. On my walk home, I felt that sense of peace he talked about. I like this idea of living your life with meditation. You still might find me in pretzel position — with my eyes closed — for a quick mediation fix. But Roger made me realize that stillness and your inner wisdom, is easy to access — even while hiking among the deer and ticks in the suburbs.
Two weeks after I move to Westchester, I meet a suburban mom who tells me about an amazing meditation teacher in town I just have to meet.
How appropriate — I could use a little centering since my move from the city. I went from stressing about walking through crowds of tourists on 42nd street to worrying about getting Lyme disease.
I email Roger Elkrief and get a reply the same day. He would love to meet and show me what he does. Right on, or Namaste!
That Saturday we connect. Roger is originally from Morocco, has dark hair and looks like a stern man in his 50′s. But when he begins to speak you realize he is gentle, nonjudgmental and completely soulful. My kinda suburban, I think!
We first meet at the local cafe where everyone around us calls out to him, “Hey Roger! Great to see you!” Apparently, the local lawyer, dentist or maybe postman are all his students? Wow, this guy must be good, I hope.
We head to his home office, which I realize is down the block from my new country home, and sit in cushioned chairs facing each other. He explains that there are no plans to actually meditate, sit in silence or even close our eyes. Instead, he teaches how to live in meditation. He explains, “We are meditation. That is our true nature — so I teach how to live life out of that place.”
In a soothing voice he begins to share wise philosophies, ask questions and make comments that get me deeper in the moment with him in my chair, in his comfortable carpeted home office. I somehow start to get past the chatter in my mind and connect to the heart region on my body, where Roger explains lies the real me. And also lies some heartburn at the moment, I think.
“The thoughts we have about ourselves aren’t really who we are. They only seem real because we all believe them. Our thoughts are illusions and the reason why people are lost is because they answer to them. You must have a shift in perception. Learn to see your life from the true self, which doesn’t judge and operates from love, rather than from your mind.”
I breathe and again try to feel my stomach and heart area. Tingling, empty…hungry I sense. I watch the random thoughts in my head about how I want my coffee or that I should really be meditating. I peak around the room, making sure there’s no mat to sit on, Indian style.
“Anytime you think you should do something, it’s coming from your mind/thoughts.” Wow, this man can see right through me and actually read my mind? I’m impressed.
I catch photos of an Indian woman on his walls and ask how he became a “meditation” guru in Westchester. He explained that he used to be a control freak, know-it-all businessman who made lots of money, but wealth never made him happy. He even wrote about Happiness for newspapers, but never experienced the emotion. He then joined Est and was blown away and afterwards visited an Ashram called, Shri Muktananda, where he finally learned how to experience peace. Soon after, he sold his businesses moved near the Ashram and committed himself to studying with Gurumayi and Baba Muktananda. Yes, the more syllables in your name, the more holly you are, I think.
After years of study, a whisper inside him told him that he must teach people what he learned: how to connect with your true self and find clarity. So one day in my little town of Hastings on Hudson eleven years ago, he put out fliers listing his services to see what would happen. That week, his phone started ringing, and he’s been busy being the local spiritual counselor ever since.
After an hour of softly speaking with Roger, connecting, getting rooted, I felt like I had actually meditated for an hour. On my walk home, I felt that sense of peace he talked about.
I like this idea of living your life with meditation. You still might find me in pretzel position — with my eyes closed — for a quick mediation fix. But Roger made me realize that stillness and your inner wisdom, is easy to access — even while hiking among the deer and ticks in the suburbs.
