e-and-a-half hours a day,
tried to see, organized poster teams, attended Atmananda's talks, and
immersed myself each day in water over my head. I felt so good about
my life and the community I was helping to build that it seemed like I
was living in paradise.

7. Money Mantra

Arriving carless in California, Atmananda thought about continuing his
career as a college professor. He thought about writing another book.
He even considered going to law school. Instead, he expanded the Money
Club.

The Money Club had started in New York when Atmananda began collecting
from Stony Brook disciples. We voluntarily gave a few dollars a month
to offset the cost of the posters.

In San Diego, he raised membership dues to four or so dollars a week.
Rachel, who took out loans to help the San Diego Chinmoy Centre get
started, gave much more. As The Centre rapidly grew, so did the
numbers in Atmananda's club.

"Seekers used to live in monasteries and in caves," Atmananda taught at
Centre meetings. "But Guru recommends that instead, we live in a city.
This gives us the opportunity to strengthen our psychic defenses and to
better serve humanity. In order to live in the world, particularly as
your consciousness evolves and as the vibrations of the world grow
darker, you will need money."

Most of the new disciples, though, were UCSD undergraduates; when
Atmananda explained the etiquette of selfless giving--"You can give in
the right way or you can give in the wrong way"--many of us wondered
how we could give in any way.

But Atmananda had an idea. He suggested that we take out student loans
for more than we actually needed.

"You can then donate the extra amount to a worthy cause," he pointed
out. "To a genuine spiritual centre, for instance."

It was no coincidence that the Centre's finances improved significantly
after banks issued checks for guaranteed student loans.

Atmananda had another idea.

"Accepting money from your parents is the spiritual thing to do. Why
not give your parents the opportunity to help? Why shouldn't they be
given the opportunity to make spiritual progress?"

He even devised a way that we could earn money.

"Why work for five dollars an hour when you could be making twenty?
Work is not supposed to be fun. Believe me, they would not be paying
you if it was. Unless you already have a career that you are happy
with, you should study computer science.

"Most of you developed so