Video by Utpal Marshall
On March 3rd 1979, Sri Chinmoy completed his first marathon in Chico California in a time of 4:31:34. Each year since then, his students in New York and around the world have honoured him by running the 26-mile distance.

Video by Utpal Marshall
On March 3rd 1979, Sri Chinmoy completed his first marathon in Chico California in a time of 4:31:34. Each year since then, his students in New York and around the world have honoured him by running the 26-mile distance.
Sri Chinmoy delivers a lecture, entitled ‘Freedom’, at the University of Sherbrooke in Sherbrooke, QC, Canada.
Sri Chinmoy delivers a lecture, entitled ‘Purity’, at the University of Montreal in Montreal, QC, Canada.
Sri Chinmoy offers the opening meditation for Earth Day and delivers a talk, entitled ‘Mother Earth’, at Battery Park in New York, NY, USA.
Sri Chinmoy receives a letter of appreciation from Paul O’Dwyer, President of the City Council of New York, NY, USA.
Sri Chinmoy delivers a lecture, entitled ‘Lord, My Lord’, at the State University of New York in Farmingdale, NY, USA.
Sri Chinmoy first meets with Leonard Bernstein, composer and conductor, at the maestro’s home in New York, NY, USA.
Sri Chinmoy delivers a talk, entitled Because I Need’, at a memorial service for former Ambassador Allard Lowenstein held at the United Nations in New York.
Sri Chinmoy offers a Peace Concert in Palac Kultury, Warsaw, Poland.
Sri Chinmoy lifts 800 lbs., using a seated calf-raise, in Jamaica, NY, USA.
Sri Chinmoy lifts 11 people in Jamaica, NY, USA.
Sri Chinmoy receives the Heart of Albania, Heart of Georgia, Heart of Micronesia and Heart of St. Kitts Awards.
Bhutan is declared a Sri Chinmoy Peace-Blossom-Nation.
Following is an excerpt from a letter written March 21 by Paul O’Dwyer, President of the City Council of New York, reflecting back on his first meeting with Sri Chinmoy:
“I shall not easily forget the time Sri Chinmoy paid a call to my office. New York was in crisis at the time and [I] ... could think of nothing more irrelevant than a visit to a distraught City Hall of an Oriental man: a practitioner of meditation, a teacher, poet, writer, prophet and philosopher ...
“Yet, when he came into our emotional lives with his young disciples, the Office of the President of the City Council became transfixed. My incredulous staff, who had come out of sheer curiosity, stood enthralled when the young people sang with quiet spiritual commitment. For a brief moment, the atmosphere they had created and the simple reverence of Sri Chinmoy brought a peace and tranquillity to a place of turmoil. Many visitors have come and gone, but none made such a lasting impression.”
Published in Anahata Nada, May 1, 1977, Vol. 4 No. 4
Video by kedarvideo
Sri Chinmoy offers a Peace Concert in Palac Kultury, Warsaw, Poland.
Sri Chinmoy’s dedication of his Peace Concert in Poland to President Gorbachev:
Today’s Peace Concert I am most lovingly and most devotedly dedicating to President Gorbachev. He is the Himalayan Freedom-Peace-Seeker, Freedom-Peace-Lover and Freedom-Peace-Giver.
On July 11, 1988 he gave a most significant speech before the Polish Parliament. I wish to quote from his most encouraging, most illumining and most fulfilling utterance:
"To conclude, please allow me from this high platform to convey my best wishes to the workers of Poland and the whole Polish people. We wish you, dear friends, tremendous success in all your activities and initiatives which are aimed at the welfare of the people of Poland and the socialist renewal of your homeland."
Published in Sixty-one Gratitude-Blossoms from the World-Heart-Home-Garden
Sri Chinmoy offers the opening meditation for Earth Day and delivers a talk, entitled ‘Mother Earth’, at Battery Park in Manhattan, New York.
Another time in Fort Lauderdale I was out running. A beautiful six or seven-year-old child, wearing a necklace, came up to me and asked, “Master, can I run with you?”
I said, “Why not?”
I had been running at an eight or eight and a half minute pace. Now, very slowly I ran with her. We covered three blocks, and then she stopped near her house. She came from a respectable family. She was so happy and proud that I ran with her. She thanked me and gave me a broad smile.
Two days later, a little child, even younger than the other little girl, was on her way to school when I ran by quite fast. All of a sudden she said, “Mister!” There were no cars, but she wanted me to help her cross the street. So very slowly I walked across the street with her. I didn’t even need to hold her hand, because there was no traffic. As soon as we had crossed the street, she thanked me and entered into a little school.
Another day I went out to run for two hours. After I ran for about an hour and forty minutes, I got totally lost. It was raining. I said, “O God, where do I go? I don’t have any money.” Luckily, I remembered the apartment number and, with greatest difficulty, I even remembered the name of the street — Las Olas. I said, “This is the time for me to look for a taxi.”
I asked a lady where Las Olas Street was. I had to listen for at least five minutes while she explained which road to take and where I should turn. I didn’t understand her in spite of her five-minute explanation. I said, “All right, let me take this street.”
Then whom did I see running down the street? Savyasachi! I said, “How can it be?” I had run six or seven miles. He was staying only one mile away from where I had stopped running. He had just gone out for a short run, and he got great joy when he saw me. Then we ran together.
When I play tennis with Savyasachi, his standard always makes me laugh — not only inwardly but also outwardly. But when he runs with me, I feel that inwardly he is laughing at my standard.
As I was running the next day, a young man went ahead of me. Four men saw him run past. They said to me, “He is bragging. Don’t pay any attention.” The runner went four or five hundred metres ahead, while I continued slowly running. Then he stopped and began to walk. His bragging was over. I passed him. When I was returning from my run, he was still walking.
Another day I saw an old man running. I said, “If my speed has really increased, I will be able to pass him.” I came nearer, only to discover that the runner was a lady. I said, “Let me run according to my speed.” After two hundred metres, I turned around. O God, she was so far behind! I tell the disciples to have no competitive feeling, to compete only with themselves. Here I was competing with an old lady! Competition-blood will never leave me.
Published in Run and Become, Become and Run, part 5
Sri Chinmoy first meets with Leonard Bernstein, composer and conductor, at the maestro’s home in New York.
An inspirational talk at a memorial service for former Ambassador Allard Lowenstein held at the United Nations
Because I need God's Love,
God's Compassion saves me.Because I need God's Compassion,
God's Forgiveness illumines me.Because I need God's Forgiveness,
God's Satisfaction inspires me.Because I need God's Satisfaction,
God's Oneness liberates me.Because I need God's Oneness,
God gives me His Eternity's Boat,
His Infinity's Sea
And
His Immortality's Shore.Because I need God's Boat, God's Sea
And God's Shore,
God gives me two things that He loves most
In His entire creation:
A sleepless cry and a deathless smile.
Published in The Inner Role of the United Nations
A lecture by Sri Chinmoy
at the University of Sherbrooke, Canada
Dear sisters and brothers, we are all seekers seated in the same dream-boat. This dream-boat of ours shall take us to the Golden Shore. I wish to give a talk on freedom, from the spiritual point of view.
There is nobody who does not need freedom. At the same time, there is not a single person who has freedom in abundant measure. We are all seekers. We need freedom from ignorance, bondage and death. Now, our freedom is our conscious, constant and unconditional acceptance of the Will of our Inner Pilot. Our freedom is God's Heart of Compassion. Our freedom is the manifestation of His Will here on earth. Our freedom lies in our service and in our dedicated life.
We love; therefore we are free. How do we love? We love through our self-offering. Why do we love? We love because God, our Source, is all Love.
We serve; therefore we are free. How do we serve? We serve devotedly and unreservedly. Why do we serve? We serve precisely because we wish to expand our heart and heighten our life.
We are detached; therefore we are free. We are detached because of our awareness of the fact that we are not indispensable in anybody's life. We tried being attached to others, but we found that this attachment in no way relieved them from their sufferings; on the contrary, it only added to their ignorance-night.
But we do feel that there is someone who is indispensable, and that someone is the Inner Pilot. Our devotion to the supreme Inner Pilot is the thing of paramount importance in our life. On the physical plane some may see this as attachment, but on the spiritual plane all will know that it is devotion to the supreme Cause. When we pay all attention to the ignorance of the world, we call it attachment. But when we pay all attention to the Light within and above, we call it devotion. Since we are devoted to the Supreme, it is our bounden duty to inspire others to devote themselves to the same Inner Pilot if so He wills.
Here we are all seekers; we are all seekers of freedom-light. Once we become freedom-seekers, we know freedom represents our conscious satisfaction in a life of constant frustration. Although we are wedded to ignorance-night and constantly suffer from excruciating inner pangs, still we feel there is a streak of light in our life, and this light is our ever-growing, ever-expanding inner freedom.
Ignorance-night tells us that we are building castles in the air, that there is no abiding truth in our conception of Light, no reality in our feelings. Ignorance says that we are of night and we should be all the time for night. But our inner freedom tells us that today we are of God and for God, and that tomorrow God will make us future Gods. It tells us that God wants us to be equal to Him in every possible way. He feels that if we are an inch below Him, then He cannot manifest His Divinity, Eternity and Immortality to the fullest extent. Only when we are on the same footing as God can His divine Enjoyment reach the acme of perfection.
Freedom is the beauty of our aspiring heart.
Freedom is the duty of our devoted life.Our aspiring heart is the Dream-sky of God.
Our devoted life is the Reality-sun of God.With the Dream-sky of God, we pave an eternal road for our eternal journey to the ever-transcending Beyond.
With the Reality-sun of God, we grow into the very image of the Absolute Supreme.
Freedom is peace. Peace is an inner experience of our totality. Totality is the silence-sound and the sound-silence of Reality. When the sound-silence ascends, we realise our true Self. When the silence-sound descends, it is time for God-manifestation. We ascend with sound-silence, and that is our God-realisation. We descend with silence-sound, and that is our God-manifestation. Freedom is simplicity. Simplicity does not mean the absence of complexity; it in no way stands against complexity. Simplicity is our conscious acceptance of our own integrality. Freedom includes and it excludes. It excludes hunger from our human existence. It includes the divine feast that we constantly enjoy with the Lord Supreme in our divine existence.
Freedom is purity. Purity expedites our divine journey toward the transcendental Goal. It constantly, consciously and devotedly makes us feel what we are and what we are not. What we are is God's chosen children, seeking to manifest Him unconditionally in His own Way here on earth. What we are not is the chosen children of ignorance.
Freedom constantly reminds us that our Source is Light, and that our existence can therefore be nothing but a flood of Light. We realise the authenticity of this statement only when we dive deep within and feel the necessity of listening to the dictates of our inner being. Freedom reminds us of the supreme fact that our divine Source is eternal and our existence here on earth is going to be supremely divine. It is a matter of time. At God's choice Hour, today's imperfection is bound to blossom into tomorrow's perfect Perfection. The human in us feels that freedom is the fulfilment of our individuality. But when the human in us aspires, it comes to realise that this kind of freedom is nothing but earthbound individuality. The divine in us sees and feels that real freedom is the experience of universal reality or universality itself. As the ordinary person feels that his freedom is his individuality, the aspiring person feels that his freedom is his universality. And the Supreme in us feels that the real freedom lies in our all-embracing, all-illumining and all-fulfilling love for the world which is within us, which is without us, which is all-where.
We are all human beings. Most of the time we dwell in the world of hope. Hope is right now by far our best friend. When we hope for freedom, we know that it is our human friend, our human realisation, that is speaking within us. Hope for freedom is our human realisation. Promise for freedom is our divine realisation. Finally, our will for freedom, our adamantine will power, is our supreme realisation.
Freedom we need, precisely because the Inner Pilot within us wants us to be free, totally free from the meshes of ignorance. Only then can we sing, dance and play with Him in His garden of ever-blossoming, ever-illumining and ever-fulfilling Dream and Reality.
Published in My Maple Tree
The Earth Day Committee invites Sri Chinmoy to commence this year’s activities with a silent meditation and a short spiritual talk about planet earth — in Battery Park, Manhattan, New York
Mother Earth, Mother, we bow to you. We see you with our searching eyes. You see us, your children, with your glowing soul and flowing heart.
We love you with our heart’s feeble capacity. You love us with your life’s all-embracing reality.
Mother Earth, you are God’s Sacrifice-tree. You are God’s Realisation-flower. You are God’s Perfection-fruit.
You are beauty’s inspiration and duty’s aspiration. You are inspiring God’s entire creation to be beautiful, soulful and fruitful. You are aspiring in and through God’s universe for God-satisfaction in God’s own way.
God blesses you constantly with His universal Delight and His transcendental Pride because you teach your children that transformation of human nature and not extinction of human nature is God’s supreme choice.
God loves you most. Why? Because you love Him only. Because you suffer for Him only. Because you prosper for Him only. Because you have taught yourself that His choice is your choice, His voice is your voice. You have no choice of your own; you have no voice of your own. Your eternally and unconditionally surrendered oneness is your perfection-cry and God’s Satisfaction-Smile.
You are at once God’s silence-creation and sound-creation. With your sound-might you tell us, your children, how divinely great God is. With your silence-height you tell us, your children, how supremely good God is. You also tell us that God’s universal greatness we eventually will become and that God’s transcendental goodness we sempiternally are.
Mother Earth, powerfully you concentrate, soulfully you meditate and fruitfully you contemplate. In your concentration we see God the infinitesimal atom. In your meditation we see God the ever-expanding Infinity. In your contemplation we see God the Beloved Supreme. In the inner world you are God’s confidence in Himself. In the outer world, you are God’s assurance to Himself. God is your teacher. God is our teacher. He has taught you how to give unconditionally. He has taught us how to receive from you soulfully. The teacher says that you have done extremely well in the examination, while we have sadly failed. Therefore, Mother Earth, we congratulate you, we admire you, we adore you. Mother Earth, Mother, to you we bow and bow.
Published in AUM – Vol. 2, No. 3, 27 March 1975
A talk by Sri Chinmoy
at SUNY at Farmingdale, New York
“Lord, reform Thy world, beginning with me.” This is a prayer of a Chinese Christian, which President Roosevelt quoted at a press conference in 1941.
Lord, my Lord, I know. I know that my nature’s transformation is the answer to the world’s transformation.
Lord, my Lord, I know. I know that my heart’s purity and my life’s humility comprise my soul’s magnanimity.
Lord, my Lord, I know. I know that my love of You is my journey. I know that my surrender to You is my destination.
Lord, my Lord, I know. I know that in my desire-world I am the abyss of nothingness. I know that in my aspiration-world I am the sea of fulness.
Yesterday, my Lord, I came to You proudly and haughtily. Today, my Lord, I have come to You devotedly and unreservedly. Tomorrow, my Lord, I shall come to You soulfully and unconditionally.
Lord, my Lord, when I speak to the world about You, it is not my personal opinion. It is the revelation of my sweet oneness-relation with You.
Lord, my Lord, do make me see and feel that my heart’s perfection-cry has to be continued and transcended.
Lord, my Lord, do make me see and feel that my life’s satisfaction-smile has to be renewed daily and pursued.
Lord, my Lord.
Published in AUM – Vol. 5, No. 7, 8, July-August 1978