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 inaugurates a new ‘divine enterprise’ on Parsons Blvd. in Jamaica, New York, USA. He gives it the name, Guru Health Foods.
Sri Chinmoy delivers a lecture, entitled ‘The Inner Experience of Power’, at St. Paul’s Chapel, Columbia University, in New York, NY, USA.
Sri Chinmoy meets with Juan Albors, Secretary of State of Puerto Rico, at the Jharna-Kala Gallery, at 224 Mercer St. in New York City, NY, USA.
Sri Chinmoy delivers a lecture, entitled ‘Music’, at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, PA, USA.
Sri Chinmoy completes 43,000 Soul-Birds since he began drawing them on December 29th, 1991. He gives the name ‘Eternity’s 13,000 Aspiration-Cries’ to the collection of 13,000 artworks (nos. 30,001–43,000).
Sri Chinmoy achieves a standing vertical jump of 33 inches, at his home in Jamaica, New York, NY, USA.
Sri Chinmoy leads a silent prayer at the ‘Interfaith Service of Commitment to the Work of the United Nations’, honouring UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and Mrs. Nane Annan, at St. Bartholomew’s Church in New York City, New York, USA.
Sri Chinmoy lifts 12 members of ‘The International Center For Peace, Assisi, Italy’, in Jamaica, NY, USA.
Sri Chinmoy meditates at the Jharna-Kala Galery in Mercer Street, Greenwich Village, New York.
Sri Chinmoy completes 43,000 Soul-Birds since he began drawing them on December 29th, 1991. He gives the name ‘Eternity’s 13,000 Aspiration-Cries’ to the collection of 13,000 artworks (nos. 30,001–43,000).
At age 67 Sri Chinmoy is lifting simultaneously with each arm 200 pounds — in each arm 40 pounds more than his bodyweight.
New York — 25, April. The international well-known Bengal meditation teacher Sri Chinmoy based in New York has shown with a feat of strength, that age is no barrier, if one has access to the source of power through meditation. That amazed even the experts. In 1988 Sri Chinmoy had tried to lift 160 pounds with each arm simultaneously in a similar feat of strength. At that time he failed and was able to lift only one dumbbell up about 1/2 inch high. Now eleven years later at the age of 67, he lifted with each arm simultaneously dumbbells of 200 pounds -his own bodyweight of 160 pounds plus 40 pounds with each arm — from a rack at the height of his shoulders. Mr. Franco Columbu, two-time Mr. Olympia, stated, “No one else alive today can lift such phenomenal weights. Sri Chinmoy’s mind and spirit are very, very powerful!”
When he had lifted the total weight of 400 pounds up more than 4 inches high after two hours of intense meditation and warm-up exercises, Sri Chinmoy stated: “God wants to show the world what He can do even with a fragile human body.” Since March 22nd of this year Sri Chinmoy has lifted up the two weights thirty-eight times. Sri Chinmoy’s motivation for such performances is to inspire other people to acquire inner peace, joy as well as inner and outer power by prayer and meditation.
“It is because of my prayer-life and meditation-life that I am able to accomplish these feats of strength. Everybody can get inner strength from prayer and meditation. ... This inner power will give us peace. This inner peace in the individual is the base for a true and lasting world peace.
“Because individuals inspire groups, groups inspire nations and a nation can also inspire the other nations to live peacefully and in oneness with whole humanity.”
Sri Chinmoy also uses his strength to honour the work of other people. In Pretoria Sri Chinmoy met President Nelson Mandela and honoured him with the Lifting Up the World with a Oneness-Heart award, lifting the President overhead with one arm from a honorary platform. Sri Chinmoy has honoured already 2000 individuals from all walks of life with this price for uplifting the standard of humanity.
Sri Chinmoy is well-known through many initiatives in Europe. With these initiatives he has promoted world peace in the last 34 years. Among these are 90 Peace Concerts in Europe and the Global Peace Run. Since 1987 during the Peace Run several millions of people passed Peace Torches from hand to hand on all seven continents. On the occasion of the turn of the millennium in 1999 the Peace Run will follow a route of 20,000 km through all European countries on every day.
For his tireless and selfless efforts for peace Sri Chinmoy was honoured with the Nehru Medallion of UNESCO, Paris in 1995 among other awards.
Published in Die andere Realität, 4/1999, page 3
Sri Chinmoy plays the esraj at the Jharna-Kala Galery in Mercer Street, Greenwich Village, New York.
A lecture by Sri Chinmoy
at the University of Pennsylvania
Music is Eternity’s aspiration. Music is Infinity’s perfection. Music is Immortality’s satisfaction. Aspiration is earth’s birthright. Perfection is Heaven’s birthright. Satisfaction is God’s Vision-Delight.
The animal music, the human music and the divine music. The animal music frightens the human music and deliberately ignores the divine music. The human music is unfortunately tempted by the animal music and has no access to the divine music. The divine music is always eager to purify the breath of the animal music and illumine the life of the human music.
The sound-music and the silence-music. The sound-music prepares the seeker-musician to be part and parcel of the vastness of the universal sky. The silence-music prepares the seeker-musician to drink deep the nectar-delight of the transcendental Sun. As there are two kinds of music — silence-music and sound-music — even so there are two kinds of musicians: musicians with genius and musicians with talent. Once a young student went to the great composer Mozart and asked Mozart to teach him how to write a concerto. The great composer told him to wait for a few more years before attempting to write a concerto. The young student reminded the great musician that he had been only eight or nine when he started composing such marvelous pieces. Mozart replied that when he was a child, he didn’t have to go to anyone for advice. Since the young student needed to ask someone else how to write a concerto, Mozart’s advice was for him to wait a few years. So here we see the difference between a musician with boundless genius and a musician with ordinary talent.
The sound-music we can produce if we have great talent. But for the silence-music, this is not enough. The seeker has to be able to dive deep within if he wants to compose silence-music on the tablet of his heart. For this he has to be totally consecrated to the inner life, the life of aspiration, the life of boundless peace, light and bliss. God is the Supreme Musician. He plays His Music sleeplessly, blessingfully and in a soul-stirring way. His Music awakens us and elevates us. Two kinds of music-lovers He has created. One kind will try to study and understand music, most of the time on a mental level. These music-lovers enjoy music in a mental way. Again, there are some seekers who have no musical training, but they seek the music that is deep within. They enjoy music in a psychic way. The music that they hear at times far surpasses the music that others study.
When a seeker-singer sings soulfully, he immediately feels that he is immortal, or at least that he is going to stay on earth for many, many years. Again, when the same seeker-singer starts thinking teeming thoughts, the world of multifarious activities and problems enters into his mind and weakens it. At that time he sees that his death is fast approaching. So when he sings soulfully, he feels that he has become one with Immortality. When he thinks, he feels he is doomed.
A seeker-singer feels that if he has no music, his heart is soulless. If he has no music, his life is useless. If he has no music, his goal is worthless. Why, why, why? Because music is the oneness-aspiration of humanity. Oneness without a soulful melody is blind, deaf and useless. Again, a melody without fruitful oneness is just a body without a soul. Without oneness-aspiration, humanity can never achieve perfection. Without perfection, satisfaction will always remain a far cry. If there is no satisfaction, then life can have no value whatsoever. It is for satisfaction that we aspire. It is for satisfaction that we try to perfect ourselves. Satisfaction is the only reality-existence that both God and man need. Soulful music not only has the answer, but is the answer to this need.
Our senses are restless. Therefore, our mind suffers. Our mind is doubtful. Therefore, our senses suffer. The mind has no capacity to bind or discipline the senses. Here music comes to the mind’s rescue. With the help of music, the mind binds and disciplines the senses and makes them into perfect instruments so they can be inundated with peace, light and bliss from above.
Again, when the mind is doubtful, when the mind drinks deep of doubt-poison, the senses have no capacity to inject faith into the mind. Here also music comes to the rescue. The senses take help from music to transform and illumine themselves. When the senses are calm and quiet, the doubtful mind is totally transformed and it becomes inseparably one with the heart, which is all receptivity. At that time our Inner Pilot — the Supreme Musician — can manifest Himself blessingfully, powerfully and measurelessly. As He is manifesting Himself in and through us, the divine music becomes part and parcel of our existence and we grow into perfect Perfection. In and through us the Supreme Musician creates a new world. We become the divine music, and a new vision of God’s transcendental Reality operates in and through us.
Each seeker is a singer and also a musician, for each seeker is a God-lover and Truth-server. He who loves God and serves Truth is undoubtedly a singer and a musician in God’s Heart. One who is a God-lover and a Truth-server has already established his oneness with his Inner Pilot. And this oneness, this inseparable oneness, is nothing other than the all-elevating, all-illumining and all-energising Music of our Beloved Supreme, who is eternally the Musician Supreme.
Published in Sound and Silence, part 2
by Sri Chinmoy
Today I took predictions from the children singers and others on what I will be lifting with two arms by the time my birthday arrives on August 27th.
Most of the little girls said 270 pounds, but one girl is the best. She predicted I will lift 330 pounds in each arm. Savyasachi said 230, and Mridanga and Dhanu both said 300. Then Pranika had to come and say 550 pounds. Where did she get that figure?
Published in A Mystic Journey in the Weightlifting World, part 3
A talk by Sri Chinmoy
to his students at Aspiration-Ground in Jamaica, New York
Please try various methods to inspire seekers, including running races and also swimming races. In Australia, Switzerland and a few other countries, our disciples have swimming races. If you have a swimming pool, you can have races of 100 metres or 400 metres or one mile. You can rent a swimming pool for a day.
Do you not swim? I want you to swim in the sea of light! You have joined the spiritual path, so you are not swimming any more in the sea of ignorance. Now you are supposed to swim every day, every hour in the sea of light!
Easily you can have short-distance races in a swimming pool. You can have races for different types of swimming strokes.
Cycle races I do not advise, because accidents can take place. But there will be no problem with swimming. I would like to hear from you that you will have swimming races. Swimming, swimming!
Published in The Temple and the Shrine
Dear Sri Chinmoy,
Thank you very much indeed for your second letter of 21 April.
My schedule for the month of May is now firm, and I am very happy to be able to tell you that I will be present at the performance of Siddhartha becomes the Buddha on the evening of Friday, 25 May in White Plains.
I am eagerly looking forward to the occasion.
With my warm esteem,
— U Thant
Published in U Thant: Divinity's Smile, Humanity's Cry
Sri Chinmoy honours with Juan Albors, Secretary of State of Puerto Rico, at the Jharna-Kala Gallery, at 224 Mercer St. in New York City.
by Sri Chinmoy
while in residence at the Sri Aurobindo Ashram in Pondicherry, India
I said to him: "Nolini-da, the American ladies were extremely grateful to you for the books. They also asked me to tell you that your Bengali handwriting looks like English music notation."
He smiled and said: "Is that so? Then I must start composing songs."
Published in A Service-Flame and a Service-Sun
A lecture by Sri Chinmoy
at St. Paul’s Chapel, Columbia University, New York
Veni, Vidi, Vici. "I came, I saw, I conquered." Julius Caesar had the outer experience of human power. Krishna, the Buddha and the Christ had the inner experience of divine Power. Krishna embodied, revealed and manifested the Power of Love-Light. The Buddha embodied, revealed and manifested the Power of Compassion-Height. The Christ embodied, revealed and manifested the Power of Salvation-Delight.
The outer experience of power with and in the physical is potent. But the inner experience of Power with and in the soul is omnipotent. The outer experience of power is self-styled authority. The inner experience of Power is God-ordained Duty.
The inner experience of Power
is God’s Forgiveness.The inner experience of Power
is God’s Compassion.The inner experience of Power
is God’s Patience.The inner experience of Power
is God’s Assurance.The inner experience of Power
is God’s Pride.God uses His Forgiveness-Power to illumine the impure human body. God uses His Compassion-Power to illumine the aggressive human vital. God uses His Patience-Power to illumine the restless human mind. God uses His Assurance-Power to illumine the insecure human heart. God uses His Pride-Power to illumine the aspiring human soul.
Human power comes into existence from self-effort, time and patience. Divine Power comes into existence from God’s unconditional and limitless Grace. Human power plays with doubt-power, jealousy-power and ingratitude-power. Divine Power plays with faith-power, love-power and oneness-power.
The moment we use human power in a human way we see in ourselves the human death. The moment we use divine Power in a divine way we see in ourselves the birth of the Divine.
The inner experience of Truth tells us that human power needs constant divine direction. The inner experience of Truth tells us that divine Power needs constant human participation.
The transformation of the seeker’s personality starts taking place the moment the seeker has some inner experience of Power. This is the transformation of his finite existence into the infinite Existence. This is the transformation of his earthbound time into the Time eternal. His personality becomes God's manifested divine Individuality, and it carries the message of God’s illumining Unity into His fulfilling diversity and multiplicity.
Published in Promised Light from the Beyond