The "Lifting Up the World with a Oneness-Heart" program is a unique award that was offered by Sri Chinmoy to recognise individuals from all walks of life who had inspired and uplifted humanity. Sri Chinmoy lifted the recipients overhead either with one arm or both arms, using a specially constructed platform in a symbolic gesture of oneness with their uplifting achievements.
The programme began on 26th June 1988. The first person to be lifted was Mahamsarat Bill Pearl, a former Mr Universe and "World's Best-Built Man of the Century". Explaining his motivation for this programme, Sri Chinmoy said:
"I am trying to reach people in various walks of life who have inspired others — in sports, in literature, in science and in politics. Since they have inspired many people, I am trying with my limited capacity to encourage and inspire them. When someone does something great, he is cheered by his colleagues. They congratulate him. Here also I am trying to congratulate them with my prayerful meditation and inner oneness with them. I just lift them up to show my deepest appreciation of their achievements." (1)
Sri Chinmoy's initial goal was to lift 700 individuals. He achieved this on 3 November 1988, just a few months after beginning. Five days before the celebration of this first milestone, Sri Chinmoy remarked:
My immediate goal is to lift 700 individuals who have inspired mankind in all kinds of ways, in all walks of life. But my ultimate goal is to love God the Creator and serve God the creation sleeplessly and unconditionally until I breathe my last. (2)
Over the next 29 years, Sri Chinmoy would lift 8,300 people in this way. It included heads of state, senior diplomats, sportsmen and cultural figures, but also ordinary people who had made a contribution to making the world a better place.
A seated one-armed lift is one of the hardest weightlifting challenges as the arm needs to do most of the lifting. The feats of Sri Chinmoy lifting people heavier than his own bodyweight, are impressive in their own right. Sri Chinmoy was always keen to emphasise that the essence of "Lifting Up The World With a Oneness-Heart" was the feeling of oneness.
As you can see, I am not a bodybuilder; I am not a weightlifter. I do not have the muscle mass of a bodybuilder; I do not have the strength of a weightlifter. But I am a truth-seeker and a God-lover. I pray and meditate so that I can establish my oneness with each and every human being in the whole world. My lifting is all done on the strength of my heart's oneness with the world. I do this in the spirit of my soulful and devoted service to humanity.
Heads of State
From left to right.
President Nelson Mandela (South Africa, 9 March 1999)
President Ranasinghe Premadasa (Sri Lanka, 4 January 1990)
President Jorge E. Illueca of Panama - 21 July 1989
United Nations
From left to right.
Javier Pérez de Cuéllar, 5th Secretary General of the United Nations, 26 May 2005
Vladimir Petrovsky, Former Director-General of the United Nations in Geneva, 12 October 2002
Professor Ibrahim A. Gambari, Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations, 4 March 2002
Sport
From left to right.
Sudhahota Carl Lewis, Olympic champion - 10 September 2001.
Billie Jean King, tennis champion - 22 May 2003.
Tegla Laroupe, Marathon champion - 4 November 2004
Cultural/Music
From left to right.
Ravi Shankar, 20 September 2002
Susan Sarandon, 23 April 2003
Roberta Flack, 29 October 1988
Religious/spiritual figures
From left to right.
Cardinal Basil Hume, 19 October 1990
Rabbi Marc Gellman, 23 May 2001
Buddhist monk, 23 May 2001
Kind Words for Lifting Up The World With a Oneness-Heart
"I am very happy you are here. I feel deeply honoured to be a part of your worldwide organisation and to take part in this wonderful programme. I am happy this moment has come. Your powerful group carries an equally powerful message for the world."
PRESIDENT NELSON MANDELA
South Africa, March 9th, 1999 (The 2,000th person to be lifted by Sri Chinmoy)
"You spread the ideas of non-violence, tolerance and harmony among people. All of us are inhabitants of the same planet. We are members of one family. And you spread the idea of one family all over the world."
VLADIMIR PETROVSKY
Former Director-General of the United Nations in Geneva, October 12th, 2002 (The 5,000th person to be lifted by Sri Chinmoy)
"To be lifted once in a lifetime, I think, is good enough for most. To be lifted twice is an honour I cannot forget. I am overwhelmed. I want to thank Sri Chinmoy for this tremendous honour. By honouring me, you are honouring more than just me. You are honouring the town from which I come in Nigeria, the country from which I come, the continent from which I come, and the United Nations, where I work. Sri Chinmoy is a wonderful human being whom I am proud and privileged to know. There is no higher calling, no higher pursuit than peace. This is what Sri Chinmoy symbolises."
PROFESSOR IBRAHIM A. GAMBARI
Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations, Special Adviser to the Secretary-General on Africa, March 4th, 2002
"Who can imagine what Sri Chinmoy does! He does it through his spiritual strength, his power, putting his faith in God and understanding that anything can be achieved. I think it is a message that is strong to everyone about where to direct their attention or meditation and that they can achieve anything they set out to do."
SUDHAHOTA CARL LEWIS
9-time Olympic Gold Medallist in track and field, November 17th, 1999
"Sri Chinmoy has no one to look at and say that such things are impossible. The only thing he can do is to feel what is inside him. For Sri Chinmoy there are no limits to the human body. To get beyond that is a wonderful feeling, because no one else has ever done what he is doing. But just because no one else has done it does not mean that it is impossible. Sri Chinmoy is the proof. Sri Chinmoy is exposing the wonderful mystery of what we are. He is exposing capabilities that humans have never tapped before. He has placed aside all barriers. To overcome the difficulties and go beyond limitations is the sign of someone very great. No one has been where Sri Chinmoy is now. Sri Chinmoy is a pathfinder for humanity."
AL OERTER
4-time Olympic Gold Medallist in the discus, February 18th, 2000 (lifted with his wife Cathy)
"First Swami Vivekananda came to give India's spiritual wealth to the West. Then came Paramahansa Yogananda. Now Sri Chinmoy has come."
MAESTRO RAVI SHANKAR
Legendary Sitar Player, September 23rd, 2002
"Sri Chinmoy was in San Diego recently, so Christine and I went to see him. This was the first time Christine had met the Guru, and he lifted us together along with dozens of athletes in attendance. I was amazed at how his shoulders had grown and upper back had become wider from the overhead lifting. At 71 years of age, Sri Chinmoy continues to work out and lift more weight. I spoke a few words to the gathering before we left and got a standing ovation as I recited a stanza from a song I wrote about him years ago...Feeling very inspired afterwards, I was in high spirits all day."
FRANK ZANE
3-time Mr. Olympia, 3-time Mr. Universe, Mr. America, September 24th, 2002 (lifted with his wife Christine). Comments reprinted from the Autumn 2002 issue of his magazine Building the Body
"When Sri Chinmoy lifts, the feeling that you have starts from inside. It's a wonderful thing. It's as if you feel yourself being lifted by someone from inside first...Sri Chinmoy is trying to give people a chance to actually see the spirit. The way he does the lifts is with God's Power and Strength and Support."
ADDWITIYA ROBERTA FLACK
6-time Grammy Award-winning vocalist, July 29th, 2001
Helen Hunt on David Letterman
Stories about Lifting up the World With a Oneness-Heart
- Helen Hunt - A Private Interview - stories Sri Chinmoy Centre
Related
- Lifting Up The World With a Oneness-Heart at Sri Chinmoy.org
- Lifting Up The World With a Oneness-Heart at Sri Chinmoy Library
- Lifting Up The World With a Oneness-Heart at Sri Chinmoy Songs
Photo credits: Pulak, Dhanu, Maral, Adarini, Abakash