Sri Chinmoy (no. 7105) running in the New York City Marathon. Quite a few hundred of Sri Chinmoy’s students either run or help out at the event.
Sri Chinmoy meets with champion New Zealand runner Allison Roe at Progress-Promise in Jamaica, Queens, the day after she won the women’s division of the New York City Marathon.
Sri Chinmoy finishes the New York City Marathon in an official time of 4:36:20 in New York, NY, USA.
Sri Chinmoy lifts a steamroller weighing 605lb.
Sri Chinmoy meets Miki Gorman women's winner of the New York Marathon in 1976 and 1977.
Sri Chinmoy at an early morning meditation with his students — many of whom will be running the New York City Marathon the next day — at the tennis court adjacent to Jamaica High School track in Jamaica Queens, New York.
Sri Chinmoy lifts an elephant, aeroplane and seaplane in the Long Island environs, New York.
This morning it was only a matter of seconds for me to lift the elephant, but how long the preparation took! I needed a half hour to warm up at home and then another half hour at the court. So it took one hour of preparation for a 10-second lift.
Before the lift, Cahit, our champion-runner-friend, was worrying about whether I had a weightlifting belt. So I showed him that I was wearing it. Then I showed off for him. I did 1,000 pounds on my calf raise machine ten times easily. Then I did 1,200 pounds 12 times. He was so amazed; he didn’t dare to try. — Sri Chinmoy
Published in My Weightlifting Tears and Smiles, part 2
Some people from the neighbourhood came to see me lift the elephant in Queens after hearing about it on the radio, but by the time they came, it was all over. It is like the 100-metre dash: the preparation goes on for years, and then in a few seconds it is finished. — Sri Chinmoy
Published in My Weightlifting Tears and Smiles, part 2
Today I lifted a seaplane with its owner, Bart Spedaro, and four other people inside. Afterwards, the owner of the plane was so happy. He shook my hand and told me, “I've been flying for 45 years and that was the first time I ever got off the ground that way in my life.” — Sri Chinmoy
Published in My Weightlifting Tears and Smiles, part 2
Sri Chinmoy visits three-time Mr. Olympia and three-time Mr. Universe Frank Zane at his home in Palm Springs and lifts him overhead as part of his “Lifting Up the World with a Oneness-Heart” programme. Some extracts from their conversation follow.
Sri Chinmoy: Yesterday I lifted Clarence Clemons, the “Big Man.” He was 270 pounds. Then with the lifting apparatus, it became 283 pounds.
Frank Zane: You’ll have an easy time with me! I won’t be a problem.
Sri Chinmoy: Yesterday it was my personal record. Before that, my record was 263 pounds. That was in Germany. I lifted the great German champion Peter Hensel. I believe that he was also Mr. Universe a few years ago.
Frank Zane: Peter Hensel? He was just in the Mr. Olympia.
Sri Chinmoy: When he saw my students praying while I was lifting, he got the inspiration to pray to God to make him light so that I could lift him. His heart came to the fore.
Frank Zane: That’s smart! Sri Chinmoy, it is so good to have you in Palm Springs. Would you like to do the lift now?
Sri Chinmoy: Yes, it will only take a few minutes. So far I have lifted 482 people.
Frank Zane: 482 people? That’s very uplifting!
[Sri Chinmoy does some warm-up exercises.]
Frank Zane: If we had time, I could show you some good exercises for biceps. You have a nice form.
[Frank Zane goes up to the lifting platform and the singers sing a special song which Sri Chinmoy has composed in his honour.]
Sri Chinmoy: You have been three times Mr. Olympia. So it is my wish and desire and privilege to try to lift you three times — left, right, left.
[Sri Chinmoy lifts Frank Zane three times using alternate hands. The total weight, with the lifting apparatus, is 199 pounds.]
Sri Chinmoy: Now I shall do one more because you are a genuine follower of Zen Buddhism. You have great fondness, heart’s fondness, for the Zen type of meditation. So I am bowing to the Zen Masters of the hoary past and present. You have the blessings of the Zen Masters and also the blessings of our Indian Lord Shiva. According to Indian philosophy, each individual is connected with a particular Cosmic God. I see and feel that you are connected with Lord Shiva. So I am bowing down to the Lord Shiva in you and to the Zen Masters of the hoary past and present. This lift is in honour of them.
[Sri Chinmoy lifts Frank Zane one more time and then presents him with a trophy.]
Frank Zane: I’ll put this up in my gym right now. I think we had some help from Lord Buddha and Shiva on the last lift!
[Frank Zane takes Sri Chinmoy on a tour of his personal gym and shows him some bicep exercises.]
Sri Chinmoy: (Joking) I am too old!
Frank Zane: How old is too old?
Sri Chinmoy: I am 57. Although I spend three hours per day lifting weights, my muscles are not getting any bigger!
Frank Zane: (Joking) I think I’m too old, too, Sri Chinmoy!
Sri Chinmoy: I am so grateful to you for inviting me here, so grateful.
Frank Zane: It is so good to see you. I’m glad we could do this. Do you take all this equipment when you travel?
Sri Chinmoy: Yes. Earlier this month I was in Germany. There I lifted many people, including Peter Hensel and another Mr. Universe, Tony Pearson. Soon I shall go to Seattle to lift University professors. I lift people who have inspired others on the physical plane the vital plane, the mental plane and the psychic plane — all walks of life.
Frank Zane: It is so good — it’s uniting everybody, it’s spreading the message. I like it that now you are lifting with both hands. You are doing the lift with your left and your right.
Sri Chinmoy: I have also lifted 150 pounds with both hands simultaneously.
Frank Zane: Well, stay healthy. As long as you warm up and don’t get hurt, it’s all right.
Sri Chinmoy: In the morning I take exercise for over three hours. I do lots of stretching exercises, all kinds of exercises. When I lift individuals, for ten minutes I do warm-up exercises. That is enough for me. And every morning I practise lifting 300 pounds. I do it three times with my left hand and three times with my right hand. That way I build up confidence. The day I lifted up Clarence Clemons I had inner confidence because every day I do 300 pounds.
Frank Zane: So any time you do less than 300 pounds, it is easy because you already know you can do it!
Sri Chinmoy: It is my daily practice. When I do full extension, where I extend my elbow to the fullest extent, I do 300 pounds. Otherwise, if I just have to lift the weight a few inches, I can do more.
Frank Zane: The hardest part is the initial lift. Sri Chinmoy, I am very happy that you came. I wrote to you one time that it was my dream that you would come here.
Sri Chinmoy: You have inspired thousands of people in your own country and abroad, so I am trying to be of service to you. You inspire others and I am trying to give you joy. In that way I get joy. So this is our mutual happiness. While I am offering you joy because you have done something great, I am also getting joy. This is our oneness-heart — we give and receive at the same time.
Frank Zane: You are doing a great job. Everybody knows you now, the strength community and the bodybuilding community. The word is out. It’s great!
Sri Chinmoy: Previously there were many people who doubted that I could lift such heavy weights. But when they see the human figures that I lift, they are more inclined to believe it.
Frank Zane: People can relate to the body. People know how much the human body weighs. Thank you, Sri Chinmoy.
Sri Chinmoy: Thank you. Please call on me when you come to New York.
Frank Zane: I will!
Published in Aspiration-Body, Illumination-Soul, part 3
The great ultra distance runner Marcy Schwam visits Annam Brahma restaurant to give a talk on ultradistance running and answer questions. She is honoured by Sri Chinmoy for sharing her pioneering achievements in the field of ultradistance running.
A month later Schwam would set records in the Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team's first 24 hour race
Sri Chinmoy presents prizes at the end of the Sri Chinmoy 700, 1000, 1300 Mile Races.
Sri Chinmoy runs a solo time trial for the 100 metres in a time of 17.40 seconds on a track in Yverdon-les-Bains, Switzerland.
by Sri Chinmoy
Today I lifted 200 pounds with one arm for the first time since I resumed my weightlifting just a few days ago. First I lifted it with my right arm and then with my left arm. For some reason, my mind was telling me that it had not gone high at all and so I lifted it two more times with each arm. If I had known that it had gone so high the first time, I would not have killed myself by lifting again.
I am more than satisfied with this lift. My right arm is out, and the height of the lift is very good. Today I am 144 pounds and so this is 56 pounds over my bodyweight.
I first lifted 200 pounds with one arm on March 6th, 1986 — almost twelve years ago. At that time I was 157 pounds. Then I took rest from weightlifting for more than nine years. Now God wants me to enter into the weightlifting field once again.
Published in A Mystic Journey in the Weightlifting World, part 2
Sri Chinmoy lifts 3 motorcycles, 2 Mounties on horseback, and a helicopter using the standard calf raise in New York and New Jersey environs, USA.
At Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, New York
I am a student of peace, and I feel this is one of the ways to offer peace to the world at large. I am a man of prayer and meditation, and from my prayer and meditation, I got this inspiration to be of service to mankind. I feel that while running we are able to offer our very best to establish a world of peace.
Athletes derive tremendous benefits from these races. They go beyond their capacities. In order to make oneself happy, one has to go always beyond and beyond and beyond one’s capacities. So here, while running, each runner is getting a very special opportunity to go beyond his or her capacities. Self-transcendence is the only thing a human being needs in order to be truly happy. So these races help the runners tremendously, although outwardly they go through such hardship. Eventually, when the race is over, they feel they have accomplished something most significant.
The future of this kind of race is very bright. Our philosophy is the philosophy of self-transcendence. I do hope either in the near future or in the distant future we shall increase the distance. Eventually, it is my fervent hope that we shall one day have a 2,700-mile race. Since we believe in self-transcendence, I am sure that we are not going to stop at one thousand three hundred miles. We shall try to cover a longer distance. The seeker-runners who believe in their capacity — which is totally the Grace of God — with this Grace of God will be able to accomplish something unique in their lives.
Published in Pioneer-Runners of Tomorrow’s World-Peace-Dawn: Ultramarathon Running and Self-Transcendence
Sri Chinmoy hands out prizes to the competitors of the 700, 1000 and 1,300 Mile Race.
Sri Chinmoy competes in the field events – 600gm javelin throw (24.2m), 4kg shot put (8.19m) and 1kg discus (21.56m) — at the Sri Chinmoy Masters Games held at Victory Field, Forest Park, Woodhaven, New York.
Sri Chinmoy with ‘the father of long-distance running’ Ted Corbitt at the awards ceremony of the second Sri Chinmoy 24-Hour Race in Greenwich, Connecticut.
Not long after the 24-hour race had finished, Sri Chinmoy meets with marathon champion Robert de Castella after he won the BMW 15 Kilometre Footrace in Harrison, New York. Sri Chinmoy invites ‘Deek’ to visit him in two days time in Jamaica Queens to speak at Annam Brahma restaurant.
Sri Chinmoy running a personal best time in the West of 72.66 seconds for 400 metres at the World Masters Games in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Excepts from Vision of Asia cable television programme
Question: Why do you do weightlifting?
Sri Chinmoy: I am not a bodybuilder or a weightlifter. I am a truth-seeker and a God-lover. I pray to God and meditate on God, and I encourage my students and other people all over the world to pray and meditate. Prayer and meditation are my inner secret and my outer secret. My muscles are next to nothing compared to the muscles of the professional bodybuilders and weightlifters. It is because of the strength of my prayer-life and meditation-life that I am able to accomplish these feats of strength. You may think that concentration, prayer and meditation are only for the inner life, but I wish to say that they are not. We can also use them in our outer life. Through God’s infinite Compassion and Grace, from my concentration, prayer and meditation I am able to bring forward inner strength, inner power, and use that power to increase my outer strength. The inner strength that enables me to lift elephants and airplanes is not my sole monopoly. Far from it! It is available to anyone who prays and meditates. Everyone can get inner strength from prayer and meditation. Once we have inner strength, we feel secure and confident. At that time our insecurity disappears and we have solid peace. When our mind has peace, when peace has inundated our entire being, we no longer quarrel with others, we no longer speak ill of others, we no longer declare war on others. It is only because of insecurity that individuals and nations become jealous of one another, fight with one another and try to show their supremacy. In the depths of their hearts they know they are weak, so outwardly they want to prove to the world that they are strong. But if inwardly they know they are strong, then their inner peace will come to the fore, and they will not feel the necessity of proving anything. So if we can develop our inner strength and inner peace, then this world will have harmony and the feeling of oneness. It will be our true oneness-home.
This morning I lifted an elephant. I am not a circus performer, but I do identify with the animal kingdom. The animal consciousness is also in the Universal Consciousness of our Beloved Supreme. In the spiritual world, the occult world, the mystical world, an elephant represents solid strength — not just strength but solid strength. On the physical plane also its strength is unparalleled. The 3,000-pound elephant could easily have destroyed all the human beings who were present when I lifted it. If you had put all of us together, we would have been no match for it. But the elephant was very mild and had tremendous poise and peace. In terms of strength, I am no match for that elephant. But just because it knew it was infinitely stronger than I, the elephant remained calm and quiet. That is why I was able to bless it and garland it.
Similarly, if a country is really strong, especially with inner strength, peace and poise, then like an elephant that country will remain peaceful. We call some countries super-powers, but this is all comparative. They have no inner confidence; therefore they are constantly quarrelling and fighting and trying to prove their supremacy. If they were really superior powers, they would identify themselves with other powers, both superior and inferior. Only when we are strong do we identify ourselves with another strong person. God is omnipotent; He is all Power. That is why He can easily identify Himself with us. Unfortunately, we are very weak, and that is why we find it difficult to identify ourselves with our Beloved Supreme. But again, He has given us the supreme secret for acquiring strength: prayer and meditation.
So I tell my students that we should always pray and meditate to bring forward our own strength from within. It is individuals who are responsible not only for their own lives but also for their countries and for the entire world. It is from individuals that the message-light of inner strength can and will enter into nations. And when oneness-light-strength enters into the nations, there will be no more war. It will all be oneness-song. We talk about peace, but talking is not the answer. The embodiment of peace is the answer. The revelation of peace is the answer. The offering of peace to the entire world is the answer. First we have to embody peace, and then we have to reveal and offer peace to the world at large. That is what I am trying to do with my weightlifting.
Question: This must be very difficult physically. Is it painful?
Sri Chinmoy: No, it is not actually painful, but it is a tremendous task, and very exhausting. Inner strength has to come to the fore, and the physical body has to receive the power that is coming from within. The physical body has to become a pure and perfect instrument of the spirit. I am doing these lifts with the physical body, but the strength and power are coming from within — from an inner source.
I am not competing with anybody. I am competing with myself. Last month I lifted up an elephant in Connecticut. It weighed only 1,200 pounds. This morning the elephant I lifted weighed over 3,000 pounds. It was more than twice as heavy as the previous one. So here also I am competing with myself. If we can compete only with ourselves, then this world will definitely be a better world. If we compete with others, by hook or by crook we try to defeat them, and that does not add to the divine qualities and capacities of the world. But if we compete only to increase our capacities, to transcend ourselves and to inspire others, then we will be better citizens of a better world.
Question: Do you work out every day?
Sri Chinmoy: Every day I work out for at least three hours. I take about twenty exercises on different machines and gadgets, and I do many stretching exercises before I start. So this workout takes at least three hours.
Question: Why did you choose this way to show people your philosophy? I mean, is it something people can understand better?
Sri Chinmoy: Yes, they can understand it better this way. I can lift up 500 pounds with one hand and I can lift up 1,600 pounds with my legs, but people find it difficult to understand what I am doing. They do not identify with a metal plate. But when they see a huge elephant or a plane or a sailboat, they can begin to imagine how heavy it is.
Again, it is by virtue of prayer and meditation that I do it. Physically I don’t have the physique of a bodybuilder or weightlifter. I give all credit for my weightlifting to God’s Grace.
Published in Aspiration-Body, Illumination-Soul, part 2
A morning of lifting and tennis for Sri Chinmoy at Aspiration-Ground n Jamaica, Queens, New York.
Sri Chinmoy lifts Ted Corbitt.
Sri Chinmoy honours Ann Trason, overall winner of the 12th Sri Chinmoy 24-Hour Race at Flushing Meadows Park in Queens New York.
The race also doubled as the TAC USA National 24-Hour Championship and Ann’s winning distance of over 143 miles was not only a women’s world record, but she beat some of the best ultrarunners from 17 US states.
at Annam Brahma restaurant in Jamaica, New York
SRI CHINMOY: I am so proud of you for offering your victory to your father. Here is the proof that you believe in the spirit. An ordinary human being would say, “Oh, my father is now gone.” But you have kept such a strong and powerful inner connection with your father’s heart. That means you have kept the connecting link between earth and Heaven. So your father’s good will, his inner will and power help you tremendously. You keep your physical fit; he keeps your inner world fit.
Your father’s spirit has helped you develop tremendous inner receptivity in your life. The receptivity that you have is like a magnet; it pulls the higher forces down. You are thinking that if you had a little more strength in your quadriceps, or if you had something else, you would do better. But these things are only outer capacities, and God has given you infinitely more outer capacities than you need. In your case, you are able to bank on your inner capacity, whereas others have to entirely depend on their outer capacity. It is like having two friends who are all for you, whereas others have only one friend.
Your outer friends are your coach, your own practice and so many other things. Your coach, Tom, for example, is helping you in so many ways. He is instructing you, giving you extraordinary advice, giving you confidence. But you also have an inner friend, which is your heart. Your heart is drawing cosmic strength, cosmic energy, cosmic light from Above.
You have many inner friends, but they are invisible. I call them divine forces. They are working so powerfully and successfully in and through you. When you are jumping or running, in addition to your physical capacity, so much cosmic energy, cosmic light, cosmic power is coming to help you. These invisible capacities you can see only when you use the inner eye, the third eye. If you use your inner eye, you will see that you have so many friends who are dying to help you. That is because your victory is their victory, just as their victory is your victory. But if you want to rely entirely on earthly help, then this inner help you do not get.
I feel sad because you have touched the shore, but you have not yet jumped onto the shore. You have safely reached the shore; now the next thing is for you to step onto the ground, the victory-ground, and show that you are the victor. Do not feel that you still have to increase your capacity on the physical plane. What you have to add is only on the inner plane. Your heart tells me and your soul tells me to use the term “within easy reach.” It is not that you are 20 miles away from your destination. Your destination you have almost touched. You have to just a little way to go, and then you can declare your victory.
Do not let yourself become relaxed and say, “Oh, I have come so far; now I need rest.” Some forces may try to create unnecessary relaxation in you and take away the determination that you had gotten on the strength of your inner aspiration. Do not let this happen. If you take rest and start again, you will feel that you have retreated quite a few steps. So why retreat? You have practically reached your destination; now all you have to do is step onto the victory platform and declare that you are far better than the one who is known as the winner.
When you jump, your father’s soul and Jesse Owens’ soul are dying to help you. So do you think they appreciate it when you want to sleep? Somebody says, “Wake up, wake up! Don’t wait, jump, jump! And somebody else says, “Oh no, father, I am tired now. I have done so much.” Sometimes it is difficult for us to go according to the soul’s speed, because they are so fast. In a fleeting second they go here and there, whereas in a fleeting second we barely take one step. But that doesn’t mean we should sleep, either.
Does your coach believe in this kind of talk? You can speak to him. He doesn’t have to understand my language. Does your mother talk to him?
AMBALIKA: I talk to him!
SRI CHINMOY: I am seeing that this is your golden chance, your absolutely golden chance. It is a matter not of months, but of weeks. The force that is helping you inwardly is very powerful. In jumping you are not fouling like you used to. In the inner world — the world that creates what appears in the world of manifestation — it is done. You have brought the victory from above down to the first floor, and are holding your victory banner there. Now you are about to bring it down to the ground floor, where the whole world can see it.
Being a human dynamo, the fastest runner in the world, how can you not think of doing something sooner than the soonest? As an American, you know the value of speed. In India we have the term “bullock cart speed.” I come from India, so I can tell you that India’s bullock cart goes on, goes on, goes on as slowly as possible. You come from the fastest country and you are the fastest human being on earth. But now you want to wait and see! Your mind is in a tug-of-war with your heart. If you take the side of your heart, then you don’t have to wait three or four months.
Being in the spiritual life, I always feel that if I can do something tomorrow, why do I have to wait for 10 years? Every day, every hour, every minute time is bringing us a new message. If you can see and feel that there are people who are trying to help you do something today, then why do you have to wait to make your mind stronger? The mind is not the only thing; there is also the heart and soul. They are all ready to for you to become the victor supreme.
SUDHAHOTA: We shall do it, Guru. We shall do it.
SRI CHINMOY: You know, one of your greatest admirers is Monica Seles. She read your book and was so deeply impressed. She is so natural and spontaneous. When I gave her a picture of the shoes that you gave to me, she couldn’t believe it. She was so excited. The following day she sent me one of her rackets.
SUDHAHOTA: The Olympic trials are so drawn out; they kill everybody. Then you have to come back again and do it at the Games! That’s why everyone is so tired. We’re the only country that duplicates the Games in our trials. Most countries just have track meets and pick their teams out.
SRI CHINMOY: Now let me learn about this wind-aided business. You will be there for 8, 10 hours, and they are so merciless that they cannot wait two minutes until the wind stops?
SUDHAHOTA: As usual, there are silly rules. When they call your name, they turn the clock on and you have 90 seconds to land in the pit. If you are running down the runway when that 90 seconds is up, it’s a foul. And if the wind happens to gust and blow at that time, that’s it!
When we went to Japan, the guy from the organising committee told us we could go to a certain track the next day to practise. But when we got there, the officials from the Japanese Track and Field Federation said we couldn’t train there until the following day. In the newspaper the next day the Federation said, “No matter who it is — even if it’s Carl Lewis — nobody is supposed to train until tomorrow.” But Joe Douglas let them have it. He said, “You can sit and talk your rules all you want, but we’re here for one reason — to give a great show for the Japanese and to set world records.” Here again, it’s rules! But what kind of rule would say the competitors can’t train whenever they want to? And anyway, the Italian team was training there with the blocks and everything.
SRI CHINMOY: You have to fight for justice! You have won so many times and proved yourself to be a world champion without taking drugs. The things you are seeing wrong in the Olympics and elsewhere you should write down and fight them to the end. There are many things that they are doing wrong, and if you do not fight them, I don’t think anybody else will do it. Because you are the 20th century’s greatest athlete, you have a voice. For the last 12 years you have been fighting against the wrongdoings of the Olympic Committee and others. They won’t listen today, but there will be new Committees and new people who will pay attention. So if you continue to fight, there will be lots of improvement.
Otherwise, these foolish things will go on, go on, go on, and after 10 or 12 years everything will be absolutely fixed. Then there will be nobody who is as powerful as you are to speak up against them. Even now, from time to time they do listen to you when you fight. These are not personal objections that you have; nobody likes these things. But nobody else is brave enough to fight against the authorities.
You also have to work very, very hard to keep politics out of sports. So many politicians say things that even they don’t believe. And every second they contradict themselves. They are in the mind, but sports is all heart. Many politicians are only trying to divide and separate, whereas athletes have the golden opportunity to join all nations together. So sports and politics do not go together.
Published in Carl Lewis: The Champion Inner Runner, part 2
Photo top: Pulak Viscardi
