In a related item, on December 12th, Sri Chinmoy, Director of Peace Services at the United Nations, invited Mr. Bill Pearl, 5-time Mr. Universe and world’s foremost weightlifting authority, to visit his personal weight training gym to observe the spiritual man in action. There, Mr. Pearl witnessed Chinmoy lift the equivalent of his own bodyweight, 154 pounds, overhead with one arm. Sri Chinmoy then lifted Mr. Pearl’s bodyweight of 214 pounds overhead with one arm.
In amazement, Pearl stated, “There is no human being I know of over 50 years old and perhaps only two or three individuals in the world that can lift their own weight with one arm.”
Olympic wrestling gold medalist Dan Gable has said, “Sri Chinmoy has controlled his mind completely. He has conquered his mind totally. It’s like what I would try to do when I would face a wrestling opponent. Sri Chinmoy is using his will to surpass his mind, and he is using his mind to conquer his body. He is putting his thoughts into a higher state to allow him to have a superior capacity.”
Why does he do it? Sri Chinmoy tells us, “You may think that concentration, prayer and meditation are only for the inner life. But I wish to say no! We can also use the inner strength for the outer life as well. From meditation and concentration we get power, and this power can be executed in the physical as well.”
That just goes to show that sheer size isn’t everything!
Caption:
Mr. Bill Pearl and his wife witness Sri Chinmoy lift 214 pounds overhead with one arm.
Published in Wrestling World, April ’88