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 ‘You or I?’, in the Dag Hammarskjöld Auditorium at the United Nations in New York, NY.
Sri Chinmoy runs a personal best for 1 mile (6:23) at the Sri Chinmoy Grand Prix in Jamaica, NY, USA.
Sri Chinmoy receives a Certificate of Merit from the Government of Canada.
Sri Chinmoy lifts Amritananda Russell Barber, WNBC Television Producer; and Bev Francis, six-time Women’s World Power Lifting Champion in Jamaica, NY, USA.
Sri Chinmoy opens an exhibition of Soul-Birds drawings at 66 Crosby St, in Soho, New York, NY, USA.
Sri Chinmoy offers his soulful words of “blessingful love, blessingful joy and blessingful pride,” to the participants of the first annual Sri Chinmoy 3100 Mile Race — 12 June-1 August — at the Awards Ceremony held at Aspiration-Ground, Jamaica New York, NY, USA.
Mt. Everest is declared a Sri Chinmoy Peace-Blossom.
Sri Chinmoy lifts 32 members of the Italian soccer team AC Milan at Giants Stadium in Secaucus, NJ, USA.
Sri Chinmoy offers ‘Bacci’ as prasad at an evening function at Aspiration-Ground in Jamaica, New York, where he has created many Jharna-Kala paintings and Soul-Bird drawings.
Bacci is one of his most sacred and special prasads to give. He especially liked to give this prasad in relation to President Gorbachev.
Seven Sri Chinmoy swimmers carried out a 123-mile relay swim through the rivers, lakes and other waterways of the Rideau Waterway System to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Rideau Canal.
The swimmers, covering about 18 miles a day in half-hour shifts during daylight hours, began on Lake Ontario at Kingston on 27 July and ended in the Rideau Canal in Ottawa on 2 August.
In connection with the event, Canada's Minister of Amateur Sports and Fitness, Gerald Regan, presented Sri Chinmoy with a certificate for his contribution to recreation and sports in Canada.
Published in Anahata Nada, Volume 9, Nos. 5-8, May-August 1982
by Sri Chinmoy
Madal the child,
Sleeplessly wild.
Chinmoy the teenager,
An uncertain wager.
Sri Chinmoy the man,
A sad failure-plan.
Guru Chinmoy, Guru Chinmoy,
God and man’s broken toy.
Madal the child,
All cute and wild.
Chinmoy the teenager
An earth-climbing wager.
Sri Chinmoy the man,
God’s own Rainbow-Plan.
Guru Chinmoy, Guru Chinmoy
God and man’s fondness-toy.
Published in Song-Flowers, Part 8
concluded on August 1st in Jamaica, New York; the Awards Ceremony is held on August 2nd
The first annual Sri Chinmoy 3100 Mile Race (12 June-1 August) concludes outside Thomas Edison Vocational High School in Jamaica, NY, USA. The race was conducted on a certified .5488 mile loop (883.2079 meters) on a paved sidewalk surrounding the school. With a 51-day cut-off, only two out of the five starters, completed the 3,100 miles — Edward Kelley (1st man) in 47 days + 15:19:56, and Suprabha Beckjord (1st woman) in 50 days + 02:09:56. And, two others — Georgs Jermolajevs and Aleksandar Arsic — finished 2700 miles.
at Aspiration-Ground, Jamaica Hills, New York
Dear runners,
I bow to your soul, I bow to your heart, I bow to your life, sleeplessly and unreservedly.
The number 31 has a very special significance in my life. I was born in 1931. According to my physical body and my vital, I am old. According to my mind, I am ancient. According to my heart, I am as young as ever. According to my soul, I am yet to be fully manifested. According to my Lord Beloved Supreme, I am living in His own Heart-Garden, and I shall forever do so. Finally, according to me, I am all gratitude to the climbing tears of Mother Earth and to the descending smiles of Father Heaven. I am one, inseparably one, eternally one with the climbing tears of Mother Earth and the descending smiles of Father Heaven.
Our philosophy is self-transcendence. Yes, there is no limit to our inner progress and outer success. But again, there comes a time when we reach a certain height, such an extraordinary height, that we feel we can live there for a good many years safely and self-givingly. Then we wait indefinitely for God's choice Hour to inspire us, to aspire in and through us to go forward, to embark on a new journey.
This 3,100 miles is an unprecedented journey in our world-peace-manifestation-dream. World-peace can come into existence only when we are inundated with patience and perseverance. Infinite patience we need in our inner life and perseverance we need in our outer life.
These 3,100 miles remind us of one divine and supreme reality: we can and we must do everything at our command to transform the world of lethargy and unwillingness to be dynamic. Unwillingness we do not leave behind us. Therefore happiness remains always a far cry. Willingness to give, willingness to achieve, willingness to grow and glow should be the message of our souls. With our souls' blessings we can and will fulfil our earthly life.
To Ed, Suprabha, George and Alexandar, my soul’s summit blessingful love, blessingful joy and blessingful pride I am offering unreservedly and unconditionally. Whenever I passed by you running, you reminded me of our souls' eternal, birthless and deathless journey and you reminded me of Eternity's choice runners.
Human pride is devoured and has to be devoured for the development of humility, which we all desperately need to make inner and outer spiritual progress. It is our spiritual progress which will make us God-champions in each and every field of life. Again, there is something called divine pride. This divine pride breathlessly whispers into our ears: "You are the choicest instrument of God. It is beneath your dignity to wallow in the pleasures of ignorance-night, to surrender to the wrong, undivine forces. God wants you to be an exact prototype of His Universal Manifestation and Transcendental Dream.” So this divine pride I have seen and felt in each of the four runners. I have seen and felt God's own Pride, founded upon His infinite Delight in each of you.
Published in Pioneer-Runners of Tomorrow’s World-Peace-Dawn: Ultramarathon Running and Self-transcendence
Sri Chinmoy lifts 32 members of the Italian soccer team AC Milan at Giants Stadium in Secaucus, NJ, USA.
"Thank you. It was a big, a big pleasure for us. I want to say thank you for everything you are doing for the world, for peace."
— Leonardo Nascimento
Vice President A.C. Milan
and Brazilian Champion
(unofficial transcript)
You or I?
by Sri Chinmoy
Dag Hammarskjöld Lecture Series
Dag Hammarskjöld Auditorium, United Nations, New York
O God, are You responsible for all the suffering, darkness and ignorance in the world, or am I?
“Son, I am responsible. I am responsible for everything; I am responsible for everyone; I am responsible for My entire creation. It is I who reside in everything as inspiration and as aspiration. It is I who approve of everything or tolerate everything, show compassion for everything or forgive everything. Therefore it is I who am responsible for everything, whether it is good or bad, divine or undivine. It is I who am responsible in everything, in every action, in every human life.”
O God, You want to change the face of the world. Do You want to do it alone, all by Yourself, or do You need my help and dedicated service?
“Son, I do not want to change the face of the world all by Myself. I cannot change the face of the world alone. I need your assistance. I am the tree. You, all human beings, are the leaves, flowers and fruits. A tree without leaves, flowers and fruits is worthless. I need assistance from my created human beings. I am the ultimate realisation of your climbing cry. You are the ultimate manifestation of My descending Dream. The transformation of the earth-consciousness can take place only when you and I work together. Dedicated service from both the Creator and the creation is needed to change the face of the world.”
AUM
“You or I?”
When I think of the divine within my heart, when I meditate on the divine within my heart, I see, I feel my “I”. This “I” is not a self-centred “I”. This “I” is the infinite expansion of my universal oneness.
When I think of the undivine within my being, when I meditate on the undivine within my being, I automatically choose the life of bondage. I become the life of frustration. I become the life of destruction. When I meditate on the undivine or think of the undivine, I choose mental limitation to be my own. I choose vital frustration to accept me as its own. I choose physical imperfection and unconsciousness to take me as their very own. Each moment that I meditate on the undivine, I enjoy, consciously enjoy, despair, frustration, limitation, bondage and death.
Here at the United Nations let us say “You and I”, not “You or I?”
You and I. You as a nation — aspiring nation, searching nation, crying nation, illumining nation — can fulfil the Dream of God on earth. As a seeker of the Highest Truth, with your dedication you can fulfil the Dream of God.
When, as a nation, you think only of yourself, I see you as a petal of a rose. But when, on the strength of your dedication to the world at large, you need the Divine in you to think of you and to meditate on you, I see you as a whole, a rose complete. I do not see you as a petal, but as a fully-blossomed rose.
“You or I?” is determined by our actions. The Divine within us gets abundant joy when we act devotedly and soulfully. The undivine in us gets joy when we want to possess and be possessed. We know the secret of joy. When we do the right thing, on the strength of our inner cry, we get joy. But the supreme Joy will not be, cannot be our joy unless and until we know how to devote ourselves. The result of our actions may be satisfactory to us, but if we do not get this result by virtue of our devoted and selfless service, we will not get infinite Joy and supreme Joy.
Our dynamic joy constantly pleases God.
Our inner silence constantly feeds God.
Our total and integral surrender devours God.
Each action of ours affects the world at large. A state of mind can affect the entire being. An individual can affect the entire humanity. An iota of God’s Concern can illumine all of mankind.
Joy is in self-transcendence.
Joy is in self-offering.
Joy is in self-fulfilment.
Each individual knows that when he was in the animal world he got joy in struggling and fighting. Now he knows that in the human world he gets joy, real joy, abiding joy, in serving and in self-giving. He knows that in the future, in his life divine, he will get joy only in becoming what he is in his transcendental Self: all the Light, the Wisdom, the Perfection of the Supreme.
“You or I?” Each individual, when he separates a portion of himself from his entire existence, feels his you-consciousness. When an individual uses his hands, if he thinks that his hands are the only reality and not his feet, his head, or any other part of himself, then he will hear the song of “you”. But while using his hands, if he thinks that this is the time when he has to use his hands but there will be many occasions when he has to use his legs and other parts of his body, and that therefore all his limbs and organs are important, then there can be no “you”. It is all “I”.
When we meditate on the Absolute Supreme within us, we see how clearly, how fruitfully, both “you” and “I” can work together. We use our legs to go to the office, and then we use our hands to work in the office, and our head to think in the office. Everything has its own place. Everything has its own hour. Each individual has to abide by the inner hour and give due importance to each thing according to God’s Will.
God, when am I going to know that You and I are one, or that You and Your entire creation are one?
“The hour has already struck for you to know that I and My creation are one. If you separate Me from My creation and want to achieve joy or grow into joy, I will have no objection. But you will have only limited joy, limited achievement. If you unite both Me and My creation as one, your joy becomes infinite, your achievements become infinite.
“You or I?” cannot solve the age-long problem of humanity. This problem is the sea of ignorance within us and without. But “you and I” can solve this problem. When the unlit consciousness and the lit and illumined consciousness within ourselves become one, that is the end of “you or I”. We become all oneness, universal oneness: the song of universal oneness, the life of universal oneness and the breath of universal oneness.
Published in The Tears of Nation-Hearts
During the first three days of August 1978, Sri Chinmoy offers a number of prayers to his Pilot Beloved after meditations at various venues in New York. The prayers for 2 August are reproduced here.
8:00 a.m.
Jamaica High School Track, Jamaica, NY
O my Pilot Beloved, do tell me the difference between accomplishment and happiness.
"My child, accomplishment is constant self-giving and happiness is God-becoming once and for all."
O my Pilot Beloved, what is the difference between self-giving and God-becoming?
"My child, self-giving is a fruitful smile and a soulful cry: Eternity's cry and Infinity's smile. In God-becoming, the divine lover says to the Beloved Pilot: 'Lord, at long last I have come to You to offer myself — soul, heart, mind, vital and body. All that I have and all that I am, I offer to you devotedly, unreservedly and unconditionally, plus constantly.' In reply, the Lord Beloved says: 'My child, indeed, from now on you can claim Me as your own, very own. On every plane of My Consciousness, in every world that I am in, in My entire Universe, you have the most secret, most sacred and most significant place. Here on earth, there in Heaven, you will eternally remain My unparalleled instrument, My eternally unprecedented Choice. In you, through you I shall reveal Myself and fulfil Myself. I shall satisfy My Vision-World and My Reality-World only in and through you, you alone. From now on, you will be the source of My unparalleled joy, My unparalleled success and My unparalleled progress in My own Eternity's growing and glowing Vision-Reality. In everything that I do and in everything that I say, your living breath shall shine brilliantly and perpetually.'"
12:45 p.m.
144th St. Gym, Jamaica, NY
O my Pilot Beloved, I wish to doubt. I wish to doubt my suspicion of others' capacities. I wish to doubt my suspicion of others' aspiration-height and dedication-length. Each time I doubt others, I blight their pure hearts. While blighting their pure hearts, I weaken my own very limited aspiration and dedication-capacity. Therefore, O my Pilot Beloved, I wish to doubt my suspicion of others and thus cancel and illumine my previous blunder.
O my Pilot Beloved, I wish to be afraid of my ignorance-tiger, which is right in front of me and about to devour me. Before it devours me, I wish to run towards You for Your immediate Protection. If I am not afraid of my ferocious ignorance-tiger, then I shall not run towards You for Your ever-compassionate Protection. Therefore, to start with, I wish to be afraid of my all-devouring ignorance-tiger. Your Protection and Compassion, I know, will not only save me but also will give me the capacity one day to destroy entirely the very existence of my ignorance-tiger.
5:45 p.m.
144th St. Gym, Jamaica, NY
O my Pilot Beloved, my friends consciously help me realise You. My enemies unconsciously help me transform my unlit human nature. Would You please tell me if my friends are more important than my enemies, or if my enemies are more important than my friends?
"My child, no comparison! Unconscious help is not worth much. Unconscious help does not deserve any appreciation, let alone gratitude. But if help is conscious, then it deserves not only appreciation but also gratitude. Therefore, only offer your gratitude to your true friends, who consciously help you. But just because you do get help, even unconsciously, from your enemies, if you happen to see them as you walk along the path, you can offer them a soulful smile. You do not have to go out of your way to look for your friends, either, anywhere in My creation. Just offer them in silence your gratitude-heart.
"Again, there is only one real Friend, one eternal Friend, and that is I. It is from Me that everyone gets the things he needs to transcend his unlit animal nature and realise Me. It is I who help you to realise Me through your human friends. It is I who have been playing the role of friendship from time immemorial. Since you do not see Me, since you cannot comprehend Me in the physical, it is advisable to be constantly grateful to your so-called friends. It is your friends who are constantly helping you to realise Me. Realisation is oneness, eternal oneness, and in Me is your eternal oneness-life. He who helps you realise Me is your oneness-friend and My blessingful, fruitful chosen instrument."
Published in O My Pilot Beloved