Sri Chinmoy made the following comment after successfully jumping up onto a 30-inch platform from a standing position.
The inflexibility of the mind surrenders to the heart of a child. Only a seven-year-old child constantly jumps and jumps, upward and forward. Our childhood memories always give us joy. If we can consciously bring back our childhood memories, then we will be flooded with newness and hope. This is my philosophy: to remain always in the heart. Age is in the mind. With determination we can conquer the age barrier and go back to our childlike heart where hope is blossoming at every moment. So, remain in the heart. If you can remain in the heart, then you can act like a child and there will be no end to your progress. The old age bondage-limitations will return to the childhood freedom-dreams.
Sri Chinmoy, "The Canvas of Time", Madal Bal, Czech Republic, 2019.
On July 22nd, Sri Chinmoy inaugurates the first Aum Centre — later known as the Sri Chinmoy Centre — in Miramar, Santurce, San Juan, Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico Anniversary
Animesh: Does each seeker have a special role to play, for example in the kind of vocation they choose, or is it sufficient just to work, no matter what kind of job it is?
Sri Chinmoy: No. It is a complicated question. In some cases, you know, if a seeker has specific qualities, specialised in something, then he has to or it is advisable for him to manifest, if he is a seeker, the Supreme by following, by carrying, that particular career in life. You understand? If somebody has studied electricity for a long time and he has become an electrician – now, if he has become a good electrician and if he becomes a seeker, then it is easier for him to manifest the Supreme through his capacity, which he has acquired over the years.
Now, again, if somebody is not specialised in anything but is a good soul, then in his case it is not necessary to learn something after becoming a good seeker, to learn anything specific so that he can manifest the Supreme in a more special way, no. For him, whatever the Supreme wants, you understand? He does not have to become a doctor or lawyer or electrician — no, no, no — only whatever. He is in no way inferior to the one who is specialised in something.
One has got some capacity in a particular field. God says, "Then, all right, then do it. Take it as a means for your further development."
One does not have any specific capacity, but God says, "All right, then I am giving you something else to do. Something — do it."
Most important thing is how devotedly you do your job as a doctor or lawyer or electrician or as a simple worker. Devoted service is of paramount importance. If somebody is holding the lowest rank in a big office and doing his duty soulfully, in God's Eye he is infinitely superior to the one who is holding the highest position.
So, now, there is another point. If the Will of the Supreme is to give additional confidence to the seeker by making him in the outer world, say, a celebrity, or by making him into a man of high, noble position so that he will have his confidence more in life, Supreme does it. He is not making progress through conscious surrender. Then Supreme says, "Then be something first. From the desire-world, living in the desire-world, become something and then enter into the aspiration-world."
Vivekananda used to say, "Go and play football. You will understand the Bhagavad Gita better if you play football." And he used to say "Go and tell lies" to someone because he won't budge an inch. He said, "I will be responsible. You are such a lazy person. For you, it will be better to go and tell lies and the world will kick you and you will get up from your sleep."
So, then again, people in the name of peace or poise — which is all false — will not move, they have no life-energy. So, Vivekananda used to say, "Go and play football. If you play football, you will have some life-energy. Then you will be able to understand the message of the Gita."
So, there are some seekers — unfortunately, I have — I tell them, "Do something, become something, make yourself think that you are a human being. You are not just a grain of sand or a speck of dust, no. You *are* something. First, prove to yourself on the human level that you are something. Then transcend the human level, go to the divine level. If in the human level, staying in the human level, you feel that you have nothing to accomplish, nothing to long for, and what you have or what you are is more than enough for you, then you are totally mistaken."
Many fool themselves by saying that they don't need anything. No, they do have intense eagerness, in a sense greed, to become famous like somebody else, but they do not have the eagerness or willingness to work for it. At that time, if they have the eagerness, then Supreme says, "Then follow. Then offer yourself. Do something, become something."
But if they feel that "No, we do not have the eagerness to do something or to become something, right from the beginning, only make of us what You want us to be," then they do not go through the desire-life. They start right away from the aspiration-life. So, it depends on the individual.
Now, to come to you personally. In your case, you do not have to be specialised in anything. Any job that satisfies you. You do not have to become something great in terms of work, let us say office work or anything. Anything that can defray your earthly expenses is what the Supreme in you needs from you. Just it is only to live on earth, you need money-power. That money-power is only to keep you one with the spiritual power so that you can come here, you can run your Centre. But not by becoming some big shot in the outer life that you will please the Supreme. Only do something that will support you in your outer life. That is what the Supreme wants. And then, with your intense aspiration you have started. This intense aspiration you continue, continue, to realise the Supreme, to manifest the Supreme through your dedication. All by yourself, you are working so hard.
You are in Brisbane? You did not try in Canberra? All right, Brisbane. Very good. So, you don't have to worry about it. Only do something just to support yourself. That is what the Supreme wants. Do well; you are doing well. Very pleased with you, very proud of you. So, sincerity keep, simplicity keep, humility maintain. Your name is 'Animesh' — sleepless. Your aim is sleeplessly to aspire and to devote yourself. That is the sole meaning of your life. So, sleeplessly dedicate yourself to the Supreme and, in order to keep the body and the soul together, to support yourself, you will work — work, work here, work there, just for the sake of your earthly existence. Main goal is to become a supremely chosen instrument of the Supreme, for the Supreme.
Sri Chinmoy, "The Canvas of Time", Madal Bal, Czech Republic, 2019.
Editor's Note. This question was asked by Animesh at an evening function, held at PS 86 in Jamaica, Queens, on 27 January 1978. Animesh had recently returned to live in Australia after many years living in London and he sought Sri Chinmoy’s guidance on what line of work he should enter into.
People who are always worrying about the future – what will happen, what will happen – are not meant for the spiritual life. The present moment is a heavy enough load for you to carry. As soon as you put it on your shoulders, you are already collapsing. When you worry about what will happen in the future if you do not have money, on the strength of your imagination-power you are only increasing the weight that you have to carry now. You think about what will happen in five years, in ten years, in twenty years. Three hundred and sixty-five days are multiplied by all your worries or fantasies. You can add bricks to the load or you can add beautiful, golden statues, but whether you add worries or fantasies, still the load you have to carry today becomes heavier.
Instead of making your load heavier, just go to God and give Him what you have, which is your heart’s cry. Then He will give you what He has and what He is for you: His Smile. Your heart’s inner cry and God’s Satisfaction-Smile must go together. Then only will you be happy. Otherwise, all the fantasies about the future that you are cherishing, all the castles in the air that you are building, will never make you happy. The present is enough to deal with. If you start worrying about your finances and other things in the future, you shall only ruin whatever little spiritual aspiration you already have.
Your prayer should not be for money but for God: “I am alive today only because of my heart’s cry for You. Today You have given me the opportunity to pray to You and to love You. I am so grateful. If it is Your Will, tomorrow You will give me again the same aspiration and love for You, and my spiritual life shall remain alive tomorrow.”
Sri Chinmoy, "Life's Rivulets", Madal Bal, Czech Republic, 16 January 1994.
Sri Chinmoy shares a lighthearted story of buying an Indian flute, whilst shopping in India.
“Whenever I see an Indian flute, I always like to play it. In a store in Delhi I was playing a wooden flute. The price was ten rupees. In India I always offer them half the price, so I said, ‘Five rupees.' ” continue reading... Looking at Flutes, I Love Shopping, Part 2
Western Flute
Earlier in the year, on 10 March 1976, Sri Chinmoy first learnt to play the Western flute on a bus journey to Healesville Sanctuary on the outskirts of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Sri Chinmoy’s love of cycling dated back to when he was a young child growing up in Chittagong, a village then in East Bengal, India, now Bangladesh. Cycling also featured in Sri Chinmoy’s daily life at the Sri Aurobindo Ashram, in Pondicherry, India, where he lived and studied from the ages of 12 to 32. In America, at the age of 45, Sri Chinmoy was inspired to take his cycling to a new level, participating in the annual 24-hour Pepsi Bicycle Marathon in New York City’s Central Park three years in a row. This golden era of cycling culminated in 1980 with the Sri Chinmoy USA Bicycle Relay. Read more...
From 25-metre races to the 47-mile ultramarathon, Sri Chinmoy competed in almost 500 events during his athletic career in the West. For the first time ever the results and statistics of these races have been published. And together with the many photographs that accompany them, they make up a unique visual diary of Sri Chinmoy’s love of running. Other aspects of Sri Chinmoy’s athletic career that have been catalogued are field events like shot put, javelin, discus and long jump. There is also a section of uncategorised athletic photos. Read more…
From his Ashram days in India, Sri Chinmoy excelled at sprinting, winning the 100-metres for sixteen consecutive years. Officially, his best time in the Ashram was 11.7 seconds. In the West, he maintained his competitive interest in this blue-ribbon event and expanded his running career to include middle-distance races, marathons and ultra-marathons. Read articles...
At the age of forty-five years, when Sri Chinmoy first displayed an interest in tennis, it was not as an untutored sportsman that he approached the game but as an athlete of considerable talent in many areas, a man who had the speed to meet its challenge, who had the determination to master it, the will-power to endure and a unique spirit of sportsmanship which, in time, would signal a new approach to tennis itself. Read more...
On June 26th 1985, at the age of 53, Sri Chinmoy raised a 40 lb. dumbbell overhead, and so began an extraordinary weightlifting career. Just 19 months later, on January 30th 1987, Sri Chinmoy’s determined efforts culminated in a lift of 7,063¾ lbs. For more than two decades Sri Chinmoy continued to inspire the weightlifting community with his relentless training regime and astonishing progress. His historic achievements will forever remain a testament to the unlimited potential that lies within us all. Read articles...
The first Sri Chinmoy Masters Games was held in Greenwich, CT, USA. July 27th 1985. Sri Chinmoy said of the games. "Sri Chinmoy Masters Games is the smile of a oneness-family in a oneness-home. Masters-Games is at once the aspiration and dedication of the body, and the vision and illumination of the soul. Here each participant is competing against his or her own present capacities. The goal of these games is self-transcendence." Keep reading...
