New York – Sri Chinmoy’s translation of a Bengali poem he wrote in India at the age of 13 has won the 1974 annual Mentor Poetry Award.
The award, sponsored by North American Mentor Magazine, was given for the Master’s poem O Bird of Light.
Note:Anahata Nada was the longest-running newsletter of the Sri Chinmoy Centre. It was first published on January 1, 1974, and chronicled Sri Chinmoy’s life and activities for over three decades until 2007.
Durban, South Africa – The King of the Zulu Nation, His Majesty King Goodwill Zwelithini Zulu, flew in from his palace in Nongoma Jan. 23 to deliver the welcoming address at Sri Chinmoy’s Durban peace concert.
“The visit of Sri Chinmoy and his peace group is a fountain of inspiration for us,” the King declared.
At a reception following the concert, he told the peace leader: “Brother, Brother, you cannot imagine what you have done for me and for our country! Only a few – not many – men of peace like you we need to bring peace to our country.”
The concert, held at City Hall, was sponsored by the Hindu Maha Sabha, the cultural and quasi-political organisation representing the Indian community in South Africa.
As part of the event, the chairperson of the Executive Council of the Durban Metropolitan Area, Obed Mlaba, announced that the Durban region had joined the family of Sri Chinmoy Peace-Blossoms.
He told Sri Chinmoy: “For us, you represent the power of the heart and the spirit of God within each human being as we strive to bring goodness and peace into our lives.”
Meeting with the King of the Zulu Nation
Note:Anahata Nada was the longest-running newsletter of the Sri Chinmoy Centre. It was first published on January 1, 1974, and chronicled Sri Chinmoy’s life and activities for over three decades until 2007.
Teide National Park, which includes Mount Teide, the highest mountain in Spain, is inaugurated as a Sri Chinmoy National Peace Park, in Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain.
King of the Zulu Nation HRH Goodwill Kabhekuzulu Zwelithini unveils the plaque declaring Durban a Sri Chinmoy Peace Metropolitan Area which was presented by the Acting Mayor, Councillor Panday, and the Chairperson of the Metropolitan Executive Council, Mr. Obed Mlaba. Read more...
Sri Chinmoy offers his humble pranam to the indomitable soul of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose at the celebration of his birth centenary held in Kagoshima, Japan.
Peace Ambassador Sri Chinmoy meets Mexican President
In the meeting at Los Pinos, Sri Chinmoy received the ‘Corazón de Oro’ (Heart of Gold) Award from the Society of Authors and Music Composers. — A performance by his students of songs composed by the international peace leader. — A “man of prayers”.
CANCÚN, January 22nd — The day before yesterday, pacifist Sri Chinmoy met the President of the Republic, Dr. Ernesto Zedillo Ponce de León, in his official residence at Los Pinos, where he received the ‘Heart of Gold Award’ from the Society of Authors and Music Composers of the country.
According to Mrs. Prakhara Harter, representing the peace leader in our city, during the private audience students could be heard singing songs composed by Sri Chinmoy.
“President Zedillo told the spiritual leader that he felt very happy for having received such a beautiful day and that he could now return to his duties, to do them better and make better decisions for the people”, she commented.
Sri Chinmoy replied to the President “You have a oneness-heart, a newness-mind; in you we find the vehicle for progress.” He also thanked Mr. President for all the improvements to the country achieved in a short period of time.
The Society of Authors and Music Composers has 30,000 members.
So far, the award has only been given to His Holiness Pope John Paul II, tenor Plácido Domingo, singer Juan Gabriel and the Director General of the WIPO Agency of the United Nations.
Upon accepting the award, Sri Chinmoy emphasised that “I am a man of prayers”.
Caption:
Picture of the meeting that international peace ambassador, Sri Chinmoy, had last Tuesday with President Ernesto Zedillo Ponce de León at the official Los Pinos residence. During the interview, the Bengali peace leader received the ‘Heart of Gold’ award from the Society of Lyricists and Composers.
Published in the major, regional Mexican daily newspaper, Diario de Yucatán in the section: Culture and Society in Cancún
Sri Chinmoy participates in the Runners are Smilers 2-mile race in Asunción, Paraguay. His time is 39:49.
Sri Chinmoy’s race prayer:
My Lord, my Lord, my Lord!
My God-discovery has solved
Not only all intricate mysteries,
But also all insoluble problems,
Past, present and future.
My Lord, You have given me
And I have.
Sri Chinmoy reminisces
about his days as a champion athlete in the Sri Aurobindo Ashram, during an afternoon function in Xi'an, China
My brother Mantu was so fond of my athletics. At the competition time, he used to get all the anxieties and worries on my behalf. And whenever I won the race, his chest used to become so much larger! When I was participating, he was so one-pointed for me to become first in everything. Then the funniest thing happened. We had quite a few harmoniums. One year somebody happened to score more than I did in the decathlon event. So Mantu gave my harmonium to him. Mantu said he deserved it because he was a good singer and he did not have a harmonium. So he gave away my harmonium. The same brother, can you imagine!
Over the years, my disciples have given me many pairs of running shoes. Ongkar has given many, Unnatishil has given many. But it was too late. They should have given me shoes while I was in India. At that time I needed shoes desperately. When I was a champion runner, I had to run barefoot, barefoot, barefoot. Poor me, I did not have shoes. Here is the proof that my hour and God's Hour do not have to be the same.
But when I became the decathlon champion for the second time, I got a gold medallion plus a pair of shoes. Alas, the shoes were too big for me. They did not fit. Bad luck!
For 16 years uninterrupted, I stood first in sprinting. Long jump I won many, many times. Shot put also I won for 14 or 15 years and 400 metres for about 14 years. In javelin I was quite good.
Of all the items, my worst was 1500 metres. I used to practise once a year from the day of the competition until the day of the next competition. Why? Because we had a wonderful theory that if you practise long distance running, your 100-metre sprint will suffer; you will not be able to run on your toes. It was such a stupid idea! Up to 400 metres I practised, but 1500 metres only once per year. In other distances — 3,000m, 5,000m — I was worse than the worst.
The Mother could not believe how bad I was at those distances. She said, "How is it that in 100 metres he is the fastest, but in long distance he is so bad?"
Her attendant said, "Mother, these are two different things. Usually, sprinters cannot do middle distance or long distance." It is so true!
There were some other sprinters in my boat. When we completed one round in those long races, some other runners had completed three rounds! After one round, we used to get thunderous applause. We thought that the audience was clapping for us because we were running so badly. Who knows whether they were clapping for us or for those who were defeating us by so much? But we sincerely felt they were clapping for us.
In the decathlon, my worst event was the 1500 metres. But in all the other events I did very well.
