October 13
Japanese television reporters interview Sri Chinmoy at his Jharna-Kala exhibition in Miyazaki, Japan.
October 13
Video by kedarvideo
Sri Chinmoy runs 100 metres in 15:34 at the World Masters Games in Miyazaki, Japan.
Cycling Prayers
by Sri Chinmoy
My Absolute Lord Supreme!
You love each and every
Human being
Unconditionally.
So must I.
4:27 a.m., New York
My Absolute Lord Supreme!
God-realisation-thirst
I have.
God-manifestation-hunger
I need.
5:36 a.m., New York
My Absolute Lord Supreme!
Sweet, sweeter, sweetest
Are the tears of my heart
And
The sorrows of my life
6:12 a.m., New York
Published in My Aspiration-Heart Cycles, part 1
October 10
Sri Chinmoy runs a 20-kilometre (12.4-mile) race, sponsored by the Long Island Road Runners, at Eisenhower Park, New York, in a time of 1 hour and 51 minutes.
The Street is All Yours
by Sri Chinmoy
Towards the end of today’s 20-kilometre race in Eisenhower Park, a little boy said to me, “The street is yours.”
He was telling me that I could run on the street, but I went onto the sidewalk and continued my running there.
At one point we took a wrong turn, but Niriha saved us and told us the correct way. She was there videotaping my running.
Published in Run and Become, Become and Run, part 12.
October 9
Mokshagun Clarence Clemons, the saxophonist in Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band, meditates with Sri Chinmoy at Aspiration-Ground, in Jamaica Queens, New York.
October 9
Sri Chinmoy runs the 4-mile race, sponsored by the Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team, at Breezy Point, Long Island, New York, in a time of 36 minutes and 16 seconds.
The Four-Minute Miler
by Sri Chinmoy
Today I ran on the course for our four-mile race at Breezy Point before the other runners. While I was running, I passed an elderly couple, and the husband started joking with me, saying, “Oh, a four-minute miler?”
I said, “Yes, a four-minute miler.”
When I was coming back from the turnaround point, the wife was asking Savita about me. The lady said, “That’s that older runner.”
Published in Run and Become, Become and Run, part 12.
October 11
Sri Chinmoy publicly lifts 106¼ lbs. using only his right arm at Aspiration-Ground in Jamaica, Queens, New York. (Two days earlier, Sri Chinmoy lifted the same weight at his home gym.) Photos from this inspirational lift are reproduced on posters that are displayed in gymnasiums.
The Most Difficult Lift
The most difficult of the lifts that I do is the stomach lift. After that, for fifteen or twenty minutes, I do not know my name even. I have to drink something immediately and I do not feel like talking.
This morning I lifted 300 pounds 30 times on my stomach. — Sri Chinmoy
Published in A Mystic Journey in the Weightlifting World, part 2
October 10
Sri Chinmoy has a private meeting with former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev in Manhattan, New York. It is their 22nd meeting.
October 10
Fulfilment
Guru’s way is through meditation not drugs
By Audrey Aslin
Citizen special correspondent
Yogi Sri Chinmoy, in Ottawa during a cross-Canada lecture tour, says today’s hippies are “disappointing”
“You cannot give peace by shouting and slogans. You cannot help society by leaving society.”
The guru, lapsing into periods of meditation during an interview, said thousands of people had come to him seeking spiritual fulfilment through Yoga. Young people who had experimented with drugs have come to him and told him of their “marvellous experiences” with drugs. Sri Chinmoy’s way is through meditation, not drugs.
He cited two types of life, one of desire and the other of aspiration. Aspiration is an inner cry, he said, and is the type of life that fulfils.
“The ordinary person cries for name, fame, material wealth.”
This is the life of desire the Yogi says is a part of the problem with the contemporary.Through meditation, he said, people can learn to control their desires for material things and transcend the barriers of prejudice.
Divine fulfilment is the goal in Yoga practice, reached by a union of the soul with God. It is not a replacement for religion.“Yoga” he emphasised. “is only one path.”
“Everyone has the right to realize God in his own way. Yoga will never interfere. Yoga transcends the barriers of all religions.
No superior religion He said each religion criticizes the others, but he sees the different religions as paths to fulfilment. One is not superior to another, but each fulfil the needs of various people, he said.
Sri Chinmoy does not follow any one specific religion. “I have a path of my own — of love, devotion and surrender.” “I feel God is dearest to me not because He is omnipotent, omnipresent ... but I am attracted to His love aspect.”
He said he had achieved peace of mind by offering himself to God through meditation.
Like drop of water
He compared his surrender to God to a drop of water being assimilated by the ocean. As the drop of water loses its individuality, so the finite becomes infinite.
“Man cannot remain imperfect forever. When man listens to God his imperfections turn to perfections,” he said.
Sri Chinmoy said the only way to reach fulfilment is to meditate.
When he began following Yoga at the age of 12 in India, he meditated eight to 10 hours a day. Now, he said, his meditation is constant and spontaneous. “In order to realize God, man has to meditate. Meditation is the divine language. When I speak to God, I don’t use English — I use the common language of meditation.”
Daily meditation
He asks that his disciples meditate at least every morning and every night.
Centres for Spiritual philosophy and meditation have been established in several cities in North America. The first Canadian Centre was established in Ottawa, at the home of Mrs. Elizabeth Lok.
Mrs. Lok, has been given the Indian name of Mukti, meaning liberation.
He said he feels each of his disciples should have an Indian name to express the way their souls can realize truth.
Sri Chinmoy’s centres are opened by people whom he believes are sincere in their quest for the ultimate in Yoga philosophy.
When he is convinced a person is a “sincere seeker”, he will grant him an interview after the aspirant has spent four months meditating at one of the Centres. He asks that his disciples be vegetarians. This helps keep the body and mind pure he said.
“When you eat meat, the animal consciousness enters into your body. Animals are restless,” he said. “You can’t meditate when destructive qualities such as doubt, fear, and anxiety are within the body.”
Being a vegetarian speeds up the progression towards the ultimate realization of God, he said.
Sessions at UN
Sri Chinmoy, who leads meditations in the Peace Room of the United Nations every Tuesday, said U Thant is doing a remarkable job. He expressed fear of what might happen after U Thant is gone. “All governments are talking peace, but look at the outer thing — all wars. There is a difference between what we speak and what we do. Truth and peace have to be felt first from within. Then we can offer it without.”
Caption:
Yogi of Sri Chinmoy
Divine fulfilment the goal
Published in The Ottawa Citizen, Sat., Oct. 10, 1970, Page 47
U.N. Bureau of the German Press Agency
The following question Is asked by Mr. Zehn Eckhardt of the U.N. Bureau of the German Press Agency, during an interview at the United Nations.
Question: I have read and seen on television that you have achieved quite a number of astonishing feats. What is the connection between your search for peace and what you are doing with weightlifting?
Sri Chinmoy: There is an important link between what I am doing at the United Nations and what I am doing when I lift up weights, elephants and so forth. In my weightlifting I am trying to show that if you pray and meditate, you can bring to the fore your inner strength. Now, if somebody is really inwardly strong, he is always at peace. When you have confidence and strength within you, then you do not go outside to quarrel or fight with others. If you are secure at home, then you do not leave your house and start quarrelling and finding fault with your neighbours. It is only because you are insecure that you try to fight with others, because you are always afraid that they are going to surpass you.
Because countries inwardly feel insecure, they go out and fight with other countries. But the country that is inwardly secure will not come forward to fight; such a thing is beneath its dignity. An elephant is not going to approach a dog and attack it. The dog will bark and bark at the elephant, making the world feel that it is so strong, but the elephant will just ignore the dog.
So when I lift up some heavy weight, I am hoping to inspire others to also bring forward their own inner strength. Inner strength is not my monopoly. Far from it. Everybody has it. Only it has to be brought forward. If everybody can bring forward his inner strength, then everybody will be secure and nobody will try to attack anybody else.
When we are inwardly strong, not only do we not attack the world but we feel our oneness with the world. And it is out of the feeling of oneness that solid peace comes. Because the different parts of your body have established oneness with each other, they do not feel jealous of one another. When your arm lifts a weight, your eyes or your ears are not jealous, because all the parts of your body have established their oneness. Every part of your body feels joy in the body’s achievements.
Similarly, when you and I feel our heart’s oneness, whatever you achieve I also claim as my own achievement. If I claim your achievement as my own, then how can I be afraid that you will surpass me? There is no fear or competition; there is only self-giving. I will give you what I have, and you will give me what you have. So oneness, based on inner security, is the only foundation for world peace.
Published in Aspiration-Body, Illumination-Soul, part 1
October 9
Inspiration, Aspiration and Realisation
Sri Chinmoy’s lecture
at McGill University, Montreal, Canada
What do we mean when we say "inspiration," "aspiration" and "realisation"? Inspiration is the beginning of our spiritual journey; aspiration is the middle of our spiritual journey; and realisation is the end of our spiritual journey. When we are inspired, we wish to see the Face of God. When we aspire, we eventually come to see the Face of God. When we realise, we grow into the very Image of God.
Arise, awake! This path is arduous. So we learn from the wise, and we have to follow in the footsteps of the wise. The path of spirituality is not a bed of roses. But neither is it a chimerical mist. The Golden Shores of the Beyond are not a mere promise. The crown of human aspiration is bound to be fulfilled on the Golden Shores of the Beyond.
Arise, awake! Here we must not stop. We have to walk, march, run, dive and fly. The moment we arise from our slumber, we see and feel the need for God in our human life, in our outer and inner life. When we wake up we see that not only do we need God, but God also needs us. Why? We need God to realise our highest, the ultimate transcendental Height. God needs us for His Self-Manifestation here on earth, His Manifestation in us and through us. When we walk along the path of spirituality, we see that God is already inside us. When we march, we see God marching beside us. When we run, we see that God is running in and through us. When we dive deep within, we see the peerless treasure waiting for us. When we fly, we see that we are flying in the welkin of the infinite Peace, Light and Bliss of the Beyond.
In the spiritual life everybody wants to realise God. But when it is a matter of aspiration, dedication, renunciation and surrender to the Will of the Inner Pilot, very few people are prepared to undergo the spiritual discipline. Everybody wants to realise God overnight; everybody wants to become the highest possible preceptor or Guru without going through the spiritual discipline of inspiration and aspiration.
It is like this. A seeker comes to a spiritual institution. The head of the institution asks him, "What do you want?" The seeker says, "I want to join your spiritual institution. Please give me some work." The head of the institution says, "There are only two kinds of work available here. Either you have to play the role of the disciple, or you have to play the role of the Guru or Master. You have to listen to the Guru, or you have to be the Guru and make others listen to you." The seeker immediately says, "Please, I want to play the role of the Guru." This is what actually happens in our spiritual life. Very often, when a seeker comes to the Master, he unconsciously thinks that he can also be a Master overnight. But I wish to say that it is not possible to become a spiritual giant or to achieve self-discovery or to realise God overnight. It takes time. Here most of you are students. You know how many years it takes to get your Master's degree — fifteen or twenty years. To acquire spiritual knowledge also demands many years of study. This study has to be undertaken before one becomes a spiritual Master.
We are all living in a world of duality, multiplicity and variety. When we want to elevate our consciousness to the Highest and try to aspire, desire, the thief, robs us. He takes away our psychic aspiration, our pure devotion toward God, our surrendering will which we offer to the Almighty Will. The Christ said, "Except a man be born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God." What do we learn from this lofty message? We learn that the life of desire has to give way to the life of aspiration. If the life of aspiration does not come to the fore, then a new life can never dawn. The Kingdom of God can be established only when we kindle the flame of aspiration deep within us.
Every day we are facing the ideal and the real. Our ideal is God, but the reality that we are facing is something totally different: ignorance. We are caught in the meshes of ignorance. The ideal and the real must go together. God is the Ideal; God is also the Real. We make solemn promises every day. We say that our ideal is to raise our consciousness to the Highest, our ideal is to achieve perfect Perfection. But when we face the real within us and without, we see that we are imperfection incarnate. Why? Because we are wanting in aspiration. We are wallowing in the pleasures of desires. Naturally, aspiration cannot play a proper role in us.
There are two Sanskrit words, abhyasa and tyaga. Abhyasa means practise and tyaga means renunciation. Every day we have to practise the inner life. When we practise meditation for fifteen minutes, God practises Compassion. We offer Him our heart's soulful cry, and in His own way He offers us His boundless, infinite Compassion. This is what we and God both practise. Now, renunciation. What are we going to renounce? The world? Society? Humanity? No! We are going to renounce our imperfections, bondage and death. When we go deep within, we see that we do not actually renounce these negative qualities of ours. Rather, we transform them. If imperfection looms large and important in our life, then we try to perfect our imperfection with our conscious awareness of Light. If we notice bondage within us, then we try to transform our bondage into freedom. If death is constantly knocking at our door, which it always is, we try to transform our death into Immortality.
Earlier, I spoke about the need for aspiration to realise God. But inspiration is also necessary. Why do we need inspiration? Can we not immediately achieve realisation without first going through inspiration? Let us take an example. An artist creates a painting. If he is not inspired, his creation will have no meaning, or significance. It will be a mechanical creation; it will be wanting in life. I wish to say that on the strength of his inspiration, the artist gives life to a portrait. When people see and appreciate the portrait, their appreciation takes the form of an offering of their own life. The portrait gets new life from the admirers. And when a spiritual person looks at the picture, he offers it divine life. So first we see the artist's creation, then we see the admirers' creation and finally we see the Master's creation, which offers divine life to the picture.
When a man walks along the path of spirituality, his inspiration is the awakening life that he offers to himself. When he aspires, his aspiration is the illumining life that he offers to himself. And when he becomes a realised person, he offers the Life Divine, the Life of Immortality, to his awakened and illumined life.
What is realisation? When we use the term "realisation" in our spiritual life, people are very often confused. They feel that a realised person is totally different from an ordinary person, that he behaves in a very unusual way. But I wish to say that a realised person need not and should not behave in an unusual way. What has he realised? The ultimate Truth in God. And who is God? God is someone or something absolutely natural.
When a man realises the highest Truth, he tries to offer the highest Truth to humanity at large. Most often unrealised people or unspiritual people think that a realised person, if he is truly realised, has to perform miracles at every moment. Miracles and God-Realisation need not and should not go together. When you stand in front of a spiritual Master, what you expect to see and what you do see is Peace, Light, Bliss and divine Power. Now, where does he hold this power? Not in his arms or legs, or in his head, but deep inside the inmost recesses of his heart. Enter into him and you are bound to feel infinite Peace, infinite Light and infinite Bliss. But if you expect something else from a realised soul, if you come to a spiritual Master thinking that because he has realised the highest he can fulfil your teeming desires, make you a multimillionaire in the twinkling of an eye, you are totally mistaken. These are the kinds of things he does not do. If it is the Will of the Supreme, the Master can easily make someone a multimillionaire overnight. He can bring down material prosperity in abundant measure, but this is not the Will of the Supreme. What you can expect from a Master and from a Master's realisation is Peace, Light and Bliss.
Published in Eastern Light for the Western Mind
Why Am I So Unhappy?
An inspirational message
by Sri Chinmoy
after a morning meditation
My Supreme Lord,
Why am I so unhappy?
"My child,
You are unhappy because
Your body is afraid of everything.
You are unhappy because
Your vital complains about everything.
You are unhappy because
Your mind wants everything
To be explained.
You are unhappy because
Your heart does not trust anything."
My Supreme Lord,
How can I be happy?
"My child,
You can be happy easily,
Effectively and permanently
If you can think and feel
That you are of
The transcendentally beautiful Reality,
God,
And that you are for
The universally fruitful Reality, God."
Published in Aurora-Flora
