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 the first in a series of four lectures, entitled ‘Commentary on the Bhagavad Gita’, in Vanderbilt Hall at New York University in New York, NY, USA.
Sri Chinmoy meets with the Lord Mayor of Perth, the Right Honourable Earnest Lee-Steere, who arranges a reception at his chambers in Perth, WA, Australia.
Sri Chinmoy meets with Mayor Charles Smith of Nedlands and plants a rose bush for world peace at the Nedlands Memorial Rose Gardens in Perth, WA, Australia. After the ceremony, Mayor Smith invites Sri Chinmoy back to his council chambers for refreshments.
Sri Chinmoy holds a lunchtime meditation at the Seekers’ Centre in Perth, WA, Australia. He gives a short talk and answers questions from the audience.
Sri Chinmoy delivers a lecture, entitled ‘Philosophy, Spirituality and Yoga’, at the University of Western Australia in Perth, WA, Australia.
Sri Chinmoy runs his first marathon in a time of 4:31:34 at the Bidwell Classic in Chico, CA, USA.
Sri Chinmoy offers an esraj concert and delivers a lecture, entitled ‘A Life of Blossoming Love’, at the State University of New York in Stony Brook, NY, USA.
Sri Chinmoy delivers a lecture, entitled ‘Transcendence’, at Stanford University in Stanford, CA, USA.
Sri Chinmoy offers a Peace Concert at Saint Peter’s Church in New York, NY, USA.
The Czech Republic is inaugurated as a Sri Chinmoy Peace-Blossom-Nation at Lichtenstein Palace in Prague, Czech Republic.
Sri Chinmoy offers a Peace Concert to an audience of 13,000 at the Sportovní Hala Sparta in Prague, Czech Republic.
Sri Chinmoy’s artworks are exhibited at the Town Gallery in Trencin, Slovakia.
Sri Chinmoy lifts Nobel Peace Laureate Rigoberta Menchú Tum from Guatemala at Aspiration-Ground in Jamaica, New York, NY, USA.
Even the most prolific of writers such as Shakespeare or Arnold Bennett would have no match for the spiritual master or guru Sri Chinmoy, who arrived in Perth yesterday.
During one 24-hour concentrated session, Sri Chinmoy says, he once wrote 834 poems.
Recently he also completed 10,000 paintings in 24 hours.
“If even one of the paintings give you something in spirit, then it is all worth while,” he said.
“I do it not to compete with others but to compete with myself.”
He said that the exercise gave him great joy.
Yesterday Sri Chinmoy called on the new Dean of Perth, the Rev John Cornish, because the guru was to lecture last night in St George’s Cathedral.
The dean had earlier had an anonymous phone call from a woman who said that the lecture should not be allowed.
“I spoke to her gently and she calmed down, Dean Cornish said.
The two spiritual leaders discovered yesterday that they had more in common than leading their flocks.
They were both born in 1931, the guru in August and the dean in October.
Sri Chinmoy was born in Bengal but now lives in New York, where he conducts meditation twice weekly for delegates to the United Nations.
He teaches a mystical approach to God based on love, devotion and surrender to the divine will. — Jill Crommelln.
The Dean of Perth, the Rev. John Cornish, with the Indian guru Sri Chinmoy in Perth yesterday.
Published in The West Australian, Perth, Wednesday, March 3, 1976
When the power of love replaces the love
of power, man will have a new name: God.
Published in Song-Flowers, Part 8
Sri Chinmoy offers a Peace Concert in St. Peter’s Lutheran Church in Manhattan’s Citicorp building in New York.
Sri Chinmoy runs his first marathon in a time of 4:31:34 at the Bidwell Classic in Chico, California.
Sri Chinmoy has the following conversation with Olympic Track and Field Champion Sudhahota Carl Lewis.
Sri Chinmoy: What is happening in the long jump?
Sudhahota This year, Guru, I’m not going to do the long jump in smaller meets so I don’t have so much pressure all the time.
Sri Chinmoy: As long as you break the world record, it does not matter where you do it.
Dearest Sudhahota, you have to know that inner strength and inner inspiration are not enough. Aspiration also is of supreme importance. Many, many talented musicians, artists and others have inspiration. But if they don’t have aspiration as well, then their inspiration cannot go very far because there is no link between their inner life and their outer life. When aspiration is not there to support the inspiration, inspiration is weak and helpless, and eventually it gets completely lost.
It is like a tug-of-war. In a tug-of-war, if you can have aspiration along with inspiration, then it is like having two people on your side. Definitely you are going to defeat those who are only dealing with inspiration. Look at Narada, who has become the supreme musician. He has inspiration, but along with it he also has aspiration. This aspiration is like a volcano; it comes out and pushes forward the inspiration.
Aspiration is the inner food that we must eat daily. Whether we feel hungry or not, we have to nourish ourselves in order to live on earth. If you can consciously pray to God and meditate on God, this will help you immensely. You can do it at home, at church, or any place. And while praying, think of either a bullet train reaching its destination or a river flowing very fast towards the ocean. Imagine that you are the train and that you have this bullet speed. A few times you can even repeat ‘bullet speed’. It is not that you are using the bullet to kill someone. No, it is the fastest, fastest speed that you are invoking.
You may call this just imagination, but you have to know that imagination is the reality that is at the top of the tree. Right now we cannot see it; only when it touches the foot of the tree can we see it. I am at the foot of the Himalayas, let us say. So how am I going to see what’s on the topmost peak? It is impossible. Just because with our naked human eyes we cannot see something, we don’t take it seriously. But it is there. As the foot is reality, even so the peak is also reality. So please try to imagine that you do have this bullet speed. Now all you have to do is manifest it.
Similarly with the long jump, always feel that you have the capacity to become the world champion. Do not allow yourself even for one second to be intimidated by the thought, “Perhaps I can’t do it.” That ‘perhaps’ has to disappear from your mind totally. In fact, feel that you have already done it. Whenever you try either the 100 metres or the long jump, please feel that you have already done it. With that kind of confidence you will run; with that kind of confidence you will jump. Don’t for even one second think of the other runners or jumpers. No, no! You don’t have any time to think about them or even to hear about them. It is not that you don’t like them. It is just that whenever you think about them or hear about them, very often uncomely or distracting thoughts come. So do not think of others at all. Just feel that you yourself are your own best rival.
I have so much confidence in you. How I wish you would feel the same confidence in yourself when you run and jump, for you have to know that your confidence is your fastest speed; your confidence is your longest jump. And this confidence you will be able to bring to the fore through your prayer-life and your meditation-life. Each time you pray and meditate, just feel that you are transcending yourself. And once you start transcending, then naturally nobody else can come to where you are. You are always at your supreme height.
Every day you spend perhaps two or three hours practising your running and jumping. If every day you can also pray and meditate for just five minutes in the morning and evening and, if possible, at noon also, it will help you immensely. Prayer is your inner strength and your inner power, and this inner power is infinitely stronger than any outer strength.
When I look at the 7,000-pound weight that I lifted, I am the first person not to believe I did it. If I use my mind, I will be my own worst doubter. But I know that it is the Supreme in me who has done it because He wanted to express Himself in and through me in this way. In your case, it is exactly the same. If you can become the instrument of God and feel that you are going to break the record for God — in order to raise the standard of the long jump — then who will be able to defeat you? Please feel that when you transcend yourself in the long jump, God Himself is progressing in and through you. That is our philosophy. You don’t see this because you don’t yet have the inner vision to see the invisible. But when we develop the inner vision, we see that although God is infinite, eternal and immortal, He Himself is progressing in and through us. So if you can feel that your success is God’s Success and your progress is God’s Progress, then there can be nobody, nobody on earth who will be able to defeat you.
God means infinite capacity. The moment a drop enters into the ocean, it becomes the ocean. I am a drop, you are a drop, Narada is a drop, we are all drops. The moment we enter into God’s Ocean-Vastness, we become the Ocean-Vastness. The moment a flame enters into the sun, it becomes the sun itself. So while you are praying, please feel that you are a blazing flame that is climbing up higher than the highest and entering into the all-illumining sun. It is our prayer-life that connects us with the infinite Power. If we cannot connect with the infinite Power, then we remain just a little flame or a little drop.
We are God’s children, but we feel our Father is far away from us in Heaven. We say, “Oh, I have made so many mistakes and blunders. How can I dare to claim God as my very own?” But that is not the right attitude. No matter how weak we are, we have to claim God as our own, very own. The more mistakes we make, the more eager we should be to run towards Him. But no, each time we make a mistake, out of embarrassment or fear we try to go away from Him. That is absurd! We have to act like a child who has been playing in the mud. Nobody wants to touch him because he is so dirty and filthy. But he runs confidently towards his mother and she cleans him. Then he is all purity.
In our spiritual life, no matter where we are, no matter what kind of consciousness we are in — even if our consciousness is in the lowest possible plane — we have to run towards our Source, God our Heavenly Father. At every moment He is more than eager to help us. Unfortunately, we try to rely all the time on our own capacities. We say, “I can do this, I can do that.” But the capacities that we have on the physical plane will not always help us. So let us say, “I can do this because He is doing it in and through me.” Then we will have boundless confidence.
This is not the ego’s confidence that “I” can do something. It is the confidence that makes us feel we can do something precisely because God is doing it in and through us. Otherwise, we will all be like Julius Caesar, who said, “I came, I saw, I conquered.” And where are Julius Caesar and the Roman Empire now? But when the Christ said, “I and my Father are one,” on the strength of his inseparable oneness with God, he became the Saviour. Now the whole world worships and adores him because he had that inseparable oneness with the Creator. In him, God the creation and God the Creator became one. So his confidence came from the feeling that he and his Father are one. That is the kind of confidence that you need, Narada needs, we all need.
So let us feel that we are God’s; let us feel that He is the doer and that we are only the instrument. If we become His instrument and allow Him to manifest Himself in and through us, then He gives us such confidence. The confidence of being God’s instrument immediately makes us perfect and makes the Creator supremely happy.
Whenever you come, I offer my oneness in the form of advice, but please feel that my affection and concern for your success are boundless, boundless, boundless. So wherever you are whether in Texas or Germany or any place — please pray three times a day most soulfully. It is especially important to do this before the Olympics. It is like being a student. The student studies throughout the year, but before the examination he works hard, harder, hardest — more diligently and more soulfully than before.
In your case also, your inner life has to come to the fore, your prayer-life has to come to the fore and your oneness with God’s Will has to come to the fore. Then nobody, nobody on earth will be able to defeat you. Your oneness-strength with God’s Will and infinite Compassion must come forward. Then there will be no such thing as impossibility for you. It will all be possibility and reality. The reality is there somewhere; you only have to bring it down. The mango is on the tree; you just have to climb up and bring it down and then share it with the world.
Sudhahota: I just wanted to say that this is a really special time and special year for me. I really believe it is a year for me to put to use every tool that I have in order to be the best. Just saying “Thank you, Guru,” isn’t all that I have to say. I want to say thank you for knowing the needs that I have and for trying to enrich me and fulfil my needs. I want to do more than just thank you for the motivation you give me and for continually understanding my needs and fulfilling them and giving me energy when I need it.
Sri Chinmoy: The outer life is limited, but the inner life is unlimited; the inner energy that comes from the Source is unlimited. Again, the outer life also can become limitless if it establishes its inseparable oneness with the inner life. You were just speaking about energy. This energy is inexhaustible; it is birthless and deathless. But there is only one way to have access to this energy, and that is through prayer and meditation. There is no other way. To achieve an earthly thing in life there can be several ways. But if it is something really significant, abiding, everlasting — if it is some significant success, progress or glory that you want to offer to God — then you have to bring forward this inner energy. In the inner world it is at our disposal, but most people do not care to bring it forward. Those who do are able to offer something most special both to humanity and to divinity.
I am very, very glad that you have made the inner life part and parcel of your existence. So please, please, every day pray and meditate — just for five minutes in the morning and at night and, if possible, also at noon. Then you have your brother, Narada, who is constantly inspiring and encouraging you. He is ready to go to the farthest corner of the globe if he can be of any help to you. So his request and my request to you are the same: dive deep within, and from your own prayer-life bring forward your limitless energy. Then success will be all yours. ‘Yours’ in this case means God’s, for it is He who will be succeeding and progressing in and through you.
The Olympics means oneness — the oneness of nations. Rivalry is there on the outer plane, but on the inner plane it is all oneness. Once we see our oneness with people from so many countries, we feel the fulness and complete satisfaction of God the Creator inside His own creation.
Published in Carl Lewis: The Champion Inner Runner, part 2
The Honourable Earnest Lee-Steere, at the Lord Mayor's office at Council House, Perth, Western Australia
Sri Chinmoy: You are the Mayor of Perth, so you have the responsibility for thousands of children. I happen to be a teacher, so I also have a responsibility, but for only a thousand children. I know how difficult it is to deal with only a few people and you, being the Mayor, have to deal with many, many problems every day. I admire your dedication and hard work.
Lord Mayor: Thank you for your understanding. I find it very rewarding to be responsible for such a number of different types of people in the city: We have many ethnic groups here. There's the Greek community, the Italian community and some from India and Sri Lanka, and our Aboriginal community (I speak their language a little). I find it easier to please the average person than the odd man at the top. I often don't quite understand the attitude of some of the people who you would think could have the same sort of responsibility as we have, who could try and do the best they can for everybody, but avoid it because it is a burden.
Sri Chinmoy: From the spiritual point of view we take each responsibility as an opportunity. Responsibility means opportunity to widen our consciousness. If I have a responsibility towards you, then if I properly use that responsibility, I become one with you.
Lord Mayor: I'm very self-critical. I feel that ever since I was a little boy I clearly saw the right path, and I used to wonder why people like the Dean had to preach every week. Now I realise that they could preach every hour on the hour and still be needed to continue saying what they do. So it is an inspiration to meet someone such as yourself. I get a sense of re-dedication to things that so obviously need to be done.
Sri Chinmoy: It is most kind of you to say so. We feel that spirituality is like our regular food. We can't depend on yesterday's food. Yesterday we ate because we were hungry. Today, when we are again hungry, can we say that yesterday's food was enough? No. Today's hunger needs and demands new food. Every day we have to strengthen ourselves with new food, new inspiration. Then only can we be satisfied inwardly and outwardly.
Lord Mayor: Thank you, thank you. Well, you have brought a big meal for me today. I had a very rewarding task once. I had to lead a mission of goodwill to India, and it went off wonderfully well. We made a great number of friends among the average people we met while we were there, and I was very taken with the calm philosophy of so many. The Indians are a million years ahead of us in understanding not to fuss about things that don't matter. They've got a sense of judgement of what matters and what doesn't matter, probably from people like yourself teaching them and inspiring them. Are you enjoying your trip to Australia?
Sri Chinmoy: Yes, I have been enjoying it very much. Right from the start of this journey, I have been blessed not only by the soul of Australia but by the kindness of its people as well.
Lord Mayor: You do a lot of good work for the people in the United Nations, I believe.
Sri Chinmoy: I try to serve mankind according to my capacity. Whenever I am given the opportunity to be of any service feel it is most rewarding. So I try my hardest to serve mankind, not only at the United Nations, but everywhere. I go from one place to another, like a bird, and try to offer to others the light that God, out of His infinite Bounty, has granted me.
Lord Mayor: I think it's wonderful that you do this, because so many people, particularly those who hold the so-called prominent positions for their countries at the U.N., seem to need it. In my experience with local government, it's slightly disappointing to see the number of people who are ostensibly there to serve their fellow citizens when, in fact, their main motivation seems to be to glorify themselves. I think a person such as you, who is so humble in himself, trying to give light to people in so-called prominent positions, probably reminds them to be more dedicated to the ideals they are supposed to be serving rather than to themselves.
Sri Chinmoy: I always say that when you really have something to offer to the world, then you can become truly humble. A tree, when it has no fruit to offer, remains erect. But when the tree is laden with fruit, it bends down. When you have genuine humility, it is a sign that you have something to offer to mankind. If you are all pride and ego, then nobody will be able to get anything worthwhile from you.
Lord Mayor: That is a very wonderful parable. Great men through the ages have been quietly preaching parables to other people. I'm so glad you have met the Dean. He's new here. He seems a nice man.
Sri Chinmoy: He has been very kind and generous. One lady berated him on the phone for giving me the opportunity to speak in a Christian cathedral. This is why I find it difficult to accept the barriers of religion. Our Indian spirituality far transcends these barriers of religion. It feels that Truth is nobody's monopoly. Truth is your birthright, my birthright, everybody's birthright. When we think of Truth and cry for Truth, all problems are solved. But when we think of a particular religion, each religion claims to be by far the best. "My religion is far better than yours," people will say. There is no end to this silly, fruitless controversy.
Lord Mayor: Man's inhumanity to man through different sects of religion is incredible! When you think of the French, for instance, tying people upside down on stakes and burning them because there was a slight difference in their Christianity. And the Spanish inquisition, the Moslem and Christian war in Lebanon, the war in Ireland. It's awful, isn't it? What happens all around the world is unbelievable! In the name of Truth and God, people are led by their religions to this absolutely ridiculous bigotry.
Sri Chinmoy: What does it prove? It proves that the animal in us is not yet fully transformed. It is only waiting for the opportunity to come to the fore and devour the rest of the world. Only when we practise real spirituality, when we sincerely cry for God and the highest Truth through our prayer and meditation, is the animal in us transformed into a divine child. Then slowly, steadily and unerringly the divine child becomes absolutely perfect. This perfection is everybody's ultimate aim and goal. Unfortunately, right now, the animal is still hiding in us like a hungry wolf. It is only waiting for the opportunity to devour us and the rest of the world.
Lord Mayor: You know, sometimes I find myself nearly preaching in my job here, because of people's stubbornness. This was chosen as the site of a city where a lot of people would live: therefore, it's necessary to have roads and interchanges. But there is always a group that says nothing should be done — you are spoiling nature. My answer to that is twofold. First, if you don't want to do anything around the river at all, then you should have put the capital city on some hot, dusty sandhill out back, and left the river exactly as it was. And the second thing is that at least we, as humans, have done better than perhaps the dinosaurs would have done. They would have been trudging around despoiling parts of the river. So I find myself almost preaching, God forgive me, by saying that I'm a great believer in the divinity of man and that for better or worse we're the best He's got. I say that we're trying to look after people, not trying to worship the ground or the river. It may sometimes be bad luck from an aesthetic point of view, but we have to have some roads and some car parks since this is the place where people have decided to live. It's my job as Lord Mayor to make Perth as comfortable as possible for the people, while at the same time preserving the beauty as best I can. There's a lot of Western Australia that hasn't got anything on it except the ants and the birds. And so I keep finding myself almost preaching, saying that in my opinion man is made in the Sight of God and this is what we are supposed to be doing. That falls on some deaf ears amongst some of the hard-headed people around, but is it not a reasonable philosophy?
Sri Chinmoy: Absolutely! With my heart's implicit sincerity, I wish to tell you that you are a real lover of God and Truth. What I practise and what my students practise, you also try to practice. We use the term 'seeker.' We seek God and Truth in a specific way. You are also seeking the Truth and believing and manifesting the Truth in your own way. But our ultimate Goal is the same. What you are doing is absolutely right. The seeker in you is most genuine and most soulful, and because of that I am extremely grateful to have had the opportunity to be here. The seeker in me and the seeker in you have become eternal friends in the soul's world. Our eternal friendship is recorded on the tablets of our aspiring hearts.
Sri Chinmoy writes a dedication to the Lord Mayor in one of his books, and presents it to him. The Lord Mayor presents a book about Perth to Sri Chinmoy and writes in it: “To a truly great and humble man.”
Published in My Heart’s Salutation to Australia, part 1
"This rose bush was planted by Sri Chinmoy for the inspiration of all who aspire towards Peace." – dedication
at Nedlands Memorial Rose Gardens in Perth Western Australia
Sri Chinmoy: So this I offer to you. I wish to say, Mr. Mayor, dear spiritual brother, that to be here in your presence is to be blessed by your wisdom-light. You have far surpassed most of us with your soulful maturity. With your magnanimous heart you have conquered the hearts of many, many, many people. From now on, I will be one of those. I shall be one on that list of the countless souls who appreciate and admire you.
Here we are planting a rose bush. The significance of the rose in the inner world is most important. The rose, like other flowers, has fragrance and beauty, but it also has something special, unique. There are very few flowers in God's creation that please God to the greatest extent. The rose is one of those, along with the lotus. Rose and lotus: these are the two mystical flowers. These are the two flowers in God's Heart-Garden that please Him most. The fragrance and beauty of this rose will come from Perth, Australia and go directly to the Heart of God the Creator and God the creation.
I wish to say that this is not an honour; it is a blessing that you are bestowing upon me and my followers, and this blessing I am going to treasure all my life. As a seeker, I am offering my aspiration to this rose bush so that it can continuously grow and increase its beauty, fragrance, light and delight and be of constant inspiration to humanity's progress and constant delight to Divinity's all-fulfilling Compassion on earth.
Mayor Charles Smith [very moved]: Thank you, sir! Well, my friend, on behalf of the Council and the citizens of this very, very wonderful city, we take this plaque from you. It will remain here in front of this bush, which is a reminder also of what has become your homeland, has it not? [The Mayor is referring to the fact that it is a Lincoln Rose.] And it joins, of course the other bushes in this garden which commemorate the fathers and mothers, sons and daughters, sisters and brothers who have lost their lives in the defence of this country and the defence of right and justice throughout the world at many times. It is fitting, sir, that it should be a rose. The rose is the national flower of England, you would probably be aware, and most of our forefathers, of course, originally came from England, Ireland, Scotland or Wales. They are our great-grandfathers now, of yesterday.
I'm quite sure a large number of people, sir, will have a look at this. Questions will be asked as to just who you were and what happened on the 3rd of March 1976. If I'm not here, I guess the Town Clerk or one of the others will be here, or Mr. Alan Turner, the head gardener.
Sri Chinmoy: Your spirit and your soul will long be here in this beautiful city, in this beautiful country. [Sri Chinmoy blesses a rose.] This rose is a Lincoln Rose. President Lincoln's most famous utterance was, "Government of the people, by the people, and for the people." I wish to say that this Lincoln Rose is not only of Perth's heart or Australia's heart, it is of humanity's heart and for humanity to claim and to utilise.
Published in My Heart’s Salutation to Australia, part 1
The first in a series of four lectures by Sti Chinmoy
at Vanderbilt Hall, New York University, New York
I read the Gita because it is the Eye of God. I sing the Gita because it is the Life of God. I live the Gita because it is the Soul of God.
The Gita is God’s Vision immediate. The Gita is God’s Reality direct.
They say that the Gita is a Hindu book, a most significant scripture. I say that it is the Light of Divinity in humanity. They say that the Gita needs an introduction. I say that God truly wants to be introduced by the Gita.
Arjuna is the ascending human soul. Sri Krishna is the descending divine Soul. Finally they meet. The human soul says to the divine Soul: “I need you.” The divine Soul says to the human soul: “I need you, too. I need you for my Self-manifestation. You need me for your Self-realisation.” Arjuna says: “O Krishna, you are mine, absolutely mine.” Sri Krishna says: “O Arjuna, no mine, no thine. We are the Oneness complete, within, without.
The Gita is an episode in the sixth book of the Mahabharata. Mahabharata means ‘Great India’, ‘India the Sublime’. This unparalleled epic is six times the size of the Iliad and the Odyssey combined. Surprising in size and amazing in thought is the Mahabharata. The main story revolves around a giant rivalry between two parties of cousins. Their ancestral kingdom was the apple of discord. This rivalry came to its close at the end of a great battle called the Battle of Kurukshetra.
Santanu had two wives: Ganga and Satyavati. Bhishma was born from the union of Santanu and Ganga; Chitrangada and Vichitravirya from that of Santanu and Satyavati. Vichitraviya’s two wives were Ambika and Ambalika. Dhritarashtra was the son of Ambika and Vichitravirya; Pandu, the son of Ambalika and Vichitravirya. Dhritarashtra’s hundred sons were the Kauravas; Pandu’s five sons, the Pandavas.
Yudhisthira was the legitimate heir to the kingdom. His father, Pandu, had reigned a number of years, offering the utmost satisfaction to his subjects. Finally, Pandu retired to the forest. To succeed him was his eldest son, Yudhisthira. And he did it devotedly and successfully. Dhritarashtra was Pandu’s elder half-brother. God had denied him sight. Strangely enough, his affection for his hundred sons blinded his heart as well. Being blind, naturally he was not qualified to inherit the throne. The eldest son of Dhritarashtra was Duryodhana. Ninety-nine brothers were to follow him. Yudhisthira, Pandu’s eldest son, had only four others to follow him.
Truth’s pride was Yudhisthira. Falsehood’s pride was Duryodhana. Through the illumined hearts of Pandu’s five sons, God smiled. Through the unlit minds of Dhritarashtra’s hundred sons, the devil smiled. The devil often succeeded in embracing the blind father, too.
The eyeless father made repeated requests, strong and weak, to Duryodhana — his morally, psychically and spiritually eyeless son — not to go to war. Vidura, the pure heart, Duryodhana’s uncle, failed to throw light on Duryodhana’s thick head. Sanjaya, his father’s prudent charioteer, equally failed. Neither was Bhishma, the oldest and the wisest, successful. Duryodhana felt his own understanding to be superior. Finally Sri Krishna, the Lord of the Universe, most fervently tried to avert the hurtful and heartless battle. But the ignorance-night in Duryodhana would by no means surrender to the knowledge-sun in Sri Krishna.
Seven hundred verses are there in the Gita. About six hundred are the soul-stirring utterances from the divine lips of Lord Krishna, and the rest are from the crying, aspiring Arjuna, the clairvoyant and clairaudient Sanjaya, and the inquisitive Dhritarashtra.
The sage Vyasa enquired of Dhritarashtra if he desired to see the events and have a first-hand knowledge of the battle, from the battle’s birth to the battle’s death. The sage was more than willing to grant the blind man vision. But Dhritarashtra did not want his eyes — the eyes that had failed him all his life — to obey his command at this terribly fateful hour for his conscience and his kingdom’s life, especially when his own sons were heading for destruction. He declined the sage’s kind and bounteous offer. His heart was ruthlessly tortured by the imminent peril of his kinsmen. However, he requested the sage to grant the boon to someone else from whom he could get faultless reports of the battle. Vyasa consented. He conferred upon Sanjaya the miraculous psychic power of vision to see the incidents taking place at a strikingly great distance.
Is the Gita a mere word? No. A speech? No. A concept? No. A kind of concentration? No. A form of meditation? No. What is it, then? It is The Realisation. The Gita is God’s Heart and man’s breath, God’s Assurance and man’s promise.
The inspiration of Hinduism is the soul-concern of the Gita. The aspiration of Hinduism is the blessing-dawn of the Gita. The emancipation of Hinduism is the compassion-light of the Gita. But to pronounce that the Gita is the sole monopoly of Hinduism is absurdity. The Gita is the common property of humanity.
The West says that she has something special to offer to the East: the New Testament. The East accepts the offer with deepest gratitude and offers her greatest pride, the Bhagavad Gita, in return.
The Gita is unique. It is the Scripture of scriptures. Why? Because it has taught the world that the emotion pure, the devotion genuine can easily run abreast with the philosophy solid, the detachment dynamic.
There are eighteen chapters in the Gita. Each chapter reveals a specific teaching of a particular form of Yoga. Yoga is the secret language of man and God. Yoga means ‘union’, the union of the finite with the Infinite, the union of the form with the Formless. It is Yoga that reveals the supreme secret: man is tomorrow’s God and God is today’s man. Yoga is to be practised for the sake of Truth. If not, the seeker will be sadly disappointed. Likewise, man’s God-realisation is for the sake of God. Otherwise, untold frustration will be man’s inevitable reward.
The Gita was born in 600 b.c. Its authorship goes to the sage Veda Vyasa. With a significant question from Dhritarashtra, the Gita commences its journey. The whole narrative of the Bhagavad Gita is Sanjaya’s answer to Dhritarashtra’s single question. Sri Krishna spoke. Much. All divinely soulful. Arjuna spoke. Little. All humanly heartful. Dhritarashtra was the listener. The divinely and humanly clairvoyant and clairaudient reporter was Sanjaya. On very rare occasions, Sanjaya contributed his own thoughtful remarks, too.
Sri Krishna was Arjuna’s body’s relation, heart’s union and soul’s liberation. As God, he illumined Arjuna with the Truth Absolute; as a humane human, he illumined his earthly friend with truths relative.
Philosophers enter into a deplorable controversy. Some enquire how such a philosophical discourse could take place at the commencement of a war. How was it possible? There are others who firmly hold that this momentous discourse was not only possible but inevitable at that hour, since it was the divinely appropriate occasion for the aspiring Hindu to discover the inner meaning of war and live in accordance with his soul’s dictates, instead of following the poor, unlit knowledge of morality.
The Gita is the epitome of the Vedas. It is spontaneous. It is in a form at once divinised and humanised. It is also the purest milk drawn from the udders of the most illumining Upanishads to feed and nourish the human soul. The Gita demands man’s acceptance of life, and reveals the way to achieve the victory of the higher Self over the lower by the spiritual art of transformation: physical, vital, mental, psychic and spiritual.
The Gita embodies the soul-wisdom, the heart-love, the mind-knowledge, the vital-dynamism and the body-action.
Note: This is the first of four lectures in this series by Sri Chinmoy at Vanderbilt Hall at New York University.
Published in The Oneness of the Eastern Heart and the Western Mind, part 2
a lecture by Sri Chinmoy
in Winthrop Hall at the University of Western Australia im Perth, Australia
Philosophy is God-speculation. Spirituality is God-expectation. Yoga is God-union. God-speculation, God-expectation and God-union.
Philosophy most of the time operates on the mental plane. Spirituality most of the time operates in the outer being. Yoga operates in the oneness-heart and in the perfection-life.
Philosophy has come to the conclusion that God is stupendous. Spirituality has come to the conclusion that God is glorious. Yoga has come to the conclusion that God is gracious, loving, compassionate, illumining and fulfilling.
God says to philosophy, "My child, you have known Me as someone stupendous. I shall make you stupendous." God says to spirituality, "My child, you have known Me as someone glorious. I shall grant you all My Glory." To Yoga God says, "My child, you have known Me as someone gracious. Of all My qualities, My most treasured quality is Grace. You are also aware of My Love. Nothing is equal to My Love. Because you are aware of My Compassion and Illumination, I shall bestow My choicest, blessingful Compassion and Illumination on you in infinite measure. And not only that, but also I shall eventually fulfil you by making you another God."
A student of philosophy studies in the mind-school. He wants to measure God's Infinity. A student of spirituality studies in the body-school, vital-school and mind-school. He wants to reach God's Eternity. A student of Yoga studies in the heart-school and in the soul-school. In the heart-school he studies for liberation from ignorance-night and in the soul-school he studies for the perfect perfection of life here on earth.
Who can measure God's Infinity? It is absurd to think of trying. Who can catch God's Eternity? Nobody. But who can try to become liberated? Who can try to become perfect? Everybody. You, he, I, everybody. Everybody in God's creation can make a soulful attempt to become free from the meshes of ignorance and to be perfect. In the heart-school and the soul-school, the student of Yoga learns something else: he learns how to become an unconditional instrument of God. He learns to live on earth only to please God in God's own Way.
The student of philosophy is puzzled. The student of spirituality is astonished. The student of Yoga is awakened, totally awakened. The student of philosophy wants to address the world assembly. He wants to prove that God exists. The student of spirituality wants to carry God's Light throughout the length and breadth of the world. The student of Yoga has been commissioned by God Himself, out of His infinite Bounty, to embody, reveal and manifest God in God's own Way.
Philosophy and spirituality belong to the domain of knowledge, whereas Yoga belongs to the domain of wisdom. I am extremely happy to learn that the motto of this august university is "Seek Wisdom". When a seeker practises true Yoga, he comes to realise that there can be nothing more important in his life than wisdom-light. He discovers that there is a vast difference between knowledge and wisdom. Knowledge is nothing more than the accumulation of world-facts and information. These facts and pieces of information do not and cannot illumine his aspiring consciousness. But wisdom-light can and does illumine his entire being — his earthly life and his earthbound reality. What is proper wisdom? Proper wisdom is the realisation that God is at once one and many, the Creator and the creation. In the inner world He is Silence and in the outer world He is Sound. The seeker with wisdom-light also realises that God needs him as much as he needs God.
Each individual has to launch into the path of the spirit. He can start as a philosophy student. Then he can become a spirituality student. Then he can become a student of Yoga. The most important thing for each human being is to start the journey. There is no end to our journey. There is no end to our goal. One should consciously start, even if he starts only out of curiosity. If he has even a little thirst for God-discovery, let him start with curiosity. Naturally, there comes a time when mere curiosity does not satisfy him. So he tries to go deeper. Then he resorts to imagination. He tries to imagine God in whatever way he wants to. But soon there comes a time when he is no longer satisfied with imagination. Then he goes one step ahead; he knocks at the door of inspiration. Then he continues his journey with inspiration for some time.
But eventually there comes a time when the seeker realises that imagination and inspiration cannot carry him far enough. Then he tries to go deep within to discover if there is anything else he needs for his inner journey. He discovers that he is missing something, and that thing is aspiration. Once he has discovered aspiration in the inmost recesses of his heart, all his problems are solved. All past, present and future problems put together are helpless in the face of aspiration, for aspiration is the burning, glowing flame within. It is a birthless and endless flame that mounts high, higher, highest and purifies the things that have to be purified in our unlit, obscure, impure nature. While illumining the unlit, obscure, impure qualities in us, it immortalises the divine qualities in us: faith in God, love of God and unconditional surrender, which says to God, "Let Thy Will be done."
Published in My Heart's Salutation to Australia, part 1
a discourse by Sri Chinmoy
at SUNY at Stony Brook in Stony Brook, New York
A seeker's life is his blossoming love. A seeker's blossoming love is his illumining light.
A seeker's life becomes the many and the One. A seeker's love becomes the One and the many.
A seeker's life is at once dependent and independent. His is the life boundlessly dependent on God. His is the life sleeplessly independent of ignorance.
A seeker has belief, he has faith, he has conviction, he has realisation. God does everything: this is his faultless belief. God is everything: this is his spotless faith. God is all Love: this is his peerless conviction. God is His own Eternity's Silence, God is His own Infinity's Sound, God is His own Immortality's Satisfaction: this is his ageless realisation.
A true seeker's life and his gratitude-heart are always inseparable. By virtue of his gratitude-heart he sees the invisible, he feels the unimaginable and he achieves the impossible. He seeks the invisible perfection within and without him. He feels the unimaginable satisfaction in his entire being. He achieves the impossible: God's God-Heights and God's God-Depths.
A seeker's life embodies two supreme realities: his conscious, constant and soulful self-giving prayer and his loving, devoted and unreserved God-becoming meditation.
Published in A Life of Blossoming Love
a talk by Sri Chinmoy
at Stanford University in Stanford, California
Transcendence is the revelation of a seeker’s inner urge. Transcendence is the manifestation of a seeker’s inner beauty. Transcendence is the perfection of a seeker’s inner duty. Transcendence is the Satisfaction of a seeker’s Inner Pilot.
Transcendence determines at once a stupendous success in the outer domain of our knowledge-light and a momentous progress in the inner domain of our wisdom-delight.
Transcendence surprises an ordinary man. Transcendence awakens a great man. Transcendence encourages a good man. Transcendence energises a truth-seeker. Transcendence enlightens a God-lover.
A seeker’s soul lives with the vision-reality of transcendence. A seeker’s heart listens to the vision-reality of transcendence. A seeker’s mind gets inspiration from the vision-reality of transcendence. A seeker’s vital obeys the vision-reality of transcendence. A seeker's body receives purity from the vision-reality of transcendence.
A transcendence-cry speedily improves our inner nature’s faith and devotion. A transcendence-smile easily and lovingly transforms our outer nature’s insecurity and impurity into security and purity.
There is nothing as frightening as ignorance-night in action. There is nothing as illumining as knowledge-day in action. There is nothing as fulfilling as wisdom-sky in action. There is nothing as satisfying as transcendence-sun in action.
There are many people who are satisfied with what they have and what they are. There are only a very few seekers who sincerely want to transcend themselves and divinely enjoy transcendence-delight. These seekers have developed a ceaseless inner cry. If their aspiration-cry is sleeplessly soulful and breathlessly unconditional, then their transcendence-flight towards the ever-transcending Beyond can easily, unmistakably and unimaginably be shortened. These few seekers, at God’s choice Hour, will be blessed with transcendence-delight and will breathe deep of transcendence-delight.
Needless to say, transcendence-delight is extremely difficult to find in ourselves and surely impossible to discover in others. I cannot feel transcendence-delight in others unless and until I have felt it in the inmost recesses of my own inner being. If I want to transcend myself, then I must only sit devotedly at the Feet of my Beloved Supreme. If I want to transcend others, then I must see only their good qualities and make these my very own.
If I cannot transcend myself, it is no disgrace. But if I do not want to transcend myself, it is not only a disgrace, but also a fatal failure. I must transcend myself in the outer world so that I can perform divinely my God-ordained earthly duty. I must transcend myself in the inner world so that slowly, steadily and unerringly I can grow into a supremely beautiful Vision-Reality of my Inner Pilot.
Published in Sound and Silence, part 1