Sri Chinmoy is interviewed by Reuters TV after lifting several elephants at the Big Apple Circus at Lincoln Center in New York City.
Interviewer: Tell us the purpose of bringing out elephants and lifting them with this machine.
Sri Chinmoy: I am a man of prayer and meditation. I feel inspiration is of paramount importance. If I can inspire someone, and if that person also can inspire me, then we can do many good things for the betterment of this world. Here I am inspiring quite a few people, and they also are inspiring me. If I am inspired, you are inspired and he is inspired, then we shall be able to work together. When we are not inspired, we find fault with other human beings; we quarrel, fight and do many deplorable things. But if we are inspired, then we do many good things for the improvement of this world.
I am a student of peace. I would like the entire humanity to be in the same boat and sail towards the Golden Shore. Together we are trying to bring about world peace, and for that we need inspiration. An elephant symbolises strength, solid strength. Inspiration itself is strength. Therefore, I try to lift elephants because elephants are so heavy and so strong. If I can be of some service to mankind by lifting an elephant, then I feel my prayer-life and my meditation-life are fulfilling a special purpose in inspiring my fellow brothers and sisters to be better citizens of the world.
Published in A Mystic Journey in the Weightlifting World, part 1