A SAD FAREWELL TO TWO DEAR FRIENDS

Sri Chinmoy, who was in frequent contact with both Mother Teresa and Princess Diana in the weeks before their passing — and was instrumental in their meeting — recently held special memorial services for his two dear friends.

In a private service for Princess Diana Sept. 2 at Aspiration-Ground, he declared: “Human frailties we all have but divine achievements founded on self-giving can be found in the likes of very few on earth. Indeed, Princess Diana is one of those very, very rare souls.”

At his Sept. 4 Oslo Peace Concert dedicated to her memory, the Master eulogized her as “the Queen of the aspiring and self-giving humanity.” He also held a memorial for her at the United Nations on Oct. 3. And in the last poem of his new book about her, he said:

Diana, the Princess of Wales,
Dies
For Diana, the Empress of the World,
To live eternally in the heart-garden of humanity

 

OSLO BECOMES WORLD PEACE CAPITAL

OSLO — The City of Oslo was dedicated as a Sri Chinmoy Peace Capital in a day-long series of events held Sept. 4.

As an official guest of the City, the Master was welcomed by Deputy Mayor Svenn Kristiansen at City Hall, site of the yearly Nobel Peace Prize ceremony.

Next came a visit to the Oslo Harbor, which had been named a Sri Chinmoy International Peace Harbor in 1993. There the peace advocate was received by Port Director Per Mavritz Hanssen.

The Oslo dedication ceremony — attended by the Deputy Mayor, representatives of the City Council, an official from Bergen (another Sri Chinmoy Peace City) and other dignitaries — took place at the Holmenkollen Ski Jump, where the Peace Capital plaque was permanently mounted.

Oslo was declared a Sri Chinmoy Peace Capital a few weeks earlier by unanimous vote of the City Council.

Sri Chinmoy ended the day by offering a peace concert in Oslo’s Gamle Logen Concert Hall.

Caption:

Sri Chinmoy and Princess Diana pose for an historical photo at Kensington Palace. (PHOTO: BHAVANI)


Published in Anahata Nada, Volume 26, Mid-August–November 1997