
Sri Chinmoy – Into The Unknown
The following is an article that was written in 1990.
It is a few minutes before 5.30am. The Indian meditation teacher Sri Chinmoy quietly walks into his light blue living room which, strewn with barbells and weightlifting machines, looks more like a gym.
After several minutes of prayer and meditation the 75-year-old spiritual master positions himself beneath two giant dumbbells suspended from metal frames, each one equivalent to his own body weight of 150 pounds.
Grasping a dumbbell in each hand, he pauses again, drawing upon inner reserves beyond the physical before straining upwards against their combined weight. A loud, humming groan accompanies his effort, as, freed from gravity the dumbbells rise up into the air.
After holding the weights aloft for five seconds, he lets them return to their metal harness – a loud clang bounces off the walls before the room returns to silence.
This latest recent effort represents a further attempt by Sri Chinmoy to demonstrate that mind and spirit can move mountains.
"Physical energy has only one source and that source is spiritual energy. As long as we remain conscious only of the body, we are not aware of this. But when we go deep within through meditation, we see that spiritual energy is the source of physical, vital and mental energy," says Sri Chinmoy of his remarkable effort.
"What I have done in weightlifting offers a golden opportunity for people who remain only in the body and do not care for the spiritual to see what can be done on the physical plane by virtue of the spiritual. And people who have spiritual awareness, who practice prayer and meditation-life, will see how spirituality can become part and parcel of physical activity."
This synthesis of outer fitness and inner search is present throughout the teachings and activities of the spiritual Master, sports philosopher and master athlete, Sri Chinmoy. The qualities needed to attain a difficult physical goal are the same ones needed for the training of the spirit. We all have unlimited potential, he says. To bring these capacities to the fore, we need faith, discipline and the determination never, never to give up.
Sri Chinmoy is unique among Eastern spiritual Masters in emphasising the importance of sports in the spiritual life. His yoga encompasses not only profound mystical philosophy, but also physical fitness, a full acceptance of ordinary life, a vision for world harmony, and a deep involvement in poetry, art and music.
The cornerstone of this yoga is the principle of aspiration – the urge to transcend, to reach for something higher and more fulfilling. This continual movement toward greater perfection, Sri Chinmoy believes, is the creative and energising force of the universe – the electrical current that runs God’s cosmic game. Our purpose in life, he teaches, is to plug into this divine current and allow it to guide our lives so we can ultimately transform ourselves and the world.
Sri Chinmoy is not a mere philosopher, he's a living philosophy, for if nothing else, he practices what he preaches. To see him struggling along with his students in a 26-mile marathon, or the 47-mile ultra-marathon he holds each year on his birthday, is convincing proof that this master is one with his followers.
His international Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team, which now sponsors more than 500 races a year, is more than a classy running club. It's one of the flagships of his spiritual vision. It's motto – Run and become. Become and run. Run to succeed in the outer world. Become to proceed in the inner world – is a call to both body and spirit to strive for something beyond themselves, a personal best on the race course and in life as well.
This athletic view of life, with its constant drive for self-transcendance, finds its consummate expression in Sri Chinmoy himself. During the 24 years he has lived in the U.S. he has written more 1000 books of spiritual poetry, plays, stories and philosophical essays, composed several thousand devotional songs and completed some 250,000 paintings and drawings – visions, he says of higher worlds he has experienced during meditation.
Sri Chinmoy attributes all of his accomplishments to God's Grace: speaking of his recent weightlifting he commented:
"Great champions are of the opinion that 70 to 75 percent of weightlifting is mental preparation. But in my case, 100 percent is due to God's Grace and God's Compassion. Without my prayer-life and meditation-life, I am sure I could not lift more than 60 pounds."
– Jogyata.
About the author

Jogyata Dallas
Jogyata has given classes and talks on meditation for the general public for over 30 years, both in New Zealand and around the world. He has published a collection of stories about his experiences as a student of Sri Chinmoy.
In this interview, Jogyata talks about how his life journey led him to meditation and spirituality, and how it has changed his perspective on so many things. Part of the 'Seeker's Journey' series of interviews.
Play VideoRelated stories
Sri Chinmoy's students describe their inner and outer experiences.


Muhammad Ali: I was expecting a monster, but I found a lamb
Sevananda Padilla San Juan, Puerto Rico
The day when everything began
Bhagavantee Paul Salzburg, Austria
My inner calling
Purnakama Rajna Winnipeg, Canada
Time seemed to freeze
Brahmata Michael Ottawa, Canada
It does not matter which spoon you use
Brahmacharini Rebidoux St. John's, Canada
Having a Spiritual Teacher
Preetidutta Thorpe Auckland, New Zealand
No Fear, Only the Heart’s Concern
Jogyata Dallas Auckland, New Zealand
Celestial experiences
Antaranga Gressenich Munich, Germany
Meditation Nights at the Sri Chinmoy Centre
Preetidutta Thorpe Auckland, New Zealand
'I could find out myself, but it was so much easier asking your soul'
Mridanga Spencer Ipswich, United Kingdom
My Life with Sri Chinmoy: a book
Tejvan Pettinger Oxford, United KingdomSuggested videos
interviews with Sri Chinmoy's students

Self-transcendence in meditation
Kailash Beyer Zurich, Switzerland
Sri Chinmoy's inner guidance
Kailash Beyer Zurich, Switzerland
Why we organise ultra-distance events
Subarnamala Riedel Zurich, Switzerland
Starting a spiritual café
Toshala Elliott Auckland, New Zealand
My evolving relationship with my spiritual Teacher
Pradeep Hoogakker The Hague, Netherlands
When I met Sri Chinmoy for the first time
Baridhi Yonchev Sofia, Bulgaria
Except where explicitly stated otherwise, the contents of this site are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. read more »
SriChinmoyCentre.org is a Vasudeva Server project.