The Champion-Hero Supreme
This is one of the stories in our Story-Gems project, a collection of our experiences with our Guru, Sri Chinmoy. Project homepage »
To win one gold medal at the Olympic Games is an extraordinary feat. To win nine gold medals is practically unheard of! And yet that is exactly what the great American athlete Carl Lewis accomplished, earning him many accolades, including the title “Best Olympian of the 20th Century” from Sports Illustrated.
In November 1983, the renowned Grammy award-winning music producer Narada Michael Walden brought Carl to meet Sri Chinmoy at his New York headquarters. This was nearly a year before Carl’s first Olympic competition in Los Angeles, at a time when Sri Chinmoy was intensely involved in running as a way to keep the body fit and as a form of spiritual discipline. Carl very sympathetically coached Sri Chinmoy in sprinting, and Sri Chinmoy wholeheartedly encouraged and guided Carl in his stellar athletic career, travelling to several Olympic Games.
Try to feel that the whole earth is behind you and that you are getting blessings, love, concern, determination and oneness from the entire earth. You have to convince your entire being that the whole Olympic stadium is for you, because you are not representing any particular country or race, but the entire earth.
Sri Chinmoy
advice to Carl before the 1984 Olympics
Sri Chinmoy offered Carl the spiritual name Sudhahota, Bengali for “Unparalleled sacrificer of Immortality’s Nectar-Delight.” During some of his tensest moments — often before critical competitions — Carl met with Sri Chinmoy for inner support, as before the 200-metre finals in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.
In his autobiography, Inside Track, Carl Lewis tells the following story.
After winning the gold medal in the long jump in Los Angeles, I had a pleasant, uplifting meeting with Sri Chinmoy. I visited him at a house he had rented, and we meditated, focusing on letting the power of the spiritual world carry me through the rest of the Olympics. Guru told me he was proud of me, and he kept everything extremely positive. “You are doing great,” he said. “Spiritually, as well, you are touching a lot of people. Keep your faith, and you will keep going. Two events to go. Just keep your faith.”
One other thing I remember Sri Chinmoy talking about: the 200-meter finals. He had been thinking about the race, and he wanted to ask a few questions about some of my competitors. Not questions about athletic ability, questions about character and personality.
Then Sri Chinmoy left me with a prediction. I would win the 200, and it would be an American sweep. He said that Kirk Baptiste would place second and Thomas Jefferson would take third. Fine with me. I hoped that Sri Chinmoy would be right, and based on everything I knew about him, I had a feeling he would be.
My leg was still sore for the 200-meter finals, and all I wanted to do was finish the race. But I felt good out of the blocks and ended up with one of the best 200s ever, just by staying relaxed. My time was 19.80 seconds, an Olympic record. I had run only one faster 200, the 19.75 a year before in Indianapolis, and the only faster time in history was Pietro Mennea’s 19.72, in 1979 at high altitude in Mexico City.
To make things even better, we had an American sweep, and it was just as Sri Chinmoy had predicted. Kirk Baptiste was second, two meters behind me and two meters ahead of Thomas Jefferson, a senior at Kent State University. The three of us hugged and shared a private moment, kneeling together on the track, saying a little thank you. We had reached our goal — a sweep! — and we would share a victory lap.
“Not for Long!”
An excerpt from Carl Lewis' book, One More Victory Lap: My Personal Diary of an Olympic Year.
The 100 meters was my first event at the Seoul Olympics. It was hard to focus when I saw Ben Johnson on the track. I noticed that his eyes were very yellow. A sign of steroid use. Ben crossed the line with a time of 9.79 seconds. He had lowered the world record. I was second with a 9.92 … my best time ever … but not good enough to win. The next day was qualifying for the long jump finals. After that, I went with a friend of mine, Anukampa [wife of Narada Michael Walden], to see Sri Chinmoy, who was waiting for us at a hotel. I had invited him to Seoul to see me compete, and I was very pleased that he had come. After the race with Ben, he wanted to see me as soon as possible. Sri Chinmoy told me that the result of the race had not, and would not, register with him. Something had been wrong. He felt that Ben Johnson had looked and acted ‘abnormal’, and he said that Ben had not been full of joy on the victory stand. I told Sri Chinmoy that Ben had probably been using drugs, and Sri Chinmoy was bothered by that.
“I had an interesting experience during the victory ceremony,” Sri Chinmoy said. “I want you to know what happened. I stood for the Canadian anthem, but I was holding an American flag. A Canadian patriot standing beside me whispered that I should put the flag down, and I did not like that. ‘Not for long,’ I told him.”
Sri Chinmoy said that my father’s soul was watching from the inner worlds and was very proud of me. My father, he told me, knew that all would be well. Then I told Sri Chinmoy and Anukampa about a dream my mother had had the night before the race with Ben. It seemed real to her when my father spoke to her, telling her not to worry, everything would work out just fine. Everything would be all right. The way Anukampa recalls it, “Sri Chinmoy acknowledged this tale and gave more words of encouragement. He ended the conversation with his main theme throughout the meeting — gratitude to God. Whatever turned out for Sudhahota, there must be a sense of gratitude to the highest source, the Supreme.”
I thanked Sri Chinmoy for the time he spent with me. He had been such a calming influence, just as he had been back in ’84 when he helped me through some difficult times at the Games, just as he always had been. Whatever turned out for Sudhahota there must be a sense of gratitude to the highest source, the Supreme. He was always able, in a few words, to snap the world around us into perspective. We went back to the house, as Anukampa says, “a little late but a great deal lighter in heart.”
The next day would be the most demanding day of track and field in my career. I had to run two qualifying rounds of the 200, with just over an hour of rest between them, then after less than an hour, I had to start the long jump finals. Luckily, I was able to get through it okay. I still had two events left, and I needed rest, but in the middle of the night, about 3:30 in the morning, Seoul time, I was awakened by the phone. It had to be important because there were not many people who had our number, and why would any of them call now? It had to be something that could not wait until morning. It was Cleve [Carl’s brother], calling from home. Tracy Carruthers, working for NBC in Seoul, had just called our travel agency in Houston, trying to track me down. She had been all excited. Someone in the 100-meter finals had tested positive for steroids, and NBC was pretty sure it was Ben Johnson. They were not certain yet, but they were pretty sure. They wanted to arrange an interview with me, as soon as possible. It took a few hours, but the news came out on television, little by little. It was reported that Ben was the one who got caught. I would be awarded the gold medal. Call it fate or luck or justice or whatever you want to call it, but the gold medal I had wanted so badly would be mine. The gold medal I had promised my father would be mine. It was unbelievable.
Indeed, “Not for long!”
The Ground Has a Heart
On June 24th, 1989, Carl and his teammates won the 4x100-metre relay during a track meet in Lille, France. They had wanted to also set a new world record, but unfortunately they were not successful. As Sri Chinmoy was in Paris to offer several Peace Concerts, he and Carl were able to meet the next day, along with Carl’s teammates—Joe DeLoach, Floyd Heard and Leroy Burrell. Here is the story as Carl tells it in his book Inside Track:
Before today, I thought I had heard all the excuses for running a bad race, failing to meet expectations or just missing a world record. But this morning I was introduced to a new explanation: The ground has a heart, and our relay team had not been in France long enough to feel that heart, to be comfortable with that heart, before our race. The explanation came from Sri Chinmoy, who was in Paris for another road run to promote world peace. I was glad when I heard Sri Chinmoy was here because he wanted to meet my teammates, and this was a good opportunity for that. In our hotel lobby, Joe DeLoach, Floyd Heard, Leroy Burrell, and I visited with Sri Chinmoy. He was surprised when he heard we had arrived only a day before the meet. “This explains why you did not win the world record,” said Sri Chinmoy, his words coming slowly, his eyes opening and closing as he spoke, his head nodding gently as he focused on his thoughts. “The ground has a heart. Everything has a heart, a spirit and a heart. When you fly here you have to be on the ground long enough to feel the heart. Yes, that is important. And you missed the record by only a little bit. In a new place — you have to understand this — you have to be on the ground longer before you race.” I smiled and nodded, familiar with the way Sri Chinmoy explains things. But my teammates were a bit stunned. They did not say much to Sri Chinmoy. They just observed. Sri Chinmoy gave me a birthday cake, a week early, but he wanted me to have it. Sri Chinmoy wished us good luck for the rest of our trip.
The World-Record Shoes
Before going to Tokyo in August 1991 for the World Championships, Sudhahota Carl Lewis said to Sri Chinmoy, “Guru, I am going to take your advice and go two weeks early.” At those games Carl set a new world record of 9.86 for 100 metres at the exceptionally advanced age (for a sprinter) of 30. Following the race, Carl gave Sri Chinmoy the running shoes he had worn during the race with the inscription: “Dearest Guru, much love, Sudhahota — 9.86.”
With my life’s infinite, infinite gratitude, I am holding your world-record, champion-hero supreme running shoes. May your fastest speed inspire us all — your spiritual brothers and sisters as well as all human beings on earth — to run faster than the fastest in our spiritual quest to reach our goal of the ever-transcending Beyond.
Sri Chinmoy
Pray for Protection
The 1996 Olympics in Atlanta were fast approaching. Carl Lewis was already 35 years old. He was competing against athletes who were in their early twenties, but it was not yet time for him to retire. One day, during his meditation, Sri Chinmoy saw a dark cloud around Carl and knew that Carl was in danger.
Sri Chinmoy immediately telephoned Carl and said, “I would like you to pray every waking hour for three minutes. And you must be alone when you are praying. You have to pray most intensely for the Supreme to protect you. Do you think that you can do it?”
Carl Lewis had such implicit faith in Sri Chinmoy. He replied, “I can definitely do it.” “What will you do if you are with your friends?” asked Sri Chinmoy. “I will simply tell them that I have something to do and I will leave the room,” said Carl.
Every day he faithfully fulfilled his promise. The weeks passed by and nothing untoward occurred. From time to time, Sri Chinmoy would ask him if he was still praying every hour. The answer was always a resounding “Yes.”
It was the day of the Olympic trials. Carl Lewis stood on the runway in front of the long jump pit, preparing to take his next jump. His entire being was focused on the jump. Suddenly there were shouts from the other side of the field and people started running. Carl looked up to see a 16-pound steel hammer coming in his direction. It landed just a few feet from him! The hammer throwers were far away, but no one had foreseen that the field was too small for them to throw safely. Had the hammer landed on Carl’s head or any part of his body, he would have suffered a most serious injury.
Now he saw and felt the meaning behind Sri Chinmoy’s concern for him all these weeks. He immediately telephoned Sri Chinmoy to offer him his heartfelt gratitude.
Long Jump Prediction!
On July 29th, 1996, the morning of the Olympic Long Jump Finals in Atlanta, Georgia, Sri Chinmoy telephoned Carl Lewis and predicted that he would win the long jump. Indeed, against all odds, Carl had a spectacular win in the long jump for his 9th gold medal, at the remarkable age of 35. As he took his victory lap, the scoreboard read: “Carl Lewis has joined Al Oerter as the only athlete to win four gold medals in one Olympic event.”
During a special ceremony in Houston held in 1997 with 500 prominent political, sports and community leaders, Carl presented Sri Chinmoy with a specially crafted gold medal for his many years of spiritual guidance and for teaching him the “great importance of a positive spiritual attitude.”
'This advice has guided me in leading my people ever since'
This is one of the stories in our Story-Gems project, a collection of our experiences with our Guru, Sri Chinmoy. Project homepage »
In December 2003, Sri Chinmoy set forth on a journey to Indonesia with a few hundred of his students from many countries. It was part of their annual Christmas and New Year’s travels to various countries. Their first destination was the beautiful green island of Java, the main island among the thousands of islands of Indonesia.
Indonesia has a very rich and ancient culture, with Islam layered over its previous religious traditions of Hinduism and Buddhism. The dynasty of rajas (kings) in Indonesia originally came from India. Sri Chinmoy specially wanted to spend some time in Solo, capital of the ancient Kingdom of Surakarta. Although he had visited Indonesia on several occasions before, this was his first visit to Solo, the historic royal city of Indonesia.
His students made an appointment for him to pay his respects to the elderly King of the region, but before Sri Chinmoy had the chance to go to the Palace, the King himself came to see Sri Chinmoy at his hotel. This particular King was very famous in Indonesia. Hailed as the King of all the Kings of Indonesia, he had been on the throne for more than 60 years. Although his proper name was His Majesty King Pakoebowoeno XII, he was respectfully known by the title Sinoehoen. Sinoehoen is a Dutch word that means ‘King of Kings’, dating back to the years when Indonesia was ruled by the Dutch.
Sinoehoen came to see Sri Chinmoy on December 7th, 2003. Travelling in an unmarked car so as not to attract large crowds, he was accompanied by one of his sons, Prince Dipokusumo, and his personal secretary. As Sinoehoen arrived, he cast a glance to his right and saw an Indian man wearing a sky-blue dhoti and kurta coming to welcome him. The King stopped in his tracks, his eyes glowing with joy. “This is the man!” exclaimed the King to himself (as later recounted to his son). “I have seen him many times before during my meditation. His face is so familiar to me.” That man was Sri Chinmoy.
The two men clasped each other’s hands and bowed deeply to each other. Sri Chinmoy escorted Sinoehoen to a private room where they had a silent meditation together. Then Sri Chinmoy played for him on the esraj, a stringed instrument from northern India played with a bow to create haunting melodies.
Afterwards, Sri Chinmoy began speaking to the King, referring to God as Allah to honour Sinoehoen’s Muslim faith. He said:
I wish to offer you my love, my appreciation and my adoration. I am a man of prayers. While I was praying with you, I was praying to the Almighty Allah to bless you with His infinite, infinite Affection, Love, Joy and Pride. I have come here to be of service to your beloved country and specially to you.
Your Majesty is a very, very good and noble King. As soon as I saw you, I clearly felt in your heart that you are a true man of prayers. You started praying and meditating not only in this lifetime, but many, many lifetimes ago. This is the continuation of your spiritual life. Therefore, the Almighty is extremely pleased and proud of you.
Sinoehoen’s reply was simply stunning. “I have had an inner connection with Sri Chinmoy long before meeting with him today. Over the years, this connection has become stronger and stronger and stronger.”
He went on to explain, “I first saw Sri Chinmoy 25 years ago while I was meditating alone in the Palace. He came to me in my meditation. He had a smiling face — exactly the same smile as he has now! He was wearing a white Indian garment below, along with an Indian-style top. We had a most significant discussion during which Sri Chinmoy gave me very important advice. This advice has guided me in leading my people ever since.”
Others in the room gasped in surprise at the King’s astonishing revelation, but Sri Chinmoy simply smiled. From the moment he laid eyes on the King, he had recognised him as a member of his own immediate spiritual family.
The King continued, “Sri Chinmoy told me that neither I, nor anyone in the Royal Family, should enter into politics, as that would not help my people in any way. He guided me on the path to become the Father of the Nation, the Father of all my people. That is the same advice that my forefathers have given me. Sri Chinmoy encouraged me to join with him in working to make the world better.”
Listening to the King’s words, several of Sri Chinmoy’s students present were reminded of Janaka, Shivaji and other Kings from Indian history who sought the advice of holy men to govern their kingdoms wisely.
After a pause, Sinoehoen added one more comment, “Sri Chinmoy and I met 25 years ago for the first time, but it feels to me as if it were yesterday. He came to me again 20 years ago and then several times after that. We have been sharing and communicating inwardly. Sri Chinmoy and I actually have the same inner foundation, which is Allah or God.”
Very humbly, Sri Chinmoy replied, “I know that the connection between His Majesty and me is very, very strong. As soon as we saw each other on the physical plane, we recognised that in the inner plane we established our closeness and oneness long, long ago. Immediately, we recognised each other. “We are brothers! True brothers! It is my duty to be of service to my elder brother. I am the younger brother and he is the elder brother. It is my duty to love him and to serve him.” Later Sri Chinmoy revealed that the King and he had been closely connected hundreds of years earlier in a past life in India.
As Sinoehoen was listening to Sri Chinmoy’s words, a profoundly fulfilled look came across the King’s face. His deep awareness was both confirmed and extended yet further. “We have met now both in this world and in our spiritual life. The spiritual life is the eternal life,” he averred. Referring to their upcoming meeting three days later, the King added, “I will share more details at the Palace.” This then is the story of how a spiritual teacher from the Hindu tradition and a Muslim King of Indonesia became closer than the closest in the inner world 25 years before they met in the outer world.
Perhaps Sri Chinmoy had known that something very unusual would take place that day. The night before, he had said to his students, “The King is a very spiritual man.” Then Sri Chinmoy mused, “How I wish I had some occult power! If I had occult power, I would show it to the King.” They had often heard Sri Chinmoy joking about not having any occult power, but in the course of their own lives, they had witnessed it many times. However they knew it was something he did not usually like to reveal publicly.
Sinoehoen’s profound inner experiences prove that the inner world is far more real than we can ever imagine.
A Grand Welcome at the Ancient Palace
A few days later a magnificent programme took place, with all the King’s court and all the members of the Sri Chinmoy Centres then in Indonesia together at Sinoehoen’s palace inside the grand Ceremonial Hall. Also gracing the occasion with his presence was the Hon. Prof. Dr. Haryono Suyono, an extremely close brother-friend of Sri Chinmoy, who was one of the highest ranking ministers in the cabinet of B.J. Habibie, President of Indonesia. It was Dr. Suyono who initially had made the introduction of Sri Chinmoy to Sinoehoen.
Five years earlier, Dr. Suyono had introduced Sri Chinmoy to President B.J. Habibie of Indonesia, arranging for President Habibie to experience the deep peace of Sri Chinmoy’s meditation and music on the eve of President Habibie’s historic decision to end a decades-long war and offer freedom to East Timor.
In the Grand Hall, Sri Chinmoy honoured the King of Surakarta by physically lifting him overhead on a ceremonial platform and presented His Majesty with a special medallion, as part of the Lifting Up the World with a Oneness-Heart programme in which the spiritual Master recognised distinguished individuals in all walks of life.
Then Sri Chinmoy addressed the King:
The seeker-brother tries to be of service to the Almighty by reaching higher planes of consciousness. The King-brother spreads his self-giving heart and hands to cover the length and breadth of the world. The one aspires to bring down light; the other aspires to offer light to the four corners of the globe. “Three days ago on the physical plane, you and I were able to meet. Previously we met in the inner planes, the spiritual planes. We have now seen each other on the physical plane, and we feel that our inner oneness has now fully blossomed in our outer lives.
May Almighty Allah shower His choicest Blessings upon us so that you and I, Your Majesty, can work together on the strength of our self-giving hearts for the betterment of the world and to raise the consciousness of humanity.
Your Majesty, my Brother-Friend, I am all gratitude to you and I am offering gratitude to you from my students, who have come from various parts of the world…Your oneness-message with us will forever echo and re-echo in our oneness-hearts.
Sri Chinmoy then performed a stirring Peace Concert of his spiritual compositions on many different instruments in honour of Sinoehoen and his entire royal family. The music wafted up to the high roof beams of the hall, which echoed and re-echoed the dulcet tones.
In turn, Sinoehoen presented Sri Chinmoy with several royal pins and a beautiful sash, officially conferring upon the spiritual luminary the title of Prince of the Royal Palace “for his faithfulness to His Majesty the King and the Palace of Surakarta.” This title was previously held only by the King’s own four sons.
At the conclusion of the very full programme, the King said to Sri Chinmoy, “I have stated that 25 years ago I met Sri Chinmoy. God brought Sri Chinmoy and me together to meet in the inner world. We could not see each other with our eyes, but we could feel each other in the inner world. Sri Chinmoy’s presence here today is the proof that God has given to all of us: Even Sri Chinmoy and I, who live so very far away from each other, have now come together to pray together and have now finally made contact in the outer world.
“Sri Chinmoy is a real leader in our world today. He gives all he has to serve the people. I feel that Sri Chinmoy is the true world leader. He knows the secrets of life. Sri Chinmoy has the key to open up the heart of the whole world.”
A few weeks later, the King and his family joined Sri Chinmoy and his students for ten days in the beautiful island of Bali, the only Hindu island in the Muslim nation of Indonesia, where Sinoehoen invited the eight Kings of Bali to meet Sri Chinmoy at a special banquet in their honour. Later Sinoehoen remarked to the spiritual Master,
“Your way is to love and serve others. Your way is flooded with infinite wisdom, compassion and concern…“With the Blessings of God, our meeting in Bali will result in good things for all the people.… Hopefully, even from a long distance, you will still guide me spiritually and physically so together we can help all the Indonesian people and all the people of the world.”
One peaceful word of Yours
Has awakened my heart.
One powerful word of Yours
Has illumined my heart.Sri Chinmoy 1
- 1. Twenty-Seven Thousand Aspiration-Plants, part 31, Agni Press, 1984
A dear brother-friend
This is one of the stories in our Story-Gems project, a collection of our experiences with our Guru, Sri Chinmoy. Project homepage »
Well known as a consummate diplomat and visionary, Vladimir Petrovsky served as United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs (1992) and the Director-General of the UN Office at Geneva (1993-2002), as well as First Deputy Foreign Minister of the Soviet Union (1986-1991). Sri Chinmoy first met Vladimir Petrovsky in 1991, and a special friendship developed between the two.
In 1992, Mr. Petrovsky was appointed to the position of UN Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs. In early April of that year, Sri Chinmoy heard that Mr. Petrovsky and his wife had recently moved to New York. Sri Chinmoy requested me to pay them a welcome visit. The Petrovskys had not yet properly moved into their apartment, which was still full of unpacked boxes, but even in the midst of all this chaos, they were extremely hospitable.
Mr. Petrovsky said to me, “I find this a very auspicious sign. We have just come to New York, and Sri Chinmoy wishes to offer me a message. In fact, I am about to leave for Libya tonight to meet with Colonel Gaddafi (who was then the leader of Libya). I have a very important mission to achieve when I meet with him. To tell you the truth, I do not have any fear, but I definitely have trepidation. I know these negotiations are very, very serious. I would like to succeed for the UN, and I am not sure I can. Again, with your having come to find me and to tell me about Sri Chinmoy’s very special encouragement and prayers, I am certain everything will be fine.”
Mr. Petrovsky was travelling to Libya as Special Representative of United Nations Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali. One week earlier, on March 31st, 1992, the UN Security Council had adopted Resolution 748, which imposed air and arms sanctions on Libya. The resolution gave Libya fourteen days to surrender the suspects of the deadly 1988 bomb attack on Pan Am Flight 103, which had exploded over Lockerbie in southern Scotland. The blast had killed all 259 people on board and eleven people on the ground.
There was unimaginable anger and even rage within Libya against the United Nations because the UN was taking action against the entire country. Mr. Petrovsky was on a mission to seek Libya’s cooperation in surrendering the suspects, which would enable the country to avoid the UN sanctions. For such a high-level United Nations official to travel directly into the centre of a very angry nation was extremely dangerous and extremely courageous.
Mr. Petrovsky landed overnight in the desert on April 7th. He was concealed inside a car and driven to Tripoli. Even with all the secrecy, Libyan protesters blocked his motorcade after he arrived. Riot police had to use tear gas when the crowds tried to force their way into Mr. Petrovsky’s hotel. Later, when he was being driven to the building where he was to meet with Colonel Gaddafi, there were many, many people pounding on the trunk and hood of his car.
Finally Mr. Petrovsky reached the building and his meeting with the Libyan leader began. Tensions ran high and the discussion was not going well at all. At the most intense moment, Mr. Petrovsky looked down for a moment and then he looked up at Colonel Gaddafi. Suddenly, he vividly saw Sri Chinmoy standing just in front of him, offering him tremendous confidence. Mr. Petrovsky was talking with Colonel Gaddafi, but he was only seeing Sri Chinmoy directly in front of him! Mr. Petrovsky said that at that moment, everything shifted in the conversation and great progress was made.
When the meeting was over, he phoned his wife and told her the entire story. Then, a few days later, Mr. Petrovsky telephoned Sri Chinmoy to say that he had clearly seen him standing right in front of him. Mr. Petrovsky was profoundly grateful to Sri Chinmoy for being with him and for protecting him in the midst of a dangerously hostile environment. Because Mr. Petrovsky was so successful in his negotiations, the Secretary-General sent him back to Libya on several other occasions.
Later Sri Chinmoy commented, “In Chittagong, as a child, I had never heard of Libya. In Pondicherry also, I doubt very much if I knew of Libya. Now, where is Libya and where is New York? Mr. Petrovsky and I have developed such friendship. Even friendship is not the right word — we have such sincere brotherly feelings for each other.”
A True Vision
Mr. Petrovsky often mentioned to Sri Chinmoy that his regular walks through the streets and parks of Manhattan were like a meditation for him. During his walks, Mr. Petrovsky would derive tremendous inspiration, and the answers to many of his questions would come to him, and many of his problems would be solved.
One day Sri Chinmoy was playing tennis at his outdoor meditation garden and sports area in Queens, New York. After playing thirty or forty games, he stopped to rest, when the inspiration came to see what his brother-friend Vladimir Petrovsky was doing.It was around 11:30 in the morning, and Sri Chinmoy saw Mr. Petrovsky vividly with his inner vision, his third eye. Mr. Petrovsky was in a very small park in Manhattan sitting on a bench.
A little later, Sri Chinmoy phoned him and asked, “What were you doing around 11:30 this morning? Were you sitting on a bench in a very small park?”
Mr. Petrovsky replied, “No, no, no, no! I was not in a park. I am so sorry to say you are wrong.”
Sri Chinmoy said, “I am very sorry that I was wrong.”
Then Sri Chinmoy used his third eye again. His third eye said, “Definitely! He was in the small park.”
Sri Chinmoy said to himself, “How can my third eye fail me? My brother Vladimir is telling me what happened on the outer practical plane. How can I clearly see something else?”
Three or four days later, Sri Chinmoy went to the Dag Hammarskjöld Auditorium inside the United Nations to lead his regular Peace Meditation there. About two hundred people were already in the room, and Sri Chinmoy was walking down the steps inside the auditorium towards the stage.
Suddenly Mrs. Mira Petrovsky, Vladimir’s wife, stood up and called out, “Sri Chinmoy, you are right! You are always right! On that particular day when you called Vladimir, he did not follow his usual walking course and sat down on a bench in a small park. Only later did Vladimir remember where he had actually gone. Sri Chinmoy, you are always right!” A few days later, on his return to New York from out of town, Mr. Petrovsky called Sri Chinmoy to personally confirm the story.
Inside the MRI Tube
Once Mr. Petrovsky had to see a doctor because of a serious health problem. He told Sri Chinmoy about his medical condition and his upcoming doctor’s visit. Sri Chinmoy said, “Do not worry, do not worry. It will be all right.”
The doctor informed Mr. Petrovsky that he had to have an MRI scan. During this test, the patient must lie down and remain very still while passing through the narrow imaging tube. When Mr. Petrovsky had had this procedure done previously, it was very difficult for him to remain still. The entire experience was extremely unsettling for him.As the test began this time, Mr. Petrovsky was once again very uneasy. Suddenly, while he was inside the MRI tube, he saw Sri Chinmoy’s face. Sri Chinmoy was smiling at him most beautifully. Mr. Petrovsky felt totally at peace and became completely calm and still. The test lasted for thirty or forty minutes, and Sri Chinmoy stayed with him, smiling, during the entire time.
After the doctor had completed his examination, Mr. Petrovsky had a most serene smile on his face. The doctor said to him, “I have never seen a patient so peaceful! There is so much peace inside you.”
Mr. Petrovsky said, “That is because I am so happy. I saw my dear friend here with me the entire time.”
There is only one thing
That satisfies me,
And that is the smile
From inner circle friends.Sri Chinmoy 1
- 1. God's Heart I desire, God's Feet I choose, Agni Press, 1994
The Blue Crystal
This is one of the stories in our Story-Gems project, a collection of our experiences with our Guru, Sri Chinmoy. Project homepage »
I learned that Sri Chinmoy’s friend Irina Malikova of the Gorbachev Foundation, a close assistant to President Gorbachev, was not at all well. She went for a biopsy, and afterwards I called her, at Sri Chinmoy’s request, to ask the outcome. She described on the phone her experience during the operation and asked if I could please ask Sri Chinmoy the spiritual significance.
Unfortunately after her biopsy Irina could not come out of the anaesthesia for four hours. She experienced what seemed like a strange dream with unusual beings taking her down a long tunnel. She could see at the end of a tunnel what seemed to be a large illumined hall, and the beings kept saying “Come with us, go with us, you will like this.” She felt herself rushing backward down a long tunnel going faster and faster.
All of a sudden, larger than anything she could ever imagine, she saw Sri Chinmoy blocking the tunnel. He stopped her and told her, “Put out your hands and take hold of this.”When she did this, Sri Chinmoy placed in her hands what Irina described as a crystal, very translucent, of an unearthly, beautiful blue. Then he loudly commanded, “Say the magic word.” At first Irina did not respond. At the top of his voice, Sri Chinmoy again commanded, “Say the magic word — NOW!” At that moment, she screamed out the name of her small child, “Dmitriy, Dimitry!” When she did this, she went rushing down the tube in the reverse direction with the greatest speed. The next thing she knew, she was opening her eyes on the operating table, with the doctors and nurses looking over her, with a big light shining behind them.
When I asked Sri Chinmoy if he would please give his interpretation of this experience as she had requested, Sri Chinmoy said, “Her soul was about to leave her body for the other world,” and that he had given Irina back her own soul. He said to Irina, “Do you remember the blue bird when you first came to see me? At that time I showed you your soul.” Irina remembered that the first time she saw Sri Chinmoy, at Aspiration-Ground in New York, he took her to the Sri Chinmoy Track where she noticed a beautiful blue bird. When she described it to others, they said they had never seen such a bird at the track.
When Irina came to New York later that year, everywhere we went she would try to rediscover that particular blue colour, because she said this crystal was an incredibly beautiful blue.As it turns out, she says that she has never been able to recapture that beautiful blue colour.
Irina Malikova later had her full surgery, during which she also experienced Sri Chinmoy’s presence. She and Sri Chinmoy then had the following conversation.
Irina Malikova: I just wanted to thank you for everything you have done. I had a very nice experience with my surgery. Normally I should have been afraid, because it was major surgery, but to my own and everybody’s surprise, I was so sure about everything that I did not feel nervous. The doctors said they had never seen a patient with so little anxiety about her health. It was not a question of my victory. It is just that I physically felt your presence in the surgery room, and that helped me a lot.
Sri Chinmoy: I told you not to worry. I said there would be absolutely no problem, and I promised you that I would be there for your operation. If the consciousness and the vibration of the room had been a little higher, then you would have seen me. But definitely I was there; I was there!Sometimes when I know the date of an operation, I do not even need to know the exact hour. If someone is close to me, even if he notifies me a month in advance, I can promise to take care of it. And my promise will definitely be fulfilled. At the time of the operation, my physical mind may not even be aware that it is taking place, but I have many, many inner representatives who will act on my behalf. One of my inner beings will keep my promise for me.But in your case, it was totally different. I did not depend on my inner beings; I was directly involved one hundred per cent. The day before the operation I called you, and also that morning I called you.
'We speak only of how we can serve the world'
When he is with me, we never discuss politics. We speak only of how we can serve the world, how we can raise the standard of humanity with our goodwill, peace, prayers and meditations.
Sri Chinmoy
speaking about his relationship with President Gorbachev
Sri Chinmoy’s warm relationship with President Mikhail Gorbachev spanned several decades, with 25 meetings and over a hundred letters expressing mutual encouragement, appreciation and support.
On August 18, 1991, there was an attempted coup by Soviet leaders against President Gorbachev, and the President and his family were trapped in the Crimea. Sri Chinmoy took the situation extremely seriously and turned his entire focus to the Gorbachevs’ safety.
There were more than a thousand of Sri Chinmoy’s students gathered in New York for their traditional celebration of his birthday, and he and his students were meditating and praying most intensely for the President and his family. For the first time in more than 20 years, Sri Chinmoy cancelled many of the scheduled activities, except for silent meditation, prayer and spiritual singing.
One evening, Sri Chinmoy interrupted some of his students who were singing his spiritual songs. With great urgency in his voice, Sri Chinmoy said, “Kindly stop singing right now!” and he began to meditate most intensely.
Later, Sri Chinmoy said that President Gorbachev’s soul had come to him and told him that he only had three hours to live. The coup plotters were going to kill the President. Sri Chinmoy explained that he had inwardly changed the mind of just one guard who was cooperating with the coup. This guard did not do what he was ordered to do, and so President Gorbachev’s life was saved.
Raisa Maximovna’s Right Eye
Some time after the attempted coup against President Gorbachev, Sri Chinmoy saw his wife, Raisa Maximovna, on television, walking down from an airplane. He became extremely concerned and exclaimed, “Her right eye, her right eye! What are the doctors doing? Are the doctors not helping her?”
Sri Chinmoy asked me to call Irina Malikova, a close friend of Sri Chinmoy who at that time was in charge of International Relations at the Gorbachev Foundation. Sri Chinmoy wanted to know how Raisa was feeling. Irina had been travelling with President Gorbachev and Raisa Maximovna in Latin America. I asked, “Irina, how is Raisa Maximovna doing?”
Irina replied, “She is fine. She recently had a medical check-up. The doctors said that she is fine.”
Nevertheless, Sri Chinmoy was becoming more and more concerned about Raisa Maximovna because he clearly saw inwardly that she was not well. Several times Sri Chinmoy asked me to call Irina and to ask her to beg the doctors to re-examine Raisa Maximovna’s right eye. Again and again, the doctors said they could not find anything wrong with Raisa Maximovna and they kept repeating, “No, no, she is fine.”
Only some time later, after Raisa Maximovna started to have terrible trouble with her vision, the ophthalmologists finally discovered that something was indeed seriously wrong. In fact, she was beginning to lose her eyesight. After the doctors started treating her, Raisa Maximovna was able to regain her vision and full health.
Once we had a meeting in Philadelphia. She had only tears and tears in her eyes. She said, ‘Sri Chinmoy, not every day, not every hour, not every minute but every second I send you my love and my gratitude.’
Sri Chinmoy
on his friendship with Raisa Maximovna
'Everything will become again like it was before'
This is one of the stories in our Story-Gems project, a collection of our experiences with our Guru, Sri Chinmoy. Project homepage »
You could see the photo of this car accident in almost every newspaper in Switzerland: our van pierced by a crash-barrier that rose up behind the car into the sky more than 10 metres. This experience was like a nightmare from my childhood in which I found myself in a cruel, hopeless situation and desperately fought to wake up. But this time it was not a dream, and it was Sri Chinmoy who eventually freed me from this abysmal abyss with his loving care.
I tried to get out of the van, but my right leg wouldn’t move. When I tried to lift it with my hand, my fingers found themselves between flesh and bones, covered with blood. I was so shocked and horrified that I didn’t notice that a bar from the destroyed seat had speared me.
Enough facts for despair. I was extremely lucky that I had already been a student of Sri Chinmoy’s for almost two years—long enough to have a lot of faith in him. Otherwise I would have perished miserably then and there.
In the hospital, when the doctor who was standing at the left side of my bed started to elaborate on the “facts of the situation”, my wife Usha, whose presence I then became aware of, interrupted him at once. Smiling bravely at me, she said to me that she had been able to talk to Sri Chinmoy about my accident. His compassionate message for me said I shouldn’t worry because everything would become again like it was before. This was definitely the happiest moment of my life. Of course, there were still many tough moments to come, but he would always be there to save me.
During the time at the hospital, I felt like a helpless child lying safely in the arms of his mother. Usha was Sri Chinmoy’s faithful messenger. She helped me to keep my focus on Sri Chinmoy amidst all the pain and the doctors’ doubting minds.
Some miracle-facts: When I had this accident, a nurse happened to be driving in a car behind me. If she hadn’t tied off my leg in time, I would have never made it to the hospital alive. Then, during the more than five hours of surgery, the hospital staff were able to trace my wife in Zurich, about 100 miles away. Somehow she managed to arrive at the hospital just in time to stop the doctors from amputating the injured leg. Now they needed her permission. She was able to phone Sri Chinmoy in New York and tell him about the situation. He told her not to allow the amputation and to make sure to be near me when I woke up and to tell me at once that I shouldn’t worry.
The next miracle was that the director of the intensive care unit, who was an excellent microsurgeon but on leave from his job at that time, had been visiting the hospital just on the evening I was taken there. Because it was a very serious and complicated case, they requested him to operate on me. He was very eager to do an excellent job.
Another miracle was that I wasn’t paralysed, because the base of the spine had been totally smashed. During the following years, the feeling in my back, legs and feet recovered completely. Also, I survived a very bad lung embolism that occurred during the surgery and forced the doctors to stop.
Next miracle: the doctors were convinced that I would haveto wear this terrible plastic bag for the rest of my life. But fortunately, the microsurgeon’s substitute was one of the best colostomy specialists in Europe. He liked me and therefore was inspired to examine me once more and recommended another surgery. When the director of the ICU, the excellent microsurgeon, heard that the operation was supposed to take place on the rst day of his return to work, he decided to do it himself. He again did an excellent job. The doctors needed a whole week to decide how to cover the open bone, and in spite of their unconcealed scepticism, the surgery was successful.
Shortly before the accident, Usha and I had missed the registration for the upcoming university semester and, without being aware of it, had also thus lost our health insurance This meant I would have had to pay more than sixty thousand dollars to the hospital myself. But through yet another miracle, the insurance company agreed to take Usha back into the health plan and, since we were married, to pay my hospital fees.
The doctors were convinced that I would have to stay in the hospital at least until autumn But I left in the middle of July, and in August I went on a plane to New York to see Sri Chinmoy — although with crutches and a removable cast. When I left the hospi- tal, some of the doctors and nurses told me how inspired they had been by the wondrous outcome of this “tragic, hopeless case”. But they also told me not to expect more — for example, to ever be able to run again. They were convinced that I wouldn’t even be able to walk properly.
But less than three years later, on a chilly January morning in New York, Sri Chinmoy’s presence helped me win our Marathon Team’s Rainbow Marathon in a new personal record of 2:56. And only one year later I came in second behind my friend Hutashan in our 47-mile race in a personal record of 5:56.
Please postpone the surgery
This is one of the stories in our Story-Gems project, a collection of our experiences with our Guru, Sri Chinmoy. Project homepage »
About three years ago, my mother was diagnosed with a very serious form of cancer that was quickly spreading. To be certain, she went for the opinion of three prominent cancer specialists in Puerto Rico. All of them concurred: she definitely had a serious form of cancer.
I became increasingly worried—I love my mother dearly and her suffering and imminent death were torturing my heart. Over the years I have met excellent physicians and naturopaths who have been very successful in treating cancer as well as other so-called “incurable” diseases. It was my hope to bring my mother to New York for such treatment.
Her main physician told her that she needed radiation, chemotherapy and most definitely surgery. I asked my mother to please hold off with all those therapies until I could consult with the doctor I had in mind, and to send me copies of her records. When I read her blood analysis, panic struck me hard, for it became real that my mother was very sick.
I had not wanted to tell Sri Chinmoy anything until I had all the information, but now pressure was mounting, and my mother was scheduled for surgery within a few weeks. Finally, I wrote Sri Chinmoy a letter explaining everything I told him that I love my mother very much and that I was not ready to lose her, but I also told him that I was praying for God’s Victory-Will in whatever form it would express itself.
Sri Chinmoy’s reply came immediately: “Ask her to please postpone the surgery for one month.” I immediately telephoned my mother and pleaded with her to please listen and follow Sri Chinmoy’s advice. She agreed.
Fortunately or unfortunately, I have a cousin who is a very prominent doctor, and he argued that the surgery could not be delayed. He had all the members of my family in Puerto Rico on his side and they pressured my mother to concede. I was devastated. I would call her every day in tears and beg her. My poor mother was confused and frightened. She really wanted to please me by listening to Guru’s advice, but the family pressure was too much for her. So I told her, “Do what you feel you need to do. I love you and will support any decision you take.” This brought her a sense of peace, and she decided to go ahead with the surgery.
The doctor wanted to operate as soon as possible, since he was scheduled to be on board a cruise ship for a three-week vacation. But God had a better plan. My mother was ready to go for surgery in two days, but there were no beds available for about two weeks in any of the hospitals where this particular doctor could practise. Since he was going away for three weeks, the surgery had to be postponed for one month.
One month later, when the doctor came back from his vacation, more tests were done before the surgery. There was no evidence of cancer, not a trace, as if it never happened. The doctors said that all along they must have had the wrong records, the records of another patient.
God and Sri Chinmoy alone know what happened. My mother and family are extremely grateful to Sri Chinmoy and God for this incredible miracle. The other miracle is that whenever my mother sees Sri Chinmoy, she becomes a beautiful child swimming in tears of joy and gratitude. She says,“He is so beautiful!”
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