Sarvagata’s sister, Sarvadhara is with her brother on this his final few hours here at the race. This morning he will simply continue to do what he has done now for so many long days. At the end of this day though, he needs go no further, and what is more, he will also be the champion.
He has but 55 miles more to go now, so small a gap it is almost as though his foot is already poised to step at last across the finish line. Just a few laps more, when compared to all the suffering and joy he has experienced and endured now for 44 days. Using an American expression, I tell her that what he has left to do now is but a ‘piece of cake.’ I ask her if there might be a better expression in Ukrainian. She says his race is like a, ‘Gift from Heaven.’ Her expression is much better.
It was a little more than a month ago that she was able to visit her brother only briefly before having to leave for Chicago. “He has changed a lot. Outwardly his appearance has changed. He became darker and thinner. (laughter) And stronger. Also I feel that something inside him also changed. He became more sensitive, more subtle. It is difficult to explain, but he is like a soul here. I cannot see his body, it is something very new for me. Any way he is my brother and I feel a deep connection with him. I am very happy that I am here and can be in touch with his experience.”
When I saw her last she was a little disappointed that she would not be able to spend the entire time helping her brother. In fact she was able to be with him for less than a day. “Of course in every situation we have to see some positive sides. We just have to look for it. If I couldn’t be here I feel it was very important for me to dive deep within and try to feel what is going on. But it is better to be here.” (laughter)
Instead of being her brother’s helper the job fell upon the very capable and tireless shoulders of Dimitry. “When you have a supporter it is definitely easier to run.” She describes how he supported Sarvagata both inwardly and outwardly. On a practical level he simply had to rarely stray from the straightest possible course. Those few extra steps Dimitry did for him, she says. “Every lap, 4 or 5 steps. He saved time and he saved energy for Sarvagata.”
Click to Play Part 1
[audio:http://perfectionjourney.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/sarvadhara1.mp3|titles=sarvadhara1]
Perhaps he can’t quite believe that is almost over himself, as he gazes once more at the lap sheets. Or maybe it is because he wants just to see how soon others will join him in victory as they too cross the finish line. He is a tired man. One who is weary as he has never experienced ever before in this life. He is also in pain. Today an Achilles tendon throbs and rages in his leg.
Start
Day 45
Being her brother’s helper is a new job for her. Today for a while Dimitry is not here and she is alone to do the job. Everything is meticulously organized. “Everything is easy to find even if Dimitry is not here. He showed all the things I needed to do. I was surprised at how professional it was. He can make his own master class for helpers. It is his nature to support someone, to take care of them. This is the best place for him to manifest his inner qualities.”
There are many who have been following her brother’s long journey. Asked can anyone who is not here really understand it all? Her emphatic answer, “No.”
I wonder whether he showed any of the potential for endurance sport when he was younger. “When he was a kid he went to dancing class. He danced very good. Then when he was in school he took karate. He succeeded there. He has a black belt. He won some competitions. But about running I never noticed. No one knew that he could do this.”
“It is difficult to understand what is going on even being right here. When we see the lap results every morning it is impossible for our minds to understand what is going on. I think people can feel something inside their hearts. That something very important is going on here. But what is it? It is impossible.”
“It is not only inspiration. When you hear about people running for 45 days, you feel, wow. If they can run so long than I can do something very difficult also. But also inwardly.”
“As for me when I am working and I am tired. I remember, wow, they are running now. It is very hot outside and they are still running for 30, 40, days. And I am just tired after 4 hours of my work. Now it is possible…. I can do it.”
I ask if he is going to be happy when he finishes? (Laughter) “That is a good question. Yes, he will be happy, maybe one part of him.”
Click to play interview
[audio:http://perfectionjourney.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/sarvadhara2.mp3|titles=sarvadhara]
For many others there are still lots and lots of miles yet to run. Pranjal has 260 and estimates that he will finish, either late Friday night or early Saturday morning. He ran 65 miles yesterday.
Igor ran the most laps yesterday, 136. This will be his last full day here. Surasa ran 113 laps.
Vajra has been one of the sainted and tireless helpers, not just all this summer but also for many years. In the heat of the day he gives Ashprihanal a massage. “There is a lot of stuff that I am seeing and feeling. When you see, you see behind what you are wearing. You see that seeing goes hand and hand with a sense of feeling. That there is an inner strength that you see and feel within the runners.”
“You feel it in their muscles, you feel it in their fibers. You feel it in their tendons. There is something strong that allows them to be capable of being able to do tremendous things beyond the widest stretch of the imagination.”
“I think that a great deal of this comes from the inner urge to want to transcend and go far, farther, farthest. In whatever you are doing. It could be anything.”
“It could be a secretary, typing, anything. Just trying to transcend the limits of what is the ordinary. Many times many people are unconscious of this conscious feeling, to want to go beyond certain boundaries. That are normally humanly reachable. But here I am talking about going beyond that point. Where you want to transcend beyond. Here you enter into the spiritual. That is a feeling that comes from deep within, the actual soul. That is what is amazing. That is what gets me to the point that I am ecstatic.
Click to play interview
[audio:http://perfectionjourney.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/vajra.mp3|titles=vajra]
Barbara is a school safety officer who can be found watching over the cross walk near Thomas Edison High school every morning. “You have to love to do what you are doing.”
Of the race she says, “I loved it. It relaxes me. They are very very nice. I enjoy it.
She has been a safety officer for 16 years the last 4 summers have been spent right here.
“I just watch them and relax. It is just like amazing. The way they run and everything.”
Click to play interview
[audio:http://perfectionjourney.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/barbara.mp3|titles=barbara]
Poem of the Day
Recited by Vedisha
[audio:http://perfectionjourney.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/poem12.mp3|titles=poem]
Enthusiasm Awakeners
Click to play
[audio:http://perfectionjourney.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/parvati12.mp3|titles=parvati]
“ladies and Gentlemen, you have seen an extraordinary performance. This young man wins the 2011 Self Transcendence race in 44 days, 13 hours, 38 minutes and 52 seconds. Which is an average of 69.59 miles a day. He is now ranked 5th all time.” Sahishnu
Click to play finish
[audio:http://perfectionjourney.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/Sarvagata-finish.mp3|titles=Sarvagata finish]
To hope is to bring down
A special gift
From Heaven.
Sri Chinmoy, Seventy-Seven Thousand Service-Trees, Part 23, Agni Press, 2001.
It’s true we cannot feel what they felt and feel but I may repeat that people who are struggling with physical illnesses can sense what self-transcendence means and they recieved and are receiving a lot of hope.