“The way to the goal is more important than the goal itself. At least I feel it like that. I am always happier with the experiences I get while I am here than at the finish.”….Pranjal
This morning Pranjal started running here with just 42 more miles to go. By early evening he will reach the finish line and there will be a small celebration in his honor. He will be happy and he will smile and he will be polite to the little boisterous gathering of supporters as they throw confetti, ring bells, and sing songs.
But in that instant that he breaks the ribbon and reaches the goal of 3100 miles, one part of him will gratefully sit down, to cheers and applause while another part of him continues on, though we cannot see this taking place. His physical being has gone as far and as hard as it could possibly run here. He is tired and he has sacrificed and given up all that he could possibly do.
Within however is quite a different reality. His inner being does not need rest, or acknowledgement, or aide. At least not any kind our physical universe has to offer. On the inner journey he takes there is no hesitation, rest, or detour, not until the true inner goal is one day reached and realized. His commitment to this journey is remarkable in many ways. For proof you only need be here tomorrow when he will once again show up and run a few more miles. It is an unshakeable pattern that he has maintained now for years. To run every day, no matter what, a streak that he has strictly maintained for years.
Then if you simply add up all the miles he has run here over 8 summers it would just about take you all the way around the world. How far he has inwardly traveled is not up for discussion. It is an experience that he shares only with the inner pilot who does not cease to call out and inspire him, just as Pranjal does not ever hesitate to answer by moving ever onward.
Life and sports cannot be separated; they are one. As a matter of fact, life itself is a game. This game can be played extremely well, provided the player develops consciously or unconsciously the capacity to invoke the transcendental energy which is always manifested in action.
In the life-game, each soul is running consciously or unconsciously toward the goal of inner perfection. There is not a single individual who has not left the starting point. Now, one individual may be behind another in the Godward race, but all are making progress and running toward the same goal.
ri Chinmoy, The Outer Running And The Inner Running, Agni Press, 1974.
Just a few days more
One last early morning bike ride.
The face of fatigue
Start Day 48
Nearby a familiar face, Sarvagata practices tennis with his sister.
Some of course simply need to keep going on and on.
For Stutisheel this has been his hard beautiful world for 9 years now.
“It doesn’t matter what the weather is. We have to finish any way.” The day is particularly close and muggy. Asked if he is looking forward to finishing. “Ah, it will be over, and I will go to sleep for 2 days.”
“People ask me questions but it is very hard to explain this race. Nobody can understand it unless you have come and tried it. You can’t explain it to somebody. It is really hard to grasp this kind of thing it is so beyond anything you normally experience.”
“I like it here. I was given the capacity to do this race and until it is taken away I will continue to come here.”
Asked if he ever feels like giving up. “Yeah every morning I say to myself I cannot survive this. I am so tired. When you don’t have any choice, when you only have one choice you have to wake up and it is much easier. The moment when you have choices than you always choose the easy one. But when you have to wake up and there is no other options. Then you just wake up.”
“I will be a little bit behind my best, maybe a few hours. Maybe 7 hours or something like that.”
“In my case I am always happy it doesn’t matter how many miles I do when I do my best. When I have to crawl up the stairs when I go home it was a good day. And it really doesn’t matter the miles. The finish line is just one point, it takes 15 minutes, people give you things and it is over. But it is on the way to the goal that you get your experiences.”
“Sri Chinmoy is the source of this race. Someone who is behind it inwardly making it happen. He inspires people who organize it and also inspires people who are running here to do it. He even gave the capacity to the runners. Without him I have no chance to finish. I never had the capacity to do this without him. ”
Click to Play Interview
Hard not to be happy here today.
In the hardness softness can also find a way to grow.
It will be Pushkar’s turn tomorrow.
Many things are yet to emerge.
The great, the greater, the greatest.
Nirjharini, Ujjwala, Tejini, and Probahavati
Many times during the day they cook delicious foods and drinks
From start to finish, and from the first until the last day.
Sometimes they come and count laps for us.
This selfless service is infinite
Guru’s joy
Nirjharini, Ujjwala, Tejini, and Probhavati. our cooks…….Baladev
Click to Play Poem
“I get joy. I get inspired also looking at the runners. They have been running for so many days. Olympics is more about winning where as here it is not about winning.”
Click to Play Mayure interview
Vasu shares some inspiration that he was just given.
“Ladies and Gentlemen this was Pranjal’s 8th straight finish. Pranjal you have finished the 3100 miles in 47 days, 11 hours, 23 minutes and 2 seconds. It was your 2nd fastest time and considering the heat, and the difficulty and that bawky knee. This was remarkable you averaged 65.302 miles per day or 105.09 km. You are still ranked 12th all time, and this performance was the 28th best out of 112 performances now. And you are still only 39. 8 straight, that has got to be a record.”
“It is such a pleasure to have you. You are the first to come and the last to leave every night. It is such a joy.”
Click to Play finish.
Mayure recites the Poem of the Day
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 Enthusiasm Awakeners….Click to Play….parvati |
You people are not sleeping anymore. You are awake, but you do not remember that you have a goal, a destination. You have totally forgotten this fact. When you are not running toward the goal, ignorance feels that you are hesitating, faltering, weakening. This is the best time for it to grab you and put you to sleep again. This is what ignorance is trying to do. So please try to be very careful, very brave, very constant in your aspiration. Please meditate regularly and serve the Supreme in humanity regularly. If you do this, you will win the battle against ignorance; you will reach the goal in your inner race.
Sri Chinmoy, A Hundred Years From Now, Agni Press, 1974.
As we get to the end of this incredible race, I want to thank EVERYBODY for having been such an important part. Everybody, everything, was in place and filled their God-assigned spot.
I can’t tell you how inspired and moved I have been all along by the inner revelations that so many of our heroes shared with us. Through all your pain and suffering to see your shining faces – your souls just smiling through your eyes – it gave me a tiny little insight into the vastness of the universe. The vastness that our souls are trying to achieve and manifest. Thank you all for your wonderful example of oneness. Gratitude, gratitude, gratitude.