Every year at this time a city wide handball tournament is held in the park and it draws an enthusiastic and often boisterous crowds. People interested in the trajectory of hard blue rubber ball smacked against a concrete wall, and understandably not so interested in the shuffling sweating warriors circling round them.
The aftermath of all day snacking, barbecuing, and trash making is a bit shocking. The tournament usually goes quite late and if there is an attempt to clean up it is minimal and best which is of course not up to Vajra’s standard of cleanliness for the sacred course of the 3100 mile race.
But does the extra load bother him? “Not at all. Necessity knows no frustration for me.”
“The mere fact that you can have people running for 18 hours a day for 52 days is a phenomenal enough situation for any person to consider something as very unusual. It is something for a spiritual person, who would recognize it as something that goes beyond. It takes you to an inner realm where you can only feel it better than you can express it outwardly.”
“Whatever is inwardly spiritually illumining does not need anything outwardly to justify it or express it. It just is. You pick up on it just through your heart.”
“When you identify with heart to heart situations there is very little that you need to understand in terms of words. It just is.”
“It is not only what you do but the spirit in which you do it. If you do it for the purpose of glorifying some divine nature that is within you and that is within all of us then that thing becomes a very special thing. It has its own way of manifesting itself to the outer world to those who are receptive enough to feel it. Those people will receive something from it.”
Sahishnu’s Week #5 Wrap Up
The Board at the Start of Day 36
Camp early
The clocks
Ashprihanal
Extreme heat health warnings
Aharan puts out Harita’s shoes
Rupantar does his report
Nirbhasa
Smarana strethces
Harita
Ananda-Lahari
Garima assists Nirbhasa
Rupantar cautions the runners about the heat
Harita
Start of Day 36
Another day of hot weather
Ashprihanal has 2326 miles
He ran 63 miles
He leads Nirbhasa by 25 miles
Green
“Is he the one in first place?”
Brazilian TV
Nirbhasa has 2301 miles
He ran 66 miles
Getting help from Yahva
Doing very well
Flower
Peterson and Max
Handball yesterday
Brazilian TV
Vasu has 2199 miles
He ran 51 miles
Nikolai works on his feet
He is 11 miles ahead of Ananda-Lahari
Having some stubborn physical problems
Staying positive
Flower
Bipin
Ananda-Lahari has 2188 miles
He did 63 miles
Leads Smarana by 30 miles
Flower
Cooks at 10
Smarana has 2158 miles
He ran 55 miles
He is 29 miles ahead of Harita
Green
Nirjharini making labels
Harita has 2129 miles
She ran 57 miles yesterday
With Launa
Flower
Sanjay
Mandra
Todor has 2100 miles
He made 57 miles
He is 14 miles above the magic number
Flower
Todor
Jadranka updates the board
Ushika has 1850 miles
He made 50 miles
The long road
Flower
Nirjharini and Aharan
Max and Mahiyan
“Whoever heard of serving dry white toast without butter?”
Poem of the Day
My
Success depends
On my God-loving
Thoughts.
Sri Chinmoy
July 21st, 2006
Enthusiasm Awakeners
The outer running reminds us
Of the soul’s inner running
With Eternity, Infinity and Immortality.
Sri Chinmoy, Seventy-Seven Thousand Service-Trees, part 14, Agni Press, 1999
Vajra has always something profound to say. I believe that, as long as we, the spectators have not gone beyond our comfort zone, we may not understand and feel the race in it’s real depth. But whoever ran a marathon and meditates can at least sympathise a little or more with it all.
I especially identify most with the family feeling there, not saying that I envy anybody who can be there physically.
We know that many people are gratefully following the race here on your blog, Utpal, but not commenting necessarily daily. At times words are failing me, at other times outer commitments are preventing me from doing so.
All the runners and everybody around the race are held in my daily thoughts, no matter where I am or what I am doing. The blog and especially the interviews are the highlight of the day! Then come Jowan’s wonderful pictures, then the daily update by Sahishnu.
And yes, the music choice is nice. Perhaps you could continue letting us know the source as you did with Shambhu’s pieces that Iiked very much.