Author: utpal

“Self Transcendence is actually a quality that you can experience.

It is not just a concept or a philosophy.

It is a quality of the divine.

Something inwardly that is expanding and growing and you can experience it, and once you experience that then this self transcendent nature starts more spontaneously acting in and through you and you feel more and more that you are just following it.”…..Pradeep

From the very first moment that each runner started on this Self Transcendence 3100 mile  journey they have always been the ones who can best  describe just why it is they have come here.   Occasionally they may also articulate as well where they believe that are going as well but not always.

What speaks most powerfully and most accurately ultimately is their acts and deeds.

On a very deep and inner level something grand and beautiful is taking place within them.  This self transcendence is emerging and touching and transforming not just the runners but in a real way raising the heights of what is possible for the world as well.

It is a bright new force that is entering the world, and one in which our limited mental capacity simply has a difficult time trying to grasp and keep up with. This happens because it comes from the place within us that is above and beyond the limited mind, our own hearts, which truly have limitless capacity.

In a very real way a miracle has taken place here each summer.  From a superficial perspective one may only see 12 runners attempting something inconsistent with what we think is humanly possible.  Yet when you observe all that has gone on here these past 51 days, a grander and more uplifting picture emerges.  What one realizes is that just as the world of running is not limited, so too should our belief  for the goals of all of humanity and life in our world.

Negativity and destruction will never be what our world wants and needs.  The moment we divert our attention fully to the divine within, as Pradeep and all the runners do, then what other lofty goals remain beyond our reach.   Perhaps the world is not evolving as we would like.  It is easy to be impatient with so many of the unillumined and misguided forces that are vainly attempting to push the world towards darkness.

Yet the moment we turn to and embrace our own divinity we allow our own inner glow and brightness to emerge.   If we then are not satisfied with the world than we can at least be satisfied with ourselves.  Allow our own precious divinity lead and guide us to our own bright perfection and in so doing offer our own light to the shadows around and about us.

But even on the outer plane our capacity is constantly expanding. Right now 1,300 miles is our longest race. To run 1,300 miles in 18 days is almost beyond our imagination. We feel that is our ultimate capacity. But previously we felt that 1,000 miles was the limit. Who thought of a 1,300-mile race five years ago? At that time people would have thought I was a crazy man if I had suggested that. But now you see that this crazy man was right because people are doing it. Somebody just has to start. We always have to go ahead because life means progress.

The inner runner is always trying to inspire the outer runner. First the inner runner says, “Go forward, go forward, go ahead, go ahead!” Then the outer runner says, “How can I go ahead if you do not give me the aspiration and inner cry?” Then the inner runner gives the outer runner the inner cry to do something and to become something good. In this way the inner runner offers inspiration and aspiration to the outer runner.

Sri Chinmoy, Sri Chinmoy Answers, Part 29, Agni Press, 2001.

Continue reading “August 6: A Divine Thing Unfolding”

“I really believe there are some hidden secrets here, which we just have to reveal.  Each year I try to go more deep.  This is the place where we can really reach our highest.”….Atmavir

For 6 years in a row this place has been Atmavir’s 2nd home, a sacred place in which, through great personal sacrifice, and with tremendous focus and self discipline he has run 3100 miles each time.  Now for a brief time he sits upon a chair while his spiritual family celebrate his victory of once again reaching the summit of this impossible task.

There is of course a glaring irony in his achievement.  For all that he has struggled, and suffered, and sacrificed so much for, the reward for this effort is not visible in any traditional or tangible way.  What ever secret that has been revealed, what celestial height he has set foot upon and  what ever precious inner experience he has realized cannot be seen.

What he does have are the subtle precious jewels of experience within his heart, acquired through his devotion and  his inner faith.  The only thing most certain and definable is the calculable knowledge that he has completed the distance, nothing else is provable.

On this busy Sunday afternoon the course looks very far from being  a sacred place, where inner knowledge and illumination can be discovered and revealed.  The majority of those who are spending time here are busy at playing games and having fun.  The inner life is the last thing from their minds.  Kids are splashing in the fountain, men are swinging for the fences playing baseball and basketball.  A typical raucous afternoon in the park where all the diverse elements of  humanity are drifting here and there around this place in which Atmavir has sought the highest within himself.

What distinguishes him from everyone else is that his absolute faith in his running task here is unshakeable.  His eyes need not see proof of his reward, he feels and experiences his inner achievement in his heart, in a clear and unmistakable fashion.  The key to unlock the divinity in its fullest form and fashion is to simply run here each day all summer long.

For Atmavir there is a great similarity between running here and the story of the Bhagvad Gita.  Just as how Krishna instructs Arjuna before a great battle he feels that his lessons can be learned here by running.

Faith is not a mere emotional feeling to stick to one’s belief . It is a living inner breath to discover, realise and live in the truth . Faith is the exercise taken by a seeker of his own will to force himself to stay in the all-seeing and all-fulfilling Will of God.

Sri Chinmoy, Commentary On The Bhagavad Gita, Agni Press, 1971

Reaching inner perfection is like pressing down on a springboard.

If you stand on a spring and press it down, the harder you press, the higher you will go.

So in the spiritual life also, the deeper you go within, the deeper your focus of concentration, the higher the perfection you reach.

When you go deep, deeper, deepest, you can feel you are reaching high, higher, highest.

If you are sincere, if you are dedicated, if you are devoted, if you are soulful, if you are unconditional, at that time you will jump up like a spring to the highest when you go deep within

Sri Chinmoy, Perfection-World, Agni Press, 1974.

Continue reading “August 5: Reach Our Highest”

“This 3100 mile race is an inner thing.  There are small and bigger inner things that happen here that you can compare to a meditation experience.  The deeper experiences, this I will of course take with me.  The outer thing I don’t know.”…..Pushkar

As each runner approaches the finish line of the 3100 their faces radiate an almost transcendent glow of satisfaction and happiness.  They shine with a pure beauty that comes not from their physical but from the divine qualities that they have drawn closer to each day and with each step that they have taken.  With each new mile they moved further and further away from the  predictable clutch and grasp of our material world.

It may not be heaven, this place to which they have arrived, but from my perspective, as I am now so clearly caught up in the world.  They, at least for a moment, have slipped beyond its reach to a realm that appears divine.  The price of this kind of sacrifice is not to be measured by mortal hands but only to be praised purely by heaven’s heart.  There is a prize as well, but it can only partly be seen by us.   We may perceive the glimmer of their transcendent victory while they themselves bask in its full radiant glow.

Of course Pushkar struggled mightily for the last few days with a catalog of injury and pain.  The heat and humidity today, will torment and mock him and all the others in its own perverse way.  The daily cat and mouse game with obstacles big and small never disappears.   For once you have climbed a mountain here it will simply be replace by another and then still another.  The race offers it own unique inner joy but this is combined with an extensive legacy of suffering that can never be really avoided.

There is no road map and no manual to figure out and plan routes that will safetly evade all the pitfalls of extreme weather and of course extreme life.  The only coach and guide is the little voice within.  That one that always speaks and offers guidance.   It is with our own indifference that we do not take sufficient time and listen well.

Some days ago Pushkar jettisoned the burden of expectation, and so he is unhindered by so much of what captures us and makes it difficult for most of us to even move from beyond our chairs.  Today his journey will be complete in so many ways.   What we see, and what all can congratulate him for, is that he has transcended himself by almost 14 hours setting a new Swiss record as well.

When we walk along the road of name and fame, there comes a time when frustration makes friends with us.

This frustration-friend takes us to destruction and there our journey ends.

When we walk along the road of Truth and Light, perfection becomes our friend and perfection leads us to satisfaction.

But there our journey does not end; on the contrary, there a new and unprecedented journey starts.

For this satisfaction is nothing but the ever-transcending Reality.

Each time we are satisfied, a new reality inspires us to transcend ourselves.

Sri Chinmoy, My Rose Petals, Part 6, Agni Press, 1976.

Continue reading “August 4: The Inner Cry”

“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.

Continue reading “August 3: The Way To The Goal”

“What is very good about this race, you don’t have to understand what is going on.   You just have to try, and try, and try, and cry.”…..Sarvagata

Early this morning when Sarvagata arrived at the start he appeared to be fresh and full of life.  He did not look at all like a man who had just run 3 thousand miles. The great burden that he seemed to bear upon his back for so long and so far had finally been lifted.  A weight, that on some days seemed as though it was on the verge of crushing him had vanished.  The task remaining left to him now was a small one, 17 more miles.  Just a single heart beat when compared to the lifetime he had already sacrificed on this sometimes endless alter of suffering.

A year ago he had made this event almost look easy as he galloped over great chunks of earth each day.   He churned out a long string of jaw dropping big mileage days and when you thought he couldn’t repeat it he came back and did even more.  This year though he arrives at the finish line almost 2 days slower than he did before, and instead of being the race champion he has been declared simply the 2nd place finisher.  To most sportsmen and competitive athletes this might appear to be a great blow if not a humbling defeat, especially when cast in the glare of the unrivaled success of the previous year.

If your world is simply defined by winning and loosing than nothing at all about the 3100 can be appreciated.  There is a rainbow spectrum of colors to be enjoyed and admired here, but there is no obvious black, and and its opposite and eternal rival white.  What drew Sarvagata, and all the rest to the starting line was not the temptation of a possible victory but rather the undeniable experience of real transformation and transcendence.  On this wide bare concrete stage they lived each day confronting all the negative shadowed parts of their beings. Nothing could be hidden, either from themselves or the rest of the world that drifted in and out of their lives each day.

But as much as they each battled with their personal demons they also forged deeper and more meaningful  bonds with all that was divine and illumining about themselves as well. Their own highest qualities that do not shirk or evade challenge when they are Supremely called to face it.  Who see in all their divine humble efforts, in their trying and in their crying, not success or failure.  Instead it is all simply forward progress on the long long path to their own transformation and illumination.

“This is the most fascinating thing at this point for me about this very race.  I am sure I have got rid of some really nasty things.  When you get rid of the nasty things than the divine things have some place to come to.”….Sarvagata

Try and try, stop not!
God-realisation is indeed
A perpetual possibility.
Cry within, cry without!
God-realisation is indeed
An immediate inevitability.

“You can help them tremendously by putting love and devotion into the food.”…Nirjharini

The little kitchen is tucked away, nestled in a quiet nook, safe and secure from all the buzz and bustle of the busy streets of Queens.  To get there you have to climb some steep steps leading up from the cracked sidewalk and then open a big wide gate.  Once you step through the entrance it will swing shut behind you with a big thump.  But once inside, once you are within the quiet confines of the high white fence.  It is only then that you will realize you have entered a secret and sacred little garden.

Summer flowers are bursting with beauty everywhere and because of a lot of rain the past few weeks all the vegetation is lush and green. But the scent of flowers is not what stirs the senses here or touches the heart.  In this spot delicious aromas silently drift out and across the neighborhood for much of the long long day, and continue to tempt and entice well into the night.  Causing no doubt the many hungry stomachs of not just a few nearby pedestrians to jump with anticipation as they are momentarily greeted by these enchantments.  Then the desire will quickly fade as the usual smells of a city street invade and push away that tasty sense of delight and wonder.

The source of these tempting aromas are just a few steps more.   Cross over the meandering stone path and push open the plain white door and there before your eyes, calling out to all the cares and wishes of even the most temperamental and finicky of hungry stomach, is a celestial abode of food preparation.  It is the kitchen for the runners of the 3100 and it is a veritable temple of purity and sacrifice while at the same time being a non stop assembly line of food preparation.  Churning out millions of calories of high quality nourishment to keep their now finely tuned engines roaring with determined speed and energy for 18 hours a day.  Keeping legs and hearts moving for the complete distance of the 3100 mile race.

Since 2004 Nirjharini has been the leading light of this selfless band of cooks.  Who work on not just regular meals but also snacks and treats from before dawn and into the late night.  The Self Transcendence race needs the care and sacrifice of many people but none may be more crucial than its cooks.  Of them Sri Chinmoy once said, “I admire them like anything.”  He request of them, “Cook for my golden children.”

FOOD FOR THE SOUL

The body’s food
Is matter-made.

.
The soul’s food
Is spirit-made.

.
Gratitude-life,
Gratitude-heart for God
Is food for the soul.

.
Perfection-cry
Is food for the soul.

.
Heart’s awakening
Is food for the soul.

.

.

.

Sri Chinmoy, Transcendence-Perfection, Agni Press, 1975.

Continue reading “August 1: Food For The Soul”

“Like a Deni-God, a chariot, coming in sunshine, in God’s glory.  Very Uplifting.  It was really nice.”……Sarvagata   On seeing Grahak’s finish

“I have learned a lot from Grahak.  I admire his qualities as a runner and as a person.  Ideally we run our own races.  I run my race and he runs his race, but somehow together it is one race.  We are working as a team.  We benefit from each other.  I like this race.  This very race I have learned a lot.  I will be better next race…..definitely.”

Yesterday Grahak was embraced and greeted by all his brothers at the finish line.  It is a meaningful and heartfelt tradition that has spontaneously existed when each runner  crosses over the line for the last time.  It makes no difference if the runner is first like Grahak was or if they be the last one to do so.  Each will in turn salute and honor the runner who has just completed his journey here.

The crowd near by will cheer, sing, and ring bells, but it is not the same.  For it is only the other runners who have truly and totally shared in this glorious adventure, and who can grasp the full measure of what it took to get there.  How each day was a battle but one in which the enemy did not exist on the course beside them but only within themselves.

Our true foe is our own ignorance and it is in and through this divine field of battle, the 3100 that 12 warriors relentlessly attempt to conquer the slow and resistant nature that sits dormant and reluctant within us all.

Here as each mile is struggled for, and grudgingly attained, an inner fight and journey exists simultaneously.  One that does not end at the finish line, but instead ,will be complete only when we can make our way to the doorstep or our very own perfection.

When I witnessed this moment I knew that something more was taking place here than meets the eye.  For unlike any of the others, these 2 were for almost 2000 miles of the race running so closely together in terms of mileage that there must have been times when each must have felt the presence of the other, like a constant phantoms at their sides.  Subtly pressing, coaxing and prodding them on.

On the outer plane this was visible in the slender wobbly gap between the two that shriveled and shrank to little more than 40 miles.    Within though was a mutual love, admiration,  and oneness.  A bond that respectfully challenged the other to do more, to give more, to reach ever deeper within themselves to reveal all the hidden capacity each treasured.  And ultimately to fly higher than each would have ever dared to reach for alone.

Continue reading “July 31: One Race”

“I think my mind says, O I have to get it done and get out of here.  But your heart wants to savor and be grateful and value the experience and the feeling.”…Grahak

The morning is cool here at the 3100 mile race, a perfect day to run.  A lid of clouds has slipped across the sky, at least for now, to protect this little patch of earth from a fierce July sun.

43 days ago, way back in June, Grahak began his journey here, by this afternoon he will make one last grand circuit of the course and he will need run no more.

What comes now for Grahak is the slow and gradual reentry into the world that you and I and the rest of humanity inhabit.  One that he so powerfully dashed away from back in June.  In one day more the calender peels back another page and will reveal August.  A clear note that the dreamy end of a New York summer is fast approaching.

From now on, with the inevitable blessings of each new day he will gradually heal from all the pain and hurt he has heaped willingly upon himself.  The angry terrible rash that has erupted across his flesh will gradually succumb to the certain soothing cure of long baths, dips in the sea, and the dreamy embrace of real rest.   Spread out across the long sweet endless enchantment of a full night in a bed. It is the world we nearly all call heaven.

But for 43 days Grahak and for 10 others heaven was listening not to slumber’s enticement but to the clear clarion call of his inner pilot.  To sleeplessly travel far beyond the realms of the possible and then on towards the miraculous shores of Self Transcendence.  He got there not by his own fierce determination but with the inner strength that comes from within, to aid and guide all those who seek out,  and surrender themselves fully to higher goals.

Now he and the goal are one, after striving tirelessly for 43 days, his prize is that he has once again transcended himself for a 4th time here.    The fog of time will come and dim this bright immortal moment from his eyes.  His tremendous record setting experience will gradually fade back into shadowed memory and photographs.  Yet what cannot be removed from his heart is that he has truly and deeply tasted  satisfaction in a way that we cannot.  Gone father and higher than you and I have ever dared to attempt.  And if tomorrow we look at him and think that he is just like us we will be wrong.  For he has reached and touched the divine reality that most of us are not even aware of.  If his feet have not fully and firmly planted themselves on perfection’s shore he has at least made long strides toward it.

Shortly after crossing the finish line he says:

“I want to thank Sri Chinmoy for running with us every step of the way.  Obviously this is Sri Chinmoy’s journey and a pilgrimage we all undertake together, and I am so grateful for finishing.”

O our 3,100-mile-run runners,
My sleepless, prayerful, soulful, powerful
And proud gratitude-heart-throbs
I have discovered
In your aspiration-mountain-height
And in your dedication-fountain-delight.

Continue reading “July 30: In And Through Us”

On May 29th 1953, Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay were on the verge of becoming the first men to summit Mount Everest.  They were already at nearly 29,000 feet and between them and the summit was one last sheer vertical rock face 40 feet high.  It was not something that they had not taken into account as they had negotiated their way up the long South East ridge of the mountain.  It would however be the last major hurdle to cross before they would finally  stand atop the highest mountain on earth.

This morning just before 9 am Grahak ran into the camp of the Self Transcendence race and stood briefly beside the little number board.  His shirt damp with sweat, his body aching with pain, and his face lit up with a 3000 mile smile.  Most spectators like to peck out little milestones as they calculate the progress of the runners over the months and miles.  It give us some small secure points of reference in order to comprehend the colossal enormity of their journey.

For those running though not much matters until you are actually standing astride the summit of the 3100 mile race itself.  Tomorrow this will happen for Grahak.  If all goes, as it surely must, he will be the champion of this years race and also have transcended himself with another personal best.

The Sounds of reaching 3000 miles:

30000 Miles

Hillary and Norgay have been immortalized for their historic accomplishment.  It was a team effort and one impossible to accomplish without the assistance of each other.  Hillary once said:

“There is something about building up a comradeship — that I still believe is the greatest of all feats — and sharing in the dangers with your company of peers. It’s the intense effort, the giving of everything you’ve got. It’s really a very pleasant sensation.

It is an experience that Grahak knows all too well as he is now on the verge of once again completing the race here for the 4th remarkable time,  each run surpassing the previous.  Hillary also said:

“It is not the mountain we conquer, but ourselves.”

In 2007 Grahak lined up here on the course in New York for the very first time.  If he had dared to imagine then, just how many times he would challenge and be challenged by the distance what would he have thought then.  Today his thoughts are his own as he plunges into the final miles.  Yet as he draws ever closer to his goal, the magnificence and splendor of his achievement can be shared with all in the world who admire perfection and seek out Self Transcendence.

Question: Can we learn more from failure or success?

Sri Chinmoy: It depends on the individual and the way one utilises the experiences. If it is an experience of failure and we use it as an opportunity to perfect our nature, then we are nearing our goal. If it is an experience of success and we use the experience to inspire us toward greater perfection, then we are also nearing our goal. There is no hard and fast rule that says we will learn more from failure or more from success; it is only how we utilise the experience.

Continue reading “July 29: The Last Step”

“I have got a present for you, it is from Australia.”

2 nights ago while Grahak was running on the far side of the course a friend of his came by on a bicycle and told him this.

At this point he had been on the course for close to 14 hours and run about 60 miles in that time.  For the past 40 days his world has been focused entirely on nothing but the confined dimensions of this New York City block.

At hearing this news he gets excited……”O, it is licorice!”

“No.  It’s a lot better than that.”

“O, it is chocolate.”

“No.  It’s a lot better than that.”

“I got up to the counting area and my Brother was there.  And it was just so nice to see him.  I had no idea.  I shed a tear.  I hugged him like I never have before.  Some people said I was pretty low key.   But I was pretty emotional.  It was such a nice surprise.  So good having him here.  He is an excellent helper and he gives Satyakarma a break.”

The sudden surprise appearance of Ian will always be a wonderful memory for Grahak as he looks back at this race in the days, months, and years to come.  He has of course 10 other brothers who may not share his looks or his DNA but they are brothers just the same.

Their lives and dreams so intimately connected.  Their singular collective pursuit of an impossible goal.  A journey they share and take together.  One that may not have a finish line for each who runs here but no matter.  There will be a divine victory nonetheless for each  and every ceaselessly moving member of this Self Transcendence family.

“We all feel like we are one out here.  We all have this common goal, and we all want to get to the finish of the distance.  When one gets there it is inspiring for everyone.”…Grahak

The ancient dream of cooperation is not just a human dream that has nothing to do with reality. This ancient dream is not a dream at all, but a faultless and divine vision – an unhorizoned vision that is slowly, steadily and unerringly shaping our individual and collective destiny as humanity marches towards its supreme goal of universal oneness and transcendental newness.

Continue reading “July 28: Common Goal”