Author: utpal

It is another hot day in what is becoming now a lengthy tiresome parade of hot days.  They are not record breaking, they are not simmering concrete ovens, and not melting black tar on the road days.  Yet if one could scamper under a cool dark shadowy tree or better yet sit beside the frosty whirring blast of an air conditioner it would have to be better than being out here in this for 18 hours a day.

The forecast for a break in this spell of sultriness doesn’t look to be happening any time soon.  At best, at least for now, it looks to be potentially  lurking in the unpredictable reaches of late week.

After 2 full weeks out here on the block, the runners have been made as road ready as they are ever going to be.  If their hides have not toughened by now to the climate, to the pounding, to the pain and fatigue than there is no hope for them.  Most find through the day, that a succession of creams and lotions can at least beat back the onslaught of scorching UV.  Some though are so weathered and road tough they need no protection at all.  The heat though is not the most ferocious adversary that prowls the course of the 3100.

Humidity is another matter all together.  No one has found a magic potion or easy cure for when the air itself sloshes and oozes with moisture.  When the oxygen about you begins to feel like a thick and binding blanket that can never be thrown off.

The Plane trees along the course have just now begun to throw off their leaves.  The sidewalk along by the school became littered by them over night.  It almost makes you think it is a scene out of a cool November day instead of a hot one at the end of June.  Now there is but a few days more, before the first step is taken into the long steamy cauldron that is a New York July.

Continue reading “I Love This Race”

“I am awestruck.  You can’t put it into words.”  This morning, one of the greatest body builders of all time, Bill Pearl has come by to visit the race.  25 years ago, on this day in 1985, Sri Chinmoy first entered the world of weight lifting.  It was a sport that he would continue on for the rest of his life.

From the very early years Bill Pearl became an adviser, intrigued that a 53 year old spiritual teacher would take up such a sport.  Very quickly the relationship deepened and they eventually became the closest of friends.

In a few hours an anniversary celebration will take place nearby.  He has been a unique witness and supporter of much of Sri Chinmoy’s many remarkable achievements. Because he has observed countless of Sri Chinmoy’s astonishing accomplishments in a multitude of fields, he is not surprised that such an event as a 3100 mile race is still taking place.  He himself still feels a heart felt connection to Sri Chinmoy and continues to be motivated by his inspiration.  He is still incredibly fit, and does not look at all like a man of 80.  He still subscribes to the philosophy of daily exercise and demonstrates that a vegetarian diet does not decrease one’s strength.

“If you are talking about world harmony, and changing the world, if things like this don’t do it, it is not going to be changed by anybody.”

He is with his wife as we are talking and I ask what in particular his relationship with Sri Chinmoy did for him.  “It changed our lives.  Not only religiously but also our thought patterns.  He was the epitome of what a true friend is.  I could relate to Guru and he could relate to me.  He was kind enough to ask me for advice, and he actually took my suggestions, which is the biggest compliment I could receive.”

“The average person doesn’t understand what a 500 pound weight is or what it looks like.  I was constantly suggesting to Guru to lift things that are visual.”  This would lead to Sri Chinmoy lifting practically every imaginable heavy object.  In particular his, “Lifting up the World,’ became his own unique way of honoring people and inspiring others, by lifting up people, who stood on a platform above his head.

He says that in the beginning Sri Chinmoy first started it all by lifting a 40 pound dumbbell.     “That isn’t a heavy weight by my standards. ”  Eventually he progressed to lifting, as he calls it, “unbelievably heavy weights.  He said the relationship began simply enough by Sri Chinmoy asking questions of him.

Than he says, “I started asking questions of him.  I became more and more fascinated.  He was trying to promote world peace through nonviolent efforts.”

He is still an ardent promoter of daily exercise and says that if one has the discipline to exercise than that quality can contribute to your well being in all other fields as well.  “If you take a stand on a daily basis, like these people who are doing this run.  If you do something like this, you will do this with everything in life you attempt to do.  It goes hand in hand.”

When he is asked what else he will doing while he is visiting Queens, he says, “I will be smiling the entire time.  That’s it period.  That says it all.”

Bill Pearl Interview

Continue reading “I Am Awestruck”

Pranjal Milovnik finished running last night just before midnight.  All the other runners had left earlier and he was alone on the course with just himself and an immense bright moon hanging low in the night sky above him.

As he does most nights, he struggled on until there was simply no time left to run.  He then pulled his small bag together and drove off on his bicycle to ride the  1/2 mile to the place where he is staying.  Once there, he  still had to negotiate locks, stairs and hot showers.

He may or may not had been aware that when he left the course last night he had less than a mile more to run before he would have completed 800 miles.  On his second lap today, as he starts his 13th day of running here, a counter will stand up with a bright sunshine smile and ring a bell to congratulate him as he passes by.  He does not react, he does not respond, he simply keeps on shuffling forward.  He is not interested in celebration, at least not now, when there is so incredibly much further he has left to go.  He does not calculate, that if he ran that distance on the roads straight west from New York, he would have made it to Chicago and still have miles to spare. He probably is not even aware that for the first time in the race yesterday, he ran more miles than anyone else.

I don’t know for sure, but I suspect that in all the previous 5 years of running here, he has never before posted the most one day mileage total.  That he bettered the efforts of the 4 runners in front of him is no slim achievement. If this were just a single day race, what he accomplished on day 12, by running nearly 67 miles on a simmering day drenched with oppressive humidity would be considered an astonishing achievement.

It is very hard to determine exactly what motivates and inspires him to do this incredible thing, running 3100 miles.  We can ponder and guess but will never really know for sure about him or of the others for that matter.  At best we can admire and  appreciate what really pulls and pushes them onward.  If it was for the vague glory of running the most miles in a day you probably wouldn’t last too long here.  Instead, we can only attempt to scan the surface of big men like Pranjal and lightly poke and question and try and extract a few precious glimpses of what is burning in the core of his heart.

There is precious little that we bystanders can do at all to make his journey swifter or sweeter.   At best we can strive for some oneness with all of those who run here.  Follow, and admire their progress, as they climb higher and higher on the mountain that we too must summit. And then ask of ourselves, what more must we do.

Continue reading “Everywhere Everything is Possible”

When I shook Ray’s hand early this morning it was clear that it unmistakably belonged to a big guy who worked hard.  It was about the size of both of my hands put together. He was driving one of the jumbo dump trucks that is currently hauling the last of the huge loads of dirt out of the nearby field.  The gate was still locked, so he came by to find out who could possibly be up and working earlier than a guy like him, who made his living getting up early and working hard.

When he saw the board with all the large numbers he took of his hard hat and his jaw went slack.  “That’s really somethin,” he said.  “And they are gonna be here all summer, wow!  I’d rather do this than what I’m doin.”

Just around the corner, down by the basket ball courts is Lee-Ann’s Day care center.  Her morning starts just about the same time as the race, and she has been observing it for years.

It amazes her that just as her day starts the runners start running and then they just go on and on.  Even after she has gone to bed she says they are still out there.

She is familiar with Suprabha, having seen her every day for 13 years, and is a little sad that she is no longer running.  She says that her husband keeps saying to her, why can’t she go out and do something like that.  I tell her, why doesn’t she tell her husband, why doesn’t he start first and then you can both do it together.

Stutisheel tells me this morning that he was once asked, if all the noise and traffic bother him.  He said, that after just 2 days, the runners are simply  no longer aware of it, and if they are, they are unaffected by it. Sometimes the big trucks, like the one Ray is driving, take a little while to get in and out of the gate.  The runners just sweep wide around them or wait but a moment for it to pass.

The caretaker at the little park piles up bags of garbage each night by the gate to be collected later the next day.  Vajra also comes each day to try and keep the course in tip top cleanliness but when the weekend comes around, the war against trash is hard to beat.

Factor in the almost constant din of traffic on the nearby expressway and you would have to think that not only was the place not scenic it just might be unpleasant to even come and visit.

Yet clearly, nothing could be further from the truth.  Even as you approach from afar it is possible to feel the specialness of this little hard block.  That it is lacking in obvious outer charm and scenic natural splendor, is irrefutable.  Yet still one can be astonished by the beauty and peace that exists here.  With an abundant sense of tranquility,  as serene as any zen garden.

Perhaps it is because so many runners, for so many years, through their devotion and unrelenting efforts, have made it really and truly sacred ground.  Or maybe  it is a simply a spot so surcharged with grace, that though the every day hectic world can be seen here, it somehow cannot manage to intrude or disturb the idyllic atmosphere that permeates the .56 mile loop. There are times as well when one can wonder, why the rest of the world cannot feel so splendid and sublime as this little block in Queens.

Continue reading “The Smile Does Everything Else”

If one day you were offered the opportunity to experience genuine all encompassing life fulfillment and inner satisfaction, would you hesitate for even a second?  As a an added bonus you would also be able to gradually release the nearly constant nagging chatter and clutter of your own mind.  In accepting this offer you would then be set down on a path that led directly to your own self perfection.  Where you would not be distracted or obstructed by any responsibilities or obligations to the world at large.

Instead you could commit your entire being to its transformation.  Removing all the barriers and obstructions we so often hold in place and allow   the pure divinity that grows and glows within us all to come to the fore. In the process perhaps expediting years of slow spiritual growth in a matter of weeks.

As all hands rise up to accept this incredible, and unbelievable offer, the ‘BUT’ falls heavy and hard in front of you.  In order to accept this opportunity you would have to experience almost daily physical agony and aching levels of fatigue that  most of humanity has never experienced unless you were imprisoned in some slave labor camp run by some inhuman despot.  The terms of this offer too are not negotiable.

The Self Transcendence 3100 does not have some iron clad contract that is scrutinized by lawyers nor does it either provide any certain guarantees of any kind.  Those who come to it are not conscripted, instead they come readily and voluntarily.  Most, if not all feel a profound and unambiguous inner call to participate.  An inexplicable longing that sweetly nudges, cajoles, and even often just flat out commands those to come here and run.  Then simply, you have to stay voluntarily and accept whatever nature, your body, and your soul decides to throw at you or bless you with.

In return you would be forced to, at almost every moment, go within.  Push past the cacophony of one’s own mind and enter instead into your heart.  Then once there find the peace and tranquility that we so often neglect and do not cherish enough.   Occasionally, I have had brief glimpses of this world the 11 runners inhabit.  This morning as a bright dawn sun gradually lit the world about us I felt this intoxicating ecstasy that is the inner reality of the race.  It was for only a brief few seconds but in that fleeting moment in time it felt like a kiss from heaven itself.

A fraction of an experience in which I saw the all encompassing divinity that was possible for the 11 runners to have and to experience on a constant basis.  Where the physical world simply lost its importance and the world of the runners was composed entirely of just joy and light.  Then of course I had to depart for work and leave heaven for just them alone to enjoy.

Continue reading “Running Seems To Be The Way”

During the heart of the great depression, in 1930, the city of New York built a water tower to supply the needs of its growing suburban population.  For 70 years it was kept full, from a pump beside it, that reached deep into the ground beneath Queens to tap a vast aquifer beneath the borough.

Rapid urbanization has its pitfalls and by the year 2000 the water below it was no longer considered safe to drink.  At that time Queens was then able to tap into the upstate reservoirs, that already supplied drinking water to most of the city.

For 10 years this Jamaica landmark has stood empty and worthless to the community that now looked elsewhere for its needs.  After 80 years it is coming down today.  For the next few days its demolition will create a snarl of traffic on 164th st and in turn have an affect on traffic throughout the neighborhood.  This project will have no impact on the runners or the running of the race.

Except for a few ambling pedestrians and wayward dogs their way will be clear.  No one is ever policing traffic around the route nor telling them when they must stop or are free to go.  From 6 am until midnight the course is theirs to conquer or be conquered by.  In truth those who would be subdued by it simply do not ever come here.  The intimidating challenge of it is simply too great

Inside of them each day a demolition of their own takes place.  What is removed from them almost with every step are their own limitations.  The red flag comes up of course from time to time but it is being waved by a part of themselves.

It is not some external foe telling them to slow down or quit.  Most often the culprit is their own minds which can rarely willingly give into such an incomprehensible undertaking.

The body can also sometimes be an even less willing instrument.  Ultimately, when our inner obstructions are recognized for what they truly are, they can and must surrender to the heart and spirit within us all that simply does not accept impossibility at all.

Continue reading “A Pilgrimage Towards Myself”

Today marks the first day of summer for several billion inhabitants of the Northern Hemisphere.  For most of us, these astronomical calculations are significant markers for many of our life’s plans.  Both the summer and winter solstice often has a major affect upon our strategy and attitude about the coming weeks that lie ahead.  No doubt on some deep and molecular level our bodies also make some small but significant adjustments to the amount, or lack of light, that we do and we do not receive from the sun.   Let us not forget also, how the moon’s orbit subtly pulls upon us as well. In other words, as the universe moves around and about us our physical beings have no choice but to be uncontrollably caught up in the swirl and flow of nature’s rhythms.

To the 11 runners at the 3100 mile race the arrival of summer is just one of the many things, that we judge to be important, and yet has no particular significance to them whatsoever.  Ultimately they are not immune to the push and pull of the cosmos, but the only true orbit they control themselves and consider of any real importance, is the continuous motion of their own bodies circling around the loop.  They need to make at least 110 laps on the course before they can even think of slipping back into the warm embrace of sleep.

What gathers more importance as each day passes as well is the relationships between the 11 who run here.  How with each new lap and each new day the 3100 family finds strength and support from one another.

Right now, as the sun begins its journey downward, gradually sinking lower and lower each day beneath the equator, an epic struggle for first place is shaping up.  Just one minuscule mile on this first day of summer separates Petr and Ashprihanal.  In any other sporting competition they would be combatants, but not here.

Here, like in no other race they are instead brothers.  Ones who are pushing each other forward in order to reach the exact same goal, self-transcendence.  They joke and kid and inspire one another, but wish nothing but the best for the other.  For how well one does will also motivate and encourage the other to continue to do their best as well. Try to take away from someone else and you take away even more from yourself.

At one point this morning Stutisheel is running with fellow Ukranian Vlady.  After 8 days of hard running they are but 27 miles apart.  Stutisheel hands me his phone and asks me to take a picture of them both running together.

When they see the photo they laugh with joy.  For it is only in a picture that they are able to see themselves together.  See themselves with their eyes as they so easily feel how close they are together in their hearts.

Continue reading “Solstice”

The day dawned warm and sticky on this Fathers day in New York.  For many years it has always been a special day, in which Sri Chinmoy was honored by his students here in Queens and also all around the world, wherever his students gathered.  Since his passing the tradition has continued and events are taking place throughout the day.

As the runners arrive this morning they can be heard to spontaneously call out “Happy Fathers Day,” to one another.  There is a lightness and joy in the spirit at the race this morning that is not matched by the heavy thick stillness of the air.

Countless people have been inspired by Sri Chinmoy over the years and many continue to feel a deep inner connection with him.  He asked little of people and yet gave so much.  How one related to him was up to the individual.  It was easy for many to feel a hearts closeness with him.  He could be a dear friend, or older brother, but for most of us, whose connection was soulfully deep, it was unquestionable but to look upon him as a Spiritual father.

This race of course was his creation, and all who are part and parcel of it know that he saw it as a powerful way to express his vision of Self-Transcendence.  His continued presence and influence here is unmistakable.

He no longer drives his little red car around the course each day but in your heart you can still feel his infinite affection and appreciation for all those who are aspiring to challenge their limitations.  Not just the 11 runners here but all aspiring seekers everywhere.

Continue reading “Learn To Be In The Heart”

There are 4 sharp corners on the course of the 3100 mile race.  To most, this aspect might also seem to be an additional cruel torment, added on to an already formidable list of less than desirable qualities of the loop.  This little block in Queens already has a slim to none chance that it will ever be listed in any NY  guide books as a must see place to visit when vacationing in the Big Apple.

Yet 11 runners are here on the course even now, on this the race’s 14th summer.  For them and the revolving crew who looks after them, the place is a virtual home.  One in which the runners have to circumambulate each day around it for something like 18 hours.  To have to make a radical pivot several times a lap, and then God knows how many times a day could be perceived as a torture, that could be potentially listed in the Geneva convention.

The surface of the loop itself  is already is as unforgiving and formidable as a concrete jungle.  Many voices have been heard who clamor about the monotony of innumerable turns, and wonder aloud at how great it would be to set up the race as a point to point event.  One in which the scenery is constantly changing, from one dreamy pastoral landscape to the next.  Others envision a idyllic park, buried in some cool corner of Queens which perhaps would also be more inviting.  Logistics aside, the Self-Transcendence race is not about sight seeing and personal enjoyment.  For those whose criteria demands these conditions, the 3100 will never be the race for you.

In this its 14th year the runners have described the course in many ways.  On each and every occasion, the term used most often is, ‘the sacred loop.’  Those who come back again and again, clearly recognize that the inspiration that calls them here is as significant as any holy pilgrimage.   There are no prostrations, no ceremony of any kind, it is instead an all encompassing dedication of the complete being; body, mind, and heart, to a much higher purpose, than can be seen with our mental vision.

The runners of course may look quite ordinary at times. On the surface you might be lulled into perceiving that nothing much special is happening here.  Rules of fashion and style are not applicable.   The unbelievable exposure to the elements, to your own body’s crying fatigue, and yes the twists that mark the unforgiving corners of the course mean that most often no one looks very pretty or fashionable.

The only way of making a true comparison of the Self Transcendence race is to imagine it, less as a sporting event, than as a pilgrimage.  Imagine taking a holy trek around the 14km distance at the base of Arunachala in India.  Doing it with devotion, but also with dynamism, and courage.  Letting go of all the things in your life that stop you from being the best that you can be.

Here the 11 runners, and many more over the years, have attempted to constantly to stay in tune with their inner joyousness, while simultaneously being as dedicated to their goals as one seeker can possibly be.  Aspiring for something just beyond the barrier of impossibility and perhaps just around the next turn.

Continue reading “Turns”

It is self evident that there are some things in this world of ours which we judge to be eternal.  They may be man made monuments forged from the sturdy elements of the earth, and it also might be the grand inspiring works of nature itself.  Most often we connect to them spontaneously and deeply.  We need make no mental note or comment, for they touch us from within, and immediately remind us that on the scale of eternity our lives and accomplishments, will unlikely be long remembered in any way whatsoever.

Yet the minute speck which is our life is ours to cherish while we can.  We can find ways to make the tiny spark of our life glow as if it was heaven’s sun itself.

Last night Dharbasan’s and Nandana’s daughter Shakti drew a large cat on the sidewalk in front of the support vehicles.  It took her quite a while to make it and while doing so she had to keep her eyes out for the runners and other pedestrians who passed over it regularly.  Almost from the moment it was created it was already starting to fade.  When Dharbasana arrives this morning he is quite surprised to see that it is still there.

He in particular will still be inspired by it all day and eventually there will be no trace of the cat or the words, ‘Good Luck,’ at all.

Most, if not all of the runners, if they are fortunate will finish the 3100 in a little more than a month in and a half.  Those millions of individual steps they took along the way will ultimately end up being but a blur of motion in their minds eye.  Those countless days of sun and heat and cool and rain will just become part and parcel of a gigantic embrace of a New York summer.

One can hope that the tough cruel days of pain and fatigue will be quickly forgotten but most likely they will not.  Aches and pains will haunt them for a long time after.  But what should endure are those divine moments in which their hearts rose up and they were no longer bound by the earth or even their own humanity.  When they recognized that tantalizing thread that connects us all with the divine.  That they see that God himself is ultimately acting in and through them, and through us all.

Continue reading “Self Giving Journey”