The currents of life are so strong that it is nearly impossible for any of us to remain static or immobile for long. There is no safe lofty perch to cling to and from which we can then view the tsunami of the world beneath us shift and evolve without us being caught up in its relentless power and force one way or another. Even trying to retreat into our own past is impossible for inevitably we are flung back into the present.
We can try an lock down the doors of opportunity, stuff cotton wool in our ears and be deaf and immune to the calls and cries of humanity around us but inevitably something deeper and higher in us will snatch away our deafness and defeat and pull us back into facing the divine task lying in front of us. Our goal is patient and our goal is kind. Despite allowing ourselves to be temporarily engulfed in billowing clouds of our stubborn resistance the call does not tire or surrender to the forces that would hold us back.
Our long friendship with ignorance will and must one day come to an end. For on the skybright horizon of eternity is our destination. When we can listen to our only true friend within and answer to his call we will then no longer recognize hesitation or delay in any guise. At this time our name will be nothing other than transcendence itself. And just beyond one more name awaits us, perfect perfection.
When Sri Chinmoy began weightlifting just over 27 years ago very few if any could have imagined just how far the journey would go or in fact that it would be remain an integral part of his life. It can be argued that it appeared to be at the time, an almost plan B. A second best athletic solution to his true favorite sport which was running. Which at that time was being compromised by persistent physical ailments, particularly his knees. At the same time he said, “The inner reason is because my Inner Pilot, my God, has commanded me to lift. For that reason I do it cheerfully.”
A spiritual master has of course clear access to the highest heights of spirituality and there was no confusion or hesitation at any time when he was asked from within to attempt anything and everything he did. On rare occasions he was not always immediately successful, the case of his 300 pound lift is legendary. For 4 long months in the summer of 1986 he attempted to lift 300 pounds 214 times. For his students at the time it was a powerful lesson on the very nature of persevering when confronted by a seemingly insurmountable obstacle.
His many lessons to his students and in fact to all of the aspiring world were demonstrated in powerful and yet clear and simple ways. Certainly as exemplified each day here at his very own Self Transcendence race, the aspiring cry of the inner life cannot be separate or remain isolated from the soulful dynamism of our outer reality.
“When we live in the progress-world, always there is tremendous joy. This joy comes not only from transcending one’s capacities but from the effort itself. Say I have set my goal at 300 pounds, and I cannot do it. The very fact that I have been devotedly practising and practising gives me joy, and the tenacity or perseverance that I am showing is itself progress. Anything that we do devotedly and soulfully helps us make progress.”
