The 44 runners of the Self Transcendence 6 day race started their epic journeys today. Blessed by a bright blue infinite sky above them, the group set off precisely at noon towards their own individual destinations, dreams, and transcendent goals. Somewhere ahead of them is a finish line of course, but between here and there lies before them countless personal experiences. Events and moments, pleasures and pains, that will shape, change, and transform each one of them. Nothing remains untouched. For nothing can be held back and remain immune to the daunting task of running for 6 days. What calls out to each of them and draws their bodies, minds, hearts, and spirits onward can now no longer be resisted or ignored.
For most multi day runners a 6 day race is a vast and vague blank sheet that with each step forward they gradually engrave their personal experiences, add up victories both great and small, and acknowledge disappointment, pain, fatigue and failure as things that must be dealt with as they continue relentlessly onward. Some may compete one with another but for most here the real competition and life long adversary are the faceless doubts and nagging imperfections that cling to our fragile mortality.
In the papers today a new picture was posted of a nebula that exists some 1500 light years away from us. It is a place where new stars are now forming on the distant edges of what man’s most advanced technology can see.
Scientists can picture these marvels but most likely mankind will never venture to these places, that lie out beyond the vastness of space. But our imaginations and our hearts can push us outwards into the infinite. Our dreams and prayers can form deep within us and rise up into the heavens. And 6 days from now these 44 runners will still be running here in Flushing Meadow, until that moment of course when the clock simply runs out of time. They each will cross a finish line one last time, and they, as well as the 10 day runners, will have completed the self transcendence race for 2013.
They will be able to accurately measure their miles. They can also mark and note all the things done right and push aside all the things that perhaps went wrong. But then they will return to the regular world from which they have made this brief escape from. Life will go on, and then they, and you, and I, will all simply continue on our paths leading always towards our own perfection.
PERFECTION
Perfection, what is it? A smile of the Beyond.
Perfection, where is it? In the heart of the Infinite.
There are some places in this world of ours in which just the very sound of their names creates mysterious and wonderful images in our imagination. Most often they are far far away and are simply so exotic and so remote that you can’t ever really imagine actually going there. I spoke with Pati Ibinova today who is a 48 year old runner from Irkustk. A place to me, who has lived his entire life in Canada, as just about as far from Flushing Meadow park as it is physically possible to be. Which according to the internet is more than 5,000 miles away.
Pati doesn’t speak English so with the help of a friendly translator we conducted a little conversation on a warm bright afternoon. “I get lots and lots of joy here, ” she says when asked why she has come so far to be here. It has been 4 years since Pati was last here at the race and when you look at a map it doesn’t take too much imagination to realize just how expensive and difficult it must be for a person to get here from there. Who knows just many flights and how many hours of travel and how many months and years she probably saved up just to come and run.
Right now Pati is doing pretty well amongst the other 10 day women. She is currently in 5th and completed 130 miles over her first 2 days. The first thing she says about Irkustk is that it is cold. It turns out that from the beginning of November until the end of March it rarely gets above freezing. So it really defies the imagination as well to picture just how difficult it must have been for Pati to go out the door each morning and train and prepare herself to come here and run for 10 straight days. It is only some hours later that it truly sinks in, just how incredibly dedicated Pati, and a lot of others here are, in coming to the race, from so many far off places.
When asked why she came back after 4 years, “happiness is the key word. The miles are not so important. It is the happiness inside that keeps me going. Everybody has their own happiness but it just comes forward more intensely here.” Pati as we are speaking is bubbling with enthusiasm and joy. Before she is about to leave and run some more she tells me she wants to share a secret. She tells me she is dedicating her run here to her little country.
The Self Transcendence race here is extraordinary in so many ways. Top class athletes mixed in amongst those who are perhaps here for the first time and will finish hundreds of miles behind. Some who will improve dramatically over their previous efforts and some will kill themselves just to make one more mile than they have done before. Yet what binds all the runners here in both obvious and subtle ways is how their heart’s goal is so much the same. To pursue their own perfection. To transcend themselves and find out just how beautiful and powerful they truly are within themselves. And yes as well to be truly happy. A happiness that is worth traveling the length and breadth of our great and wonderful world to try and attain more of.
Ron Clarke was one of Australia’s greatest runners. At the height of his middle distance running career in the 1960’s he was able to establish 17 world records. He was certainly loved and respected not just in Australia but around the world. In what has to be one of the oddest circumstances of his lengthy competitive life he never won an Olympic medal though he was once given one by another great Olympian, Emile Zatopec in honor of all he had accomplished in the world of distance running.
Click below to see him setting a world record in 3 mile race in 1965:
Sri Chinmoy: God’s favourite season is spring, when new hope, new life and new creation dawn. What God always wants from Himself is transcendence. This He can do only when He exercises new hope, new life and new creation constantly.
On this spring day another great Australian runner has entered his 3rd straight day of running here at the 10 day race. He was here 2 years ago running in the 6 day and had what he describes as, “a life changing event for me. I think essentially what happened is your body gets destroyed, and then your mind gets destroyed, and then your ego gets destroyed, then you are left as pure awareness. That is how I felt and there were a few moments in that race when it was just light and bliss.”
This talented 51 year old runner in that time since has established himself as one of the best multi day runners in the world and currently has his own world age group record in the 24 hour race when he ran 153.8 miles (247.6km) There are many fans of Martin who are very interested in hearing about how he is currently doing but before we do, one last quote from Ron Clarke
What is the best advice you can give to aspiring athletes?
There are two pieces of advice I believe are paramount. Enjoy what you are doing, and be consistent with it. Above all, I loved running. I never stopped for even a day and during my career I never saw any reason to ease down to “refresh myself”. Why? You don’t stop eating for even a day so neither should you need, or want, to stop training. Running is never boring…there are too many variations that can be used to make it interesting. Consequently, when you set out to begin running as an exercise, determine that whatever the circumstance, you will continue to train, or competing, every day of every week of every year In 1965, I raced 65 times, set 11 world records, competed in 9 different countries within 18 days (we were only allowed to travel for 4 weeks overseas in those days), and was still training as hard at the end of it (Derek Clayton and I ran for 18 miles on Christmas morning).
Fairly early one day last summer or maybe it was the year before, a satellite passing over New York took this picture of Flushing Meadow Park. Endlessly circling at an altitude of a little more than 400 miles it’s very precise camera probably took many thousands of pictures that day. Ever vigilant as it observed our world below from its remote vantage point way up somewhere within the cold silent vacuum of outer space.
No doubt some bored technician was gathering up this endless stream of images or perhaps the data just dropped silently onto some vast digital hard drive as it relentlessly circled our world. Something it has continued to do on an average of about 15 revolutions day.
Now some day it just might happen that it will do this same scan, just as the Self Transcendence 6 and 10 day race is going on. Technicians might be startled to notice a stream of little figures trotting around the paths of the park and wonder just what are all those little plywood buildings doing there.
As a rule, it is pretty easy to be amazed at what technology is constantly able to improve upon. Both make things happen better, faster, and cheaper. And yet for those 38 runners who have now circled around these same paths for more than 24 hours, the marvels of technology is of no benefit to them whatsoever. No doubt some may be listening at times to their personal music players or getting calls from friends and family in the nearly 15 countries from which they have traveled from. At night when the lights go on and food is cooked and is tasty warm everyone is happy that some good old fashioned technology is making their lives just a little better. But no gadget or gizmo will take away the tiredness that is creeping into their legs or dull the not so subtle aches and pains that are for some becoming truly annoying new companions.
Today the weather did an abrupt about face and it seemed to be continually drizzly and cool. There wasn’t much reason for anyone to play tourist and take in the sights as they circled the winding one mile loop again and again. One can’t say for certain what experiences each of the runners is having at any time of the day but one thing is certain. With each new lap and as the many hours tumble past, each who one runs here, find themselves drawn ever more deeply within themselves. Into parts of their being that most of us are often quietly aware and yet most of us never seem to rarely find the time or inclination to explore there. Even though this part of us has been constantly beckoning us.
It is within this unmeasurable inner journey that they also feel an expansion of their subtle dimensions. For it is after all a pilgrimage here. To a place where the travelers journey, way beyond the very limited world that their eyes see and their feet can carry them. A place of self transcendence in which the goal is to explore and gather new strength and purpose from the uncharted regions within themselves.
Early this morning, Dr. Mitch Proffman rode his bike over towards Flushing Meadow from his apartment nearbye. On most days he runs into the park and when he doesn’t he generally goes for a ride there instead. He is a chiropractor and has a busy practice so getting a little exercise before his day starts is something he really enjoys. This morning he was especially looking forward to what he would see once he crossed over the little bridge that arches over the bumper to bumper traffic of the Grand central parkway.
To be honest he wasn’t feeling particularly great this morning. The heaviness and weight of the events from a few days earlier in Boston continued to linger. An experience that he is not alone with, for it has touched and troubled many others, particularly those whose worlds have embraced the sport of distance running. For something had come from out of the darkness and snatched away many peoples peace and for an unfortunate few it stole much much more.
Yet when Mitch got to the crest of that bridge he saw before him this humble little temporary village nestled by the lake and his mood was immediately lifted and transformed. For this little cluster of plywood buildings covered in sheets of plastic is much more than what it immediately appears to be. It is a unique little universe that each year at this same time, springs miraculously to life like a great blossoming promise. For it is the home of the yearly Self Transcendence 6 and 10 day race.
He took this picture and told me he called it an ‘Oasis of Hope’. He didn’t have to say much more than that, for I knew exactly what he meant. Mitch of course is not only one of the races’ biggest fans he also works many long hours there on his free time giving adjustments to the runners in the medical tent. A few hours after this picture was taken the first of the 2 races began under the glorious brilliant embrace of a perfect spring day. 38 runners began their 10 day non stop journeys to the distant realms of their own self transcendence. Began hopeful efforts that would lead them further on the roads of their own life experience, breaking personal records, reaching new goals in the punishing realm of physical challenge, and perhaps reach up into new lofty realms of their own consciousness.
The events of the world around us will always attempt to reach out and to ensnare us with their stark reality. As humans we are never immune or completely detached from this. But here at this little oasis in Flushing Meadow 38 runners have set off to a place in which the falling shadows never obscure the brightness and hope towards which each runner here ultimately seeks. Where many also come to help them on their way, both in simple and sacred ways. Feeding them, counting their laps, and making sure their bodies stay strong.
Their hopes and dreams will of course be tested. But not by the obscure painful truths that stomp and stride with bombast and futility in far off places. But by the niggling doubts and worries that are buried within themselves. Ultimately the inner brightness in ways great and small always finds a way to reveal itself to all who come here and challenge themselves. And from this little oasis of hope perhaps even just a little of this illumination spills outward and continues to flow down crowded highways, across oceans fields and forests, and into the hearts of all those who want this world of ours to become a more perfect place.
When a singer sings spiritual songs, if he lives the song that he sings, then God will be a living Reality at every second. Otherwise, God will remain in the infinite blue sky and the singer will have to remain down on earth. Then there will be a yawning gulf between God’s Feet and the singer’s head.
In the spiritual life, we are trying to raise our head to the point where God’s Feet will come and touch it. Our head and God’s Feet must be together. Our head means what?
Our head means our song. And God’s Feet means God the Singer. So when the Supreme Singer sees that a song is aspiring to the Highest, then He feels His fulfillment in His creation. And what is the creation? The creation is the unfoldment of the Singer Supreme.
There is no way to fully comprehend the lofty impact and powerful significance of the music that Sri Chinmoy continually created over the course of his life. In retrospect it is now an almost unimaginably vast wave of almost 20,000 original songs, that continues to flow outward across the landscape of aspiring humanity.
For those who are his students, both practicing and listening to his recordings is an almost a fundamental part of their spiritual lives. One that most could not imagine to be absent from their daily routine. Taking a sacred place in their day on the very doorstep of practicing meditation itself. For most the capacity to meditate for long periods may be difficult and yet singing Sri Chinmoy’s songs has a unique and powerful way of offering a precious trans-formative spiritual experience that few other activities can even come close to offering.
For some it is a matter of singing a regular catalog of songs and for others it may be a continuous exploration through a sun bright garden of his music. One that is filled with thousands of enchanting melodies that each offer their own unique and precious glimpse and entry into the highest regions of our own unhorizoned spiritual dimensions.
The footage shown in this short film was all shot by myself in 1979 and 1980. In it Sri Chinmoy can be seen participating in some of the activities he loved best. His was a life dedicated to serving the world and inspiring people. For all those who were his students, both in those early years and even now after his passing, his timeless message to the world continues to be a powerful trans-formative beacon. There is no end to our spiritual journeys, for inevitably we are all searching for inner fulfillment and continual self transcendence.
In the first part of the film he is seen running his own 47 mile race for the first time. He would come back the following year and run this same race again, even faster. He did not just talk about progress, he acted upon it in every way possible, and in every activity that he involved himself in. No matter whether it was art, literature, music, or sports. In this audio recording, made later in his life, he speaks unequivocally about this.
I am extremely grateful to share this little film with any and all who are inspired by or feel an inner connection with my spiritual teacher, Sri Chinmoy.
Utpal
Transcript of audio:
The recording of Sri Chinmoy’s voice that accompanies this video is believed to have been made between 2005 and 2007. Sri Chinmoy’s remarks (below) have been edited for future publication.
Sri Chinmoy:
There is no end to our inner progress, no end to our inner progress. Progress, progress, progress! My Guru, your Guru, everybody’s Guru is the Supreme. I tell you in all sincerity, the Supreme Himself is progressing. Now, can we believe it? We cannot believe it. Our mind will not believe it. How can the Absolute Highest be progressing? Infinity we cannot measure, Eternity we cannot measure, Immortality we cannot measure. But when God, out of His infinite Bounty, opens up our third eye, we can see that God Himself is progressing. Not only on earth and in Heaven, but in His own highest Reality, I tell you, God is progressing, progressing.
You can say that God is absolute. That is true, absolutely true. But in His absolute Reality also, progress can be made. When God used His Vision to create the universe, His Vision was always Self-Transcendence, Self-Transcendence. Therefore, the terms that we use—Infinity, Eternity and Immortality—He far, far exceeds.
God’s Infinity we cannot believe; our mind will never believe it. The mind can only believe so much. The heart, on the strength of its identification, can go very far. But if we are in the soul-consciousness, we see that the Absolute Supreme Himself is expanding, diving deeper and climbing higher.
Шри Чинмой:
Нет конца нашему внутреннему прогрессу, нет конца нашему внутреннему прогрессу. Прогресс, прогресс, прогресс! Мой Гуру, ваш Гуру, Гуру каждого — это Всевышний. Говорю вам со всей искренностью, сам Всевышний прогрессирует. Но вот можем ли мы в это поверить? Мы не можем в это поверить. Наш ум в это не поверит. Как может совершать прогресс Абсолютное Высочайшее? Мы не можем измерить Бесконечность, мы не можем измерить Вечность, мы не можем измерить Бессмертие. Но когда Бог по Своей бесконечной Щедрости открывает нам третий глаз, мы видим, что Сам Бог совершает прогресс. Говорю вам, не только на земле и на Небесах, но и в своей собственной высочайшей Реальности Бог совершает прогресс, совершает прогресс.
Вы можете сказать, что Бог — это абсолют. Это правда, истинная правда. Но прогресс может совершаться и в Его абсолютной Реальности. Когда Бог использовал Свое Видение, чтобы создать вселенную, Его Видением всегда было Самопревосхождение, Самопревосхождение. Поэтому те понятия, которые мы используем — Бесконечность, Вечность и Бессмертие — Он намного, намного превосходит.
Мы не можем поверить в Бесконечность Бога; наш ум никогда не поверит. Ум может верить только до определенной степени. Сердце, в силу своего отождествления, может пойти очень далеко. Но находясь в сознании души, мы видим, что Сам Абсолютный Всевышний расширяется, погружаясь глубже и поднимаясь выше.
About 6 years ago I was part of a team that attempted to create stories about the life of Sri Chinmoy and also about some of the many activities that he inspired his students to take part in. At that time it was difficult to try and keep up with his schedule and also to try and choose stories from so many of those who were inspired by him. Now, anyone with a smart phone and a little know how can create and upload a video. Back then though we tried to create a program that would not be unlike one you might see on a typical news program.
Time slipped by and the program fell by the wayside until about a year ago when my friend Kedar suggested we try and start again. I was hesitant as to do something as difficult as this but there seemed no other option than to try. One of the last things Sri Chinmoy reminded me was that his path was about Self Transcendence.
It would need help from many people and in particular my editor Padyatra had to steer the project through lots of technical and logistical hurdles. More so I wanted the program to be really and truly from around the world. That it reflect the life of the Sri Chinmoy center in many places. This one by chance comes very close to doing just that. Many people contributed and helped to make it all happen. I am deeply grateful.
If you have time try and see it all. It is just about 20 minutes long. For now this blog is just a temporary platform for the show. There are 4 great stories here and there just might be one that inspires you. I hope in the not too distant future that there be more.
But before you start, if you can convince yourself that you are a divine observer and that somebody else is running in you, through you and for you, then fear, doubt, frustration, anxiety and other negative forces will not be able to assail your mind.
Once these thoughts occupy the mind, they try to enter into the vital and then into the physical. Once they enter into the physical, they create tension, and this makes you lose all your power of concentration.
But if you feel that you are not the runner, if you feel that you are observing the race from the beginning to the end, then there will be no tension, and these forces will not attack you. This is the only way to overcome these forces and maintain the highest type of concentration from the beginning to the end.
This is what I do. As a runner I am useless, but right at the beginning I try to become an instrument and make myself feel that somebody else, my Beloved Supreme, is running in and through me. Right at the beginning of the race I offer my gratitude-heart to the Supreme, and at the end, after I finish the race, I also offer my gratitude.
If I can offer my soulful gratitude to my Inner Pilot before the race and after the race also, then there can be no frustration, no decline of aspiration. The aspiration and power of concentration will remain the same throughout the race.
Everyone who has ever stood on a starting line of a race has felt themselves enveloped by their own unique blend of hopes and prayers and their almost unavoidable opposite companions, doubt and fear. Felt that at last that what was now lying just before them, was a real opportunity to bring to life a dream that had yet to be realized. One that they had felt steadily growing within, with each new day of training, and that now was at last the moment when they would really achieve and perform their very best. That at the end of the day they would reveal something that they had felt already existed in a subtle way within, but that now it would at last take shape and form and become a new reality.
The irony of course is that while your life force roars and thunders throughout your physical frame, within you, the best part of you seeks out the still vast island of peace that is always present. To somehow keep a delicate balance between what we see, what we feel, and what we want to become. There is a mystery in how it is possible to remain completely calm, despite the darting thoughts that swirl and buzz about like angry bees. Trying to focus on really only one thing, that now you are about to commit to giving your all. Unleash the power that comes from the relentless long miles of training. Bring together all the discipline and all the sacrifice and focus all that you have over the distance that stretches now directly before you. To now reach and attain a new goal.
It has just gone past midnight on August 27th 2012. A large group of runners are preparing themselves for the 32nd running of the 47 mile race. It is a perfect night to run. The air is still but not hot and the humidity is low so it is an almost ideal conditions to run a personal best. Tonight the weather will be a friend to all and not a relentless silent adversary.
This race is not defined like most with thoughts of competition but by oneness. Here, when one achieves something remarkable than that victory is not lost or withheld from everyone else, who has also dreamed and strived for self transcendence. It is quality that can be shared and celebrated equally by all. For we all seek the same ultimate goal. When one has inspiration it does not diminish when it is then offered to all those who also tirelessly seek out their own steps to transcendence and perfection.
Everyone who runs here or even helps out will all try and do their best this night. Try to set a new mark for themselves by bettering their times or perhaps make the night one long sweet meditation. Reach out for the luminous threads of promise that can pull us forward on our very long inner journeys.
Vajin stands at the front of this group of runners. There is none around him who would dispute his right to stand there, and there are none who don’t share, a not so secret hope, that he in particular have a very good night of running.
You can sense from everyone present that there is a collective wish that Vajin will tonight at last break the race record. One that is startlingly great but one that is also very old, and in many eyes stood for too long.
It has dangled so far above and out of reach for 32 years. So long now that it has seemed to be for many an almost unimaginable goal to reach. Many think that tonight however it will be broken at last. Those that do, have good reason to believe that this is finally possible.
Vajin, 2 years ago showed everyone that he had the determination, strength, and skill to create his own new mark of transcendence, when he ran 5:15, just 6 minutes shy of the record. Over the past 2 years he has trained hard and ran well on many long mountain trail races. He has performed superbly with top ranked trail athletes in races around the world, and now, on this August night has dedicated himself to not just transcending himself but also to offer a precious gift to his late spiritual teacher.
To create for runners, who run this race next year and quite possibly for many years to come, a new summit of perfection.
Sri Chinmoy:My longest distance was 47 miles. I did it twice. Now I no longer do it, but every year about three hundred disciples of mine from all over the world come here on my birthday and run 47 miles. Being the spiritual father of the family, it gives me tremendous joy when I see my spiritual children run 47 miles. The number 47 is very important to me because in 1947 India got its independence. With this run we are celebrating our inner freedom.
Sri Chinmoy heads out of the gate of the Jamaica High School track and then takes a sharp right turn that leads up a short hill. It is just past midnight and on this hilly hard course, that meanders around the school. He will make this same turn and run this same hill and all the rest of the the whole long course 40 more times before his journey will be complete. When this photograph was taken It was just moments after the 47 mile race had begun. This will be the 2nd time he has run the race and on this occasion he is trying to beat the time he ran in the race the previous year (12:41:48). The year is 1980 and Sri Chinmoy, a a few minutes earlier, had just turned 49 years of age.
The young men and women who now run beside and about him will also run on this same course with him throughout the long warm August night. Each one finding their own tempo and pace and each trying to give of themselves in every possible way, outer as well as inner, to the challenge of running this very unique 47 mile race.
The race is now just in its 3rd year but already has become a most important event both to Sri Chinmoy and to his disciples. Each time starting at midnight on August 27th. For some they are running it for the first time and for others it is a race they have tried to run every year, each time trying to improve upon their previous times.
No matter how you look at it, 47 miles is a long way to run. But there is something more important about this race that did not exist in any other running event throughout the rest of the year.
For each step taken here on the gritty cinder track and on and on over the winding asphalt road,was not just taking us to a hard fought finish line but also to some new found place within ourselves.
It was for something higher that we all reached for. A yearning goal that continues to beckon and inspire a new generation of runners now several decades later. It is a destination that originates not in the mind but within the very depths of our own hearts. An inner call that asks for all those who participate to extend themselves as much as they possibly can physically and to also, over the many hours and miles on the road, try as well to explore the unlimited dimensions of our inner world as well.
And then there is something more important still that made us run. For all Sri Chinmoy ‘s students it was a chance for us to offer something deep and personal from within ourselves to our beloved Spiritual teacher. Offer some small part of us to he who also ran beside us. For no matter how difficult it was for us to reach the finish line he too was also out there with us, throughout the night and well into burning brightness of the morning.
Yet even as he ran on and on throughout the night we also felt that it was he who was running in and through us. And further more it was he who was also leading us much further still, and continues to do so, on an endless journey that leads well beyond the distant shores of our own lifetimes.
I am not in this photograph but I too was there that night and also on many other warm August nights and on many other years, running this same course. There are some who might still recognize the faces of those who ran here that night, but if they do not, they cannot help but see the strength and power of a youthful fit Sri Chinmoy. Witness just how much he loved the sport of running, and also how much he loved to inspire and be inspired by his students.
For myself and all the others who pushed on through the depths of a long dark night there was no race or athletic event that meant more to us than running the 47 mile race. From its very first year and for all the years that followed it felt like a way to offer gratitude and thanks to our Spiritual teacher. That he himself was running the race himself was a priceless experience for us all. One that demonstrated in a powerful clear manner, that in every way possible he would inspire, guide, and nurture, all those who followed his path.
Again, we have to know that there is a great difference between competition and progress. When we want to compete with others, sometimes we adopt foul means—by hook or by crook we try to win. Then we bring to the fore our feelings of rivalry and almost animal propensities, animal qualities. We are only thinking of how we can defeat others, how we can lord it over others.
But when we are competing with ourselves, we know that we have to purify our inner existence in order to improve. So here is the difference. When it is a matter of self-transcendence, we have to depend on our inner purity, inner love, vastness and oneness with the rest of the world. We try to develop universal goodwill, whereas, while competing with others, we may not have those feelings. At that time, we may see others as rivals, we are on the border of enmity with them.
It can be as if we are fighting with enemies when we are competing. But when we are trying to transcend ourselves, we cannot fight with ourselves. If we can go ten steps ahead today, tomorrow we will try to cover twenty steps, and the day after thirty steps.
