Yu. I. MOSKALEV

Sri Chinmoy Moscow Center

Keywords: international relay race "Peace Run", Sri Chinmoy, sports and spirituality, philosophy of peace

  
  
 I was smart yesterday, so I wanted to change the world.  
 Today I am wise, so I am changing myself. 
  
 

Sri Chinmoy

On May 9, 2014, the international relay race "Run of the World" started in Sochi. Participants of the Olympic-style relay race carried a torch, the Torch of Peace, passing it from runner to runner, through villages and cities to Tomsk. Runners who started their journey in Kazakhstan, Vladivostok, Smolensk and St. Petersburg also carried Peace Torches to Tomsk. The relay covered approximately 19500 km on the territory of Russia. From Tomsk on August 9, the message of Peace went with runners to Mongolia and-via China, South Korea, Japan, Indonesia, Australia - to New Zealand. There the relay race will finish solemnly. In total, more than a hundred countries took part in the World Run 2014 relay.

On the day of the relay's arrival, celebrations dedicated to friendship and peaceful relations between people of different countries and nationalities were held in cities and villages. According to the race conditions, anyone could join the runners at any point on the route. Over the years of the World Run relay (held since 1987), millions of people have taken part in it. Such famous people as Nelson Mandela, Mother Teresa, Irina Rodnina, Princess Diana, Anatoly Karpov, Muhammad Ali, Paul McCartney, Mikhail Gorbachev, the Dalai Lama, Queen Elizabeth II of England, Boris Grebenshchikov and many others supported the ideals of the World Run. Russian cosmonaut Gennady Strekalov delivered the Torch of Peace to the Mir space Station in 1995 to pass it to American astronauts in space.

Traditionally, the relay race starts in April at the UN headquarters in New York, on Hammarskjold Square. In 2014, the opening ceremony of the "World Race" began with the establishment of a Guinness World Record: UN ambassadors, diplomats and other representatives of different countries and peoples read out a poetic appeal in their own languages:

  
  
 Who dreams of peace, join us! 
 We'll walk together. 
 Who cares about the world, join us! 
 We'll run together. 
 Who serves the world, join us! 
 We'll grow up together. 
  
 

This appeal (and it was read out in 206 languages!) - excerpt from the vast literary and philosophical legacy of Sri Chinmoy, the initiator of the "Peace Race".

Sri Chinmoy (1931-2007) was a native of India (East Bengal, now Bangladesh). He was the youngest, seventh, child of railway inspector Shashi Kumar Ghosh and housewife Yogomai. His early childhood was spent in the village of Shakpura and the town of Chitagong. After the death of her husband, Sri Chinmoy's mother, being a deeply religious person, decided to settle all the children in a spiritual community in Pondicherry. Sri Chinmoy stayed there for twenty years, receiving a varied education and practicing yoga intensively. Already in his youth, his diverse talents are manifested. He translates articles and literary works of the great Bengali writer Nolini* from Bengali to English, composes poems and songs, and shows excellent results in athletics.

In 1964, Sri Chinmoy moved to New York, where he first worked at the Indian Consulate. He soon gains credibility as a poet and philo-

Nolini Kanta Gupta (1889-1983) was an Indian revolutionary, philologist, scholar, literary critic, poet, philosopher and mystic. ed.).

sof and begins to give lectures, publish a philosophical magazine. On April 14, 1970, at the invitation of UN Secretary-General U Tan, Sri Chinmoy addressed the UN for the first time. Since then, he has been holding regular, twice-weekly "Peace Meditation" meetings at the United Nations. Sri Chinmoy spent forty-two years in the West, working with inspiration and fruitfulness, writing books, composing poems and songs, composing music, painting and drawing. He performed concerts, played his own music on a variety of instruments, conducted a large social activity, met famous and influential people, was a marathon runner and was engaged in weightlifting...

His great contribution to the spiritual development of humanity has been recognized with awards and diplomas from various countries, universities and public organizations. Among them: Nehru Medal from UNESCO; Pilgrim of Peace Award (International Center for Human Peace, Rome); Gold Medal in Literature (Lutes International Academy, Paris); awards for Contributions to Literature (UNSCR Society of Writers, United Nations), Voice of Universal Music (University of Ottawa) and others. Golden Heart (Society of Writers and Composers of Mexico City).

In conclusion, we offer our readers some aphorisms of Sri Chinmoy:

Peace on earth will be achieved, revealed, and manifested when the power of love in each person takes the place of the love of power.

Peace does not simply mean the absence of war. Peace means the presence of harmony, love, contentment, and unity.

Exhale the dust of the past, inhale the fragrance of the future.

People's opinions rule the world. Even one opinion has enough power to divide the whole world.

I was smart yesterday, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself.

Only through inner peace can we gain true outer freedom.

I believe in moments of forgiveness, not hours of rancor.

The fullness of life is to dream and manifest impossible dreams.

Human life is always given the power to fly the kite of hope.

My light of wisdom tells me to ask not for a lighter burden, but for a stronger heart.

The seed of peace must be sown in the heart of humanity so that it can grow in its body.

What you don't use yourself, don't offer to others. For example, a tip.

Nothing is difficult - that's what you should think about before you do something. Nothing is easy - that's what you should think about before you say something.

My soulful policy: peace by any means necessary.

May my daily life be a thundering waterfall of creativity.

The philosophy of the East and the philosophy of the West have a common goal-satisfaction, infinite satisfaction. This satisfaction is born out of only one thing - self-giving, sleepless self-giving, and nothing else.

Joy is where your loving heart is. Joy is where your strong life is.

The determination of your heroic attempt will live on in your mind and in your heart long after success or failure is forgotten.

If you do the right thing, you will eventually inspire others to do the right thing.

The greatest ability often comes not from personal effort, but from the descent of Grace.

To live in the beauty and fragrance of the heart is to grow younger by the second.

Let's choose a world where everyone helps each other!

Dream, dream, dream! And you won't have time to suffer from despair.

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