Marty Gallagher: How does meditation differ from concentration?

We concentrate on a tiny drop, but we meditate on the vast ocean or the sky. Meditation is vastness, absolute vastness. And contemplation is something far beyond both of these. Contemplation is oneness.

I am extremely, extremely grateful to both of you. I feel that if we can work together positively, there will be countless people who will believe us and who will be able to derive inspiration and benefit. I know that there are some people in the weightlifting world who feel threatened by my approach to weightlifting.

Marty Gallagher: There are people who build careers on the negative and there are always other people who will get malicious pleasure from reading their comments.

Sri Chinmoy: Some people will say that the moon is so beautiful, it gives us light, inspiration and joy. Again, there will be others who will say that there are so many spots on the moon, or that it is not as bright as the sun. Still others will say that even the sun is losing its energy and after a few centuries there will be no sun. Some people will always look at the dark side, but we want to look at the bright side. If we take the positive side, then we make progress. We feel that people who constantly criticise the world and see the negative side of things are unconsciously destroying themselves.

We are trying to become better citizens of the world, and for that we have to go beyond our present capacities. Whatever capacities we have are not enough. We have to become better in every way. By criticising someone, in which way are we becoming better? My right hand can lift up a heavier weight than my left hand. But will I criticise my left hand? Will I say, “Look, why do I have to keep you? You cannot lift as much as my right hand, so the best thing is to chop you off!” Am I such a fool? Because I have established my oneness with both my right hand and my left hand, in no way will I feel that my left hand is inferior. The left hand and the right hand have to go together, like the older brother and the younger brother in a family. If the older brother can lift 200 pounds and the younger brother can lift 20 pounds, the older brother will not feel that the younger one is inferior. If he has sincere love for the younger one and sympathy with him, he is so happy at the younger brother’s achievement. Also, he knows that his little brother will be able to make progress and one day he, too, will lift up 200 pounds. And the little brother on his part will feel so happy that his own brother is able to lift 200 pounds.

So this is how we establish our oneness. The older brother could have said, “It is beneath my dignity to identify myself with my younger brother and count his 20 pounds with my 200 pounds.” But if he is a good person, he will not do that. He will say, “My little brother has done 20, so now we have 220 pounds in our joint account.”

Marty Gallagher: Even a child can see farther if he is sitting on his father’s shoulders.

Sri Chinmoy: You are absolutely right. In the long run, it is the haters of mankind who will be the losers, not the lovers of mankind. It is the lovers of humanity who will do something worthwhile for the world and for themselves. Only by positive thinking, by bringing the positive qualities of human beings to the fore, will this world be able to make progress.

Marty Gallagher: You have given us much to think on. Would you be so kind as to give me an autograph for my young children? They asked me for it. As I was walking out the door, my young son came up and said, “Could you please get Sri Chinmoy’s autograph for me?”

Sri Chinmoy: I shall gladly do it. I am so grateful to you for coming to see me. You have been extremely, extremely kind to me, and my gratitude is the only thing I can offer to both of you.