Part XI

Sri Chinmoy (giving Sudhahota his dogs, Sona and Kanu, to hold): You have defeated me in running, but I have defeated you in something else. I have two dogs whereas you have only one! Now please tell me about what happened in Los Angeles.

Sudhahota: The commercial I did when I was in Los Angeles is for Nike sports shoes. Nike is doing more artistic things. The idea was for me to run down a runway, jump into the air and just keep going — never to come down. I wish I could do that! As I am running and jumping through the air, I basically say that when I was young, I jumped nines; but I didn’t give up. In high school I kept coming in second, but I never gave up. The point is, if your philosophy is never to give up, there’s no telling how far you can go. The commercial has a little imagination.

Sri Chinmoy: That is exactly my philosophy: only progress, progress, progress. When you started doing the long jump, what was your distance?

Sudhahota: Nine!

Sri Chinmoy: From where to where! Now you have jumped over 28 feet. So, from nine to almost 29! On Thanksgiving we watched your family on television.

Sudhahota: My parents are still elated from the time they came here. They felt it was really special. Hopefully, during the Millrose Games, Carol will get to come here.

Sri Chinmoy: Does Carol know about your spiritual name?

Sudhahota: Carol liked it.

Sri Chinmoy: When am I going to get the training schedule you are making for me?

Sudhahota: I'll go back and work it out this week and send it to you. It will be some time next week because I have to speak to my coach.

Sri Chinmoy: You have to tell him that I'm the slowest man on earth. Also, I have had back pain for the past 12 years. But I am very greedy, so I want to run. If he wants to know, my fastest official time for the 100 was 11.7. Otherwise, in practice my time was 11.3.

I was brought up in a spiritual community. There were about 2,000 members in it. Over 200 participated in the sports competition, and I stood first for 16 years uninterrupted. For two years consecutively I was the decathlon champion. Then, for the third year, the rain ruined everything. At the time of the pole vault, out of the blue it started raining and I lost a number of points. Otherwise, the third year also I would have won the decathlon.

It was in 1944 that I started my sports career. You were in the soul’s world watching — just the way I am watching your career now.

Have you seen this year’s New Year’s message? “The seeker’s confidence-heart, the seeker’s surrender-life, shall play together the complete perfection-game in God’s Vision-Home.” Our confidence-heart comes when we leave everything in the Hands of God, our Beloved Supreme, and say: “Let Thy Will be done.” Then we have to say, “You have Your own Will, Your own Vision. So You execute and fulfil Your Vision in and through me. I am all surrender. My life is all surrender. Now, O Beloved Supreme, You fulfil Your Vision in and through me.”