_Professor Carse:_ And I have another question in that connection. You're very active athletically, as well. This is not something that I think people associate with gurus at all. You run a great deal, you play tennis, you've run in marathons. I think you encourage your students also to do a good deal of this.

Sri Chinmoy: Whatever I do, I try to encourage my students to do the same. For we know, God who has given us the body has also given us the soul. He has given us the inner life and the outer life. And the outer life has a special purpose of its own. So, we cannot neglect the body. If we neglect the body, then the heart, the mind and the vital within us will not be able to function well. Then how are we going to pray and meditate? The inner life and the outer life must go together. If I pray within, then I will have better thoughts. If I pray, if I meditate, then I will be a better person. Then I will be able to love you more; I will be able to establish my oneness with you. So, when I run, at that time my physical, my body, is becoming conscious of a goal. Whether it is hundred metres or two hundred metres or marathon or ultramarathon, there is a goal. In the spiritual life also there is a goal. So, the outer goal and the inner goal must go together.

From:Sri Chinmoy,The Canvas of Time, Madal Bal, Czech Republic, 2019
Sourced from https://srichinmoylibrary.com/cat