Sri Chinmoy: Most lovingly and most devotedly I am offering these songs to my Indian Consulate boss and to my oneness-heart brother.
The Singers perform Sri Chinmoy’s songs dedicated to U Thant and to Ambassador Nazareth. Sri Chinmoy presents the U Thant Peace Award to Ambassador Nazareth for his lifetime of dedication and world service by promoting the Gandhian values of truth, non-violence, communal harmony and humanitarian service.
Ambassador Nazareth: Sri Chinmoy and dear brothers and sisters, I am really very, very deeply moved, and I am really at a loss for words on this occasion for the honour that has been done to me. I do very much believe that I do not deserve this honour, and for me it is only a token of the love which I have always had from Sri Chinmoy. It is his love and his generosity. How can I be classed in the same category as all the others who have received this award before. But I accept it in all humility because it comes from the hands of Sri Chinmoy, and everything that he does I believe is divinely inspired.
I accept it because it is really a great boost to my efforts, all that I have been doing since I retired in 1994. I decided at that point that whatever years of life God has given to me in the post-retirement period, I was going to devote them to try and revive the memory of Mahatma Gandhi because India needs Mahatma Gandhi.
When we look at the long history of India, all our golden ages were when there was religious tolerance in the country. The moment there is intolerance begins a whole lot of problems. And it is particularly sad and tragic for India because it was India which gave religious tolerance to the world, that the truth is one, although the sages have given it various names. The effort really has to be for us not to quarrel over what path we take, but to make the effort to get to the top of the mountain.
Sri Chinmoy is like a tall tree in the forest. The tall tree in the forest not only rises above all the other trees through all its discipline and its effort, but also sees a vision which the other trees do not see. It sees the sun, the moon, the stars, and to the distant horizon, the galaxies. The tall tree can never explain to the short tree the vision it sees because the short tree has no point of reference. So the only thing the tall tree can teach the short tree is how to grow because as and when the short tree grows, and rises then little by little to the top, it also sees the vision that the tall tree sees.
And this I believe has been the great contribution that Sri Chinmoy has been making. He is leading all of us and teaching us how to grow. And as we grow, we begin to see, and it is a very, very beautiful scene that we see. I believe most of all as we rise to the top, we see what Gandhi saw, that the fundamental law that governs all the universe is the law of love. It’s not the law of hate. It’s not the desire for revenge. It is the oneness-heart, that we are all the manifestation of the supreme energy, what the ancient Indian sages spoke about. “Tat tvam asi” – just three words, but what a deep meaning: “That thou art.” Each of us is a manifestation of the supreme energy that permeates the whole universe.
If only we could therefore have the right approach, the approach of spirituality, which besides in Sri Chinmoy, I have found in Mahatma Gandhi. And that is what got me so interested to research what made this man the great leader that he became. For him, truth was God, and he decided to pursue it with all his effort. And as he grew in spirituality, his leadership also grew, and he became fearless. And he had a simple logic: if you put all your faith in God, you cannot lose because God cannot lose.
Of course, you might not live to see the success of the mission that you have undertaken, but that’s not important. The important thing is that your mission will succeed, not that you should live to see it, because each of us has to do our duty – because it is our duty, not because it will succeed. Each of us can make a difference. This is what Gandhi said. Each of us must be the change we wish to see in the world.Gandhi-ji said that when the practice of non-violence becomes universal, God will reign on earth as He does in Heaven. That is what we should really hope for. We have to learn the message of loving each other, of having the oneness-heart.
And ultimately peace will come, as was stated by the very revered U Thant. Peace will come as and when there is a spiritual regeneration in this world. And I believe maybe it is coming, although it doesn’t seem very obvious, but what with all that Sri Chinmoy has done, with what his holiness the Dalai Lama has done, there is a whole new interest, really, in taking the spiritual path, in finding ourselves, because the truth is not only in a temple or in a mosque or anywhere else. It is all within us. Look within thyself, also is a great Indian maxim. And this I believe is what we need to do.
I am deeply moved, Sri Chinmoy, to be here today. When you come into a holy place, one feels the energies. Each of us radiates either a positive energy or a negative energy. Most of us are radiating negative energies. The more negative energies there are, the more wars we have. All of you seated here, I can see, are radiating positive energies, thanks to the great Guru who is with us and who has taught us how to love each other. I feel very blessed to be here this evening. I feel very, very, very honoured, even though I know I don’t deserve this award. Even more than the award that you have honoured me with, Sri Chinmoy, I request you to give me your blessing. I thank you so much, indeed. (Applause.)
Sri Chinmoy: I will cherish your blessing-words in the inmost recesses of my gratitude-heart.
Sri Chinmoy elaborates on inner experiences he had with Mahatma Gandhi while visiting the railway station in Pietermaritzburg where the Mahatma was evicted from the whites-only first-class compartment of a train in 1893 (see p.172 for full story):
The place in South Africa where Mahatma Gandhi was brought down from the train and was kicked and humiliated, I went to the same station. People showed me the actual place. I prayed and I prayed, and I said to Mahatma’s soul, “You came to awaken the Indian subcontinent, and look what happened. Here begins the ruthless torture of a human being. And in India, now you are adored by millions and millions of people. The God who accepted this ruthless torture in you and through you, the same God gives you the utmost love from each and every Indian soul.”
The immortal souls, souls like Mahatma Gandhi, are omnipresent, not only in the heart of little Gujarat. No, they are everywhere. If you have the vision, Mahatma Gandhi is everywhere. If you have no vision, then Mahatma Gandhi is gone. I am all love, all admiration for Mahatma Gandhi. He is a universal being, and I also try to follow in his foot-steps.
How can we not believe in these spiritual experiences? Let the mind not believe it, but the heart feels it and the heart knows it.
I am telling you about this inner experience because you are giving me so much joy. When I get joy, I open my heart. How much goodness there is here on earth, and again, how much sadness. We hope that one day this world of ours will be inundated with light. Now there is darkness, but darkness is not the answer. Light is the answer, we all know.B. Ramamoorthy (who also worked at the Indian Consulate with Sri Chinmoy and P.A. Nazareth): Gandhi-ji has really done a lot of good things, and now Alan Nazareth is trying to reach the world by giving lectures, by participating in seminars at various universities and colleges around the world. This U Thant Peace Award that Sri Chinmoy gave today to Alan Nazareth is something that we all would cherish for the rest of our lives, because although he says with all humility he does not deserve it, I do feel that he is one of the outstanding personalities that we have met in our lives. And I am really glad that this award is being conferred on Alan Nazareth today because you both worked in the same India House 40 years ago where we met and spent time together. And it is really an honour for me to be here today. It gives me great joy to be here this afternoon and speak to you both, reminisce about some of the old things, and exchange some of our thoughts.
Ambassador Nazareth: I was much more comfortable when I was in the Foreign Service, particularly when I became Ambassador, but honestly I feel so much more fulfilled internally in what I am doing now, and I am really very happy and very grateful that I have this opportunity. Because ultimately unless we have inner joy and inner fulfilment, all that we do is of no use. So I really feel very, very happy in what I am doing.
There is so much interest in Gandhi, people are looking for a way to peace, to find non-violent solutions to our problems. And I feel really happy, and I believe the time has come for people to look seriously at this, to find a way to peace really through a spiritual renaissance. And I believe we are all involved in this. We have to hope and pray that we will succeed, and succeed quickly before this world is destroyed through human acts.
Sri Chinmoy: Light is spreading – in how many places, how many universities you are able to speak on Mahatma Gandhi. This is the second book I am getting in the last few months on Mahatma Gandhi. In May Norway’s most cultured Arne Næss blessed me with a book he wrote on Mahatma Gandhi, and today you are blessing me with your book. I am so happy.
Ambassador Nazareth: It is you who have blessed me, not the other way around.From:Sri Chinmoy,Concern: A Reality of the Heart, Agni Press, 2025
Sourced from https://srichinmoylibrary.com/crh