Interviewer: Why would a 75-year-old man want to do this?
Sri Chinmoy: I do it to inspire people. At the age of 75 or 76, many people give up. They do not expect anything from life. But I feel that age should not be a big barrier. Age is in our mind, not in our heart. Here I lifted Radar on the strength of my oneness. I feel all animals and human beings are one. On the strength of my oneness, I lifted him.
Interviewer: You’re also a promoter and advocate of health and fitness. Why?
Sri Chinmoy: If we do not have physical fitness, in the morning we will not be inspired to get up. We will not be able to perform our daily activities. So physical fitness is of paramount importance. If we are physically fit, then in the morning we shall be inspired to do the needful.
Interviewer: What are your thoughts about the obesity problem that seems to be running rampant all over the world?
Sri Chinmoy: I feel extremely sorry. I sympathise with those who are overweight, and I have lifted a few very, very heavy men, who weigh hundreds of pounds. Fortunately, they are now losing weight. I tell them they are our brothers, and I pray for them, that they will give due importance to their physical fitness.
Interviewer: How important is meditation in all of this? You seem to prepare before you do this, and you sit here very quietly.
Sri Chinmoy: Meditation is of paramount importance. Without meditation, we cannot do anything. We cannot achieve anything significant. I have thousands of students who study with me meditation, prayer and other things.
Interviewer: What form do you practise?
Sri Chinmoy: Each one has to dive deep within. There is no hard and fast rule for everyone. Each one has to dive deep within to find his or her meditation.
Interviewer: Why Radar?
Sri Chinmoy: In the spiritual life we try to go high, higher, highest, and Radar is the tallest. Radar gives us inspiration to go as high as possible and remain in the highest height. Radar is an inspiration for me to reach my own height. Height is extremely important. Without height, we remain useless. In everything we have to dive deep within, or go high, higher, highest. Of all the horses, Radar is the tallest horse. That is why he gives me boundless inspiration to be of service to the height.
Interviewer: You’re also very caring of wildlife and animals. Why is that so important, that all people should care?
Sri Chinmoy: I take all animals as my younger brothers and sisters. We believe in the process of evolution. I believe that once upon a time we were animals. We have all evolved from the animal kingdom, so these animals are my younger brothers and sisters. I take them as my own brothers and sisters.
Interviewer: And we should learn to respect them?
Sri Chinmoy: Certainly, certainly. We have to love them. They are like little children, younger brothers and sisters. What should we do? We should show them abundant affection, love and concern. They are in the same family, but younger.
Interviewer: Do you have a regular exercise programme that you want to encourage people to partake of?
Sri Chinmoy: I take daily two hours of exercise lifting heavy weights. Tomorrow will be my test. Tomorrow I will be lifting the four strongest Americans and four of the world’s strongest men with one arm. They will be 300 or 400 pounds each. I shall be lifting them in Philadelphia tomorrow.
Interviewer: Again, why would a 75-year-old man want to do this?
Sri Chinmoy: To inspire you and everybody. We need inspiration. If we get inspiration, then we can accomplish many, many good things. If we are an artist or in any walk of life, we need inspiration. And prayer and meditation help us to inspire people.
Following are excerpts from Sri Chinmoy’s interview with the Poughkeepsie Weekly Beat.
Interviewer: How much do you use the mind to accomplish this?
Sri Chinmoy: I do not use the mind at all. For me, if I use the mind, I will be frightened to death when I hear that the weight is 2,400 pounds. But if I use the heart, then on the strength of my identification, I can achieve the lift. I will be frightened to death if I hear that I shall have to lift 2,400 pounds. It is beyond my imagination. The mind is limited because the mind doubts. As soon as I use the mind, I will be a victim to doubt: “It is such a heavy weight, it will break my neck.”
But if we use the heart, no matter how heavy or how high the lift is, there cannot be any problem. Tomorrow I will be lifting very, very heavy, 300-pound, 400-pound men, eight of the world’s strongest men. With one arm I will be lifting them. If I use my mind, I will collapse. If I use my heart, then I try to establish my oneness with the strongmen of the world.Interviewer: You say you use the heart.
Sri Chinmoy: The heart means oneness. The mind means division. The mind is dividing us at every moment. The heart unites. The mind divides. The mind is dividing you as a human being from me, another human being. The heart does not do that. The heart always establishes oneness, oneness, oneness. The mind does not do that.
The mind will always doubt. The mind will always say unkind things about others. The heart will not do that. The heart loves each and everybody equally. This is the quality of the heart. The heart does not criticise. The heart identifies with every human being. If you unite, then it becomes very easy. Everything I do on the strength of my heart’s oneness. If I use my mind, I will be the first person to doubt my mind’s capacity, and I will give up. I will not dare to go and lift Radar, 2,400 pounds of heavy weight.Interviewer: What are your other activities?
Sri Chinmoy: Apart from lifting? I happen to be an artist. My artwork has been displayed at the Louvre in France, at the United Nations, in Australia and many places. Also, I have given talks at hundreds of universities. In America, I have lectured in all 50 States. I have given lectures at Harvard six times, and I have been to Princeton, Yale and other universities. In England, Cambridge and Oxford Universities have invited me nine times to speak and give concerts. I happen to be a musician: jack of all trades, master of none. I have given over 700 Peace Concerts all over the world. And I do not charge any fee. Everything that I do is free. I try to inspire people in different ways, through my artwork, through my lifting, through my music. In various ways I try to be of inspiration to others.
29 June 2007
Kingston, New York_From:Sri Chinmoy,Concern: A Reality of the Heart, Agni Press, 2025
Sourced from https://srichinmoylibrary.com/crh