When the Archbishop entered the beautifully decorated hall, Sri Chinmoy greeted him with folded hands, and the Archbishop then warmly embraced Sri Chinmoy. Sri Chinmoy performed on the Indian esraj, and the Singers offered several songs by Sri Chinmoy dedicated to the Archbishop.
After Sri Chinmoy presented the Archbishop with the “Lifting Up the World with a Oneness-Heart” Award, Archbishop Tutu offered the following remarks.
Archbishop Desmond Tutu: Your Eminence, your Holiness Sri Chinmoy, I am not usually tongue-tied and at a loss for words, but I am that now. I want to say a very big “thank you” to you and to all of those who are your followers. Thank you for the beautiful singing. Thank you for taking some of my words and putting them to music.
Part of what I try to say in a very slim volume1 is that God’s Dream is that the world and all of creation are not going to be destroyed. Even in the presence of so much evil and conflict, those are not what will have the last word; that goodness and gentleness and compassion and love will ultimately prevail.
There is without doubt a lot of evil in the world. But God – looking on persons like yourself and those who are your disciples, looking on all the spiritual work that you do for peace here in the United Nations and in other parts of the world – God smiles because God says, “Yes, thank you, for you are vindicating me.” You are part of the spiritual force of Love that emanates from God and which will transform the evil of this world into its counterpart. Thank you for persisting and going on, going on. Perhaps the world continues its existence only because of people like yourselves who help to hold it in being.
Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Sri Chinmoy (presenting a book he wrote entitled Archbishop Desmond Tutu: The World-Compassion-Heart-Nest) 2 I have written a book about you, with utmost humility. With my heart’s deepest love for you and with utmost humility, I am offering you this book.
The Archbishop presents Sri Chinmoy with his book entitled God Has a Dream: A Vision of Hope for Our Time, and signs it with the following words: “Sri Chinmoy, thank you so very much for all you mean for God’s world and God’s children. God bless you richly.”
Sri Chinmoy: We are truly grateful for your blessings, love and compassion.
Sri Chinmoy’s comment after the meeting: He is a man of compassion, a man of kindness, a man of self-giving.
1. Archbishop Tutu is referring to his book God Has a Dream: A Vision of Hope for Our Time, published by Doubleday, 2004.
↩2. The accounts of Sri Chinmoy’s previous meetings with Archbishop Tutu, including the songs Sri Chinmoy dedicated to him, were published in Sri Chinmoy, Archbishop Desmond Tutu: The World-Compassion-Heart-Nest. New York: Agni Press, 2004.↩
From:Sri Chinmoy,Only One Reality Sri Chinmoy, Agni Press, 2025
Sourced from https://srichinmoylibrary.com/oor