Question: Would you say that today people are turning to running as a kind of supplement to their spiritual lives?

Sri Chinmoy: You are using the term 'spirituality'. But in this case, let us use the term 'happiness'. Everybody wants to be happy. There are many ways to be happy, but many people have discovered that running is a most effective way to bring about happiness. Running demands not only the fitness of the body but the fitness of the vital, mind and heart as well. Sometimes the body is fit enough to run, but the mind is not ready. Sometimes the mind wants to run, but the body does not want to cooperate. When it is a matter of running, all the members of the family — the body, vital, mind and heart — have to work together. It is like a family gathering, a family party. The head of the family has invited all the members to come and eat. If one son comes and another does not, the parent cannot be happy. Through running, the soul wants to offer a feast to all its children. Its joy will not be complete if even one member — the body, vital, mind or heart — does not participate. What running is doing is keeping the body, vital, mind and heart fit so that the soul can get complete happiness. The soul is happy when it sees that all its children have come to enjoy the feast.

From:Sri Chinmoy,The outer running and the inner running, Agni Press, 1984
Sourced from https://srichinmoylibrary.com/ori