Excerpts from Sri Chinmoy's Acceptance of the Honorary Degree presented by the Asgiriya Order of Buddhist Monks in Kandy

Your Holiness, to your soul of luminosity, your heart of compassion and your life of perfection I am offering gratitude, gratitude, gratitude from the inmost recesses of my heart. My heart is all gratitude to you, for you have included me, out of your infinite bounty, in your Buddhist family.

With your kind permission I am accepting this award as a most powerful blessing from the Buddha to intensify my own quest for truth and multiply my inner aspiration and outer dedication. This blessing I wish to have in my heart of aspiration, in my life of dedication and in all my earthly activities. To me, it is infinitely more precious than any outer award.

Only a few days ago, President Premadasa came here, as well as to other spiritual places in Kandy. Like you, he believes that all world religions are one and that all religions join together in the Compassion-Heart of the Lord Buddha. We are all one — children of the Absolute. There is no high, no low. We are all growing in the Heart of the Absolute. I understand that it was our beloved President who wanted to bless me with this supreme gift. So this award I am inwardly offering most devotedly to President Premadasa.

I wish to offer my most soulful love, joy and gratitude to my most esteemed Brother-Friend, Minister Arthur Ranasinghe. If we have been able to do anything for the soul and heart of Sri Lanka, it is because the Minister of Information has helped us far, far beyond my imagination and the imagination of my students.

And to all those who are present here, I am offering my gratitude for this great inspiration and aspiration that we have felt here together. Now we shall try to spread it throughout the length and breadth of the globe.

From:Sri Chinmoy,President Premadasa: Nectar-Bliss-Heart, Lion-Roar-Soul, Agni Press, 1990
Sourced from https://srichinmoylibrary.com/ppn