Question: Guru, when we put on Sri Chinmoy Tennis Classics in our cities, how can we make it an experience that will be beneficial to the inner life and not just another tennis tournament?

Sri Chinmoy: First of all, we should not give the players prize money. Then, whoever is the organiser could give a five-minute talk. He could say that in order to do anything successfully in life, you always need friends. It is like a tug-of-war: if you have more people on your side, then you are bound to win. It is the same in tennis. You already have talent as a friend. You also have parents, dear ones and so on. One more friend that you can have is a good thought. A good thought can be your best friend. If you have good thoughts and good will towards your opponent, then these realities will enter into him and you will also receive good thoughts and good will from him.

Both of your good thoughts will meet together, and from these good thoughts something special will develop. If I am good to you and you are good to me, then from our goodness a deeper reality will come to the fore: the feeling of oneness. Without oneness there can be no goodness, and without goodness there can be no oneness. Goodness means oneness.

If you take the other approach and think that your opponent is a bad fellow, then you will want to defeat him by hook or by crook. Your negative feeling toward him will bring an even stronger negative force to the fore in you. Even after the game is over, you will be thinking and saying nasty things about him. This will further lower your consciousness and, in the end, you will be the loser. But good thoughts will only increase your capacity in every way, and even after the match is over, there will be happiness in your mind.

From:Sri Chinmoy,I play tennis every day, Agni Press, 1994
Sourced from https://srichinmoylibrary.com/ted