Question: When people in the outer world see you lifting heavy weights, does it do something to their consciousness?
Sri Chinmoy: The Supreme, out of His infinite Bounty, has given me quite a few good qualities. He wants to spread His Light in and through me. At times it is difficult for the inner world to manifest itself only through prayer and meditation. But the physical, vital, mental and spiritual planes are all different realms. If the outer world can have some faith in my physical capacity, then the same world will try to have some faith in my vital capacity — which is not destruction, but dynamism and enthusiasm. Again, the same world will try to have faith in my mental capacity and creativity. They will see that I have written so many books and I have created so many paintings, songs and so forth. Then, if the same outer world wants to have faith in my heart, they will look to see how much peace or compassion I have. And if the world wants to have faith in my soul, they will look to see how much illumination I have.So each realm we can take separately. When one is successful in one realm, the outer world will be inspired to appreciate another realm. In a store, the owner may have all kinds of things. If someone buys something and sees that that thing is helping him, he will have faith. Then he will buy something else from the same store.
Most of the spiritual Masters try to offer something only from the soul or from the heart. As soon as they come to the mind, confusion starts. In my case, the Supreme wants me to be of service on all the planes. If somebody has faith in my lifting up an elephant, that person may develop faith in my spiritual capacity. At our weightlifting function a few weeks ago, one bodybuilder said that I not only lifted the weights, but I lifted something much heavier, and that was the spirit of the audience. Look at this! He is not my disciple, but he was saying that I lifted up the spirit of so many people. See how much inner wisdom he has, how much inner recognition of what I am!
If you cannot reach me at a very high height, then reach me at least at a lower height. People in this world can appreciate physical strength or vital strength or mental strength, which is at a lower level. Psychic strength, who is going to appreciate? Psychic strength is oneness-strength. If you use your psychic power, then inwardly you can go to Africa and with millions of people you can establish your oneness. With psychic strength you can go up to the highest peak of the Himalayas and from there you can send your good will everywhere. Swami Vivekananda said that the whole inner world will resonate with the sound of that psychic will. But who will believe that kind of thing? They will say it is all mental hallucination.
If people are not ready to study the higher course, then they can study something very easy. Step by step they can proceed. If people have faith that I can do one thing, then they will try to believe in my other capacities. Then they will see my dynamism and my enthusiasm, and they may perhaps join our Peace Run or our other activities. Many people who have appreciated my weightlifting have not heard that I am also a spiritual Master.
At one point if people have faith, then they can go one step forward. They will ask, “Does he have anything else to offer?” If you go to a store and you like something, you ask the owner, “Do you have anything else?” But if you do not like anything, then you are finished with that place. Are you going to go there a second time? No!
Sri Ramakrishna once said that if you do not have power, why should anybody listen to you? But this power is not the power of destruction; it is the power of oneness. If others do not see or feel your inner power, then you have to show some manifestation of that power. When Swami Vivekananda went to Chicago, he showed his heart’s oneness-power. The moment he said, “My sisters and brothers”, immediately his words entered into the dynamic vital of humanity. Then he became immortal. This was his power. Power is like a knife. As I always say, with a knife you can destroy yourself and others, or you can cut fruits and share them with others.
Because of the strength that I am showing in my weightlifting, people are saying such nice things. If people have faith in one aspect of my life, then they will try to have faith in another aspect and then another aspect. Gradually they will come to say, “O my God, in this other aspect he has even more to give to the world.” Then they will enter into my heart and soul. There is no comparison between the outer world and the inner world. In the outer world I am lifting 300 pounds, but in the inner world, 300 pounds is a joke! It is like a drop in comparison to what I can lift in the inner world. In the inner world you can put quite a few oceans together; I do have that capacity. Again, people will say that I am bragging, because in the outer world one drop is enough to kill me!
My weightlifting is an opportunity that the Supreme has given to me and to my disciples. I am begging all my disciples to use this opportunity to take me to the farthest corners of the globe. The more you share me with the world, the more you will get me. When you look at the morning sun, you call people to appreciate the sun. Each time you call someone to come and look at the sun, immediately the sun increases the beauty and divinity of your own heart. Always by sharing good qualities with others, by sharing divinity with others, you increase your own capacities.
We can start our journey early in the morning. But what is happening at six o’clock, seven o’clock, eight o’clock? Most of the world is sleeping. If we can get up early in the morning, how many things we can achieve with God’s Grace. This morning at 1:30 I called India and spoke to my sister. After that I meditated a little. At 3:15 I started taking exercise. While taking exercise, I am thinking of God, my Beloved Supreme. Daily I spend quite a few hours exercising on the physical plane. Then I compose songs. On the mental plane I do quite a few things, and on the spiritual plane also I do quite a few things. Early in the morning I start.
Every morning, make a solemn promise to yourself to become a better person than you were yesterday. If you are a good person, then become a better person. Each successive day, make a promise: “Today I will become a better person.” When tomorrow comes, again say, “I am going to become a better person.”
Again, the physical is of utmost importance. There is an old Indian theory: “Do not think of the body. Just let the body take care of itself. Only think of the soul and the heart. The body you can neglect.” But I wish to say that if we do not pay attention to the temple, how can we keep the shrine in good condition? If there is no temple, will the wind not blow the shrine away? We have to keep the physical body fit. I am not saying that one has to become another Muhammad Ali. No! But physical fitness is of paramount importance, and that includes having enthusiasm, eagerness, dynamism and alertness. You may walk, you may jog, you may run, but where is your enthusiasm, where is your dynamism, where is your readiness to receive the light?
To come back to your question, as I always say, if you cannot appreciate one particular flower in a garden, then there are many other flowers. If you appreciate one particular flower, then you are receiving something. Something is better than nothing! If people are not getting spiritual light from me, at least they can try to get some enthusiasm from my physical activities.
All of us are trying to get happiness. If we are happy, then we are not going to quarrel, we are not going to fight. Here I am lifting weights. I am not fighting with anyone. I am doing something which is giving me joy, and you are seeing something which is giving you joy. So here on the physical plane if I can give you joy, and if you can get joy, then we are doing something really great.
