Sri Chinmoy:
The Peace Meditation at the United Nations

‘…a day of universal hope, a day of universal promise, a day of universal peace and a day of universal oneness.”

On 24 October 1978 Sri Chinmoy  Peace Meditation at the United Nations observed United Nations Day with a programme of music and speech in the Dag Hammarskjold Auditorium. Guest speakers included: Ambassador David M. Thomas of Liberia, Ambassador Zenon Rossides of Cyprus and Donald Keys, President of Planetary Citizens. Excerpts follow:

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Ambassador David M. Thomas, Permanent Representative of Liberia to the United Nations: I’m happy and pleased to be here at this time and to bring you greetings on this United Nations Day. And at this hour of your meditation, I want to say that I share with you in the conviction that it is necessary for us to pause in the midst of our busy hours to meditate, to think up on the Source from which we get our help and to ask the One on whom we depend to continue to be with us and to guide us.

As we celebrate this United Nations Day, I think it is necessary for us to realise that this organisation is a worthy organisation which represents the aspirations of the peoples of the world. And we should also be cognizant of the fact tha t the only way this organisation can move forward and become successful is for all of us who represent our various States and take pride in the United Nations to be willing to subordinate our own selfish nationalistic self-interest to that of the broader interest of the whole, the United Nations, this world body. And we must realise further that God is the only Source of our help . With these remarks I wish for you all continued success and Godspeed, God’s richest blessings.

Ambassador Zenon Rossides, Permanent Representative of Cyprus to the United Nations: The Spirit of man should become prominent in the United Nations. Only in the Spirit can there be agreement in finding the course to follow to get on the path to God, because the Spirit is the link of man with the Universe, with the Universal Flow. This is a moral flow. It is the flow of harmony, of balance, of justice, of freedom, of everything that is positive. The Spirit is eternal, immutable, always with the same values. If the Spirit prevails, then everything is possible . If it comes alive, then man can change and be transformed.

Mr. Donald Keys, President, Planetary Citizens: It has been said that the United Nations is the last best hope of mankind. I am going to say it is the first hope, the continuous hope and the last hope of mankind, because the United Nations with its universal nature is the single reality of one of mankind’s biggest steps on earth, namely, the step of mankind to its eternal unity, to its intrinsic unity, to its forthcoming unity. What we see of the United Nations on a day-to-day basis is precisely a reflection of the struggle of mankind to move closer to that unification, to actualize it more fully, to demonstrate it more completely. And we can’t tell how long it will take before the family of humanity becomes the peaceful community of the world, but we can say it will become that.

If we compare the number of years of existence of the United Nations life with the years of the human past, we will see that it is for only a twinkling of an eye that the Organisation has existed, the shortest of times in which the Organisation has tried to fulfil itself, the shortest of times in which the soul of the United Nations has attempted to actualize, mediate and harmonize human affairs. So the United Nations is the first and last and continuous hope for mankind. And may we, on this anniversary of the founding of the United Nations, rededicate ourselves to all our contributions to that cause.

Sri Chinmoy: Today is U.N. Day.

What does U.N. Day signify?

It signifies a day of universal hope, a day of universal promise, a day of universal peace and a day of universal oneness.

Hope brightens humanity’s present deplorable fate.
Promise encourages humanity’s speed, which embodies success and progress.

Peace enlightens humanity’s age-old ignorance.

And satisfaction, which is founded upon oneness, the oneness family that we would like to live in ,will one day dawn in our aspiring heart and our dedicated life .
To us, the United Nations is not a mere building , it is not a mere concept, it is not wishful thinking or even a dream.

But it is a reality which is growing, glowing and manifesting its radiance here, there, all where, throughout the length and breadth of the world.

All those who are sincerely crying for a oneness-family, according to their receptivity,are receiving light from the soul of the United Nations.[*1]

Reference Note:

[*1] Sri Chinmoy’s comments  on what U.N. Day signifies on 24 October 1978, became part of a collection of talks published as The Inner Role Of The United Nations, by Agni Press, 1993. This one was titled “United Nations Day”

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