Meet Foreign Minister India, Narasimha Rao 1980 Oct 03

MEETING WITH INDIAN FOREIGN MINISTER NARASIMHA RAO

On 3 October 1980, India’s Foreign Minister Mr. Narasimha Rao addressed the General Assembly on the subject of world peace.

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Immediately after- wards, the Foreign Minister left the General Assembly and went to the Dag Hammarskjold Auditorium, where Sri Chinmoy was conducting a meditation group meeting.

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It was here, Mr. Rao said, that he found real peace.

A transcript of his remarks and those of Sri Chinmoy follow.

Sri Chinmoy:

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Most revered Brother Rao, I wish to offer you my gratitude-heart in my prayerful silence and through my soulful meditation for your continuous success in your outer life of dedication and in your inner life of aspiration.

In you our beloved Mother India is universally beautiful. Through you our beloved Mother India is transcendentally fruitful.

We, the members of the peace meditation group at the United Nations, are extremely grateful to you for the colossal contribution you have made not only to the awakening of Indian souls, but also to the comity of all peace-loving nations.

Mr. Narasimha Rao, Foreign Minister of India:

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Revered Swamiji, brothers and sisters, I had not realised that somewhere tucked away in this very large building of the United Nations, there is a small corner where real peace dwells. Day in and day out we talk of peace, we talk of the efforts to bring about world peace. But here I find an atmosphere totally different from what is just a few floors away. I find myself very fortunate for having been given this opportunity to visit this particular spot of peace, and I shall always cherish it.

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I am particularly happy to have met Swamiji, to have made his acquaintance for the first time. I have been thinking of meeting him; I have made several appointments. But it so happened that the right time was today, and so it could not be earlier.

I am very grateful to him for the good words which he has addressed to me and the encouragement which he has given me. I am sure that along with the large number of Ambassadors, members of the diplomatic corps and others who are representing India here, Swamiji is also doing some work which is even more important, because people like him are our cultural and spiritual Ambassadors. In that field the unity of mankind is already established. The concept has been there for several millenia. In India we always consider the human family as one. We have not recognised any distinctions in the Indian family. We have said: “The w hole world is one family.” It is not merely a platitude but India’s thinking has been based on this basic concept.

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Today we are following a modern version of this basic concept in our own ways. In many respects the work which I am doing and the work which Swamiji is doing- these two are supplementary and complementary. I once again wish you greater and greater triumph in this very sacred task which you are doing. I am sure I shall have occasions to meet you again and again whenever it is convenient to you and to me. I see a gathering, a very familiar gathering, of brothers and sisters here. I feel transformed because just a few floors away is a different gathering. The difference is so real that I feel over-whelmed by it. I am grateful to you, my brothers and sisters, for the kindness you have showered on me.

Sri Chinmoy:

I am so grateful to you for your most illumining message. I shall eternally cherish it. I know how busy you are. In spite of that, you have been so kind to come, and we do hope that soon you will come again.

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(Above) The meditation group choir performs “Mother India’s Soulful Son” a song by Sri Chinmoy dedicated to the Foreign Minister.

(Below) Sri Chinmoy presents Mr. Rao with a trophy.

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Words and music by Sri Chinmoy

Brother Narasimha Rao!

Lyrics:

Brother Narasimha Rao!
To your blue heights we bow.
Mother India’s soulful son,Oneness-life you have won.
Brother Narasimha Rao!
Literature, culture in boundless measure;
Politics, poetry, a fruitful tree.
We sound the giant gong
Of your sky-vast victory-song.