Sri Chinmoy:
The Peace Meditation at the United Nations

The World Peace University presented Sri Chinmoy with its Global Citizen Humanitarian Award at its second annual banquet and symposium entitled “Peace and the Planet: Our Challenge of the ’90s,” held 15 March 1991 in Eugene, Oregon. Also honoured with other awards were Howard Frederick, the director of  PeaceNet; Eulalia Bernard, Costa Rican educator and performer; and Debra Latham, founder and General Manager of Radio for Peace International. Below are excerpts from remarks made by Dr. Richard F. Schneider, University Chancellor, and the response made by Sri Chinmoy.

Dr. Richard F. Schneider, Chancellor, World Peace University: Tonight we honour a man who is an individual for all the seasons. Sri Chinmoy is an extraordinary human being who is leaving a remarkable mark on the world with his many talents, which he offers in the service of humanity without reserve. His list of achievements and output of effort is amazing by any standard. He is a world-class weightlifter and runner; a writer of over 700 books of poems, essays, stories and dramatic works; a painter of thousands of inspirational paintings; a musician who plays several instruments and has held concerts on five continents; and a lecturer and meditation leader of enormous respect and renown. Central to all his work and effort is the tremendous depth and aim of his spiritual teaching. He has influenced and inspired tens of thousands with his clear vision, beautifully articulated values and his unceasing work for the creation of inner and outer peace. 1 quote from his work: “There shall come a time when this world of ours will be flooded with, peace. Who is going to bring about this radical change? It will be you: you and your sisters and brothers. You and your oneness-heart will spread peace throughout the length and breadth of the world.” His global vision could perhaps be summarised as follows, and I quote, “If each individual in each nation can consciously and devotedly feel that he does not belong to a little family called ‘I and mine’ but to a larger family called ‘we and ours,’ then the message of love, of brotherhood, of peace, of soulful sharing, can easily be embraced by the entire world.”

Sri Chinmoy is a world leader who has met many other world leaders. He has repeatedly made a profound and deep impression on those other leaders for his keen insight, for his truly remarkable energy and for his devotion to peace and to humanity. He is head of a far-flung international organisation which literally reaches around the globe. His programmes and sponsorships for peace are numerous and impressive with peace walks, peace runs, peace miles and peace meditations.

Sri Chinmoy has been aptly called the “20th Century’s First Global Man.” In every sense, he is a true humanitarian, which derives from his most fundamental spiritual beliefs and commitment to action for humanity. It is therefore with the deepest and greatest of pleasure and privilege that 1 bestow on Sri Chinmoy the highest recognition of the World Peace University: Global Citizen Humanitarian.

Sri Chinmoy: In prayerful silence I wish to offer my soulful gratitude. (Short meditation follows.) World Peace University Chancellor Richard Schneider, my esteemed professor-minds and my loving student-hearts, to you I offer my soulful gratitude-heart . I am prayerfully bowing to the peace-inundated soul of the World Peace University for bestowing upon me this blessingfully significant peace award.

The seeker in me tells me that this World Peace University, unlike other universities, teaches the teeming minds how to unlearn, and the blossoming hearts how to learn. The minds are unlearning their partition-division-stories, and the hearts are learning their oneness-peace-songs . The absence of war is not peace. The absence of war cannot give us even an iota of peace. But the presence of a oneness-heart-cry is peace. The presence of a fullness – life smile  is peace. How can we have these things? Only by unconditionally loving God the blissful Creator and only by unconditionally serving God the beautiful creation.

Appears in Meditation at the United Nations – 1992 Jan – Mar, Periodic Bulletin