Sri Chinmoy:
The Peace Meditation at the United Nations

2001 January to August

Partial List of programmes, events, countries, individuals participating in activities of Sri Chinmoy: the Peace Meditation at the United Nations.

This list is indicative of the types of activities but not exhaustive of all participation or events. Some times a consolidated or partial list sorted by subject-category, date, person or country. To be reviewed and updated. Eventually to have embedded links to actual programmes or photos where they are available

U Thant Peace Award presented to Mr. Atal Bihari Vaj Payee, Prime Minister of India     –  13 January

Meeting with Mr. Humayun Rasheed Choudhury, Speaker of the Bangladesh Parliament  –   25 February

Peace meditation, with a special reading of commentaries on spiritual words         –     20 March

Poetry reading celebrating the United Nations Year of Dialogue among Civilizations,

• with a welcome by Mr. Shashi Tharoor, Interim Head of the UN Department of PublicInformation;
• an introduction by Mr. Giandomenico Picco, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for the International Year of Dialogue among Civilizations; and featuring
• poetry read by Ms. Mei-mei Berssenbrugge, Sri Chinmoy, Mr. Yusef Komunyakaa, Ms. Joyce Carol Oates and Mr. James Ragan –  29 March

Opening ceremony of the Sri Chinmoy Oneness-Home Peace Run 2001, held on the United Nations General Assembly Plaza, with participation of UN delegates   – 14 April

Spring Concert by the Sri Chinmoy Bhajan Singers, sponsored by the wife of  H.E. Ambassador Dumisani Shadrack Kumalo, Permanent Representative of South Africa to the UN; with special guests H.E. Ambassador Joseph Mutaboba, Permanent Representative of Rwanda to the UN, and Mrs. Mutaboba     –   23 April

Mr. Mark Malloch Brown,  Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme, presented Sri Chinmoy with “The Heart of the UN Progress”  – 1 May

“Lifting Up the World with a Oneness-Heart” programme honouring UN representatives, including

• Ms. Nicole J. Elisha, Second Counsellor, Permanent Mission of Benin ;
• H.E. Ambassador Husein Zivalj, Permanent Representative of  Bosnia and Herzegovina;
• Mr. François Oubida, Chargé d’affaires a.i., Permanent Mission of  Burkina Faso;
• Mr. Noel-Emmanuel Ahipaud Guebo, Chargé d’affaires a.i., Permanent Mission of the Côte d’Ivoire;
• Mr. Reda Bebars, Deputy Permanent Representative of Egypt;
• H.E. Ambassador Bob F. Jalang’o, Permanent Representative of Kenya;
• Mr. Phakiso Mochochoko, Chargé d’affaires a.i., Permanent Mission of Lesotho;
• Mrs. Marcela Aguirre, wife of the Mexican Ambassador, most recently to the Czech Republic;
• H.E. Ambassador Ousmane Moutari, Permanent Representative of Niger;
• H.E. Ambassador Klara Novotna, Deputy Permanent Representative of Slovakia; and
• Mr. Jure Gasparic, Deputy Permanent Representative of Slovenia   –   12 May

Peace Concert by Sri Chinmoy in honour of the 31^st anniversary of the Peace Meditation group      –  14 May

“Lifting Up the World with a Oneness-Heart” programme honouring Presidents of the UN General Assembly:

• H.E. Dr. Humayun Rasheed Choudhury (41^st session);
• H.E. Mr. Amara Essy (49^th session);
• H.E. Mr. Imre Hollai (37^th session); and
• H.E. Dr. Jorge Illueca (38^th session)    – with Daughter Marta     –  15 May

“Lifting Up the World with a Oneness-Heart” programme with honourees including

• Mr. Brian Gleeson of the United Nations Development Programme   –    19 May

Peace meditation, in which Sri Chinmoy taught Bengali songs and gave their translations    – 25 May

“Lifting Up the World with a Oneness-Heart” programme, with honourees including a representative of the Permanent Mission of Brazil to the UN –  26 May

A special reading of poetry, published subsequently as My Life’s Every Day Hope-Blossoms and Promise-Trees and If I Could Start My Life Once More    –  29 May & 1 June

Peace meditation, with special guests four-time Olympic discus champion Mr. Al Oerter and his wife, Cathy   –  1 June

Peace Walk for United Nations Charter Day, held in the United Nations Garden, cosponsored by 17 Ambassadors and Permanent Representatives to the United Nations    – 26 June

“Lifting Up the World with a Oneness-Heart” programme, honouring H.E. Ambassador Anwarul Karim Chowdhury, Permanent Representative of Bangladesh to the UN   –   6 July

Peace meditation, with the children of Deputy President of South Africa Jacob Zuma as special guests  –   13 July

A prayerful homage celebrating the life and work of Mr. Humayun Rasheed Choudhury,  President of the 41^st Session of the General Assembly and Speaker of the Bangladesh Parliament      –    27 July

“Lifting Up the World with a Oneness-Heart” programme with honorees including

• H.E. Ambassador Srgjan Kerim, Permanent Representative of Macedonia to the UN,
• and Mrs. Nana Apeadu, President, Pan-African Human Rights Association         –   28 July

“Lifting Up the World with a Oneness-Heart” programme honouring Ambassador Ananda Guruge of Sri Lanka, special advisor to UNESCO, and his wife, Darshanika   – 30 July

U Thant Peace Award presented to The Very Reverend James Parks Morton, President, The Interfaith Center of New York, and Dean Emeritus, The Cathedral of St. John the Divine  –  31 July

“Lifting Up the World with a Oneness-Heart” programme, honouring Dean Morton and Mr. Wilfrid Grenville-Grey of the United Nations Association of the UK and author of UN Jigsaw   – 31 July

“Lifting Up the World with a Oneness-Heart” programme with honorees including

• H. E. Ambassador Ibahim Gambari, Under-Secretary-General and the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Africa;
• Dr. Kul Gautam, UNICEF’s Deputy Executive Director for Alliances and Resources, and his wife, Binata    ; and
• Professor Talat Sait Halman, Turkey’s First Minister of Culture, and former representative of Turkey on the Executive Council of UNESCO  –   4 August