Happy Anniversary, Austria; Happy Birthday, Secretary-General, 1978 Dec 15

On 15 December 1978 a programme in honour of the anniversary of Austria’s joining the United Nations on 14 December 1955 was sponsored by Sri Chinmoy : the Peace Meditation at the United Nations.

The programme included several songs performed by the Meditation Group singers, one of which was a song about Austria composed specially for the occasion by Sri Chinmoy.

Shraddha

The guest speaker was Mr. Gustav Ortner, Deputy Permanent Representative of Austria to the United Nations. Slides of Austria were shown, accompanied by selections from Austria’s rich musical heritage.

The Meditation Group then observed the 60th birthday of Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim (which was actually on 21 December). Mr. F. Mayrhofer-Grunbuhel, Special Assistant to the Secretary-General, spoke briefly, offering thanks on behalf of Mr. Waldheim, who was unable to personally attend, due to the heavy pressure of his work .

The Meditation Group singers sang four songs in the Secretary-General’s honour, “Congratulation, ” “O Kurt Waldheim” and two songs which Sri Chinmoy had composed to words of the Secretary-General.

Sri Chinmoy also spoke and later presented Mr. Mayrhofer-Grunbuhel with a birthday cake, decorated with a unique, edible likeness of the Secretary-General, and sixty red roses, which were later delivered to the Secretary-General’s office.

Dr Jorge Illueca, Permanent Representative of Panama to the UN also joined in Dag Hammarskjold Auditorium.

Following are excerpts from the programme and a letter of thanks from Secretary-General Waldheim.

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Mr. Gustav Ortner, Deputy Permanent Representative of Austria to the United Nations:

I first want to thank you very much for welcoming me on this commemorative day which you have organised.

I want to congratulate you also for your performance of the choral singing which we have just heard.

I was very sensitive to this, as an Austrian and as an amateur musician, to the very fine quality you have achieved in producing your music.

Austria, a neutral country, has since its membership in the United Nations tried by active collaboration to contribute in the sense of the Charter as an active and neutral coun ry, and therefore also be a markstone within the United Nations, and we have the feeling that we have found within the world community general approval for our activity.

(see fuller remarks in Gallery 3 Below)

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Sri Chinmoy:

We, the members of the Meditation Group, are observing the most auspicious birthday of our beloved Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim.

We are praying most soulfully to the Absolute Supreme to grant our dear Secretary-General infinite Peace and Bliss on this most memorable occasion.

Prayerfully we are invoking the Presence of the Absolute Supreme to grant our dear Secretary-General continuous success in his outer life and continuous progress in his inner life, so that he can steer the United Nations boat most swiftly to its destined goal.

(see fuller remarks in Gallery 3 Below)

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Shraddha

Mr. Ferdinand Mayrhofer-Grunbuhel, Special Assistant to the Secretary-General:

The Secretary-General has asked me to thank all of you, and in particular the members of the Meditation Group, for this programme.

He has also asked me to convey his sincere and very best greetings and wishes to all of you.

When I informed Mr. Keefe that the Secretary-General would unfortunately not be able to be with you today, he asked me whether I would speak about the Secretary-General.

I told him that I really didn’t think that it would be appropriate for an assistant of the Secretary-General to speak about his superior.

Therefore, I just want to say one thing:

I have worked for the Secretary-General for almost six years now, for two years when he was Foreign Minister of Austria and almost four years here in New York.

I can tell you only that it is most certainly worth working for him.

(see fuller remarks in Gallery 3 Below

1978-12dec-15-Austria-SG-Anniversary-with-banner-mayrhofer-2-scaled.jpg
June 13, 2020

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Dr Jorge Illueca, the Permanent Representative of Panama to the UN also joined in the Dag Hammarskjold Auditorium.

More Photos of Dr Illueca and Sri Chinmoy on 15 Dec 1978 are in Gallery 4 below _________________________________________________________________

THE SECRETARY_GENERAL
20 Decemb e r 1 9 7 8

Dear Sri Chinmoy ,

I wish to thank you f or the kind wishes which you extended to me in connexion with my 60th birthday and for the beautiful flowers you sent me for this occasion .

I very much regret that official commitments relating to the General Assembly made it impossible for me to join you for your Group’s gathering on 15 December, but I greatly appreciated this invitation to take part in this programme.

Mr. Ferdinand Mayrhofer-Grunbuhel told me of the activities that had so kindly been arranged, for which I a m indeed grateful.

Yours sincerely,

(signed)

Kurt Waldheim

Sri Chinmoy
Meditation at the United Nations
New York

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Each delegate is a human being and each human being has a soul.

That means a solid portion of God’s Consciousness-Light is inside each individual.
Each individual has the capacity, the potentiality, the needed power to serve mankind spiritually.

But it takes time . Some individuals open up to the light sooner than others.

But no body -no diplomat or delegate or individual can live without in some way offering to the Source

the love, concern, sympathy, compassion, devotedness and all the other good qualities that come from the Source. [*1]

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Reference Note:

[*1] excerpt from Sri Chinmoy’s answer to question: “What do the delegates and ambassadors who are participating in the General Assembly offer to the United Nations spiritually” on 21 September 1976. Talk appears in, My Meditation-Service At The United Nations For 25 Years, Agni Press, 1995.

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for fuller report see “Meditation at he UN” Periodic Bulletin: Dec 1978 in PDF

meditation-at-un-vo-06-no-12-27-dec-1978-bulletin/

or related page images 16 -23 in Gallery 3 Below

Gallery 1:

Devoted Report to the Secretary-General Page Images: