Sri Chinmoy:
The Peace Meditation at the United Nations

 Members of the meditation group joined Foreign Minister Illueca of Panama and his family at the Panama Mission for a birthday celebration on 17 September 1981.

As an expression of his Friendship) Sri Chinmoy p resented the Foreign Minister with a bouquet of flowers and a cake with Dr. Illueca’s portrait etched in icing. While serving as his country’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Dr. Illueca offered his strong support for the activities of the meditation group. Following are excerpts from the conversation on that occasion. Sri Chinmoy: My heart of love and m y soul of oneness forever and forever are with yo u . Also, I pray to the Absolute Supreme on this most auspicious day to gran t you His infinite Love and His infinite Blessings so that you can fulfill your mission most satisfactorily, as you have been doing all along, not only for your country but also for the entire humanity. To me you are most precious, for you have pleased your Inner Pilot. This is the goal of all human beings. We are all aiming at the self -same goal, the goal that you have already reached. We are all trying to please the Heavenly Father, which is what you have already done so soulfully, powerfully and perfectly.

Dr. Illueca: You are overwhelming me. When I am with you, I have another personality. I don’t have enough words to express my gratitude and appreciation. In fact , I feel with all humility that I don’t deserve the feelings and kind of friendship and affection that you have given me. I hope that the Supreme Being will give me the opportunity to do something really meaningful.

Sri Chinmoy: My students and I will always be grateful to Panama. Panama is the pioneer country in giving me this kind of award. We are especially grateful to you because it is you who represent Panama-the soul and the body of Panama. So for us it is you r kindness and oneness that have come forward to appreciate us and what little we do for mankind. This appreciation we take as a blessingful gift, and with this gift we shall try to continue our journey. You h ave truly helped us considerably in the little effort for peace that we have been making in the world with our prayers and meditations. Your oneness with our aspiration has helped us and will continue to help us beyond your imagination. It is our greatest joy and honour that you have appreciated-not only appreciated but also in-creased-our capacity at the United Nations. Our soulful capacity has been increased enormously by your constant support and guidance in so many ways. In the United Nations you are one of our strongest supporters. In the inner world we feel your strong support, and in the outer world we see it in all the activities that we do for the United Nations. In you we have found a true spiritual brother – a brother of fondness, a brother who has t h e illumination to guide his other brothers and sisters. My heart’s feeling I am unable to express through mere words. My heart knows, my heart feels and my heart is able to exp ress only in silence how deeply my students an d I are grateful to you.

Dr. Illueca: You know that perhaps due to the good thoughts of you , Sri Chinmoy, and our dear friends in the meditation group , we were successful in getting elected to th e vice-presidency of the General Assembly. Panam  is one of the three Latin American countries to have the post of Vice-President of th e General Assembly during the thirty-sixth session . The Foreign Minister then gave Sri Chinmoy and each member of the meditation group present a flower, remarking with a smile: I feel that giving a rose or a flower is like bringing out our inner feelings. This is something I have learned from you.

Later the Foreign Minister explained the history of the Order of Balboa : In 1513 Balboa discovered the Pacific Ocean after crossing Panama, and t h e award that we gave Sri Chinmoy is in honour of the discovery of the Pacific Ocean. The same ocean also borders Jap an and China in the Far East. Because of t h is interesting background we thought that, with his universal view of Panama, it was appropriate to give Sri Chinmoy t h e award. The Panama Canal has been in operation since the early part of this century. But it was Vasco Nunez de Balboa who made it very clear to the Spanish kings that this kind of passageway across Panama was the logical way to go from on e ocean to another. The Order of Balboa was established in the 1940s. It was granted to Sri Chinmoy wit h the same degree of Great Cross that is given to heads of diplomatic missions and Ambassadors. We wanted to honour him and we do hope that it will h3ve a special meaning to him.

 

Sri Chinmoy expresses his gratitude to Dr. Illueca when members of the meditation group joined with Dr. Illueca and his family at the Panama Mission to celebrate the Foreign Minister’s birthday on 17 September 1981.

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