U Thant Island Dedicated – Sep 1977 – SUMMARY

Filed under Significant events & meetings | Tributes and Expressions of appreciation

On 16 September 1977, the Meditation Group at the UN dedicated a small island in the East River, adjacent to U.N. Headquarters, to the memory of the late Secretary-General U Thant. \

Below is a summary report of the event.

For more detailed text and additional Photos see U Thant Island Dedicated – Sep 1977 – DETAILS + PHOTOS

State authorities gave permission for the Meditation Group to beautify the island … with Governor Hugh Carey sending an official letter of soulful dedication to U Thant Island, citing U Thant’s work for world peace.

The dedication ceremonies, held on what turned out to be a rainy but calm Friday afternoon, included the burying of a metal box or cornerstone, which contained a gold pen and tie clasp belonging to U Thant, as well as various significant artifacts and documents from the U.N., government officials, the Meditation Group and its founder and leader, Sri Chinmoy, a personal friend of the late Secretary-General. Members of U Thant’s family were present, with his daughter, Mrs. Aye Aye Myint-U, unveiling the plaque. Representing the U.N. Security and Safety Service was Officer Carlos Stozek, one of the officers who worked closely with U Thant. Officer Stozek broke ground for the cornerstone.

The short programme opened with a silent invocation by Sri Chinmoy.

Sri Chinmoy: Beloved brother U Thant, humanity’s divine friend U Thant. we are here today to commemorate and perpetuate your invaluable life’s immortal contributions to the length and breadth of the world.

This is an island smaller than the smallest. Indeed, you are another island, larger than the largest, for our gratitude-heart and oneness-soul.

As the finite reality embodies infinite Divinity, even so this smallest earth-aspiration island will embody you, the Heaven-Perfection island, devotedly, soulfully, gratefully and eternally,

1977-09-16sep-UN-U-Thant-island-u-thant-family-plaque-Dr-Mrs=-Myint-U-son-Thant

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Dr. and Mrs. Myint-U and their son, Thant, after the unveiling of the plaque.

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Excerpt from letter:

STATE OF NEW YORK
EXECUTIVE. CHAMBER
ALBANY 12224
September 16, 19 77

Dear Mr. Chinmoy:

I commend you and the …Meditation Group on your dedication today of U Thant Island, a symbol of world peace. It is right that this Island be named after the late Secretary-General U ‘Ihant who labored so hard and so long to achieve world peace.  U Thant will be remembered by all who knew him both in his home land of Burma and at the United Nations.  He was a gentle and dedicated man of whom all mankind is proud. The United Nations was greatly strengthened by his actions.

I share your hope and dream that U Thant Island will remind us all of the never-ending and essential quest for peace around the World.

Sincerely,

(signed)

Hugh L. Carey (Governor)
Mr. Sri Chinmoy
Meditation Group
Room 1061

The United Nations,

New York, NY 10017

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(c) Copyrights Sri Chinmoy Centre

Dr. Robert Muller and Sri Chinmoy meditate together on the cornerstone for U Thant Island.

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Dr. Robert Muller, Deputy Under-Secretary General: Dear friends and authorities who have made this day possible, it is with great emotion that we are standing here on this little island which U Thant often contemplated from his office on top of the United Nations Building. He had a deep love for rivers. He insisted on living in Riverdale where, from the porch of his house, he could see the Hudson, the sunsets over the Palisades, and meditate . From his office he often looked at the East River and wondered about this
little deserted island, which for many United Nations officials has been a source of fascination.

He would be a very happy man today if he knew that this tiny spot of our planet had been selected to bear his name, to commemorate him and to remind us of him in our offices in the United Nations. Yes, U Thant Island will be for us a symbol of the high virtues he advocated as the only answers to the troubling problems of our world: truthfulness, integrity, kindness, tolerance, compassion, simplicity, humility, purity and above all, love for all our human brothers and sisters. As we stand here today on this island with his family and friends, let us all in our hearts and spirits pledge to him that we will work very hard to help fulfill his dream for a peaceful, just and happy human family on our beautiful planet.

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Letter from UNIS read out by Mrs . Sylvia Fuhrman .

                                   UNITED NATIONS                                                  NATIONS UNIES

                      INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL                                     ECOLE INTERNATIONALE

Special Representative of the Secretary-General

In 1967 , U Thant, received the Jawaharlal Nehru Award  or International Understanding. The Award involved a substantial sum of money which the Secretary-General turned over to the United Nations International School. UNIS  used it to establish a scholarship award in his name for a student whose parent is a UN staff member, Since this award is given each yea r, all those connected with UNIS know
of it. Few know, however, of the honoraria for articles or speeches that benefited UNIS. This generous awareness on the port of an extremely busy and by no means wealthy man, was a t rue indication of his unfailing support of and dedication to the idea and
ideals of international education . He was indeed deeply involved with the School and, during his ten years as Secretary-General and after his retirement, showed it in every possible way. A request to use his good-offices on its behalf was always certain of acceptance.

He believed firmly that teachers, in his own words, “have to play a very Important, and significant role • • •• in peace keeping and peace building . ” Himself an educator for twenty years , he came to the conclusion that ‘ ‘in order to fashion a new society, to mold a new generation in keeping with the times, three things were necessary — mental growth, spiritual growth and development of a social sense – in other words, education for citizenship.”

U Thant believed, as he said, that to support the School was “to forward the principles of international understanding enumerated in the UN Charter. ”  His own support was unstinting.

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Mr. Donald Keys, Registrar, Planetary Citizens:

As has been said, U Thant was first and foremost an educator. Little did he realize to what extent that would be true. He was not only an educator of school children, university people, he became an educator of heads of state, of governmental representatives. He became an educator of nations in the ways of peace, compassion, tolerance, perseverance, harmonization . He became an educator, not only and perhaps not primarily, by what he did but by being the person that he was.

This is attested to over and over again by those who knew him and even by those who did not know him. So it is a great privilege to join today in the establishment of this particular spot as a shrine to our most exalted educator.

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For more detailed text and additional Photos see U Thant Island Dedicated – Sep 1977 – DETAILS + PHOTOS

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