Sharani

The Olympics are an unprecedented, auspicious, glorious and precious Greece-vision. And what is this vision? This vision is nothing other than world-happiness. Happiness is love bubbling forth into the newness and fulness of true life, illumining life and fulfilling life.The Olympics tower above all man-made differences. They are infinitely bigger than race. They are eternally brighter than colour. They are supremely better than religion. They are not only constantly one with the evolution-hunger of aspiring mankind but are also humanity’s satisfaction-meal and perfection-nourishment.

Excerpt from The Outer Running And The Inner Running by Sri Chinmoy

Do you love the Olympics? Are you partial to the Summer or Winter Games or both equally? I happen to be more of a fan of the Summer Olympics than the Winter Olympics with one big exception. With years of ballet dancing under my belt, I watch the women’s figure skating with keen interest because the grace in figure skating reminds me of ballet. Seeing Korea’s Kim Yu-Na win the Gold Medal and break world records doing it in the free skate last night was positively stunning. I was also quite moved to watch Canada’s Joannie Rochette win the Bronze a mere 4 days after her mother’s passing.

The medal count by country during the games is a big focus for many. I am excited when the U.S. performs well and especially if it is a change from the norm – like in the Nordic Team Big Hill Event where the U.S. placed second and also when Billy Demong won a Gold medal and became the first ever American Olympic Nordic champion.

However, the deeper appeal in the Olympics transcends national boundaries. Self-transcendence is a cornerstone of my meditation teacher Sri Chinmoy’s philosophy, particularly in relation to sports and athletic endeavors. He has written extensively on the subject of the connection between body, mind and spirit and also was a great admirer of the Olympics. In the following passage from the book The Outer Running and the Inner Running, he answers a question concerning the connection between self-transcendence and the Olympics:

Question: How does your philosophy of self-transcendence, in which you state that mankind should strive for progress instead of success, apply to the up-coming Olympics?

Sri Chinmoy: All the athletes should bear in mind that they are competing not with other athletes but with their own capacities. Whatever they have already achieved, they have to go beyond.

The presence of all the great athletes at the Olympics represents a great opportunity. When an athlete has to compete with the rest of the world, there is every opportunity and possibility that he will transcend his own capacities. This is what is of paramount importance, and not whether he defeats others or not. God, the Author of all good, will be extremely pleased with the athlete only when he transcends his own capacities. We are all God’s children, God’s creation. If one of His children transcends himself, then the Father will be the happiest person. But if one member of the family defeats another member and gets joy while the other person becomes miserable, then where is the Father’s joy?

If we are one with the rest of the world, then we feel joy in others’ joy and their sorrow is also our sorrow. But most of us have not yet attained that consciousness. So it is always advisable for the athlete to keep in mind that he is competing with his own previous record. If he can transcend his own achievement, then it will be a true gain and a true achievement for the whole world.

What is of paramount importance is the individual’s attitude. The athlete has to feel that he is establishing a new record not for his own glory but in order to increase the capacity and improve the standard of the world. The winning athlete has to feel that he is representing all of humanity. Then, with a devoted and soulful heart, if he can soulfully offer his achievement to the Supreme Athlete, his Source, at that time he is doing absolutely the right thing. If this is his attitude then let him try his utmost to break world records. But if he wants to defeat the rest of the world only to bask in his own glory, then he is making a deplorable mistake.

The Olympic athlete should feel that he is a member of the world-family, and his goal should be his own continuous progress. If he can continually transcend his own achievements, he is bound to achieve satisfaction, for progress is nothing short of satisfaction. The two go always together. If he cares only for success, then even if he succeeds he will not get abiding joy. For in the twinkling of an eye he will look around and see his achievements being shattered here or elsewhere. But his own progress is like a seed that eventually becomes a sapling and then a giant banyan tree which will give him a continuous sense of satisfaction. When he is progressing, at that time he is growing, he is glowing and, like a river, he is constantly flowing to his Vastness-Source, the Sea of Oneness.

Excerpt from The Outer Running And The Inner Running by Sri Chinmoy

With quotes such as the one at the top of this post and Sri Chinmoy’s fond friendship and mentoring of Olympic Athletes such as Carl Lewis and Tatyana Lebedeva, it is quite evident that Sri Chinmoy’s answer to the question “Do you love the Olympics?” is a resounding yes. For that reason, the Olympics and my meditation teacher’s life and writings are forever connected whenever the Olympic games are held.

With the devastating earthquake in Haiti on January 12, 2010, I feel drawn and compelled to acknowledge it here before I could think of writing about anything else.

The Worldwide Humanitarian Service arm of the International Sri Chinmoy Centres, Oneness-Heart-Tears and Smiles, has often compassionately responded to countries in need after disasters.

In the meantime, I find myself remembering how recently I spent time in the Dominican Republic and spent time sightseeing in Santo Domingo – now a key way to reach Haiti by land if not flying into Port-Au-Prince. Or I remember learning about Haiti through reading the book Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder as he portrays the heroic efforts of Dr. Paul Farmer to serve the medical needs of the people of Haiti.

It is especially sad that this terrible earthquake has hit a country that was already the poorest nation in the entire Western hemisphere. I am consoled, however, to witness the immediate and dramatic outpouring of concern and assistance already underway.

My thoughts at times such as these turn to Sri Chinmoy’s writings on the United Nations and his emphasis on viewing the world as one family. The following excerpt from his book The Tears of Nation-Hearts is especially appropriate as the world pulls together to help Haiti.

“Each nation has achieved something special, at least for itself. When a nation is ready to feel that other nations are an extension of its own being, when a nation becomes aware that all nations belong to one family, one source, and have one common goal, then that particular nation can easily teach or share its lofty achievements. Each nation knows inwardly that satisfaction and perfection lie only in self-giving, not in displaying its grandiose achievements or in hoarding its capacities.

All nations are pilgrims, eternal pilgrims, walking along the same road, the road of Eternity. On the way, some become tired and want to take rest. They do not have the energy to walk any farther. At that moment, if the nations that are ahead can feed and energise those that have fallen back, then the lagging ones can easily keep pace with the nations that are marching speedily.

If a strong nation feels that its progress will be slow if it helps a weak one, I wish to say that this is not true. If one nation encourages, inspires, feeds and energises the nations that are behind, then the gratitude-flower of those particular nations will blossom inside the strong nation’s heart, and the fragrance of the gratitude-flower is bound to accelerate the strong nation’s progress toward its destined goal. The fragrance of the flower will inspire it, and from this inspiration it will get abundant life, abundant light and an abundant sense of achievement and perfection.”
-Sri Chinmoy, The Tears of Nation-Hearts, 1974

From that same lecture given at the United Nations in 1974 come these additional words that are so poignant in moments like these:

“Each individual being, each man and woman, should feel that he belongs not to his own nation, but to all nations. That does not mean that he will neglect his own nation and devote all his attention to other nations. But each human being who has the energy and willingness to be of service to other nations will also have the willingness to serve his own country in ample measure. While serving his own country, he has to feel that it is becoming one with other nations. He has to feel that his own arms are becoming one with his eyes. His arms are his power of work, and his eyes are his power of vision. His vision carries him to the length and breadth of the world, whereas his arms remain where he himself is. With his vision he sees the needs of his brothers and sisters of the world. Then with his arms he has to work to fulfil those needs. He can do this only when he feels that he has gone far beyond his little family and has accepted the world-family as his very own.

The greatest wise man of the past, Socrates, taught us something very profound when he said, “I am not an Athenian, nor am I a Greek. I am a citizen of the world.” If each individual in each nation can proclaim this message, 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 the United Nations, the message of love, of brotherhood, of peace, of soulful sharing, can easily be received, embraced and executed by the entire world.”
-Sri Chinmoy, The Tears of Nation-Hearts, 1974

I am praying that relief efforts can prevail quickly and successfully and have already texted the word Haiti to 90999 to donate an immediate ten dollars to the Red Cross via the U.S. State Department. To follow news updates at CNN, I am reading here.

The public library where I work in Dartmouth, MA hosted our first  ”Drop In and Decorate” cookie donation event recently. Local high school honor society students attended along with members of the community.

The concept is simple but the results are sweet. Bake sugar cookies in advance in a variety of shapes and sizes with cookie cutters and make royal icing tinted a rainbow of colors. Then gather together for a cookie decorating party with the purpose of donating the decorated cookies to a local food pantry or other social agency in the community.

Shortly after our event, library staffers delivered the cookies to the Council on Aging (just down the road from the library) as addition to the festivities of  their annual Christmas Dinner and Party at the Senior Center. They decided to save them as dessert after eating the meal first so we had gone back to the library before the first bites.

One person on the website for Drop In and Decorate calls it “cookie love” because it is a unique way to offer goodwill to others. I found that holding the event during the season of giving also really “helps to make the season bright” for both the giver and receiver.

The cookies themselves ended up getting decorated in creative and artistic ways. The students started decorating the cookies with words such as hope and peace. They made peace symbols and smile faces on the cookies.

Apparently the ghosts of Woodstock past have landed in the hearts of these youngsters born long after the flower power era had faded into a memory.

This cookie donation event epitomized Christmas for me and I certainly hope the seniors enjoyed their helping of cookie love served to them at the Council on Aging holiday party.

The concept of Drop In and Decorate was started by a Rhode Island professional food blogger/writer named Lydia Walshin. It started small but has really caught on and cookie events are happening all across the country in numerous venues. Not too long ago, the total number of cookies donated in this way crossed the 10,000 mark! Because I live in Rhode Island, Lydia was kind enough to even lend me some of the supplies which helped to make our event a success.  She is certainly the “main ingredient” in the overall organization’s recipe for success – recently evidenced in its designation as Rhode Island Monthly Magazine’s Best Culinary Cause Award for 2009.

An online version of a newspaper article covering the event is available and here is a slideshow of photos from the event:

Being the student of an Indian spiritual teacher offers the opportunity for a fascinating perspective when Christmas time arrives. My own Christian background finds me celebrating in traditional ways with a Christmas tree, exchanging of presents, sending Christmas cards to friends and family and a vegetarian version of a holiday dinner with all the trimmings. And yes, I even laugh out loud when I hear the song Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer on the radio.

My 2009 Christmas Tree

When I celebrate the Christmas season, I also infuse my old traditions with the Eastern spiritual perspective found in spiritual teacher Sri Chinmoy’s own background. His youth was firmly rooted in Eastern spiritual traditions, having lived first in Chittagong, Bangladesh and then for two decades in the Sri Aurobindo Ashram in Pondicherry, India.

From 1964 forward he made his home in New York and his own philosophy as a spiritual teacher transcended any particular religion. He frequently travelled and met with people from all corners of the globe and all faiths.

He also accepted students from all religions and encouraged them to honor their own religious background even as they branched out and embraced a meditative lifestyle that fostered interfaith harmony. In a book entitled My Religion, he explains,

My religion
Deeply and equally values
All the religions of the world,
For it knows that each religion
Is a beautiful, powerful
And fruitful branch
Of God’s Life-Tree.
-Sri Chinmoy

Sri Chinmoy’s respect for various world religious traditions and spiritual figures throughout history came through in his songs, prose and poetry on the subject of Rama, Krishna, Ramakrishna, Vivekananda, Buddha and Christ, to name a few.

Sri Chinmoy honored Jesus Christ in poems, in a full-length play called The Son, through songs he composed about Christ (75 alone published in December 1990 in a songbook entitled Jesus the Seeker, Christ the Savior) and in miscellaneous writings.

His body of writings and songs on Jesus offer a unique perspective on Christianity as seen from an Eastern perspective. Some of his compositions on Jesus are written in his native Bengali tongue and he refers to Jesus as an “avatar”. He explains, “An Avatar is someone who is the direct representative of the Highest Absolute, who embodies God’s Vision and Reality all at once.”

Hear one of his songs on Christ as performed by the European music ensemble, Mountain Silence:
Jishu Avatar by Sri Chinmoy performed by Mountain Silence

To find inspiration in blending East and West in your celebration of Christmas, look no further than Sri Chinmoy. His reverence and respect for Jesus Christ is readily evident and offers a lesser-known perspective on appreciation of the holiday season. Merry Christmas!

The first World’s Parliament of Religions was held in Chicago in 1893 in conjunction with the World Columbian Exposition – a precursor to later World’s Fairs. On the occasion of the 100 year anniversary, another Parliament was again held in Chicago in 1993.

I was lucky enough to attend that 1993 anniversary Parliament and was present in the audience when my meditation teacher Sri Chinmoy offered an opening meditation for the Parliament. Watch it here:
110-1-2.mp4

Since this 1993 centenary, Parliaments have been held every five years. This year’s event has been underway from December 3-9, 2009 in Melbourne.  I am acquainted with some of the presenters at this year’s Parliament because the International Sri Chinmoy Centres held various events at the Parliament as well as off-site.

What is the 2009 Parliament of World’s Religions all about? From the FAQ on the Parliament’s website:

Since 1993, a Parliament of the World’s Religions has convened every five years in a major international city (Chicago 1993, Cape Town 1999, Barcelona 2004). Sponsored by the Council for a Parliament of the World’s Religions, the 2009 Parliament will take place in Melbourne, Australia. A multi-religious, multi-lingual, and multicultural city, Melbourne offers an ideal location for the 2009 Parliament. Culturally vibrant and global in vision, Melbourne and Victoria are home to indigenous and Aboriginal spiritualities as well as the major world religions – Baha’i, Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism and Sikhism among others. Over 10,000 participants will come to Melbourne for the Parliament. The 2009 Parliament will turn worldwide attention to Melbourne as a destination city with international appeal. The Parliament will run for seven days with approximately 450 events including keynote addresses, seminars, conferences, debates, performances, concerts and exhibitions.

This year in Melbourne you can glimpse the multifaceted events of the 2009 program on their official website, complete with video, photos and news.

Related: Sri Chinmoy meditates at the Barcelona Parliament in 2004 (video).

Chloe listens to a story at the library

From the very moment that I heard of the concept, I was 100% mesmerized and enchanted. I have worked as a librarian for over 20 years but until recently I had yet to hear of the idea that children could read aloud to trained therapy dogs at the library. I was thrilled when my library director endorsed the concept and the wheels were set into motion for the program to happen where I work in Dartmouth, Massachusetts. A national organization called Therapy Dogs International provided me with names of people who have certified therapy dogs and enabled a speedy implementation.

Why read to a dog instead of a person? What better way to instill in children a love for reading — a positive and fun association for a skill that can be challenging when first learning literacy. If you stumble over a word, the dog will unconditionally keep sharing affection and encouragement. What started as a chore suddenly becomes fun.

I have to admit that I fell in love with reading at a tender young age and embodied the cliche of the kid hiding the book under the covers to read with a flashlight rather than going to sleep at night. Yet I am not a card-carrying dog lover. As a child, I was drawn to cats as pets and had all fashion of cat memorabilia around my bedroom – cat calendar, stuffed animal cats, etc. When we finally got a dog in our family, it was seen as my brother’s province, not mine. However, our two therapy dogs visiting the library this Fall just might create in me a convert.

One of the therapy dogs visiting the library is named Chloe. She is a Papillon toy dog who absolutely gushes enthusiasm, affection and vivaciousness. She is only 1 1/2 years old and she brims with excitement when meeting with the children. The other therapy dog is Sadie, a Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever who is working as a therapy dog in her “retirement” now that she has an award-winning show career under her collar at places such as Westminster Dog Show.

Sadie the Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever

Children plus dogs plus books plus the library is an absolutely winning formula for early literacy. When parents call to sign up for an appointment, they explain that their children show tremendous interest in the task even if they don’t usually like reading. Others who already love to read still put tremendous attention and practice into their appointment before it happens. One asked Mom again and again “Do you think Chloe will like this book?” and then chose on her own to read Martha Speaks, a book about a dog who can speak after eating a magical alphabet soup.

What I treasure the most in the dogs as I watch them with the children is their seemingly innate wisdom in how to behave with each child and depending on the person the dog will act in an entirely different manner. Sadie brought tears to my eyes when she gave extra affection to a young boy with special needs. Sitting next to each other on a couch, Sadie wrapped her paw around the boy’s back so that he was nestled within her in a maternal hug. The next visit with Sadie offered the opportunity for the little boy to hold her leash while the handler left him in charge and brought in two more of her dogs for the boy to meet. He looked like he was on top of the world with the chance to have this responsibility.

Might I add that the unsung heroes here are also the dog’s handlers. Chloe’s “mom” is a second grade elementary school teacher in New Bedford and she is fantastic with the kids as well. Sadie’s “mom” is currently a breeder of Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retrievers and her own years of experience as a Mom with grown children is evident as well. They both offer as much unconditional encouragement to the children as the dogs do.

All I can say is that I hope I learn a lesson or two from these wonderful therapy dogs. What a gift to attune yourself to the people you interact with and adapt your behavior to suit their needs. If a dog can do it, certainly I should be able to train myself as well. No wonder the word dog is God spelled backwards.

To learn more about this program at the library, read these newspaper articles in the local Fall River Herald News and New Bedford Standard Times.

Fall Pumpkin with Ocean Waves and Rocks

Is it Indian Summer when there is a beautiful day almost 70 degrees F just after some real cold nights with frost and flurries?

Whatever the qualification, one thing was certain – on a sunny warm Sunday in November it was imperative to spend time outdoors communing with nature.

So off to Chase Point in Little Compton – an area right on the coast of the ocean where the friend of a friend lives.

This was my first visit to Little Compton and it was certainly love at first sight. See if you agree in the slideshow of my visit there today:

Happy Halloween!

This collage contains photos taken around the library where I work in Dartmouth, Massachusetts and at Bishop’s Orchard in Guilford, Connecticut.

Happy Halloween 2009

photo by Sharani – Butterfly at Roger Williams Park Zoo

A poignant moment during the New York observance of the 2nd anniversary of Sri Chinmoy’s Mahasamadhi (passing from the Earth plane) came in the form of a butterfly.

A group of the late spiritual leader’s students were standing in formation facing the samadhi shrine and a butterfly came up from behind them and lingered over their heads before finally flying towards the shrine.

This was actually the second time a butterfly appeared and hovered nearby at this location – the first being during his interment in October 2007.

These butterfly moments seemed to carry an aura of significance on their wings. That it happened twice made me stop and wonder what is the symbolic significance of a butterfly in various cultures?  When I pursued my curiosity about the meaning associated with a butterfly, what I discovered gave me goosebumps.

Butterflies are symbolic in many cultures with transformation, death, rebirth, resurrection, the soul and everlasting life.

These butterflies served as symbolic messengers to remind all present that while the body dies, the soul is eternal and everlasting. Don’t forget this inviolable truth spoke God in the form of a butterfly. I am awed and humbled to receive this profound message in the form of a butterfly blessing.

In Animal Kingdom, a book of Sri Chinmoy’s commentary on various creatures, he writes the following about butterflies:

Butterfly: Prosperity

Butterfly, my butterfly,
You are the harbinger
Of man’s prosperity-life.
Your sweet arrival
Devours immediately
Man’s ceaseless strife.

Excerpt from Animal Kingdom by Sri Chinmoy.

As a delighted observer of the natural world around me, I focused in on a different kind of insect during a week’s memorial observances in 2007 directly after Sri Chinmoy’s passing. Read about a praying mantis which also appeared carrying a mystique of symbolic significance.

Here, too, is a slideshow of some photos I took at the Roger Williams Park Zoo Butterfly Pavilion in Providence, Rhode Island last May.

Today, October 9, 2009, the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to President Barack Obama. He is the third sitting President in American history to receive the award, followed by Teddy Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson. President Jimmy Carter also won the prize but not while he was in office serving as President.

The Norwegian Nobel Committee stated,

“Obama has as President created a new climate in international politics. Multilateral diplomacy has regained a central position, with emphasis on the role that the United Nations and other international institutions can play.”

Additionally, they explained,

“Only very rarely has a person to the same extent as Obama captured the world’s attention and given its people hope for a better future.”

Read the Complete Announcement of the 2009 Nobel Peace Laureate.

World leaders have warmly congratulated President Obama, applauding the Nobel Committee for their unanimous choice even though President Obama has been in office for less than a year.

Here is a sampling of reaction from the world community:

Former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev

“I congratulate you on being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. I am convinced that it is the right decision, which significantly reinforces our family of Nobel laureates,” Gorbachev said in a letter to Obama published on the Gorbachev Foundation website.

“Your efforts have helped to bring about a significant change in the international climate. I feel close affinity to your vision of the global world and of relations among nations. Implementing it will require strong will, statesmanship and mastery of communication. It will also require support from Americans and from men and women of good will throughout the world,” Gorbachev said.

Archbishop Desmond Tutu

“What wonderful recognition of someone who has already made such an impact on our planet with regards to the Muslim world, nuclear disarmament, climate change and, to some extent, the Middle East. He has reached out to the Arab world, including Iran, and North Korea.

“In a way, it’s an award – coming near the beginning of the first term of office of a relatively young President – that anticipates an even greater contribution towards making our world a safer place for all. It is an award that speaks to the promise of President Obama’s message of hope.

“The prize is a magnificent endorsement for the first African American President in history, who will become the first serving American President to receive the Nobel Peace Prize since Woodrow Wilson 90 years ago, for his role in founding the League of Nations.

“Heartiest congratulations.”

The Nelson Mandela Foundation

“The Nelson Mandela Foundation, on behalf of its Founder Nelson Mandela, welcomes the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to President Barack Obama.We trust that this award will strengthen his commitment, as the leader of the most powerful nation in the world, to continue promoting peace and the eradication of poverty.”

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon

I would like to wholeheartedly welcome and congratulate United States President Barack Obama on winning the Nobel Peace Prize for 2009. This is great news for President Obama, for the people of the United States, and for the United Nations. We are entering an era of renewed multilateralism, a new era where the challenges facing humankind demand global common cause and uncommon global effort. President Obama embodies the new spirit of dialogue and engagement on the world’s biggest problems: climate change, nuclear disarmament and a wide range of peace and security challenges. President Obama’s commitment to work through the United Nations gives the world’s people fresh hope and fresh prospects. We at the United Nations highly applaud him, and the Nobel Committee for its choice. I look forward to further deepening the United States-United Nations partnership as a key building block to a better and safer world for all. Again, I send my deepest and wholehearted congratulations to President Obama. I wish him continued success.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi

“President Obama is working to restore American leadership worldwide and build bonds of friendship across the globe. The Nobel Peace Prize is a testament to his leadership and vision and a tribute to American values. I offer my congratulations to President Obama on this outstanding achievement.”