Sri Chinmoy's Lamb Lifting Inspiration

We are now in Taupo, New Zealand with over 200 students of Sri
Chinmoy from all over the world. As his special offering to New
Zealand, Sri Chinmoy completed lifting 1000 lambs yesterday. This
article from New Zealand's The Daily Post appeared today on the front
page:

Uplifting performance

By Laurilee McMichael
in Taupo

The seated man in the yellow jersey closes his eyes in concentration
and places his gloved hands on the handles beside him.

He is quiet, focussed. Above him, the lambs peer out of the crates
uncertainly. The crowd breaks into song.

"Lifting Up the World With a Oneness-Heart," they intone.

Then the air goes quiet. Everyone seems to hold their breath.

The man raises the lamb crates into the air, holds them there for a
brief moment and then lowers it again. Four lambs down, 996 to go.

After only a couple of minutes' recovery time while the next crate of
lambs are hoisted up, he will repeat the action.

Lifting 1000 lambs may seem an unusual approach to inspiring people
but to 71-year-old Sri Chinmoy, it's part of his life's work of
encouraging people to believe there are no limits to their potential.

Born in what is now Bangladesh, the American spiritual guru travels
the world performing unusual feats of strength. It seems there is
nothing he hasn't lifted.

Sheep, cows, horses, an elephant. Famous people. Cars, trucks,
helicopters. People playing pianos. A Canadian Mountie, complete with
horse.

His sports team followers reel off a staggering list of everything
from farm implements to human pyramids. All these at an age when many
people would be enjoying a leisurely retirement.

He's accompanied on this visit by around 150 members of the Sri
Chinmoy Marathon Team which sees its aim as bringing people together
through sports and cultural activities.

On this visit, his fourth to New Zealand, he set himself the goal of
lifting 1000 lambs overhead and yesterday completed the feat in a 1-
hour session at the Kiwi Tahi Land Company Farm 18 km west of Taupo.

He originally set himself three weeks to achieve the goal but has
lifted 100 or 200 lambs per session so quickly that he has reached it
after only eight days and lifted a total of 36,936 kg. Each lift
constitutes roughly double his own bodyweight.

But he's not stopping at lambs—he plans to move onto lifting 100 cows
next during his Kiwi visit.

As well as the feats of strength involving farm animals, Sri Chinmoy
is also a writer, musician and composer and has given concerts in
Auckland.

"He really wants to inspire people to do their best and to do good
things in life," explains Ashani Pluchinot, a member of his marathon
team.

Shardul Dillican, who organised the lamb lifting, said it had not
been difficult to arrange because farmers had been ahppy to be
involved.

"I think essentially rural New Zealand has a big heart, so they
reacted to this project in a nice way, because it is all about
inspiring people. Sri Chinmoy really likes to inspire people to feel
that within each of us there's tremendous capacity. If we can bring
that forward we can increase the beauty of our own lives and also the
world, and that's the main reason for his activities."

Copyright The Daily Post, 2002.