abhinabha – Sri Chinmoy Centre

Kailash lectures in Brazil

Last week Kailash Beyer from the Sri Chinmoy Centre in ZÃ¼rich, Switzerland, travelled to Brazil to offer lectures and meditation classes. He gave four talks in four different cities: Manaus, Sao Paolo, Rio de Janeiro and Niteroi.

Kailash’s talks revolved around the transforming power of meditation and the importance of having a spiritual master to guide you on the inner journey of self-discovery. Kailash has been a student of Sri Chinmoy for over 30 years and has travelled the world to share Sri Chinmoy’s spiritual philosophy with seekers of all walks of life.

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Samunnati Wins Toulouse International Marathon

Samunnati Nataliya Lehonkova of the Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team won the Toulouse International Marathon in France on October 29th. Amidst extreme weather conditions including a temperature of 3 degrees Celsius, she set a new personal best in a time of 2.38:22.

Samunnati hails from Ukraine and is the fastest female runner in the international Sri Chinmoy Centres. Earlier this year she won the marathon in Edinburgh, Scotland. When running she tries to invoke spiritual energy to help her in the race. Samunnati says she is inspired by Sri Chinmoy’s deep love of running.

Successful Gibraltar Straits Crossing

Vasanti Niemz, a two time English Channel swimmer and ultra-triathlete from the Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team Germany, has recently swum across the Gibraltar Straits, the body of water separating Spain from Morocco. Vasanti completed the 14K (8.7 mile) swim under favourable conditions in 5 hours and 25 minutes. She was assisted by Albena Margaritowa from Edinburgh. Vasanti’s Gibraltar crossing was a dream come true. She dedicated the swim to the 25th anniversary of the World Harmony Run, a global Torch relay for peace founded by Sri Chinmoy.

Certificate — The swim bridged the continents of Europe and Africa

World Harmony Run at the European Parliament

The World Harmony Run was invited to the European Parliament in Brussels today. During a special program the runners shared Sri Chinmoy’s vision of world-peace and harmony with European politicians from different countries.

Ten MEPs (Members of European Parliament) from Ireland, Finland, Estonia, Slovenia, Luxemburg, Austria and Denmark participated in the program which took place inside the Parliament building. The MEPs held the Peace Torch and gave glowing speeches praising the initiative of running for peace. The ceremony was hosted by Angelika Werthmann, MEP from Austria.

One MEP told the runners, “You are the living embodiment of the motto of the European Parliament, ‘unity in diversity’.” It was the sixth visit of the World Harmony Run to the European Parliament since 2006.

A photo exhibition with photographs from the Run in Europe was presented together with the ceremony. The photo’s will be displayed in the European Parliament for the rest of the year.

Ashrita breaks new record at Run & Become anniversary

Last June “Run & Become” the UK based chain of running stores founded by students of Sri Chinmoy celebrated its 30th anniversary. As part ofÂ the celebrations Ashrita Furman broke a new Guinness Book record by popping 170 balloons in one minute. Ashrita, himself a student of Sri Chinmoy, is known for holding the most Guinness Book records in the world.

Legendary marathon runner Ron Hill paid a special visit to the London shop to congratulate the staff with their anniversary. “Run & Become” also received special accolades from Barefoot Ted, the barefoot runner made famous by his appearance in Christopher McDougall’s bestseller ‘Born to Run’.

Ron Hill and Run & Become staff — Ron Hill poses with Run & Become owners Shankara and Dipika

“I can tell you with great confidence that the exuberance and aura of good energy that I feel around the people of Run and Become is something I haven’t forgotten and am thankful to have had the opportunity to be exposed to.” -Barefoot Ted

Ashrita and Barefoot Ted met and inspired each other by swapping record ideas. Ashrita says he is able to break world records by using prayer, meditation and visualization.

New records at the Berlin 12&24 hour race

The Self-Transcendence 12 & 24 hour race organized by the Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team in Berlin honoured its name by registering two new records broken. Ultrarunning legend Yannis Kouros, world-record holder in the 24 hours, 48 hours and the 100 miles, set a new world record in his age category (over 50) in the 12 hours by running 127.984 kilometres – an average of 10.6K per hour.

Yiannis — Yannis Kouros competing in the 12 Hour Race

Dutch ultrarunner Jos Akkermans broke the Dutch national record in his age category (over 60) by logging 177.186 kilometres in the 24 hour race.

Another ultrarunning legend, Madhupran Wolfgang Schwerk, world-record holder of the 3100 Mile Race (the longest certified race in the world) just missed the world record in the 100 miles during the 24 hour race. He completed the 24 hours by running 204.76 kilometres, placing second.

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12 and 24 hour Berlin Self-transcendence race at Sri Chinmoy Races (in German)

Triathlon in Bristol

In the beginning of July the Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team in Bristol, UK, organized their first triathlon. The event was targeted to beginning triathletes, combining a 246 meter swim (or 8 lengths of an outdoor pool), a 17K bike ride and a 3K run. One hundred aspiring triathletes competed, which was the maximum number of participants allowed. Despite the rainy weather the event was a great success and will become a yearly feature.

“I have the deepest admiration for those who participate in triathlons. Swimming reminds us of our spiritual life. Right now we are swimming in the sea of ignorance, but we are praying to our Beloved Supreme and meditating on Him to be able to swim in the sea of Light and Delight. When we are running, we are reminded of our birthless and deathless journey along Eternity’s Road. Then, while we are cycling, we are reminding ourselves of evolution, of how the world is evolving in cycles” (

-Sri Chinmoy [Q. on Triathlons]

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UK Triathlon at Sri Chinmoy Races

Joy Day in Melbourne

Recently the Sri Chinmoy Centre in Melbourne hosted a Joy-Day. Students of Sri Chinmoy from all over Australia and New Zealand came together to enjoy group meditations, singing spiritual songs together, acting out spiritual plays and participating in lots of fun and games.

Melbourne_frisbee — Enjoying a game of Ultimate Frisbee

Melbourne_play — A play on Shiva and Parvati

Melbourne_play_boys — An illumining and entertaining play by the boys

500 Attend Joy-Day in Austria

Last weekend 500 of Sri Chinmoy’s students from all over Europe attended a ‘Joy-Day’ in the small town of Mondsee in Austria. Surrounded by the breathtaking mountainous scenery they shared three days of joyful and spiritual activities.

The Joy-Days were created by Sri Chinmoy’s as a means to share the joys of the spiritual life and to be able to experience the power of group meditation.

Aside from the regular meditations there were many recreational activities, such as waterskiing, golfing, horseback riding and archery. The evenings were reserved for enlightening and entertaining program items, like music, theatre and inspirational video’s. In the morning a 5K race was organized around Lake Mondsee.

unbenannt-413 — A professional magician's act

unbenannt-443 — Running together is always a joy!

Samunnati wins the Edinburgh marathon

Samunnati Nataliya Lehonkova from the Sri Chinmoy Centre in Ternopilska, Ukraine, has won the Edinburgh marathon last Sunday May 27th. Under warm conditions and on a hilly marathon course Samunnati completed the race in 2:39:46. It was her second marathon win in her running career, after a win in Poland in 2010. Also it was her second marathon in 6 weeks, after she had placed second in the marathon of Utrecht (The Netherlands) last April in a personal best of 2:39:20. She commented that now she will take some well-deserved rest.

Samunnati's finish — Samunnati breaks the tape in the Edinburgh marathon

Samunnati says that Sri Chinmoy inspires her in her running career. His philosophy of self-transcendence and going beyond one’s own preconceived limitations is a source of constant satisfaction to her. Sri Chinmoy encouraged his students to stay physically fit by running. Samunnati feels that the spiritual energy she receives from her daily meditation helps her in her running life. As Sri Chinmoy writes, “Through prayer and meditation we can develop intense will-power, and this will-power can help us do extremely well in our outer running.”

During the race members of the Sri Chinmoy Centre in Edinburg cheered her on. In the evening they celebrated her victory at their Sunday night meditation.

Winners of the women's race — Samunnati (centre) with the trophy and the runners-up

Meditation classes in Korea

Every Sunday morning the Sri Chinmoy Centre of Seoul in South-Korea offers free meditation classes for the public. The classes are given in a yoga studio and are attended by about 40 people.

The classes are given by Hemabha, who also initiated the Seoul Sri Chinmoy Centre. Hemabha was born in Korea, but then moved to London where she became a student of Sri Chinmoy. She recently moved back to her home country.

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