As autumn began to give way to more wintry conditions, Sri Chinmoy simply added more layers of clothes and continued lifting. His dauntless spirit left behind the safety and comfort of ordinary human responses and tracked its own daring path. Everything was building to a spectacular finale.
The period from the end of October to the end of November was especially remarkable for the diversity of lifts that Sri Chinmoy employed in his regular leg workouts. In addition to the standard standing calf raise and several more unusual standing calf raises (including some with one leg), he further developed the seated calf raise and introduced some astonishing leg presses. A new kind of lift using an elevated platform also made its appearance.
Sri Chinmoy celebrated Halloween by lifting an immense load of pumpkins on his standing calf raise machine. Their weight of 2482 pounds was supplemented when Sri Chinmoy requested four men to stand on the platform. The weight of this second lift was 3205 pounds.
On November 1st Sri Chinmoy honoured some of his stu- dents competing in the New York City Marathon by lifting them. Twenty-six runners crowded onto the platform, one for each mile of the race. It was the largest number of people Sri Chinmoy had ever lifted and, at 4328 pounds, by far the heaviest. One of the runners later commented, pointing to his heart: "It was like a big hook came down from the sky and got me here."
That same day, Sri Chinmoy revealed the tremendous
strength of his left leg. A water-filled steam roller was manoeuvred onto the lifting platform. Sri Chinmoy raised this weight of 1467 pounds aloft with both legs and then transferred the entire weight to his left leg. This was a tre- mendous breakthrough. The entire steam roller was on the platform, positioned towards the lifting end, and this meant that the weight indicated closely approximated the actual weight borne by Sri Chimney's left calf.
A driver was then added to the steam roller to bring the total weight to 1610 pounds and Sri Chinmoy repeated the lift. Later, another driver was used and, once again, Sri Chinmoy encountered no difficulties in supporting this heavier weight of 1640 pounds.
The following weekend, however, Sri Chinmoy carried the one-legged lift past all conception. A 1959 classic Morris Minor car was brought to the tennis court and driven onto the lifting platform with its front end closest to Sri Chinmoy. The platform was able to accommodate the entire length of this tiny car. The total weight was 1612 pounds —a diminutive figure in respect to other vehicles that Sri Chinmoy had lifted but a substantial figure when seen in the context of the one-legged support lift.
Again, Sri Chinmoy elevated the car using both legs and then swung his right leg backwards, so that the weight was entirely supported by the left. Pencil-thin and taut as a cello string, the appearance of this calf belied its Olympian strength.
Two people now seated themselves inside the car, bringing the weight to a staggering 2078 pounds. Sri Chinmoy bent under the shoulder harness, lifted the car 4-5 inches and then transferred the weight once more to his left leg, holding the upraised car for several seconds. It was a spectacular achievement but, like many of these brilliant bursts of strengths, it was soon swept away by the next tidal wave.
Two hug red fire engines from the local Fire Department had drawn up near the tennis court and seven men poured out of them decked in full fire-fighting gear. Still on duty, with their radios relaying messages, they solemnly stood astride the lifting platform. Their combined weight was 1767 pounds. Drawing upon a seemingly tireless source of energy, Sri Chinmoy lifted them and then supported the weight with his left leg.
The tiny domain of the tennis court had become a parade of life itself as the scope of Sri Chinmoy’s weightlifting embraced a wider and wider circle. Like a twentieth century Noah, he was steadily lifting each form of automation, each species of animal, each vocation, as well as countless objects and scenes integral to modern life.
With he approach of Christmas, a festive touch was lent to the court on November 27th when Sri Chinmoy lifted a Santa Claus, deer and deer-keeper, plus four observers. This lift, weighing 1423 pounds, was significantly different from Sri Chinmoy’s previous one-legged lifts, as he later explained: “Previously I used to lift with two legs and then release one leg. But today, from the beginning I used only my left leg, although it was over 1,000 pounds.”
Two adult bulls with their keepers plus one donkey were then coaxed onto the machine. They continued to move around restlessly on the platform causing a constantly shifting weight load. Sri Chinmoy used both legs to lift and support this weight of 4201 pounds.
These impressive standing calf raises were but one aspect of the many-miracled month of November. Hard is it to grasp
the full impact of such a month. It was the sovereign peak of Sri Chinmoy's efforts for 1986, it was the sunrise splendour seen beyond the verge of impossibility.
Theodore Roosevelt's immortal words embody the unquenchable warrior spirit of Sri Chinmoy:
"Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious tri-
umphs, even though chequered by failure, than to take rank
with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer
much, because they live grey twilight that knows neither vic-
tory nor defeat."
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