A Myth of Creation

The Sri Chinmoy Centre has been my life, my journey and my home for many, many years. I hope these pages offer a small glimpse into the joy, the grace and the wonder that is Sri Chinmoy.


by Animesh Harrington

COUNTLESS AEONS AGO, before the birth of life on earth, before the universe took form or order, God was seated upon His throne, contemplating His completeness in absolute silence. God was all. Boundless peace, light and bliss were completely unified in His infinite and immortal Consciousness. He was neither bound by time nor space. Beyond conception and definition, He passed His cosmic days in all-embracing delight.

Yet, there was one aspect of His Being that God had not experienced. Never had He allowed His spiritual essence to touch the world of matter. But God the ever-transcendent, with His divine resolve, had already begun to reveal the reality within His dream. Thereupon, rising out of the depths of His own silence, appeared the forms of those who would help manifest His vision of creating a material universe.

God commanded His helpers to bring to Him a number of solid round weights of various sizes and colours and then to measure and mark increasing distances from where He was seated. The Supreme Lord arose from His throne and surveyed His silent universe as if He were pondering the unimaginable possibilities to come. He then requested the first of the weights to be placed in His hands.

God held the sphere like a precious child. Standing motionless for a while, He meditated on it, infusing it with His Consciousness. Then, gently rocking the weight to and fro within His grasp, He increased the rhythm. With all His power He pushed it far out into the sea of darkness. At that very instant God created space and time.

The Creator had separated Himself from His Creation, but an eternal conscious connection remained. His Light fell upon the tiny object that had fallen there, lifeless, in the depths of space. The Supreme, continuing in His play, cast forth innumerable weights. Some fell near, some far. Yet, after every throw, He walked out to the farthest reaches of His new Creation encircling it with His Blessing and Concern. And so, the planets were formed.

God then resumed His repose at the centre of all He had created. And He commanded His helpers to stand in a line at the distance markers they had measured. One by one He meditated on each and every mark. These were to be the orbits of the planets.

A smile of self–transcendent Delight came upon God's Face as He infused His unhorizoned dream with the spark of life. Thus, the entire universe was set into motion.

***

This story may be part myth or part truth, but it is being retold with striking similarity in the life and actions of a modern-day spiritual master – Sri Chinmoy.

On the morning of January 6, 1991, as the sun rose to bathe the tiny island of Bali with empyrean hues, it was as though heaven and earth were about to meet.

People had come from far and wide to this island paradise for its peace and tranquility. On this auspicious day however, they were to witness a very special event. From America, Canada; England and France; Germany, Switzerland; New Zealand and Australia, this international audience looked on in great anticipation as they sort their vantage points along the golden sands of South Kuta Beach.

The gods were there as well. They took their seats on the wisps of white cloud that had gathered in from the sea. They spread out along the shoreline and crowded nearby mountains. The stage was set for something spectacular.

***

Just before 6am Sri Chinmoy arrives at the beach entrance of the Kartika Plaza Hotel. He walks quietly over to where a shot put area has been set up on the sand. From the spot where he will throw, each metre – between the 6 and the 12 metre points – has been marked with a line and a small flag. A series of shot put weights – 6, 8, 12, 16, 22, 27, 31, 35, 40 and 50 lbs. – stand ready for his touch.

They look ominously inert. Bearing in mind that the official Olympic shot put weight for men is 16 lbs (7.26 kg), Sri Chinmoy will attempt to lift and thrust each of these weights as far as he can. He has been training for months now but, to him this is not merely a practice session, rather it is another opportunity for self-transcendence; another opportunity to manifest the innate divine potential of the soul. In time, history will record these unparalleled feats as immortal beacons on the path of humanity's spiritual journey.

Sri Chinmoy does not speak at all as he takes the first shot put in his hands. He is absorbed in a meditative consciousness. Slowly, the weight begins to rock back and forth in his palms until he launches it skyward with tremendous force. There is absolute silence in the audience until the shot put hits the sand. And when it does, the ground shakes with thunder as the weight stops dead. Then, even the most powerful of the gods applaud.

Sri Chinmoy walks up to the farthest mark and turns around. Outwardly he gives little attention to where the shot put has landed. Sri Chinmoy, it seems, is spanning some other inner world as he slowly walks back to his seat. He takes a drink from his table, and rises again for the next attempt. Like this, Sri Chinmoy will practice for two or more hours. It is as if he is playing with a miniature solar system. Each shot put, once it takes flight, looks like some heavenly body suspended in infinite space. You could easily imagine that the moon and the planets had come to earth for a time, just to rest for a moment in his hands.

And you could imagine too, the Lord Supreme of the Universe – Creator and Sustainer of All – smiling with pride upon His chosen Son.

– End –

 


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