Sri Chinmoy - the power behind the weightlifting
You may have seen recently an article of an elderly Indian gentleman calf-raise an 8,622lb female elephant on a specially constructed lifting platform - no it’s not trick photography! The weightlifter is Sri Chinmoy and he has been lifting increasingly heavier weights for nearly twenty years, and now that he is approaching 76 years of age, that is an inspiring achievement.
Sri Chinmoy is a spiritual teacher and athlete who came to the West from India in 1964. His weightlifting career began in 1985 when he was fifty-four years old when a knee injury prevented him from continuing his running career. He lifted for several years then had a break, then recommenced his lifting again at the age of sixty-seven, to show that inner spirit can produce amazing outer stamina regardless of age. His progress since has been remarkable – huge stacks of plates, massive steel dumbbells and a variety of objects including planes, concrete statues and boulders have been heaved skywards.
You may well ask, what is the connection between weightlifting and spirituality? Sri Chinmoy says “In my weightlifting I am trying to show that if you pray and meditate you can bring to the fore your inner strength. Now if you are inwardly strong, you are always at peace. When you have confidence and strength within you, then you do not go outside to quarrel or fight with others. So when I lift up some heavy weights, I am hoping to inspire others to also bring forward their own inner strength, their own inner peace.”
Sri Chinmoy continues, “The physical body has to become a pure and perfect instrument of the spirit. I am doing these lifts with the physical body, but the strength and power are coming from within – from an inner source. Inner strength is not my monopoly everybody has it. There is no such thing as impossibility when you depend entirely on God. My lifting is one hundred percent due to God's Grace….the physical world that we see with our eyes is not the only world. There is also an inner world, where everything finds its source," he says. "Because of my weightlifting, many people will be inspired to enter into the spiritual life. Again, spiritual people will be inspired to enter into the physical world."
Sri Chinmoy has spent most of his life uplifting body and spirit and now, at the age of 75, is still on the fast track. "I feel that God does not want human beings to retire. God Himself is always doing something new, always transcending His own Infinity and Eternity. Since we all have God within us, we also have to keep going on, going on, going on -- until our last breath."
Close friends with many of the greatest bodybuilders of our time, Sri Chinmoy is encouraged, supported and advised on lifting techniques by Bill Pearl, 5-times Mr. Universe who comments, "Sri Chinmoy is on a fantastic track because he shows the relationship between the body, mind and spirit. Ninety-nine percent of the world is absolutely physically incapable of doing what he has done." Frank Zane, 3-times Mr Olympia says "totally mind-blowing,” and Lee Haney, 8-times Mr. Olympia, "Sri Chinmoy is a prime example that we can do things we thought were impossible."
Sri Chinmoy trains for 3-4 hours in his home every day exercising on a variety of personally designed machines to exercise all muscle groups. His first lift was a 40 lb single dumbbell, now he lifts pairs of dumbbells plus everyday objects such as cars, helicopters and people. This year he took on a new challenge wrist curling a massive 203 lb dumbbell, 30 times with each wrist, and then transcended that lift with a mighty 256 lb dumbbell. Wayne DeMilia of the International Federation of Bodybuilders said of the previous lift, “Out of all the weightlifters and champion bodybuilders I have seen; and I have seen many, Sri Chinmoy is the only one I have ever seen wrist curl a 200lb. dumbbell."
So Sri Chinmoy continues to workout and lift, to inspire and show that ‘old-age’ is really a state of mind. And what has motivated him for all of these years? Sri Chinmoy believes in the philosophy of self-transcendence. As Frank Zane says – “it’s not about competing with others to see who can lift more, it’s about competing with yourself, accomplishing new personal records and exceeding past efforts.”
Apart from his weightlifting Sri Chinmoy is also a musician, composer, author, artist, poet, philosopher, sports enthusiast and humanitarian. He quietly demonstrates just what can be achieved if we live with a youthful, dynamic and determined heart when pursuing our dreams and aspirations.
Biography - Sahayak Plowman by nature is a positive and happy person. He attributes this to the growing experiences gained through his own meditation practice with the guidance given by his meditation teacher, Sri Chinmoy. He is a writer on spiritual topics, also the compiler of a published book of poetry, Sri Chinmoy's Heart-Garden and web master for Sri Chinmoy Books.com