It's only a Game!

But according to Sri Chinmoy, gone are the days when spirituality meant shutting yourself alone in a cave, deep in trance and completely oblivious to one's surroundings. Sri Chinmoy's students are encouraged  to meditate every day since meditation helps to foster a calm, clear mind and consequently a more peaceful and productive outer life. Excercise, especially jogging or running, is also encouraged in order to keep the body strong and dynamic.

The global Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team regularly hosts 5/10 km races, marathons, ultra-marathons (including the world's longest) and triathlons with the view that by encouraging people to transcend themselves in sports, they will also be inspired to transcend in other areas of their life. Sri Chinmoy is himself an excellent athlete with a long history of running achievements. Now that his running career has declined due to leg problems, he has focused his concentration on lifting weights. One of his students, Ashrita, has devoted himself to breaking unusual Guinness world records such as jumping on a pogo stick in the Amazon river for nearly 4 hours, and somersaulting for over 12 miles. This year the New Zealand Centre will be holding its 9^th annual Self-Transcendence 24-hour Race in Auckland, which draws a small but determined crowd of long-distance runners and relay competitors each year.

This interest in physical transcendence has a deeper meaning. The world is slowly evolving towards a state of ever-greater perfection. The agents of transformation are the souls of human beings, which descend from a higher plane into the physical arena for the sole purpose of molding matter into a perfect expression of divinity. One of the major difficulties faced by the soul is the inert and lethargic nature of the biological instrument with which it is equipped to carry out this task. Activity, particularly cardiovascular exercise, challenges the body's tendency towards inertia and enables each individual to complete their life-mission with a greater degree of intensity. Successfully transforming the physical body from lethargy to dynamism is a spiritual discipline in its own right.

The art of meditation is an activity which takes place in and through the physical body, although it is actually a reconnection with inner, spiritual realities. Meditating well is influenced by the state of the body. If the body is agitated, sick, tired or in pain, then the benefit is often diminished. Meditation requires a still body and a still mind, and for this exercise is of considerable help. Those who seriously practise meditation notice that it is often a dynamic movement: inward, forward or upward. Like physical movement it requires determination in order to keep going. This is why meditation is often described by Sri Chinmoy as a type of "inner running", as the two quite often complement each other. Sri Chinmoy comments, "Try to be a runner, and try all the time to surpass and go beyond all that is bothering you and standing in your way."

A common feature of sports, and one which becomes particularly apparent during endurance events such as ultra-marathons, is that they can be a real test of character. This is true of both team and individual sports. Although the completion of a long endurance event is a cause for celebration, it is for most people an experience filled with many difficult and trying moments. Fatigue, pain, boredom and doubt can all combine to take their toll on the athlete. Parts of the being will often quite forcibly object to what may sometimes seem like a mad escapade into the unknown. The mind will usually say "what are you doing this for? Give up now". Our body becomes stiff, tired and sore. Our vital energy seems as if it has been drained away, so that each step forward becomes a daunting effort.

When things get really tough, the temptation to 'throw in the towel' and go home can seem very inviting. When an athlete reaches this point, it becomes necessary to tap into a deeper source of inspiration above and beyond the mind and body. This is a zone that few people enter into with any regularity, but the experience of it is shared by athletes and meditators alike. This hidden well of inspiration, once discovered and utilised, can be brought forward into our everyday life to assist us with any problem or obstacle. Sri Chinmoy often remarks that running, particularly marathon running, is an accurate metaphor for life. Life is a challenge, a struggle, and there are times when we feel like giving up, but nevertheless each step forward takes us closer to our goal.

Competitive and team sports provide a unique opportunity to transcend ourselves. Where there is competition, inevitably there is also a clash of egos. From a spiritual perspective, competitive sport offers us the opportunity to try and be detached from the pride and disappointment of being a "winner" or a "loser".

In his poem 'The Winner and the Loser' Sri Chinmoy reminds us who the real winner is:

" He is the great winner
Who wins.
He is the greater winner
Who is the cheerful loser.
He is the greatest winner
Who gives equal value
To victory and defeat.
He alone is the real loser
Who separates
Defeat from victory."

This unique perspective on the concept of "winning" implies that it is an attitude rather than an achievement. We tend to have much more admiration and respect for somebody who loses or wins gracefully, without rubbing it in other people's faces or becoming full of rage and disheartenment. Winning in this sense does not mean establishing a feeling of dominance or supremacy over others, but a joyful acceptance of any outcome. This doesn't mean we shouldn't play to the best of our ability, but simply that we should attach more importance to having fun than to defeating our "opponents". The most enjoyable team games I have played have been those where there is a real camaraderie between the players, despite the difference in skill level, instead of an aggressive ego-competition.

How wonderful it would be if we could take this same attitude towards life in general. Sri Chinmoy often refers to the whole worldly drama of relationships and events as a great big "Cosmic Game" that the universe is playing with itself, for no purpose other than to experience and expand its joy in as many ways as possible.

by Thomas McGuire - the The Sri Chinmoy Centre of New Zealand.