On the 27th of July, Adriano Passini completed the 43rd successful English Channel crossing by a member of the Sri Chinmoy Marathon in a time of 11 hours 10 minutes. It was the first successful crossing by a Brazilian member of the Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team.

Adriano began his swim in the very early hours of the morning at 02:37. Conditions proved to be a mixture of warm sea temperatures, rain, mist, and thunderstorms. Adriano had to also contend with jellyfish and large sea vessels. However, as he approached the French coast, 11 hours later, weather conditions became favourable. Adriano was supported by a dedicated boat and his two main helpers Ashirvad Zaiantchick and Karteek Clarke (a veteran of 10 channel crossings himself) - his helpers proudly mentioned that Adriano never complained, but cheerfully stuck to the task in hand.

Adriano has been dreaming of achieving this swim for the past couple of years. Recently, he has competed a few long swims in preparation; this included the Zurich Lake Self-Transcendence Marathon Swim, a 26km race organized by the Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team.

Sri Chinmoy encouraged his students to swim the channel, saying it offered a great challenge for individual self-transcendence.

"The English Channel frightens the human body.
The English Channel challenges the human vital.
The English Channel puzzles the human mind.
The English Channel invites the human heart.
The English Channel treasures the human soul.
" [1] - Sri Chinmoy

Today is President Nelson Mandela's 95th birthday, and the Sri Chinmoy Centre would like to add its best wishes to the millions of birthday greetings from all around the world. Sri Chinmoy was a great admirer-friend of President Mandela, and the two had several warm and significant meetings.

At a ceremony in Oslo, there was a re-dedication of the Eternal Peace Flame - a powerful symbol and hope for peace. The Eternal Peace Flame was offered to the city of Oslo by Sri Chinmoy in 2001. For many years, the Eternal Peace Flame had a temporary home on the sea front. Now a permanent place has been found in a beautiful surroundings of Holmenkollen - overlooking the city. Next to the flame, there is now also a statue of Sri Chinmoy - a powerful work of art to represent the peace-loving life and spirit of Sri Chinmoy, the founder of the Oneness-Home Peace Run.

On June 28th, the Dublin Sri Chinmoy Centre promoted a well received Songs of the Soul concert at the beautiful Newman University Church in the centre of Dublin.

Members of the Auckland Sri Chinmoy Centre recently took part in a multi-cultural ceremony to help launch Auckland as a Peace city.

In early June the Sri Chinmoy Centre in Bristol, England hosted its second triathlon event in the seaside town of Portishead. Somerset.

Billed as the "Self-Transcendence Somerset Try-a-Tri", the race was aimed at first time triathletes and was sold out months in advance and took place on  June 9th 2013.

Pranava Gigja, a member of the Iceland Sri Chinmoy Centre, has recently opened a new health food store enterprise in Reykjavik.

On the 16th June 2013, 12 runners began the 16th edition of the 3,100 mile self-transcendence race in New York. Founded by Sri Chinmoy in 1997, the race has been run continuously since 1997; the course record was set by Madhupran W. Schwerk in 2006 - with a time of 41 days - averaging nearly 75 miles a day. Over the next 6 weeks, the runners will seek to overcome all physical and mental hurdles to complete this epic feat of endurance.

The 12 starters includes 3 female athletes, and 3 runners making their first attempt. The most experienced runner on the start line is Ashprihanal Aalto from Finland, who has already completed 11 races so far, and holds the second best finishing time.

Recently members of the Sri Chinmoy Centre performed five concerts at four different locations in Italy - Firenze, Milan, Rome and Padova. The concerts were part of a 'Songs of the Soul' concert tour which is inspired by the musical legacy of Sri Chinmoy. During the concerts, different music groups offered their own interpretations and arrangements of Sri Chinmoy's compositions.

Dr Pradhan Balter has published a new book title 'A Twenty-First Century Seeker' - maintaining spiritual principles in a very hectic world. It aims to provide a simple and effective guide for seekers who wish to develop their meditation and follow a spiritual life.

Pradhan has been giving meditation classes for over 40 years. This book seeks to convey the most important principles and useful tips that he has learned from being a student of Sri Chinmoy and reflects his own experience of giving classes. The book stands as a practical manual and reference point for those seeking to discovery more about their inner self. The book, divided into different chapters, contains advice, exercises, and quotes from spiritual Teachers. Pradhan also suggests that seekers create an “inner mission statement” and commit to lifestyle that allows the seeker to fulfill that mission.

I recently spoke to Pradhan about how he came to write the book. He says about 17 years ago, someone who was very inspired by his classes transcribed word-for-word 4 days of classes. She then handed the transcription over to Pradhan saying, “Here! You have to write a book.” Moved by the dedication it required to do the transcription, Pradhan asked his spiritual Teacher if it was a good idea. Sri Chinmoy responded with an enthusiastic “Do it! Do it!” Upon reviewing the transcription, Pradhan noted that the spoken word doesn't always transcribe so well. He explained, “In a class, I could change the meaning of what I was saying with a gesture or change in intonation. You don’t have that luxury with the written word. You have to be much more precise.” So Pradhan spent 17 years refining and adding to the book. The following are extracts from an interview with Pradhan.