Lions and Lambs

and Weightlifting Memories

March 31, 2010. The month of March is said to come in like a lion and go out like a lamb. One can ponder lions and lambs in a different light when seen through the lens of Sri Chinmoy's weightlifting adventures.

In 2002, Sri Chinmoy lifted 1,000 lambs overhead on a special weightlifting apparatus while visiting New Zealand. Barney McBryde, a student of Sri Chinmoy from New Zealand, describes his experience of this incredible feat in an article entitled, Journey to a Lamb's Heart, published in Inspiration-Letters, a literary ezine from Sri Chinmoy's students.

While Sri Chinmoy's weightlifting career saw him lift many other kinds of live animals such as elephants and horses (including the world's smallest horse), when he lifted lions they were made of stone and weighed a half ton each. Chidananda Burke, a studet of Sri Chinmoy from Queens, New York, describes how Sri Chinmoy lifted these large statues in an article entitled, A Tale of Two Lions.

The call of America
Turned the timid cat
Into a roaring lion.
The love-blessing of America
Has turned the lion
Into a choice and fond lamb.

-Sri Chinmoy, Excerpt from Ten Thousand Flower-Flames, Part 1 by Sri Chinmoy