Sri Chinmoy Weightlifting

Sri Chinmoy began weightlifting about 20 years ago. He started with small weights and quickly made very fast progress in lifting much heavier weights.

- Photo of Sri Chinmoy weightlifting taken by Prashphutita

See: Sri Chinmoy Weightlifting - Inspiration Lifts for more details on Sri Chinmoy's weightlifting

Challenging Impossibility

A film about the weightlifting of Sri Chinmoy, shown at the Tribeca film festival.

Challenging Impossibility Trailer

Challenging Impossibility - site of film

Sri Chinmoy Weightlifting Anniversary

 November 13 2004

In November 2004 I travelled to New York to spend a week with Sri Chinmoy and other friends from the Sri Chinmoy Centre. The highlight of the week was Sri Chinmoy’s weightlifting demonstration at Queens College NY

The programme began with Sri Chinmoy being presented with awards from different countries. Sri Chinmoy accepted these awards with great humility and gratitude. An unknowing bystander would have no indication that Sri Chinmoy would soon also perform an astonishing display of physical strength.

Before each lift Sri Chinmoy would briefly meditate. Sri Chinmoy succeeded in everything he attempted. It almost had the effect of making it look easy. However, later I had the opportunity to come across one of the lifting objects. It was a great lion statue, bigger than myself. It appeared impossible to move this giant stone statue, even an inch. Yet Sri Chinmoy, who is now 73, had lifted overhead two of these giant statues. Such is the nature of the human mind. At one moment everything looks easy, the next moment it appears impossible. But as Sri Chinmoy has stated: "I wish to show that age is no barrier. The word impossible is only in the mind and not in the heart."

There were many highlights during the evening. One of the more unusual lifts involved Sri Chinmoy lifting four grand pianos with a renowned singer playing on one of them. Throughout the evening there were also a few multi-lifts. In 2002, the maximum calf raise lift Sri Chinmoy managed was 1,200 lbs. In 2004, he succeeded in lifting this 100 times in a row. To finish the evening Sri Chinmoy lifted a car with his shoulders. By the end of the evening Sri Chinmoy had lifted in total 200,000 pounds. Even several days later the image of this is still vivid in my mind.

The master of ceremonies for the evening was a good friend of Sri Chinmoy. He is also a former world champion body-builder, and former “Mr Universe - Bill Pearl;. He said the lifts Sri Chinmoy was attempting, he would not have attempted even in his youth. In introducing the programme, he said: "I think you are in for a big, big surprise at what a little guy with a gigantic heart can do!" This proved to be absolutely true.

- photo of Sri Chinmoy Weightlifting

• Sri Chinmoy Sets New Record at Sri Chinmoy Centre. Sri Chinmoy brakes his own record by curling an impressive 203lb dumbell
• Sri Chinmoy lifts 256lbs dumbell
• Sri Chinmoy Weightlifting at Sri Chinmoy TV
• Lifting Up The World With A Oneness Heart Award
• The Bill Pearl Story - with section on Sri Chinmoy's weightlifting.

 - Question About Weightlifting - Sri Chinmoy

 quotes from Sri Chinmoy about his weightlifting:

Sri Chinmoy