Global Peace Run Ends in New York: Dag Hammarskjold Plaza across from the U.N. – 1987 Aug 08 - Historical Repository for Sri Chinmoy: The Peace Meditation at the United Nations

Global Peace Run Ends in New York: Dag Hammarskjold Plaza across from the U.N. – 1987 Aug 08

Filed under 2 or more | Peace walk/run for UN

Members of the Peace Meditation Group at the UN were able to be on hand or assist with the final ceremony of the Sri Chinmoy Oneness-Home Peace Run.

The torch relay ended here Aug. 8 after passing through more than 50 countries.

More information in previous post:1987 Peace Run Circles Globe through 6 Continents: Jul 1987 report

Sri Chinmoy, carrying the peace torch, spearheaded the final leg of the run, followed by over a hundred other runners.

As he rounded the corner onto Dag Hammarskjold Plaza, crowds lining the street broke into cheers-commemorating the end of the three-and-a-half-month peace odyssey. “From time immemorial humanity’s crying heart has been dreaming of peace, and now that peace is fast blossoming into reality,” Sri Chinmoy said. The run, he added, represented the beginning of “a new creation.. .in the oneness-heart-home of man’s ancient promise to God.”

“From time immemorial. humanity’s crying heart has been dreaming of peace. (2 times)

And now that peace is fast blossoming into reality. (2 times)

A new creation begins in the oneness-heart-home of man’s ancient promise to God” (2 tines)”

– Sri Chinmoy at beginning meditation

U.N. delegates or official representatives from Japan, Canada, China, Australia, India and several other countries were on hand to welcome the runners and participate in the final ceremony.

On example is form the Consul General of India:

At the end of the ceremony Sri Chinmoy said:

“Today, may God bless us all.

May God the Creator bless us all

with His transcendental Compassion,

and may God the Creation love us all

with His universal Love.

May each human heart become God’s

choice peace ambassador here on earth

to fulfil Him at every moment

in His own Way.”

2 page text summary:

Sri Chinmoy Oneness-Home Peace Run
April 27 – August 8, 1987

Brief Excerpt Photo Summary in “Student of Peace”

ONENESS-HOME PEACE RUN

In a giant cooperative venture, the “Sn Chinmoy Oneness-Home Peace Run” passed seven flaming peace torches from hand to hand among runners in 49 countries with continuous relays spanning the U.S. (11 ,000 miles through all 50 states), Canada, Europe, Australia and Japan , and local runs held in South America, Mexico, the Caribbean, Africa, Bhutan and China.

It was the longest relay run in history, covering a total of over 25000 miles.

The Prime Ministers of Australia, Canada and Iceland, hundreds of other national and local government officials, celebrities and internationally known athletes, as well as AFS exchange students around the world joined thousands of runners and supporters in passing on the message of the Peace Run:

” Peace begins one person at a time.”

Director-General of the United Nations in Geneva, opens the ceremony in Geneva where four teams of runners from all parts of Europe converged at the close of the European segment of the run.

Also speaking during the ceremony were Ambassadors to the United Nations from China, Canada, Great Britian, the USSR, the Netherlands and Switzerland, as well as the President of the International Olympic Committee

Download PDF:

“In the beginning …”

I had the privilege of being invited by Sri Chinmoy to stage a global relay run for peace, and had some of the greatest moments of my life leading this event-the Sri Chinmoy Oneness-Home Peace Run-for well over a decade.

It began in May 1986 when Sri Chinmoy asked, while we were walking through the hallowed halls of the United Nations, if I could organize a global Peace Run. The United Nations had proclaimed 1986 the International Year of Peace, and Sri Chinmoy wanted to offer a heartfelt and sincere expression of peace on a global scale.

The World Trade Center set the backdrop for the opening ceremony, which was broadcast live on NBC-TV’s The Today Show. How wonderful it was that, on April 27, 1987, five minutes of global television time was dedicated for the inaugural Sri Chinmoy Oneness-Home Peace Run.

Grammy Award-winning record producer Narada Michael Walden composed a theme song, “Oneness-Home Peace Run,” that captured the spirit of the initiative and was featured on TV broadcasts about the Peace Run. By opening day, word about the Run had spread far and wide. We had strong support from Archbishop Desmond Tutu, the UN Secretary-General, celebrities Carl Lewis, Clarence Clemons and Narada Michael Walden, and thousands of elected officials who had welcomed Sri Chinmoy’s vision for the Run. That year runners covered 27,000 miles in 44 nations. We were featured in a nationally broadcast PBS-TV special in the US, on a one-hour MTV special, and in countless newspaper articles.

Looking back on the Peace Run, I am proudest of our education programs. In visits to schools along the route, we shared our message with students and teachers who put their wishes into the Torch. The passing of the Torch also became a unifying force for participants, runners and those viewing them on the roads of the world. The Run was really a beacon of aspiration and inspiration. It was an affirmation that peace is possible if we work for it, and embrace inspirational ideas that bind all of us together-like love, kindness, sharing, self-giving, community and joy-irrespective of our cultural, national or religious origin. By 2001, the Peace Run had offered 8 global events. In September of that year, we paused in solemn, prayerful silence with the entire world. In 2005, Sri Chinmoy re-launched the Run as the World Harmony Run. And so it continues.

I thank you for the opportunity to introduce this book. And to all those on the road, running for peace – I salute you!

– Shambhu Neil Vineberg, 1st Executive Director, Peace Run

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