Long term Team Energised member Rasmivan Collinson recently undertook a Welsh pilgrimage visiting the 7 Sri Chinmoy Peace statues, read more about his adventure below….
“I have been a student of late spiritual Master Sri Chinmoy since 2004, and in those past 22 years I have practised meditation and have had some amazing experiences being on a spiritual path. I have been part of an international team of runners running throughout Europe and USA as part of the Sri Chinmoy Oneness-Home Peace Run. I have also embraced Sri Chinmoy’s philosophy of self-transcendence by competing in numerous ultra running events.
I had undertaken a cycling trip (the Peace Ride) across USA last year starting from Seattle. However I stopped outside Chicago due to a friend who was cycling with me coming off his bike and fracturing his collar bone. So when that adventure ended and I had some time in New York I thought about the next challenge of a route cycling around Wales, connecting with all the Sri Chinmoy Peace Statues.
So in June this year for 12 days I cycled around Wales covering nearly 700 miles and climbing in excess of 36,000 feet; Wales is rather undulating to say the least. It has many valleys and my route avoided some of the major busy roads as I cycled on many quiet country lanes and roads that traversed numerous hills and valleys.
The 7 Peace Statues statues are located at:
- Cardiff – see photo below
- Carmarthen
- Criccieth
- Portmeirion
- Llanberis
- Bangor (Treborth)
- Wrexham – see photo below
The first few days cycling to Cardiff and Swansea were ideal conditions with some cloud and periods of sunshine, but from Day 3 onwards the UK experienced an heatwave with unprecedented temperatures to rival that of the famous heatwave of the summer of 1976. Coincidentally Sri Chinmoy began cycling in 1976 for the first time since he came to the West. And rather apt this year it was the 50th anniversary of Sri Chinmoy starting cycling. It all felt a divine destiny that I was undertaking this project which had been in the planning for the past 10 months.
It was full of wonderful experiences and encounters with some lovely people. I do love the open heartedness and generosity of spirit of the Welsh people. It will be a journey that I won’t forget in a hurry. It just reinforced for me the reasons why I cycle – the freedom to get from A to B under your own power, and the happiness of taking in the beauty of nature and the landscapes that I cycled through. It was all very profound not without its inward and outward struggles, of which I was pleased to overcome and made the right choices. It was definitely a lesson in self-transcendence and surrender, and to be in the moment and not over-think things.
Throughout the years, I have attended all the inauguration ceremonies of the Welsh Peace statues except the Criccieth one as last year I was cycling across USA. The statue in Criccieth is in such a serene and beautiful location. I had such a powerful divine meditation there. Whilst holding the statue torch the statue made a creaking noise and I felt an inner spiritual presence so powerfully. I just couldn’t let go of the torch as it felt so blissful.
At every statue I had such a soulful meditation and could feel the generosity of spirit, purity and nature of the soul of Wales coming to the fore. Similarly when you participate in the Peace Run the best qualities of that country and people come to the fore. Every time I smiled at people as I was cycling they smiled back and whenever I stopped people wanted to speak to me and meet me. I feel I was reflecting this peace light and people were picking up on that. I did feel blessed and protected by a higher presence as every time I stopped I meditated for one minute. I did feel protected as doing this on my own I felt it was so important to invoke the Supreme’s protection. The whole ride was one big meditation as I often inwardly chanted Supreme, Shanti and Gratitude.
The final 10 miles of my journey back to Bristol I had this overwhelming sense of peace, serenity, joy and bliss that I’ve never experienced before. It was quite moving to receive these blessings.
I would like to thank the support and encouragement from everyone throughout this project and I believe it was a divine victory, which I feel was reinforced on one of the days by the presence of a bright double rainbow. It made me smile so much.”
Rasmivan Collinson.