Today was not a typical day as we had no miles to run. It was a rainy and chilly morning as we made our way to the city of St. Louis.

We were invited to take part in the opening ceremonies of the American Heart Association’s ‘Heart Walk’ at the St. Louis Cardinals beautiful Busch Stadium. Salil gave a short introduction, then we sang our theme song after handing the torch to a young boy named Liam who is a heart disease survivor.

Thousands of people came out in the rain to support the idea that walking is one way to help keep the heart strong and healthy. There was a one mile and a three mile walk following the ceremonial activities which inspired many people as they wore their ponchos and carried umbrellas to face the weather and take the challenge. We thank Tracy Brazelton and all of her staff who helped make the opening events possible for us to take part in.

After leaving the stadium we went to the Belas-Artes Gallery in St. Louis. Hosted by the

Executive Director, Ciléia Miranda-Yuen, this program brought together many groups of people whose goals are quite similar as they try to implement them in their own creative and unique ways.

Besides our team, there was representatives of Senator McCaskill and Mayor Slay, People Planet, Girl Scouts, St. Louis Track Club, UMSL Cultural Initiative, St. Louis Art Works, and the St. Louis Development Corp.

After the national anthem was beautifully sung by Erin Bagley, Miss River City, the program started in this beautifully designed gallery.

There was wonderful showing of the colorful paintings by Sri Chinmoy, the founder of the World Harmony Run.

After the indoor festivities, we went out to christen a beautiful new bike rack that was created and donated by St. Louis Art Works.

We are grateful to Ciléia, her husband Andrew and all the volunteers who made this program, including the food, possible for us and the other groups involved.

Our next stop on our busy ‘day off’ was the City Museum of St. Louis. This unique collection of architecture, cultural and biological artifacts and creatively designed interactive ‘playgrounds’ for the young and old alike, is always a surprise and treat for all who are brave enough to enter. The building even houses the world’s largest pencil which was made in honor of Sri Chinmoy.. It is also the home of a wonderful circus called ‘Circus Harmony’, which has been training and performing here for many years.

Jessica Hentoff, the founder and director of the circus, always invites us to visit and to offer our little program to the audiences during our visits. Today we participated in the opening of two of the Circus Harmony’s performances.

It was a thrill to be in the ring sharing our efforts at inspiring harmony along with theirs.

The children and all the adult instructors and staff work incredibly hard every day at developing their own unique skills and performing them to give joy to hundreds here and in various other locations.

Soon they will be going to Israel to offer their very skilled and entertaining performances there.

We were so impressed with her work with the children and we are so grateful to her for her work that we presented Jessica with ‘Torch Bearer Award’ which recognizes and honors those people who have inspired their nations, their cities and their communities through their own lives and deeds.

Our busy schedule did not end there as we also had the opportunity and privilege to visit the Vedanta Society and Minister Swami Chetanananda.

He is the renowned and inspired author of seminal books on the life of Sri  Ramakrishna.

He was so generous in offering us his time to tell us most uplifting, inspiring and amusing stories about his experiences in spending his whole life sharing this most illumining spiritual philosophy all over the world.

Before our much awaited dinner, we had one more stop to nourish our tired bodies and hungry souls. At the Living Insights Center nearby, we were invited by the Director, Jack Sisk, to enjoy the spiritual ambience and wisdom therein.

We were allowed to meditate there and to enjoy a soulful performance of his ‘singing bowls’. These are a set of large crystal bowls which resonate to different notes and vibrations as he gently plays them, singing and chanting with them. We are grateful to Jack for offering us all this time to enjoy the center and be refreshed there after a long day of many events.

Our final stop before retiring at the hotel at Our Lady of the Snows again, was a delicious dinner at Thai Country Kitchen, generously hosted by Nayana Hein, who has taken care of us all day.

She travelled all the way from her home in New York City to be with us and to treat us to all of these wonderful events that she arranged for us. Having grown up in St. Louis, Nayana was inspired to make sure that our stay here was well worth the effort it took to reach this beautiful city of St. Louis.

Together with Chetana, Nayana’s sister-in-law, and other friends who have travelled for hours to get here, such as Sukantika and Mary from Chicago and Prakhara from Washington,D.C., this day for us was truly a remarkable ‘day off’. In terms of running miles, we had a much needed break, but the inspiration and energy received from all of our friends and those we visited as well will help us on the next stage of our westward journey.

The impressive Gateway Arch of St. Louis at the Jefferson Expansion Museum on the banks of the Mississippi River reminds us all of our journey and of the vision of Thomas Jefferson. We can keep exploring and transcending our limits so that our true potential can be manifested here on earth. As a result, light, liberty and harmony will be firmly established for a happier and brighter future for all mankind.

– Arpan

Team Members:
Arpan DeAngelo (New York), Atulya Lee Berube (San Diego), Mark Collison (England), Kshetragna Ulanova (Russia), Surya Smolennikova (Russia), Vladimir Salnicov (Moldova), Kokila Chamberlin (England), Salil Wilson (Australia), Vajra Henderson (New York), Drsalu Gruenstaeudl (Austria), Becky Xerri (Wales)

Harmonemail:
You can send a message to the runners or read the messages.

Gallery: See more images!