Sri Chinmoy held strength demonstrations for friends and experts in 1988, 1989 and then again in 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004 and 2006.

Sri Chinmoy resumed weightlifting in 1998 after a several-year hiatus. He brought many of his old friends like Frank Zane and Mike Katz out of the woodwork and brought them to New York City for this event.

Arnold Schwarzenegger’s mentor, Alfred Gerstl, former President of Parliament in Austria, flew in from Europe to attend this evening’s festivities.

Bill Pearl served as the Master of Ceremonies. In this clip, watch Sri Chinmoy lift him, IFBB Vice-President Wayne DeMilia, bodybuilding legend Mike Katz, three-time Mr. Olympia Frank Zane and Alfred Gerstl.

Sri Chinmoy ended the evening by lifting his body weight of 145 lbs in each arm.

After a 20 minute break, Sri Chinmoy then gave a 90 minute concert of music for meditation, playing a dozen instruments, to, again, illustrate the link between inner peace and outer strength.

I do not compete with anybody else; I compete only with myself. You saw my capacity a few minutes ago. Now I am competing with myself. When I do weightlifting, my body is my world. If I can improve myself, if I can go beyond my previous achievements, then that is my goal. My own previous record is always what I am competing with. – Sri Chinmoy