Peace Blossoms

UNM’s Peace Studies Program takes a Step for World Peace with Sri Chinmoy

Oneness-Home Peace Run & Peace-Blossom Dedication

Albuquerque, May 22, 2016—UNM’s Peace Studies Program welcomed the global Sri Chinmoy (shree-chin-moy) Oneness-Home Peace Run (peacerun.org) to the Land of Enchantment, and honored Peace Run’s 30th anniversary by taking a significant step for peace in dedicating UNM’s Peace Studies Program as a designated Sri Chinmoy Peace-Blossom University Studies confrère. The public were invited to this free event on Sunday, May 22, 3 p.m. at the UNM Duck Pond, to celebrate the first university peace studies program in the world to be designated a Peace-Blossom.

UNM joins over 1,000 global Sri Chinmoy Peace-Blossoms, including: Mt. Everest, Mt. Fuji, Taj Mahal and Australia’s Great Barrier Reef and Sydney Opera House; 13 national capitals such as Ottawa, Canada; and the City of Santa Fe, dedicated on May 27, 2014. On May 25, 2000 then Gov. Gary Johnson proclaimed New Mexico a Sri Chinmoy Peace State; so continues New Mexico’s peace-loving tradition today at UNM.

UNM’s Peace Studies Program continues to promote sustainable peacebuilding education through innovative approaches to transforming conflict, justice and healing, and violence prevention. Professor Jamal Martin, Peace Studies Program Director says, “Righting the wrongs of structural violence and transforming the world for safety and hope remains a vital element within our integrated curriculum that encourages mindfulness and divergent thinking for building strategic skills for the local, national and global settings. Moreover, students who develop peacebuilding expertise through UNM’s institutional platform cultivate active practice, education, and investment in elevating sustainable environmentally and ethical domestic, international and global peace policies. The delivery of peace as a global public good is why we share and cooperate!”

Since 1987 when founder Sri Chinmoy (1931-2007) launched Peace Run, the world’s largest biennial relay run has covered over 150 countries on seven continents—and touched millions in expressing humanity’s core aspiration for a more loving, caring world. World leaders who have held The Peace Torch include: Mother Teresa, Pope John Paul II, President Nelson Mandela and his wife, Mdm. Graça Machel. Olympian Carl Lewis is spokesperson for Peace Run. Sport legends such as Billie Jean King and Muhammad Ali have also shown their support for Peace Run.

Heeding an inner call, Sri Chinmoy came to America from his native India in 1964 to serve humanity’s aspiring heart; his university lecture at UNM was delivered on April 24, 1974. The University of New Mexico Libraries honored Sri Chinmoy’s Golden Jubilee on April 24, 2014; some of his books are at Zimmerman Library. Sri Chinmoy’s creative endeavors in literature, music, art, sport, and humanitarian service strive to inspire people towards taking steps for friendship and peaceful living.

Peace means a flood of love in the world-family. ~ Sri Chinmoy; Founder, PeaceRun.org