This morning we all met at the Royal Botanical Gardens – a Sri Chinmoy Peace-Blossom Gardens that was dedicated in 1993.
On the plaque it reads:
“What could be more perfect than a garden? With their natural beauty, the Gardens remind us of our own inner peace. If each of us treasures the beauty and fragrance of a flower inside our heart, we can ultimately help to transform the world into a garden of oneness-peace.”
Reading the plaque reminded us of the same simple message we are offering when we carry the Peace Torch.
We gathered near the plaque in preparation for the welcome ceremony at the Queen Street Mall. Here was a perfect place to practice our songs before going onstage.
And as we walked through the gardens waiting for the beginning of the ceremony we were able to look at the beauty of nature here and feel it entering into us in this calm and tranquil setting. The simple beauty of a flower when looked at with our heart brings forward that feeling of peace so strongly.
Just before noon the team then assembled and ran into the city ...
It was so great to have the team together with all the country flags.
We slowly made our way along the streets towards Queen Street Mall ...
... and you realised how much more of an impact we have as a group.
People would turn and look at us and take photos ...
... while you were running it took you a little while to realise we were the ones making everyone look up from what they were doing.
Once we reched the stage, each of us announced our country of origin, before singing the Peace Run song to the audience.
Cr Steven Huang then took the stage to welcome the team on behalf of the Lord Mayor of Brisbane, Graham Quirk.
Atul Arora – Queensland State Coordinator then read the message from our State Patron, the Premier, Campbell Newman.
To finish, our team then sang another song of Sri Chinmoy, 'A new world of Peace' composed over 35 years ago but still very relevant today. It is one of those songs that when you hear it your heart yearns for peace: singing a song like this opens your heart and fills it with hope and promise.
At the end of the ceremony the team then continued their journey through the city and across the river ...
... quite a few passers-by were inspired to run a short way with the Torch ...
... we finished for the day at South Bank ...
... where we had a wonderful lunch prepared for us by "My Heart-Garden" cafe.
After lunch we had some down time. We all stayed in the South Bank area to enjoy a little bit more of Brisbane ...
All too soon we had to leave to drop Irina off to visit Alex and Betty (pictured here along with Alex's sister Vera, adn Ion, who came along as translator) – coincidentally just around the corner from where we were staying ...
... then it was time to take both Irina and Tahereh to the airport as they are leaving us today to go back home.
Kaspars then spent the afternoon enjoying the city, and of course taking a few photos ...
The runners gathered once more at "My Heart-Garden" in the evening for another superlative meal ...
Thanks to Kapila and all the staff of this fantastic establishment – boy have we eaten well in Brisbane!
Artis says goodbye ...
Thanks so much to Peter and his team at the Brisbane City YHA who have taken such good care of our boys team here in Brisbane!
