We join the world in honoring Dr. Jane Goodall, the eminent primatologist and conservationist who passed away on 1 October 2025 at the age of 91, having devoted her life to inspiring a more peaceful, hopeful and compassionate way forward for humanity and the natural world.
Dr. Goodall, who was a United Nations Messenger of Peace, held the Peace Torch on 1 April 2024 when she was in New York for the celebration of her 90th birthday. She met with a small group of Peace Runners and offered a blessingful message for the Peace Run ahead of its 10,000-mile journey around North America, saying, "Now more than ever... peace is desperately, desperately needed. So bless you, Peace Torch, and may you travel around the world and bring peace."
Dr. Goodall gave an inspirational talk to hundreds of Peace Run enthusiasts gathered there. "I have been trying to travel around America with a message of hope, hope for the future," she said. She told of a life-transforming experience she had had recently while watching the migration of millions of sandhill cranes and snow geese on the Platte River in Nebaska. Her experience made her realize that, in her words, "Although it looks dark, although the days ahead are grim, there will indeed be peace at the end, because cranes are the symbol of peace....The message was loud and clear, and it was a call to action... We must stand strong against fear and hate...We must go on protecting the beautiful world that God has given us, so that when peace comes, we are ready for it. When peace comes, as it will, we must be ready for it. ... Without hope, we sink into apathy... and the evil forces that seem to be abroad will win, and we won't let them."
On 18 April 2003, Dr. Goodall met with Peace Run founder Sri Chinmoy at the Aspiration-Ground gardens in New York. where he honored her as a "a supreme messenger of peace and hope". During the meeting, Sri Chinmoy played a recording of him reciting "The Old Wisdom", a poem written by Dr. Goodall when she was 19 years old, and commenting on the inspiration she received from the Vedic seers of the hoary past.
A choir performed several songs that Sri Chinmoy wrote for the occasion, including one entitled "Jane Goodall: You Feed the World's Oneness-Peace-Dream."
Sri Chinmoy honored Dr. Goodall with the "Lifting Up the World with a Oneness-Heart Award", bestowed on individuals who have contributed significantly to uplifting their communities.
Dr. Goodall brought along her stuffed cloth monkey, named Mr. H, which had been given to her by a blind man and which she brings to all her engagements. At one point, Sri Chinmoy asked if he could "take the blessings" of the toy monkey and patted its head affectionately.
After viewing the original Jharna-Kala paintings by Sri Chinmoy on exhibit at the Pilgrim Museum adjacent to Aspiration-Ground, Dr. Goodall was invited to sign the guest book by Ranjana Ghose, the Curator of the Jharna-Kala Art Foundation.
Before she departed, Dr. Goodall charmed the crowd by giving the pant-hoot chimpanzee greeting.
In 2021, Dr. Goodall very kindly contributed a brief Foreword to a new collection of Sri Chinmoy's writings on nature and the environment, entitled Listen to Nature: Living in Harmony with the Earth. Noting that Sri Chinmoy "stresses the need for a deep spiritual connection with the natural world of which we are a part and on which we depend," she concludes, "Let us heed the words of this spiritual teacher before it is too late." The book has been shared with many influential figures, and over 12,000 copies have been placed in community "little free libraries" in 22 countries, with translations into French, German, Italian, Russian, Czech and other languages.
On 4 October 2025, a meditative service was held in memory of Dr. Goodall at the very same Aspiration-Ground gardens where she met with Sri Chinmoy and hundreds of Peace Run enthusiasts from around the world more than twenty years earlier. Excerpts from a transcript of that meeting were read aloud in remembrance, and an audio recording of Dr. Goodall speaking on that day was played. Photographs from that meeting were also displayed, and participants took turns soulfully placing a single flower before Dr. Goodall's image in homage to this special soul who gave so much inspiration and hope to the world.
Here's a video documenting Dr. Goodall's visit in 2003 as well as meeting the team to hold the Peace Torch in 2024.
