Sri Chinmoy
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Introduction
Born in India in 1931, Sri Chinmoy is a globally respected spiritual teacher known for his prolific legacy of published writings (1500) books, musical compositions, art and poetry – and for his lifelong commitment to world harmony. During the past four decades he has inspired a worldwide organisation that seeks to foster a brighter future for humanity through a remarkable range of initiatives in sport, music, humanitarian aid and the teaching of meditation. His vast body of creative works and many activities are unified by this single purpose. He has visited New Zealand on four occasions, meeting successive Prime Ministers and forging many friendships here. Sri Chinmoy has been awarded a number of national honours – from sporting, civic and political organisations – in recognition of his major contribution to world peace and cultural understanding.
Meditation
Where efforts to foster world harmony in general focus on political and economic initiatives, Sri Chinmoy's efforts have also uniquely highlighted the role of each and every human being in creating a brighter future for mankind. He sees the inner peace in each person as a necessary pre-condition for any lasting harmony in the outer world, and the practice of meditation as an effective means of cultivating this. We are each individually responsible for our world, he believes, and we each have the power to positively change it. Meditation, prayer, spirituality in its many forms reconnects us with a fount of goodness, compassion for others and the peacefulness inherent in our deeper nature – it is the foundation on which world unity and oneness can grow.
To this end, in over 70 countries the Sri Chinmoy Centre offers free introductory meditation workshops with the single purpose of encouraging a brighter future for humanity through the fostering of inner peace. This teaching revitalises in our modern age the timeless wisdom of the many luminaries and spiritual figures down through history and harnesses a most powerful force for world transformation. During the past four decades, literally millions of people in hundreds of cities globally have learnt meditation through the network of Sri Chinmoy Centres, bringing to our outwardly focused and complex contemporary world a focus on inner tranquility with its catalytic power of positive change.
World Harmony Run
Sri Chinmoy's efforts to inspire and encourage the goodwill and participation of others in fostering world harmony have found no higher expression than through the annual World Harmony Run. With one million participants and a cast of 80 countries, this historic and global relay carries the powerful message that world peace begins with each individual. In its ten editions, the World Harmony Run has become a flagship among Sri Chinmoy's many efforts, a grassroots initiative uniting world leaders, state and federal governments, civic and political leaders, Olympians, thousands of diverse community groups, athletes and school children on six continents.
Hundreds of world figures support the World Harmony Run – and the symbolic torch has been to outer space in the Russian spacecraft Mir, travelled to every continent, and been used to light Millennium beacons and the Eternal Flame of Peace at the 50th anniversary celebration at the end of World War II.
The World Harmony Run shifts the ideal of, and responsibility for, a oneness world firmly back to everyday people. Like the goal of the Olympics which seeks to unify through global games, the World Harmony Run is a peacemaking event, a bridge-builder among cultures, nations, peoples that helps to foster what Sri Chinmoy calls a 'oneness-world-family'. Through the symbolism and passage of the torch, the World Harmony Run has made the ideal of world peace a personal experience for countless individuals.
Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team
Sri Chinmoy believes strongly in the power of sport to foster international friendship and harmony – as in the Olympic dream of a world family rising above cultural and national interests to compete in a spirit of oneness.
In the 1970's he founded the worldwide Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team and today its 800 annual public races and sports events bring together people from beginner to elite athletes in races ranging from sprint distance to multi-day ultramarathons.
Now one of the premier sports organisations, the Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team promotes physical well-being and self-improvement; challenges each participant to excel in a spirit of self-transcendence; and brings to its many activities a spiritual signature quite unique in world sport. Here, the relationship between personal excellence, self-discovery and world harmony becomes inspiringly evident.
The Oneness-Heart-Tears and Smiles
Among the major initiatives established by Sri Chinmoy to serve the cause of world peace, special mention should be made of The Oneness-Heart-Tears and Smiles worldwide humanitarian service. Established in 1991, this long-running and successful programme provides practical support and humanitarian aid to needy people the world over and has blossomed today into a global organisation with a huge network of health professionals, volunteers and staff in fifty countries. The Oneness-Heart-Tears and Smiles specialises in providing medical, educational and domestic aid to disadvantaged people the world over and works closely with other aid organisations, governments, local NGO's and community organisations. It responds to disaster relief requests – as in the recent tsunami and earthquake crises – and is also committed to long-term health and regional development projects. Its success is based on the large membership of the Sri Chinmoy Centre worldwide and the resulting base of professional expertise, resources and global outreach.
The Oneness-Heart-Tears and Smiles is based upon a fundamental belief in humanity's oneness, and Sri Chinmoy's own conviction that the sympathy and concern of the human heart hold the keys to the alleviation of poverty on earth. This philosophy of unconditional service has won enormous public support and much of the success the programme enjoys reflects this widespread goodwill.
Interfaith Harmony
At a time when religious differences continue to provoke wars and discrimination, Sri Chinmoy strives to remind us of the underlying oneness of the world's religious and spiritual belief systems. He is recognised globally as a profoundly spiritual man, a pre-eminent authority on many aspects of spirituality, and tireless in his efforts to build new bridges of understanding among the many world religions. In a real measure of the esteem in which he is held, in 1993 he was invited to offer the opening meditation at the Centennial Parliament of World Religions, the largest gathering of spiritual leaders in history, and in 2004 to again open the fourth Parliament of World's Religions. (You can view Sri Chinmoy's opening meditation here: Parliament of the World's Religions, 1993.)
He has promoted religious unity through interfaith programmes at the United Nations, encouraged inter denominational services for world peace for more than three and a half decades, and honoured many religious leaders with unique awards of his own.
In these efforts to promote world peace through religious unity and co-operative effort, Sri Chinmoy has forged friendships with many luminaries including the late Pope John Paul II, Mother Teresa – about whom he published a remarkable collection of tributes and poems – and leaders from Islamic, Buddhist, Hindu and Jewish faiths. He has been awarded many honours for his efforts to encourage interfaith harmony, including the Gold Papal Seals by Pope Paul VI.
Today Sri Chinmoy is widely seen as both a messenger and a true embodiment of religious unity, reminding people of all faiths that the one true and transcending expression of spirituality is love of God and the ability to embrace all religious faiths as one's own.
Art, Poetry, Music, Literature
Sri Chinmoy's dedication to world harmony has found expression in myriad ways. In each of the fields of music, literature, art and poetry his contribution has been prolific – collectively these form a monumental legac, an anthology of creative works that have touched and inspired countless lives.
During four decades, Sri Chinmoy has published over 1700 books; created a body of artwork numbering over 150,000 paintings; invented a whole genre of pen and ink bird drawings – representing the human soul and it's quest for peace and freedom – that exceeds an astonishing 17,000,000 sketches; and composed 17,000 songs, many of which have been performed in his 700 free concerts worldwide. Several literary works are international top-sellers with major publishers; a large number are currently available in fourteen languages. Sri Chinmoy's acrylic paintings – called Jharna Kala or 'Fountain-Art' – are popular exhibits in galleries worldwide and many feature in permanent collections.
Remarkable in volume and variety, Sri Chinmoy's vast body of creative works is unified by the recurring theme of world harmony and the message that it is the blossoming of our spirituality and the oneness-wisdom-goodness of the human heart that hold the keys to a better, brighter future for mankind.
Sri Chinmoy the Athlete
Sri Chinmoy's love of sports and his many personal athletic achievements – as marathoner, weightlifter, sprinter and youthful decathlete – are well known. In the past two decades he has vividly demonstrated the potential of the human body when harnessed to the power of spirit – accessed through meditation and prayer – with a succession of feats of strength that have redefined our notion of what is possible. His accomplishments here, as in everything else he attempts, are simply to inspire others and to demonstrate that spiritual awakening and meditation can greatly enhance our outer ability in any field of human endeavour.
And in the effort to foster world unity, the self-belief generated through sport, an understanding of our seemingly boundless potential, and a resolve never to give up are essential. Self-transcendence – the urge to surpass our imagined limitations which Sri Chinmoy demonstrates – brings us happiness and inner peace, and these are the forerunners and the foundation of world peace.
Through sport and weightlifting we are shown that inner peace is clearly a source of outer strength, and that outer oneness will blossom when our inner life is strong.
Harmony Concerts
An uplifting experience of inner peace and outer tranquility, Sri Chinmoy's free concerts for global harmony have been performed at venues large and small the world over, including Carnegie Hall, the Sydney Opera House, Royal Albert Hall, Lincoln Centre, the Budokan Hall, Auckland's Aotea Centre and Town Hall and venues throughout New Zealand.
Sri Chinmoy's concerts take place in an atmosphere of profound silence with simple, haunting solo melodies played on instruments including flute, viola, violin, Indian esraj, cello, synthesizer and piano – offering an experience of stillness that mirrors the uplifting world of inner silence. All together over a million people around the globe have participated in each concert's dedication to a more peaceful, harmonious world; a grass roots movement for positive change.
Sri Chinmoy's Passing – October 11, 2007
Beloved Spiritual Teacher Sri Chinmoy Passes Away. Internationally renowned world harmony leader, spiritual teacher and humanitarian Sri Chinmoy passed away peacefully on the morning of 11 October at his home in Queens, New York. He was 76 years of age. During the memorial week at a private ceremony, UN officials, religious leaders of all faiths, political figures, humanitarian workers, renowned musicians and world-class athletes from all around the world joined thousands of followers to pay final tributes to the beloved spiritual teacher, Sri Chinmoy. They gathered to express their condolences on Sri Chinmoy’s sudden passing at a meditation garden in New York where his body lay in wake. Read more...
Also:
- Tributes to Sri Chinmoy – Tributes have been flowing in from all over the world.
- Media Articles – A selection of media articles about Sri Chinmoy's passing.
- A Celebration of the Life of Sri Chinmoy – 30 October 2007, United Nations, New York.