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On 6 October 1977, Mrs Lillian Carter met with Sri Chinmoy and the members of the Meditation Group in Americus, Georgia. Mrs Carter charmed the visitors them with tales of her experiences in India and vignettes about what it is like to be the President’s mother. The group, in turn, meditated with Mrs Lillian and sang a song composed by Sri Chinmoy in her honour, which brought tears to her eyes. This is a brief part of their conversation. Here Mrs Lillian was talking about the U.N. Meditation Group’s public concert that evening.

Mrs Lillian: Well, this is going to be a lovely night. I hope you have a crowd. People don’t understand this. I don’t know whether many people will be here or not. Have you heard?

Mr Steven Hein: We really don’t know if a lot of people will come or not. There was a little article in the newspaper.

Mrs Lillian: Yes, and weren’t you in Plains this afternoon?

Mr Steven Hein: Yes. There are a few posters up there.

Mrs Lillian: But here they don’t understand I am the only one who does, and I wouldn’t miss it but I hope you are going to have a nice crowd.

Sri Chinmoy: With your kind permission, may I meditate for a minute?

Mrs Lillian: Oh yes. [To the group] He wants me to be quiet!

Sri Chinmoy: Not in the least! Far from it. Please forgive me. My students had informed me that you would like me to meditate for a minute that’s why.

Mrs Lillian: Y’all better be quiet now, we’re going to meditate. [Silent meditation for four or five minutes.]

Sri Chinmoy: Thank you.

Mrs Lillian: Thank you. Very nice.

Sri Chinmoy: Now I wish to offer a soulful song to you, which I composed yesterday. It is about you. First I would like to sing it and then my students will sing it for you. Could my students come in now, please?

[They open the door and additional members of the United Nations Meditation Group come in.]

Sri Chinmoy: Just yesterday I composed it in honour of you.

Mrs Lillian: Wonderful! Y’all come in! [Turning to the Secret Service agent accompanying her] Ray, you should see the little piano, little organ, or what-do-you-call-it! [To the members of the Meditation Group] Good afternoon.

Sri Chinmoy: These are the members of the United Nations Meditation Group.

Mrs Lillian: Beautiful, beautiful. The saris are gorgeous. I never could wear one because I couldn’t put it on. Hello! Hello! How many are there?

Sri Chinmoy: Here there are about forty.

Mrs Lillian: Wonderful.

[Sri Chinmoy sings the song Compassion-Ocean, Mother Lillian, accompanying himself on the tote-a-tune.]

Mrs Lillian: That’s beautiful.

Sri Chinmoy: Now they will sing.

[The members of the United Nations Meditation Group sing Compassion-Ocean, Mother Lillian.]

Mrs Lillian: You just don’t know me. I’m not that good! Oh boy, this is wonderful! But I just really don’t deserve all this.

Sri Chinmoy: You deserve all this and much, much more.

Mrs Lillian: Oh, no, no, no, I don’t. This is just beautiful.

Sri Chinmoy: And we mean it. What we have sung, we literally mean it.

Mrs Lillian: Thank you, thank you, Sir.

Sri Chinmoy: It is all of our hearts’ feelings.

Mrs Lillian: Thank you very much. It is a great honour that you are doing this for me. But you don’t know me. Ray knows me, though. He knows that I’m not that good. Don’t you, Ray? It’s beautiful. Let me ask you something. Do you go everywhere with…I call him Mr Chinmoy… all together all the time?

UN Meditation Group member: As often as we can.

Sri Chinmoy: We have many more students. We have about eight hundred or so.

Mrs Lillian: I envy you your calmness. It took my best to sit still, much less meditate. I’m not much of a meditator. I did go to the meeting every Thursday night and I did meditate with them.

Sri Chinmoy: But you have meditated with me extremely well.

Mrs Lillian: Do you want me to tell you the truth? I don’t know what I was thinking about, but I had a thousand thoughts. I can’t get everything out of my head like you can. When you meditate, you completely bare your mind, don’t you?

Sri Chinmoy: At that time, we do not have a mind at all. When we meditate, we only live in the heart and we become the heart itself.

Mrs Lillian: I have heard that and I think it is beautiful. But the only way I can meditate is to go somewhere by myself. I go to what I call my Pond House, I can go out and sit and look out over the pond, and then I can meditate.

Sri Chinmoy: We belong to the United Nations Meditation Group. This is for you, Mother, this is our offering. [Sri Chinmoy presents Mrs Lillian with the United Nations Meditation Group banner.]

Mrs Lillian: Oh, this is beautiful. Thank you. Oh it is beautiful.

At the concert that the UN Meditation Group presented later that evening, Sri Chinmoy played the Indian esraj and members of the Group sang several Bengali and American songs, including India’s National Anthem and “America the Beautiful.”

During the concert Sri Chinmoy commented:

Sri Chinmoy: I am a seeker. I have been here for six or seven hours. On the strength of my aspiration, I wish to say what I feel about Plains. Simplicity, sincerity, spontaneity, humility and self-giving are the birthright of this town. This is what my inner aspiration tells me and I wish to offer my soulful gratitude to the soul of this town where our dear President was born.

Originally published in Sri Chinmoy, The Seeker’s Mind, Agni Press, New York, 1978

Compassion-Ocean Mother Lillian at Sri Chinmoy Songs

Sri Chinmoy entered Mahasamadhi - the mystic process through which spiritual Masters leave the body - on the morning of 11 October 2007. 

The day before Sri Chinmoy’s mahasamadhi on 10 October, he held a weekly meditation, where he sold a book of prayers My Christmas-New Year-Vacation-Aspiration-Prayers, (written during his stay in Langkawi, Malaysia in early 2006.) The last prayer in the book was:

“My physical death
Is not the end of my life –
I am an eternal journey.”

My Christmas-New Year-Vacation-Aspiration-Prayers, Part 52

In a nutshell, this encapsulates Sri Chinmoy's philosophy on death and reincarnation. Also of note is this passage from Siddhartha Becomes the Buddha. In this particular scene the Buddha is on the verge of passing beyond his mortal coil and his dearest disciple Ananda is crying. The Buddha speaks:

"Ananda, do not cry for me. I tell all of you not to cry for me. Ananda, I have told you repeatedly that everything is transient on earth. There is nothing everlasting here. Anything that comes into life will have to give up life. ... My spiritual journey began with renunciation and compassion, and today, at the end of my journey's close, I offer to the world the same message: renunciation and compassion. O Ananda, do not grieve."

Sri Chinmoy, Siddhartha Becomes the Buddha

Tributes to Sri Chinmoy

After Sri Chinmoy's passing many renowned world figures offered their kind tributes.

“With deep regret I have learned that my long-term close friend, the friend of my family and of our Foundation, Sri Chinmoy, passed away yesterday…This is a loss for the whole world. Through many years of his selfless work for the sake of peace, Sri Chinmoy has gained recognition and love in the farthest corners of our planet…In our hearts he will forever remain a man who dedicated his whole life to peace… We shall remember Sri Chinmoy forever!”

— President Mikhail Gorbachev

More tributes at Sri Chinmoy.org

After Sri Chinmoy's passing, many came to Aspiration-Ground, New York to pray and meditate. The silence alternating with soulful performances by his disciples.

Performances from 2007 at Radio Sri Chinmoy

In 1974, Sri Chinmoy composed the song "When I am gone away, remember me" but asked that it would not be sung until his physical passing.

When I am gone away, remember me,
O children sweet.
No, not because I failed.
No, not because I cried.
No, not because I tried.
No, not because I saw my Lord in you.
No, not because I served my Lord in you.
No, not because I fulfilled my Lord in you.
No, not because I was your Pilot true.
No, not because I was your ‘Infinite’ blue.
O, but because my life was all gratitude, gratitude, gratitude
To you, to you, my children sweet, to you.
When I am gone away, remember me.

The Great Comet of 2007

Question: What is the significance of a comet?

Sri Chinmoy: When something most precious leaves the earth-consciousness, then a comet will be visible. From the spiritual point of view, when you see a comet, something very significant has taken place on earth. When Sri Ramana Maharshi passed on, everybody saw a comet in the South Indian sky.

Sri Chinmoy, Sri Chinmoy Answers, Part 9, Agni Press, New York, 1999

Comet Holmes was discovered in 1892 by Edwin Holmes, normally, it is a very faint object but on 23-24 October (13 days after Sri Chinmoy's mahasamadhi) it unexpectedly brightened by a factor of one million times making it clearly visible to the naked eye. It was reported in a scientific publication as the largest known outburst by a comet thus far.

"The massive outburst of the comet 17P/Holmes in 2007 October is the largest known outburst by a comet thus far." Royal Astronomical Society

Interestingly 2007 was notable for a very rare astronomical double feature. Comet McNaught, first discovered in August 2006, passed exceptionally close to the sun in January 2007.

The number 13 has always been very significant in Sri Chinmoy's life, such as his arrival in New York on 13 April 1964.

Related

•  Tributes to Sri Chinmoy
• Sri Chinmoy's Passing at the New York Times

Dulal (Sol Montlack) was one of the earliest disciples of Sri Chinmoy, accepted by the Master on 20 August 1966. In 1967, he helped to officially incorporate AUM Centre Inc (later renamed Sri Chinmoy Centre), in New York City, as mentioned in AUM magazine:

“To our Dulal (Mr. Sol Montlack) who made many patient trips to the Supreme Court, untangled countless difficulties, and saw through the Incorporation to its conclusion, we offer our deep and grateful love.”

Dulal wrote an introduction to My Yogi-Friends, My Avatar-Friends, Agni Press, New York, 1971:

“Sri Chinmoy’s path is the path of unconditional love, devotion and surrender. It is the path of purity, sincerity and gratitude. It is the path of the heart. It is the path of service that demands transformation and offers God-realisation.

This path is not an escape from reality; on the contrary, it is Reality itself. It is for the strong as well as for the pure in heart.”

— Continue reading Dulal's introduction to My Yogi-Friends, My Avatar-Friends 

Role in Welcoming Seekers

Dulal served as an early president of the Sri Chinmoy Centre and played a role in helping new seekers integrate into the centre. For example, Sarama recounts how Dulal introduced her to Sri Chinmoy.

Ashrita recalls ringing Dulal when he was first interested in meditating with Sri Chinmoy.

Siddhartha Becomes the Buddha

On the evening of 25 May 1973, the former United Nations Secretary-General U Thant attended the first performance of the play, Siddhartha Becomes the Buddha, at Old Mill Farm in Harrison, New York. Dulal is second from left.

Performing with the Master

Dulal was a professional violinist, playing as a viola player in the Little Orchestra Society of New York. In The Life of Sri Chinmoy, Madhuri Sands quotes Dulal sharing an experience of his Master playing through him.

“There was a concert I was nervous about. I had some solos to play in the orchestra and I asked Guru to put a force on me. The force was so strong I found I was playing so relaxed and easily that I realised that if I didn't concentrate I wouldn't know where I was. Afterwards, Guru told me that he was playing. He was playing, and he never took a lesson in his life!”

— Madhuri Sands, Life of Sri Chinmoy, Part 2, Sri Chinmoy Lighthouse, 1972.

In public concerts, Sri Chinmoy would on occasion perform with Dulal.

Ten Divine Secrets

On 6 May 1976, during a celebration of Dulal’s birthday, Dulal asked Sri Chinmoy to reveal some of his inner secrets for the benefit of the disciples. This led to the publication of the book Ten Divine Secrets.

Tribute to Dulal

On 2 October 1993, Sri Chinmoy offered the following tribute to Dulal, one of his pioneer disciples in the West, at a special observance for Dulal held at Aspiration-Ground after Dulal’s earth-departure:

Dulal, the human in me will eternally remain grateful to you. The divine in me will eternally cherish you. Two thousand five hundred years ago, you had a most significant incarnation. You became Lord Buddha’s dearest and closest disciple. In this incarnation you came to another spiritual Master. Your soul knows, your heart knows, your life knows where you are and where you will eternally be: inside my heart and inside Alo’s heart.

The most sincere and most cheerful surrender of the American mind to an Indian heart you were. I have created many, many things in many fields. Your soul’s inner depth felt and realised the beauty, the divinity and the immortality of my creativities in various fields. Your soul’s nobility will remain unparalleled. Your heart’s capacity to assimilate the shortcomings, weaknesses, expectations and demands from many, many, many people who have known you over the years will remain unparalleled. Your smile is made of divine oneness plus divine kindness.

Quite a few times you came to me with problems and problems, countless problems of the disciples, and I asked you for your suggestions to solve the problems. You gave me the suggestions. I looked at you with my heart of compassion and I said, “I shall deal with these problems in totally different ways.” You looked at me and I told you how to deal with the problem. Immediately is the right word, unreservedly is the right word, cheerfully is the right word, unconditionally is the right word: these words can be applied only to your life. You accepted my advice, offering the messages to the disciples in question.

In so many ways, I cannot count, you have served the Supreme in me. Since you left the body yesterday in the afternoon you have come to me so many times, so many. Long, longer, longest conversation we have had, and this special meditation that we held today is also at your express wish. You wanted to have it here at Aspiration-Ground and not anywhere else.

You were not only physically tall, but spiritually also you were tall, extremely, extremely, extremely tall. I have written many, many books. If ever I write a book about you, it will indeed be a very thick volume, with many, many significant incidents and experiences that took place in our mission. With you we started our mission. To you we gave the name Dulal. Dulal means darling. Your soul and your heart are undoubtedly worthy of this name.

Today we had most significant, most significant meditation to love your life, to offer my gratitude to your heart and to be inseparably one with your soul’s vision-light. Now I wish to share something with all the disciples, your brothers and sisters who are still here in the land of the living. When the hour strikes, we shall also join you. You can see us; you will be able to see us infinitely easier than we do. Here I am identifying myself with the disciples.

Now to come back to the significant part. I see so vividly, so vividly, with my third eye that you were inundated with a blue light, a blue aura. There are many auras, but blue is my most significant and most favourite in my life-story. This moment I saw you flying in the blue sky. The sky was flooded with blue light, and you were flying with unimaginable ecstasy. Next moment I saw you swimming, swimming, swimming in the sea of blue light. Flying and swimming, swimming, swimming.

You said, “My Gurudev, I bow to your infinite blessings. I bow to your eternal compassion. I bow to your immortal love. Alo, my Mother, my Mother Divine, my own Mother of Eternity, I shall always love you, I shall always give you my soul’s love and gratitude, love and gratitude. My brothers and sisters, I have only one piece of advice to you all: obey, obey, obey our Gurudev. Do not disobey him. Do not disobey him. Do not disobey him.”

Dulal. Dulal. Dulal. Dulal. Dulal. Dulal. Dulal.

Photos: Sarama (1972, 1974), Bhashwar (1976), Pulak (1993).

The genesis of Sri Chinmoy’s Peace Concerts can be traced back to one auspicious day in June 1965, when he was asked by the Indian Consulate, at the behest of the Asia Society, to set tune to three ancient Bengali poems and sing them at a recital to be held at the Guggenheim Museum in New York.

With barely a week’s notice, the young Chinmoy was desperate to find a harmonium. As it happened, Sher Singh, the security guard at India House, was more than happy to sell him one. In true Indian manner, Chinmoy bargained with the seller, eventually procuring it for just $6. The kind heart of Sher Singh won out. Chinmoy’s first offer of $25 was refused and when they both agreed upon $7, Mr. Singh returned $1 to Chinmoy’s hand.

“That week I practised those three songs on Sher Singh’s harmonium at least forty times. Before the actual performance, during my lunch hour, I had to go to the Asia Society and sing before the Society’s leaders. They were very satisfied.”¹

His career as a concert musician had begun.

At his lectures in the late ’60s and early ’70s, Sri Chinmoy would often play the harmonium and sing a few traditional spiritual songs, as well as some of his own original compositions from an ever-increasing repertoire.

In the summer of 1975, Sri Chinmoy began practising a variety of Eastern and Western instruments, culminating in a twenty-seven instrument concert on his birthday, August 27.

Although the variety of instruments Sri Chinmoy has played since then can be numbered in the hundreds, there are two instruments that have become synonymous with Sri Chinmoy’s musical performances over the years – the Indian esraj and the Western flute.

He first began playing the esraj in New York on February 17, 1976. And in early March that same year, during a lecture tour of Australia, Sri Chinmoy learnt to play the Western flute.

During his lifetime, Sri Chinmoy gained worldwide recognition as a prolific composer and a consummate musician. In 1984, he offered the first of what he called ‘Peace Concerts’ to an audience of 8,500 people in Cologne, Germany. For the next twenty or more years, he travelled the globe sharing the message of peace through his music. His largest concert was held in the year 2000, when 19,000 people gathered to hear him at the Molson Centre in Montreal, Canada.

When asked how his concerts bring peace to the world, he answered with characteristic humility: “In my case, I feel that when I play soulful music and when I sing my spiritual songs, I can offer whatever peace I have to humanity. So this is my way of offering.”²

In total, Sri Chinmoy offered almost 800 Peace Concerts, performing in capacity-filled venues, sharing inspiration with audiences around the world. Speaking on the inspiration behind the concerts, Sri Chinmoy remarked

“When I offer peace concerts,” he said, “thousands of people pray with me and meditate with me. I play different musical instruments and sing for about two hours. The peace-lovers who come to listen inspire me, and I inspire them. Everything is based on inspiration.”³

– Animesh Harrington

Concert Series

Within the Peace Concert umbrella, Sri Chinmoy also did particular series of concerts, dedicated to a particular theme. Of particular note are:

• 1984 — 'Peace: God's Beauty in His Oneness-Home'
• 1985 — 'Peace: Humanity's Perfection-Dance in God's Heart-Garden'
• 1986 — 'Peace: God's Dream-Reality's Oneness-Boat Fulness-Shore'
• 1987 — 'Peace: Man's Life-Tree Progress-Crown on God's Breath-Seed Success-Throne'
• 1989 — Silver Jubilee, Sri Chinmoy's 25 years in the West
• 1990 — 'Oneness-Happiness-Song' (concerts outside the local New York area)
• 1990 — 'Peace-Meditation-Blossoms' (series for New York local-area concerts)
• 1992 — 'Peace: Divinity's Dream on Earth' (series for the east coast of America)
• 1993 — 39 Concerts in honour of Swami Vivekananda
• 1995 — 50 Concerts for the UN 50th Anniversary
• 1996–97 — 50 Concerts for India's 50th Anniversary
• 1998–2000 — New Millennium Concert Series
• 2002–04 — Prayerful Music by Maestro Sri Chinmoy
• 2004–2007 — Harmony Concert Series

This page is a list of Sri Chinmoy’s Peace Concerts, you can search by country and year.⁴ 

• List of Sri Chinmoy Peace Concerts 1-778

Peace Concerts by Country

USA = 437
Germany = 43
Japan = 34
Canada = 20
France = 18
England = 16
Indonesia = 16
Australia = 11
China = 10
Switzerland = 8
Austria = 8
New Zealand = 8
Italy = 7
Norway = 7
Thailand = 7
Myanmar = 6
South Africa = 6
Malaysia = 6
Brazil = 6
Spain = 5
The Philippines = 5
Russia = 5
Sweden = 4
Hungary = 4
Slovakia = 4
Guatemala = 4
Puerto Rico = 3
Scotland = 3
Finland = 3
Chile = 3
Singapore = 3
Iceland = 3
Sri Lanka = 3
Malta = 3
Poland = 3
Viet Nam = 3
Nepal = 3
Czech Republic = 3
Mexico = 3
Turkey = 3
Greece = 2
Egypt = 2
Western Samoa = 2
Zimbabwe = 2
Bulgaria = 2
Cambodia = 2
Morocco = 1
Argentina = 1
Peru = 1
Belgium = 1
The Netherlands = 1
Denmark = 1
Czechoslovakia = 1
Fiji = 1
Rarotonga, Cook Islands = 1
Tahiti = 1
Wales = 1
Bahamas = 1
Vatican City = 1
Paraguay = 1
Romania = 1
Macedonia = 1
Timor-Leste = 1
Slovenia = 1
Mongolia = 1

Video of Peace Concerts

 
Video of Sri Chinmoy Peace Concerts. Photo by Dhanu from Montreal Concert, Canada, 1991.

Endnotes:

1 Sri Chinmoy, My Consulate Years, Agni Press, Jamaica, NY, 1996, p. 35.
2 Sri Chinmoy, Sri Chinmoy Answers, Part 30, Agni Press, Jamaica, NY, 2001.
3 Sri Chinmoy, Sri Chinmoy Answers, Part 23, Agni Press, Jamaica, NY, 2000.
4 Originally published in 500 Compassion-Blessing-Blossoms with new additional information and amendments supplied by concert organisers.

– Animesh Harrington

Lakhan L Mehrotra meets Sri Chinmoy in San Francisco, 27 September 1978.  

Lakhan Lal Mehrotra was Sri Chinmoy's boss whilst Sri Chinmoy worked at the Indian Consulate. Lakhan L. Mehrotra went on to have a distinguished diplomatic career, as well as being a great writer. In fact, Sri Chinmoy wrote:

To our extreme delight, a great author and good ancient history lover, a lover of India's traditional art and of world art, a distributor of the Vedic and Upanishadic lore to the world at large, a promoter of Indian culture throughout the length and breadth of the world, and an unreserved inspirer of perfection within and perfection without is Lakhan Mehrotra.

"Yours is the life of bounty, lofty and free.
  Yours is the soulful seed and fruitful tree."
 

While walking along Eternity's Road, Lakhan Mehrotra, the pilgrim-soul, is offering lovingly and breathlessly his heart's birthless and deathless goodness-fragrance to each and every human being on earth.

— Sri Chinmoy, India, My India. Mother India's Summit-Prides, Agni Press, New York, 1997.

1991 Meeting at Aspiration-Ground

On 23 September 1991, Sri Chinmoy welcomed Lakhan L. Mehrotra to Aspiration-Ground, New York

Sri Chinmoy and Lakhan Mehrotra look at a display of some of Mr Mehrotra's books. The sign above the map states: "Mr Mehrotra's volume of poetry Krivatanjali is a part of the permanent collection of the following libraries."

At one of Sri Chinmoy’s concerts which Mehrotra had recently attended, he offered the following spontaneous message: “… Sri Chinmoy belongs to that stream of thought and sentiment which has shown us the Light for ages… I consider those blessed who sit in his presence and who seek his presence and I know that even after I and you and everyone is gone, his voice and his message will be with us, for that is the Message Supreme to which I bow.”

Sri Chinmoy, Ten Thousand Flower-Flames, Part 25, Agni Press, New York, 1982

Sri Chinmoy told several stories about his time at the Indian Consulate in a book My Consulate Years, including:

Mr. Mehrotra's nobility

One day Mr. Mehrotra’s secretary, Yvonne, was typing and typing. I happened to pass by her desk and she said, “Ghose, do you want to read something?” Mr. Mehrotra had given a talk on Hinduism and Buddhism. I read it and I really enjoyed it. I liked it very, very much. But in two places I thought it would be better to change the words because there were two very minor grammatical mistakes. I told the secretary and then I said, “Do not tell Mr. Mehrotra, for God’s sake, or I will lose my job.”

Mr. Mehrotra used to dictate his speeches, so perhaps she herself had made the errors. Anyway, I begged her not to tell Mr. Mehrotra. But she knew Mr. Mehrotra’s nature. She went and told him and immediately he corrected the mistakes. Then I got a good job. Whenever he was supposed to give a talk, he used to ask Yvonne to show it to me in advance so that I could offer my suggestions. Mr. Mehrotra saw something in me — perhaps a budding literary figure.

So noble people will always be noble.

Mr. Mehrotra's concern

After I had been working at the Consulate for three months, Mr. Mehrotra was sent to Cuba for two or three months. The Indian Government did not have an Ambassador to Cuba, so they wanted Mr. Mehrotra to go there for some time.

I was inspired to write a poem on Mr. Mehrotra. He was going away and God knows when he would come back. I felt so sad that he had to go. At his farewell party in our office, I stood behind his chair and read out the poem about him. He was so moved.

I was not feeling well on the day of farewell. A few weeks later, from Cuba, he wrote a letter to his secretary, Yvonne, who really liked me. In the letter, Mr. Mehrotra asked, “How is Ghose now? How is his physical health? I know about his spiritual health. He is taking good care of it, so I do not have to worry about his spiritual life, but I am worrying about his physical health.”

All kinds of things Mr. Mehrotra asked. He was extremely kind to me from the very beginning. He was my saviour.

Related

27 September 1978 Lakhan L Mehrotra meets Sri Chinmoy at a concert in San Francisco and tribute from L.L. Mehrotra.

On 19 September 1995, Sri Chinmoy gave the opening dedication at a classical music celebration in honour of the opening of the 50th Session of the UN General Assembly. The event was hosted by Ambassador Istvan Nathon of Hungary.

Before the classical chamber concert, Sri Chinmoy gave a short musical offering - singing with the harmonium.

The main classical concert included members of the New York Philharmonic orchestra.

During 1995, Sri Chinmoy gave 50 concerts in honour of the United Nations 50th Anniversary.

Sri Chinmoy practises basketball throws at Aspiration-Ground, 28 August 1996.

Basketball throws 4 July 1996

Basketball-Transcendence

On 4 July 1996, Sri Chinmoy took 1,300 basketball shots from the penalty line in sets of 100. He achieved a strike rate of 863 out of 1,300, with a best of 77 goals out of 100 at 7:40 pm.

This record was later transcended as recorded in Sri Chinmoy Answers —

Interviewer: Do you play basketball?

Sri Chinmoy: In India I used to play basketball. Now I practise taking free throws from the penalty line. Usually I throw a hundred times, and then I take a little rest before throwing another hundred times. I practise on a regular basis when the weather permits it. My highest score is 79.

Interviewer: No kidding — 79 out of 100!

Sri Chinmoy, Sri Chinmoy Answers, Part 11, Agni Press, New York, 1999

Lifting Up the World with a Oneness-Heart — Basketball Players

On 17 September 1988, Sri Chinmoy met and lifted several basketball players, such as Mark Jackson and Ken Bannister.

Sri Chinmoy lifting a total weight of 1,164 lb overhead.

Sri Chinmoy offering prayerful meditation before the lifting.

Songs

“My basketball foul-penalties: 
Charming, challenging realities! 
Behold, out of a hundred seventy-seven! 
God Himself cradles my eyes and hands in Heaven.” 

— Sri Chinmoy, Sri Chinmoy's Rainbow Dreams

On 13 September 1985, an exhibition of Sri Chinmoy's Jharna-Kala art was held at the Jharna-Kala Gallery in Soho Gallery, New York. United Nations representatives from over 40 countries attended the exhibition, which included songs dedicated to peace and the UN, art, and a short meditation with Sri Chinmoy.

The special programme was hosted by Mr Natarajan Krishnan, the Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations, to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the United Nations (24 October 1985).

“I support wholeheartedly Sri Chinmoy’s efforts at the United Nations to establish world peace. I was so happy to be able to host the reception tonight at a gallery exhibiting Sri Chinmoy’s paintings, to welcome diplomats of the Fortieth Session of the General Assembly. It was an unforgettable experience!”

— H.E. Mr Natarajan Krishnan
Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations
13 September 1985

Photos: Ramaniya, Bhashwar