In 1974, two years before Sri Chinmoy visited Australia, he composed his soulful tribute to the island-continent, entitled ‘My Salutation to the Soul of Australia’. In February 1976, the month preceding his arrival in Australia, Sri Chinmoy was consciously preparing for his visit. He would have been diligently working on the ten lectures he was to deliver in five major capital cities; on 19 February, in a radio interview on WRNW in New York, Sri Chinmoy explained the reason for his upcoming visit; and on February 20, whilst on a bus trip to Canada, Sri Chinmoy composed the song ‘O My Australia’. It is also interesting to note that on 17 February, Sri Chinmoy first began playing the esraj – the instrument he chose to play publicly for the first time in Australia. Here is a day-by-day account of this historic tour:
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MARCH 1ST |  |
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“As soon as the plane landed at the airport in Perth, the soul of Australia and I began our inner colloquy.… ‘In India, every day we hear about cricket between Australia and India…. I will play a game where nobody will win or lose…. Here there is no competition; there is no rivalry. It is all oneness. It is our oneness-game. I have come here to devotedly offer my light to you.’” — Sri Chinmoy (Dec. 2, 1991) Read more...
Sri Chinmoy arrives in Perth, the capital of the state of Western Australia, late in the evening after a marathon series of connecting flights from New York. His journey includes a short stopover in San Francisco, then on to Honolulu and across the Pacific Ocean to Sydney, and a 5,000-kilometre transcontinental flight, finally arriving in Perth, 2½ hours behind schedule.
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MARCH 2ND | |
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Ian Cairns: “How do you continue to meditate? Do you just do it by yourself or do you have some school...?”
Sri Chinmoy: “Some surfers come to you because you are an authority on that subject. They know that if they come to you, they will be able to learn everything in a very convincing manner. Again, there have been a few experienced and talented human beings, like Tagore and others, who didn’t go to school. But we can’t say that they are not men of wisdom. No, they are. But these are exceptions.”
Sri Chinmoy meets with world champion surfer Ian Cairns in the morning at ‘Flame-Waves’ restaurant in Perth, WA, Australia.
“Visiting guru Sri Chinmoy ... says people can be pure, perfect, peaceful, divine and right by talking to God. This, he says, can be done by praying, meditating and believing in the link between us and God.” — Daily News
Sri Chinmoy is interviewed at ‘Flame-Waves’ restaurant in the morning by a reporter from the Daily News and the article appears in the final edition of the newspaper the same day in Perth, WA, Australia.
Prior to his first lecture in Australia, Sri Chinmoy offers his most soulful gratitude to the Dean of Perth: “This morning I had the golden opportunity to be blessed by his august presence. His heart’s magnanimity has touched the very depths of my heart. With all the sincerity at my command, I pray to the Christ-consciousness to grant Mother Earth a few more sincere seekers and sincere lovers of mankind like the Dean of Perth, so that our planet earth can have a better peace, a more fulfilling heart and a more satisfying reality.”
Sri Chinmoy meets with the Anglican Dean of Perth Rev. John Cornish in the morning at St George’s Cathedral in Perth, WA, Australia. Their meeting is covered by The West Australian and an article appears in the newspaper the next day.
Sri Chinmoy has an afternoon meeting with Aboriginal poet Jack Davis in Perth, WA, Australia.
Sri Chinmoy delivers his first lecture in Australia, entitled ‘Aspiration’, in the evening at St George’s Cathedral, Perth, WA, Australia. It draws over 500 people and after seating space runs out, many seekers sit cross-legged on the floor.
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MARCH 3RD | |
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“I think a person such as yourself, who is so humble in himself, giving light to people in so-called prominent positions, probably reminds them to be more humble and more dedicated to the thing they’re serving rather than themselves.” — The Right Hon. Ernest Lee-Steere
Sri Chinmoy meets with the Lord Mayor of Perth, the Right Honourable Earnest Lee-Steere, in Perth, WA, Australia.
Sri Chinmoy meets with Mayor Charles Smith of Nedlands and plants a rose bush for world peace at the Nedlands Memorial Rose Gardens in Perth, WA, Australia.
Sri Chinmoy delivers a lecture, entitled ‘Philosophy, Spirituality and Yoga’, at the University of Western Australia in Perth, WA, Australia.
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MARCH 4TH | |
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Sri Chinmoy spontaneously plays his first extemporaneous keyboard improvisation at Flame-Waves restaurant in Perth, WA, Australia. It later becomes Side A of the LP album, ‘Improvisations’.
Sri Chinmoy visits Yanchep National Park, north of Perth in Western Australia. There, Sri Chinmoy sees Australian marsupials for the first time. He delights in seeing the kangaroos and blesses one of the oldest koalas in the park, 17-year-old ‘Nobby’. Also at the park, Sri Chinmoy composes Bengali songs while seated beside the beautiful spring-fed lake, Loch McNess.
Sri Chinmoy creates seven acrylic Jharna-Kala paintings in Perth, Western Australia, which he presents to the Perth Centre.
Sri Chinmoy departs Perth at 11 p.m. for a plane trip across the Australian continent to Sydney, capital of the state of New South Wales, on the East coast.
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MARCH 5TH | |
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Sri Chinmoy arrives in Sydney at Kingsford Smith Airport in the early morning. Then, holds a mid-day, public meditation at the University of Sydney, in Sydney, MSW, Australia.
Sri Chinmoy delivers a lecture, entitled ‘Aspiration and Realisation’, at the Town Hall in Sydney, NSW, Australia. Some 400-500 people attend the meeting at which all his Australian disciples sing the ‘Invocation’ together for the first time.
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MARCH 6TH | |
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Sri Chinmoy takes a morning ferry ride to visit Taronga Zoo, Australia’s oldest zoo, on the northern side of Sydney Harbour.
Sri Chinmoy meets with Reverend Ted Noffs, Rector of the Wayside Chapel, who introduces him to the audience before his historic evening lecture, entitled ‘Peace’, at the Wayside Chapel in the heart of the Kings Cross in Sydney, NSW, Australia.
Later in the evening, Sri Chinmoy and his students visit ‘Luna Park’, a 1930s-style funfair and amusement park, at Milsons Point on the northern side of Sydney Harbour, after which, they go ten-pin bowling at Rushcutters Bay Bowl in Sydney’s eastern suburbs.
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MARCH 7TH | |
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Sri Chinmoy creates seven Jharna-Kala chalk sketches in Sydney, NSW, Australia, which he presents to the Sydney Centre.
Sri Chinmoy visits the home of the Australian film and TV actor-singer Barry Crocker and his wife Dene in Sydney’s northern suburbs for a picnic with his students.
Sri Chinmoy makes the first recording of his esraj music at Tin Pan Alley Music studios in Sydney, Australia. He was the first person to record an album there. The vinyl LP record, which also contains vocal tracks, was subsequently released as ‘Peace-Light-Delight’.
Sri Chinmoy takes an evening boat cruise on Sydney Harbour aboard the ‘Captain Cook’ ferry and gives a talk on the ‘Golden Boat’, which is recorded by ABC Radio. The captain allows Sri Chinmoy to steer the ferry for a time.
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MARCH 8TH | |
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Sri Chinmoy delivers a lecture, entitled ‘The Eternal Seeker’, at the Australian National University in Canberra, ACT, Australia.
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MARCH 9TH | |
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Sri Chinmoy delivers a lecture, entitled ‘The Reality Within’, at the State College of Melbourne in Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
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MARCH 10TH | |
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Sri Chinmoy first learns to play the Western flute on a bus journey to Healesville Sanctuary on the outskirts of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Read article…
Sri Chinmoy delivers a lecture, entitled ‘Simplicity, Sincerity, Purity and Divinity’, at the Melbourne Assembly Hall, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
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MARCH 11TH | |
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Sri Chinmoy delivers a lecture, entitled ‘Happiness’, at Monash University in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Excerpt from a letter in 1999: “I have extremely fond memories of my meeting with Sri Chinmoy in 1976. In the intervening 23 years, his work for peace has shown how one person can have such a positive and profound effect on so many people’s lives.” — Ron Clarke
Sri Chinmoy meets with Ron Clarke — Australian Olympic middle-distance runner and former holder of 17 world records — in Melbourne, VIC, Australia. Sri Chinmoy also composed a song dedicated to the great champion the day before the meeting.
Sri Chinmoy delivers a lecture, entitled ‘Spirituality’, at Brougham Place Congregational Church in Adelaide, SA, Australia.
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MARCH 12TH | |
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“What you are offering is very simple. They aren’t things to learn, intellectual things. It is an attitude of the heart.” — Bishop Phillip Kennedy
Sri Chinmoy meets with Bishop Phillip Kennedy, the Catholic Bishop of Adelaide in Adelaide, SA, Australia.
Sri Chinmoy delivers a lecture, ‘Possession and Satisfaction’, at the University of Adelaide in Adelaide, SA, Australia.
Sri Chinmoy is interviewed on the ABC television show ‘This Day Tonight’ in Adelaide, SA, Australia.
Sri Chinmoy appears on Channel 7 News, where he plays the esraj on television for the first time, in Adelaide, SA, Australia.
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MARCH 13TH | |
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Sri Chinmoy concludes his Australian tour and flies to Pondicherry, India, for a short stay with his family before returning to New York.
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MARCH 31ST | |
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