On 10 August 1977 Sri Chinmoy was invited to an informal gathering at the Wainwright House in Rye, New York, to honour Weyman C. Huckabee, the Laymen's Movement's former Executive Director, for his work in helping to create the UN Meditation Room.
The informal function began with a silent meditation led by Sri Chinmoy, followed by him playing the esraj.
Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjöld was enthusiastic about the creation of a meditation room at the United Nations. When it opened in 1957, he wrote:
We all have within us a center of stillness surrounded by silence.
This house, dedicated to work and debate in the service of peace, should have one room dedicated to silence in the outward sense and stillness in the inner sense...
Dag Hammarskjöld UN.org
On 17 September 1976, [see note below] the members of "Sri Chinmoy: The Peace Meditation at the United Nations" gathered for a few minutes of silence in the Meditation Room of the United Nations. Afterwards Sri Chinmoy spoke about the experience.
This is the first time that all the members of the Meditation Group have gone to the Meditation Room and meditated together. This is a significant occasion for us. But something infinitely more important, this is our soulful tribute to the immortal memory of the UN Pilot, Dag Hammarskjöld. We went to the Meditation Room to observe the anniversary of his death. According to human wisdom, death is a halt, where all movements cease for good. But according to divine wisdom, death is a step we take while walking along Eternity's road.
Continue reading: Sri Chinmoy, The Seeker's Mind, Agni Press, New York, 1978