March


 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

 

MARCH 1ST

 

1972
Sri Chinmoy delivers a lecture, entitled ‘The Philosophy, Religion, Spirituality and Yoga of the Upanishads’, at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst, MA, USA.

 

1973
Sri Chinmoy delivers a talk, entitled ‘The Heart-Peace of the United Nations’, in the Dag Hammarskjöld Auditorium at the United Nations in New York.

 

1983
Sri Chinmoy offers a concert at the Japanese School of New York in Fresh Meadows, NY, USA.

 

1984

MARCH 1ST 1984
MARCH 1ST 1984

Sri Chinmoy begins meditations for members of the United States Congress, at the Rayburn Office Building in Washington, DC, USA.

 

1987
Sri Chinmoy offers a piano performance at Progress-Promise in Jamaica, NY, USA.

 

1988

MARCH 1ST 1988

Sri Chinmoy offers two pipe organ recitals in Connecticut, USA. A morning recital is held at the First United Church of Christ Congregational in Milford. Sri Chinmoy then lifts his own body-weight of 155 pounds and is interviewed on The Fairfield Exchange, a Norwalk-based television show. Next comes an organ recital at Woolsey Hall at Yale University in New Haven, followed by an interview with the New Haven Register. The day ends with a television interview at the college station at the University of Bridgeport. Listen to the CD...

 

1996
The Sydney Opera House is declared a Sri Chinmoy Peace-Blossom by Lloyd Martin, General Manager of the Sydney Opera House Trust, in Sydney Australia. At the same time, the General Manager officially opens the exhibition of Sri Chinmoy’s Dream-Freedom Peace-Birds which are displayed in the Exhibition Hall.

 

1997
Sri Chinmoy offers a Peace Concert (488) at Public School 86 in Jamaica, NY, USA.

 

1999
Slovakia is inaugurated as a Sri Chinmoy Peace-Blossom-Nation at Bratislava Castle in Bratislava, Slovakia.

 

1999
Sri Chinmoy offers two Peace Concerts (midday, an audience of 4,000; and evening, an audience of 4,000) at Sportova Hala Pasienky in Bratislava, Slovakia.

 

1999
Wales is declared a Sri Chinmoy Peace-Blossom.

 

2001
Sri Chinmoy receives the Heart of Kiribati Award.

 

2001
Sri Chinmoy has a private meeting with President Gorbachev, presenting him with a special award ‘President Gorbachev: The Home of Oneness-Peace-Dream-World’ in honour of his late wife Raisa Maximovna Gorbacheva, at The Gorbachev Foundation in Moscow, Russia.

 

2007
Sri Chinmoy meets with Omar Zulfu Livaneli, Member of the Turkish Parliament and UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador – Jamaica, NY, USA.

 

 

 

MARCH 2ND

 

1972
Sri Chinmoy delivers a talk, entitled ‘God: the Supreme Actor. World: the Divine Audience’, in the Dag Hammarskjöld Auditorium at the United Nations in New York.

 

1972
Sri Chinmoy delivers a talk, entitled ‘God’s Compassion and the United Nations’ Dedication’, in the Dag Hammarskjöld Auditorium at the United Nations in New York.

 

1973
Sri Chinmoy delivers a talk, entitled ‘Why?’, in the Dag Hammarskjöld Auditorium at the United Nations in New York, NY.

 

1976

MARCH 2ND 1976

Sri Chinmoy meets with world champion surfer Ian Cairns in the morning at ‘Flame-Waves’ restaurant in Perth, WA, Australia.

 

1976
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.

 

1976

MARCH 2ND 1976

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.

 

1976
Sri Chinmoy has an afternoon meeting with Aboriginal poet Jack Davis in Perth, WA, Australia.

 

1976
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.

 

1977
Sri Chinmoy offers an esraj concert and public meditation at Rockland Community College in Rockland, NY, USA.

 

1980
Sri Chinmoy delivers a talk, entitled ‘The Inner Wealth’, to a small gathering at his home in Jamaica, NY, USA.

 

1981
Sri Chinmoy writes an essay, entitled ‘Women’s Liberation and Oneness-Satisfaction’, which is subsequently read out at a function in honour of International Women’s Day, sponsored by ‘Sri Chinmoy Meditation at the United Nations’ on March 9, 1981, at the UN in New York.

 

1983
Sri Chinmoy offers a concert at the University of California in Berkeley, CA, USA.

 

1985
Sri Chinmoy offers the Preparation-Cry-Smile concert in Jamaica, Queens, New York, prior to his concert tour of Germany.

 

1991
Sri Chinmoy offers a Peace Concert (262) at Buchman Hall in New York, NY, USA.

 

1993
Sri Chinmoy meets with Prince Sigvard and Princess Marianne Bernadotte of Sweden at the United Nations in New York.

 

1999
Sri Chinmoy meets with Michael Kovac, former President of Slovakia in Bratislava, Slovakia.

 

2000
Sri Chinmoy offers his 1,000th Weightlifting Prayer before doing 60 one-arm pushes with 700 pounds, as part of his daily lifting practice at his home in Jamaica, NY, USA.

 

2001
Sri Chinmoy is an honoured guest at President Gorbachev’s 70th Birthday Celebration held at the Grand Hotel Marriott in Moscow, Russia.

 

2001
Sri Chinmoy places a wreath of 70 roses at Raisa Maximovna Gorbacheva’s ‘Long Home’ in Moscow, Russia.

 

2001
Sri Chinmoy receives the Heart of Austria and the Heart of Russia awards.

 

2001
Turkmenistan is declared a Sri Chinmoy Peace-Blossom-Nation.

 

2002
Sri Chinmoy offers a concert to celebrate his 15th Piano Anniversary in Jamaica, NY, USA.

 

2004
To celebrate the 17th anniversary of his piano playing, Sri Chinmoy gives a recital at Public School 86 in Jamaica, New York, NY, USA.

 

2006
Sri Chinmoy delivers a talk, entitled "Real Joy"at Aspiration-Ground in Jamaica, NY, USA.

 

 

 

MARCH 3RD

 

1970
Sri Chinmoy delivers the first in a series of four lectures, entitled ‘Commentary on the Bhagavad Gita’,1 in Vanderbilt Hall at New York University in New York, NY, USA.

 

1976

MARCH 3RD 1976

“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 Ernest Lee-Steere, in Perth, WA, Australia.

 

1976
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.

 

1976
Sri Chinmoy delivers a lecture, entitled ‘Philosophy, Spirituality and Yoga’, at the University of Western Australia in Perth, WA, Australia.

 

1979
Sri Chinmoy runs his first marathon in a time of 4:31:34 at the Bidwell Classic in Chico, CA, USA

 

1980
Sri Chinmoy offers an esraj concert and delivers a lecture, entitled ‘A Life of Blossoming Love’, at the State University of New York in Stony Brook, NY, USA.

 

1981
Sri Chinmoy delivers a lecture, entitled ‘Transcendence’, at Stanford University in Stanford, CA, USA.

 

1990
Sri Chinmoy offers a Peace Concert (226) at Saint Peter’s Church in New York, NY, USA.

 

1999
The Czech Republic is inaugurated as a Sri Chinmoy Peace-Blossom-Nation at Liechtenstein Palace in Prague, Czech Republic.

 

1999

MARCH 3RD 1999

Sri Chinmoy offers a Peace Concert to an audience of 13,000 at the Sportovní Hala Sparta in Prague, Czech Republic.

 

2005
Sri Chinmoy’s artworks are exhibited at the Town Gallery in Trencin, Slovakia.

 

2005
Sri Chinmoy lifts Nobel Peace Laureate Rigoberta Menchú Tum from Guatemala at Aspiration-Ground in Jamaica, New York, NY, USA.

 

 

 

MARCH 4TH

 

1970
Sri Chinmoy delivers a lecture, entitled ‘Sincerity, Purity and Surety’, at Bucknell University in Lewisburg, PA, USA.

 

1970
Sri Chinmoy delivers a lecture, entitled ‘Self-Control’, at Susquehanna University in Selinsgrove, PA, USA.

 

1971
Sri Chinmoy delivers his first Dag Hammarskjöld lecture, entitled ‘Is the Spiritual Life an Escape from Reality?’, at the United Nations in New York.

 

1976
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’.

 

1976
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.

 

1976
Sri Chinmoy creates seven acrylic Jharna-Kala paintings in Perth, Western Australia, which he presents to the Perth Centre.

 

1976
Sri Chinmoy departs Perth at 11 p.m. for a plane trip across the Australian continent to Sydney, the capital of the state of New South Wales, on the East coast.

 

1978
Sri Chinmoy delivers a lecture, entitled ‘We Pray and We Meditate’, at the State University of New York in Albany, NY, USA.

 

1978
Sri Chinmoy delivers a lecture, entitled ‘The Desiring Man, the Aspiring Man and the Self-giving Man’, at the Union College of Schenectady in New York, NY, USA.

 

1983
Sri Chinmoy offers a concert at Trinity Episcopal Church in San Francisco, CA, USA.

 

1991
An exhibition of Sri Chinmoy’s Jharna-Kala artworks opens at Unison Gallery in New Paltz, NY, USA.

 

1998
Sri Chinmoy offers a Peace Concert and an exhibition of his artworks for President Gorbachev and Raisa Maximovna at the Waldorf Astoria in New York, NY, USA.

 

1999
Hungary is inaugurated as a Sri Chinmoy Peace-Blossom-Nation at Danube Palace in Budapest, Hungary.

 

1999

MARCH 4TH 1999

Sri Chinmoy offers a Peace Concert at Köztársaság Square in Budapest, Hungary.

 

2001
Sri Chinmoy receives the Heart of Finland Award.

 

2002

MARCH 4TH 2002

Sri Chinmoy offers a Peace Concert and lifts special guest of honour UN Under-Secretary-General Ibrahim Gambari at Public School 86 in Jamaica, New York, NY, USA.

 

 

 

MARCH 5TH

 

1974
Sri Chinmoy delivers an afternoon lecture (2 p.m.), entitled ‘The Spiritual Life’, in Room 103, at Iowa Western Community College in Council Bluffs, IA, USA.

 

1974
Sri Chinmoy delivers an evening lecture (7:30 p.m.), entitled ‘Silence’, in Battenfield Auditorium, Student Center, at Kansas City College of Osteopathic Medicine in Kansas City, KS, USA.

 

1974
Sri Chinmoy delivers an afternoon lecture (12:30 p.m.), entitled ‘Do We Love God?’, in Omaha Milo Bail Student Center, at the University of Nebraska in Omaha, NE, USA.

 

1974
Sri Chinmoy delivers an evening lecture (9 p.m.), entitled ‘Prayer’, in Room 217, Haag Hall, at the University of Missouri in Kansas City, MO, USA.

 

1976
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, NSW, Australia.

 

1976
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.

 

1977
Sri Chinmoy offers an esraj concert and a public meditation at Loyola College in Montreal, QC, Canada.

 

1977
Sri Chinmoy offers a meditation at ‘The Symposium on Life, Death and Psychic Research’ in Montreal, QC, Canada.

 

1978
Sri Chinmoy delivers a lecture, entitled ‘Liberation’, at the State University of New York in Oneonta, NY, USA.

 

1983
Sri Chinmoy receives the Special Service Award from the New York Road Runners Club.

 

1989
Sri Chinmoy offers a Peace Concert (174), with performances on the piano and pipe organ; delivers a lecture, entitled ‘Meditation’, and recites 5 peace poems, at Alumnae Hall, Brown University, in Providence, RI, USA.

 

2000
Sri Chinmoy meets with Khalid Khannouchi, the world’s fastest marathon runner (2:05:42) at Annam Brahma Restaurant in Jamaica, NY, USA.

 

2001
Sri Chinmoy receives the Heart of Ukraine Award.

 

2005
Sri Chinmoy lifts 22 people including musician Ravi Coltrane, son of legendary musicians John and Alice Coltrane, in Jamaica, NY, USA.

 

 

MARCH 6TH

 

1970
Sri Chinmoy delivers a lecture, entitled ‘Science and Spirituality’, at Hunter College in New York, NY, USA.

 

1974
Sri Chinmoy delivers a lecture, entitled ‘Service’, at 12 noon in the Student Union Theater at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, AR, USA.

 

1974
Sri Chinmoy delivers an afternoon lecture (4 p.m.), entitled ‘Renunciation’ in the Westby Student Center, Great Hall, at the University of Tulsa in Tulsa, OK, USA.

 

1976
Sri Chinmoy takes a morning ferry ride to visit Taronga Zoo, Australia’s oldest zoo, on the northern side of Sydney Harbour.

 

1976

MARCH 6TH 1976

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 Kings Cross in Sydney, NSW, Australia.

 

1976
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.

 

1977
Sri Chinmoy offers an esraj concert and public meditation at Laval University in Quebec City, QC, Canada.

 

1981
Sri Chinmoy offers a concert and delivers a lecture, entitled ‘Perfection’, at the University of California in Berkeley, CA, USA.

 

1986
Sri Chinmoy achieves a lift of 200 lbs., using only his right arm, in Jamaica, NY, USA. Read article…

 

1991
Sri Chinmoy offers a concert for his 15th Western Flute Anniversary in Jamaica, NY, USA.

 

1993
Sri Chinmoy offers a Peace Concert (331) at Public School 220 in Forest Hills, NY, USA.

 

1996
The Sydney Opera House is declared a Sri Chinmoy Peace-Blossom by Lloyd Martin, General Manager of the Sydney Opera House Trust, in Sydney Australia.

 

2001
Sri Chinmoy receives the Heart of Hungary, the Heart of Latvia and the Heart of Macedonia Awards.

 

2003
Sri Chinmoy lifts 12 members of Iceland’s Parliament including President Halldor Blondal, as well as Iceland’s former Prime Minister Steingrímur Hermannsson and 24 other people, in Reykjavik, Iceland.

 

2004
Sri Chinmoy offers a concert to celebrate his 17th Piano Anniversary in Jamaica, NY, USA.

 

2004
Sri Chinmoy meets with singer/songwriter Sting and his wife Trudie at their residence in New York, NY, USA.

 

2006
Sri Chinmoy lifts New Zealand-born soprano singer, ballet dancer, and internationally acclaimed songwriter Hayley Westenra at Aspiration-Ground in Jamaica, NY, USA.

 

 

MARCH 7TH

 

1973
Sri Chinmoy delivers a lecture, entitled ‘Self-Discovery and Transformation’; and the final in the series of four lectures on Kundalini Yoga, entitled ‘The Yoga of Shakti’, at New York University in New York, NY, USA.

 

1974
Sri Chinmoy delivers a morning lecture (9 a.m.), entitled ‘Friendship’, in Room 104, Student Center, at the Southern Methodist University in Dallas, TX, USA.

 

1975
Sri Chinmoy delivers a lecture, entitled ‘Education’, in the Dag Hammarskjöld Library Auditorium at the United Nations, New York. He also answers three questions – 1, 2, 3 — from the audience.

 

1975
Sri Chinmoy completes 100 large Jharna-Kala paintings in 19 hours, in Jamaica, NY, USA.

 

1976
Sri Chinmoy creates seven Jharna-Kala chalk sketches in Sydney, NSW, Australia, which he presents to the Sydney Centre.

 

1976
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.

 

1976
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’.

 

1976
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.

 

1976
Sri Chinmoy offers a talk on "Peace" at Wayside Chapel Kings Cross Sydney, Australia 6 March 1976 - "Peace" - Original Audio Talk.

 

1977
Sri Chinmoy meets with UN Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim at the United Nations in New York and presents him with the book U Thant: Divinity’s Smile and Humanity’s Cry.

 

1978
Sri Chinmoy delivers a lecture, entitled ‘We Concentrate, We Meditate’, at Pace University in White Plains, NY, USA.

 

1981
Sri Chinmoy returns to run the Bidwell Classic marathon in a time of 4:30:21 in Chico, CA, USA. He ran his first ever marathon here, two years earlier, on 3 March 1979.

 

1986
Sri Chinmoy meets with Matina Horner, President of Radcliffe College in Cambridge, MA, USA.

 

1986
Sri Chinmoy inaugurates Harvard Peace Meditation; offers a Peace Concert (65) and delivers a lecture, entitled ‘First Become Peace-Dreamers’, at Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA.

 

1989
Sri Chinmoy offers a Peace Concert (175), with a piano performance and delivers a lecture, entitled ‘Perfection-Fragrance’, and recites two Peace-Concert poems, at Buchman Hall in New York, NY, USA.

 

2000
Bangalore, the capital of the Indian state of Karnataka, is declared a Sri Chinmoy Peace-Blossom.

 

2001
Sri Chinmoy lifts 22 people in Jamaica, NY, USA.

 

2002
Sri Chinmoy gives a discourse on ‘Attachment to Time’ in response to a question from one of his students, at his home in Jamaica, New York, USA.

 

2003
Sri Chinmoy gives a private organ recital at Hallgrimskirkja — the Church of Hallgrimur — in Reykjavik, Iceland.

 

2005
Sri Chinmoy lifts H.E. Mrs. Isatou Njie-Saidy, Vice-President of The Gambia, in Jamaica, NY, USA.

 

 

 

MARCH 8TH

 

1975
The first Jharna-Kala Parade is held on Madison Ave in New York, NY, USA.

 

1976
Sri Chinmoy delivers a lecture, entitled ‘The Eternal Seeker’, at the Australian National University in Canberra, ACT, Australia.

 

1977
Sri Chinmoy offers an esraj concert and a public meditation at Columbia University in New York, NY, USA.

 

1984
Sri Chinmoy offers a 7-hour meditation in Jamaica, NY, USA.

 

1986
Sri Chinmoy offers a concert at Buchman Hall in Manhattan, New York, NY, USA.

 

1989
Sri Chinmoy offers a concert to celebrate his 13th Western Flute Anniversary in Jamaica, NY, USA.

 

1994
Sri Chinmoy’s Jharna-Kala artworks are exhibited at the Mall Gallery in London, UK.

 

2001
Sri Chinmoy receives the Heart of Sri Lanka Award.

 

2003
Sri Chinmoy lifts 32 children from the Omna Ancient Arts Centre in Jamaica, NY, USA.

 

 

 

MARCH 9TH

 

1976
Sri Chinmoy takes an early morning flight from Canberra to Melbourne, the capital of the state of Victoria, before delivering a lunchtime lecture, entitled ‘The Reality Within’, in the Open Stage Theatre at the State College of Melbourne, VIC, Australia.

 

1976
Sri Chinmoy creates seven Jharna-Kala pen drawings in Melbourne, VIC, Australia, which he presents to the Melbourne Centre.

 

1977
Sri Chinmoy offers an esraj concert and public meditation at Queens College in Flushing, NY, USA.

 

1981
Sri Chinmoy delivers a lecture, entitled ‘Concentration-Art’, at Dartmouth College in Hanover, NH, USA.

 

1982

MARCH 9TH 1982

Sri Chinmoy offers a concert at Martin Van Buren High School in New York, NY, USA. Listen to the concert...

 

1990
Sri Chinmoy offers a tribute to Trygve Lie, the first UN Secretary-General, with his daughter, Ms. Guri Lie, as the guest speaker, at the United Nations in New York.

 

1991
Sri Chinmoy offers a Peace Concert (263) at Buchman Hall in New York, NY, USA.

 

1992

MARCH 9TH 1992

Sri Chinmoy plants a Peace Tree and holds a meditation in Kōtoku-In Temple, home of the Daibutsu, Great Buddha, in Kamakura, Japan.

 

1996
Sri Chinmoy offers a Western Flute Anniversary Peace Concert (461) at Public School 86 in Jamaica, NY, USA.

 

1999

MARCH 9TH 1999

“I am very happy you are here. I am happy we are now together.... Thank you very much. Thank you very much. I am really honoured to have taken part and I am happy this moment has come.” — Nelson Mandela

Sri Chinmoy lifts Nelson Mandela, President of South Africa, in Pretoria, South Africa. Watch the video...

 

1999
South Africa is inaugurated as a Sri Chinmoy Peace-Blossom-Nation in Pretoria, South Africa.

 

2001
Sri Chinmoy receives the Heart of Scotland Award.

 

2002
Sri Chinmoy offers a Western Flute Anniversary Concert in Jamaica, NY, USA.

 

 

MARCH 10TH

 

1970
Sri Chinmoy delivers the second in a series of four lectures, entitled ‘Commentary on the Bhagavad Gita’,2 in Vanderbilt Hall at New York University in New York, NY, USA.

 

1976

MARCH 10TH 1976
MARCH 10TH 1976
 

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…

 

1976
Sri Chinmoy delivers a lecture, entitled ‘Simplicity, Sincerity, Purity and Divinity’, at the Melbourne Assembly Hall in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.

 

1980
After months of following a strict diet and exercise regime, Sri Chinmoy finally reaches a body weight of 130 pounds. His students award him the good-humoured ‘Nobelly Prize’.

 

1980
Sri Chinmoy’s meditation group at the UN, sponsors a programme in tribute to International Women’s Day — 8 March being the official date — at the United Nations in New York.

 

1985
Sri Chinmoy meets with legendary saxophonist Clarence Clemons from Bruce Springsteen’s E-Street Band, at Progress-Promise function hall in Jamaica, NY, USA.

 

1988

MARCH 10TH 1988

Sri Chinmoy offers a Peace Concert (147) at Aurora Concert Hall in Florence, Italy.

 

1988
Sri Chinmoy offers an organ recital at Duomo Santa Maria del Fiore — Florence Cathedral — in Florence, Italy.

 

1992
Sri Chinmoy answers questions about his visit to Japan at a press conference in Tokyo, Japan.

 

1992

MARCH 10TH 1992

Sri Chinmoy offers a Peace Concert (298) at the Nippon Budokan Hall to an audience of 12,000 in Tokyo, Japan. Afterwards, some 3,000 seekers slowly file past Sri Chinmoy for darshan, his silent blessing.

 

 

 

MARCH 11TH

 

1970
Sri Chinmoy delivers a lecture, entitled ‘Sincerity and Spirituality’, at Fairleigh Dickinson University in Teaneck, NJ, USA.

 

1970
Sri Chinmoy delivers a lecture, entitled ‘Willpower and Victory’s Crown’, at the State University of New York in Stony Brook, NY, USA.

 

1974
Sri Chinmoy offers a public meditation at Greenwich Public Library, CT, USA.

 

1976

MARCH 11TH 1976

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 on the day before the meeting.

 

1976
On his last morning in Melbourne, Australia, Sri Chinmoy and his students visit Olympic Park, which was the venue for the Olympic Games in 1956. Here Sri Chinmoy runs a few laps, jumps hurdles and uses the broad jump pit. He also visits the Beaurepaire Centre swimming pool adjacent to the stadium.

 

1976
Sri Chinmoy holds a public meditation and delivers a lunchtime lecture, entitled ‘Happiness’, in the Robert Blackwood Memorial Hall at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia.

 

1976
Sri Chinmoy departs Melbourne in the early afternoon by plane bound for Adelaide, the capital of the state of South Australia and the final city on his Australian tour. He arrives at Adelaide Airport at 4:30 p.m.

 

1976
Sri Chinmoy delivers a lecture, entitled ‘Spirituality’, at Brougham Place Congregational Church in Adelaide, SA, Australia.

 

1977
BBC’s UN correspondent, Brian Saxton, records a half-hour interview with Sri Chinmoy at the United Nations in New York.

 

1978
Sri Chinmoy offers a concert and delivers a morning lecture (11:00 a.m.), entitled ‘We Shall Wait’, at the State University College at Buffalo, in Buffalo, NY, USA.

 

1978
Sri Chinmoy delivers an afternoon lecture (3:00 p.m.), entitled ‘We Shall Not Wait’, at the State University of New York (SUNY) in Buffalo, NY, USA.

 

1981
Sri Chinmoy leaves New York for a ten-day visit to Florida, USA.

 

1988
Sri Chinmoy offers a Peace Concert (148) at the Singel Centre in Antwerp, Belgium.

 

1989
Sri Chinmoy offers a 7-hour meditation in Jamaica, NY, USA.

 

1990
Sri Chinmoy gives a talk, entitled ‘To Become like Hanuman’, and answers questions about the great devotee of Sri Ramachandra, at Progress-Promise in Jamaica, New York.

 

1996
Sri Chinmoy performs a concert at Lincoln Center, sponsored by World-Harmony Pilgrim-Dream Foundation in New York, NY, USA.

 

1996

MARCH 11, 1996

Sri Chinmoy is interviewed live from New York on a national ABC Radio programme called ‘Australia Talks Back’ where host Sandy McCutcheon explores the question, “Where have all the gurus gone?” After performing a Peace Concert at the Lincoln Center in New York that evening, Sri Chinmoy gives the answer to Australian listeners (morning, March 12). Of all the gurus who had been popular during the 1960s and ’70s, Sri Chinmoy is the only one to be interviewed on the programme. View the video...

 

2001
Sri Chinmoy lifts 20 people in Jamaica, NY, USA.

 

2003

MARCH 11TH 2003
 

Sri Chinmoy holds the Lifting Up the World with a Oneness-Heart programme for Grammy-Award-winning singer-songwriter Sting and his wife Trudie at the Fourth Universalist Church in New York, NY, USA. A display of Sri Chinmoy’s artworks flanks the nave of the church.

 

2006
Sri Chinmoy offers a concert for his 30th Western Flute Anniversary in Jamaica, NY, USA.

 

2007
Sri Chinmoy performs the first ‘Oneness, Perfect Oneness of the Sun and the Moon’ lift for couples – Sarbottama Tatyana Lebedeva, Russian Olympic gold medal long-jumper and her husband Mahavikram Nikolay Matveev, coach of the Russian National Athletic Team – in Jamaica, NY, USA.

 

 

 

MARCH 12TH

 

1976
Sri Chinmoy is interviewed at a morning press conference held at his hotel, in Adelaide, SA, Australia. There, he sings ‘O My Australia’ and plays the esraj. Later that evening, excerpts go to air on Channel 7 News — the first time his esraj playing had been broadcast on television anywhere in the world.

 

1976

MARCH 12TH 1976

“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, SA, Australia. Also present at the meeting is Sister Patricia Fox as well as the leader of Sri Chinmoy’s Adelaide Centre, Sipra Lloyd.

 

1976
Sri Chinmoy is received at Government House in Adelaide, SA, Australia, where he is the luncheon guest of the Governor of South Australia, Sir Mark Oliphant.

 

1976
Sri Chinmoy visits Adelaide’s ABC TV studios in the afternoon to tape an interview for ‘This Day Tonight’ with compere Geoff Michells for the evening programme.

 

1976
Sri Chinmoy delivers an evening lecture, entitled, ‘Possession and Satisfaction’, in the Napier Lecture Theatre at the University of Adelaide, SA, Australia. The lecture hall is full to capacity.

 

1976
Sri Chinmoy creates four large acrylic Jharna-Kala paintings and seven ballpoint-pen ink sketches at the Adelaide Centre.

 

1988
Sri Chinmoy is interviewed by Bob de Jong of Veronica TV, the Netherlands.

 

1988
Sri Chinmoy offers an organ recital at St. Bavo Kerk in Haarlem, the Netherlands. The organ Sri Chinmoy plays is one that Mozart had once played when he was around 16 years of age.

 

1988
Sri Chinmoy offers an organ recital at Grote Kerk in Den Haag, the Netherlands.

 

1988
Sri Chinmoy offers a Peace Concert (149) playing various instruments, and a piano performance at the Congress Building in Den Haag, the Netherlands.

 

1990
Sri Chinmoy recounts a dream, ‘The Divine Runner Inspires the Human Runner’.

 

1991
Sri Chinmoy composes the Peace Run song, which has since been sung in over 155 nations and territories around the world as part of the Sri Chinmoy Oneness-Home Peace Run global torch relay.

 

1992
Sri Chinmoy runs a solo 100 metres in a time of 13.91 seconds at the National Stadium in Tokyo, Japan, breaking his previous 100-metre record in the West of 14.13 seconds, set on 18 January 1992, in Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain.

 

2001
Sri Chinmoy receives the Heart of Armenia Award.

 

2006
Sri Chinmoy holds the Peace Torch — the symbol of the Sri Chinmoy Oneness-Home Peace Run — with Olympian Sudhahota Carl Lewis and his mother Ambalika Evelyn Lewis.

 

 

 

MARCH 13TH

 

1975
Sri Chinmoy completes 100 large ‘finger paintings’ in 12 hrs. 45 min., in Jamaica, New York, NY, USA.

 

1976
Sri Chinmoy concludes his first Australian lecture tour, flying out of Adelaide in the early morning to Perth on the west coast for a connecting flight to Madras in India. From there, he goes on to Pondicherry for a two-week stay with his family before returning to New York.

 

1986
Sri Chinmoy achieves a lift of 200 lbs., using only his right arm, setting a new record for his weight (157 lbs.) and age (54 years), at his home gym in Jamaica, New York. Later, Sri Chinmoy is awarded a Certificate of Recognition and Merit by the Amateur Athletic Union of the United States for his noteworthy achievement in lifting 200 pounds with one arm. A similar certificate is presented by the British Amateur Weightlifters Association.

 

1987
Sri Chinmoy pays tribute to his homeland India at a special function sponsored by ‘Sri Chinmoy: The Peace Meditation at the United Nations’, at the UN in New York. Almost 100 Indian officials from the Indian consulate and the UN Secretariat attended, including special guests of honour P.A. Nazareth, Consul-General of India and his wife.

 

1988
Sri Chinmoy offers a Peace Concert (150) and an organ recital at the Odd Fellow Palæet in Copenhagen, Denmark.

 

1989
Sri Chinmoy offers a Peace Concert (156) with a piano performance and delivers a lecture, entitled ‘Oneness-Nest’, at Buchman Hall in New York, NY, USA.

 

1990
Sri Chinmoy offers a Peace Concert (227) at the Community United Methodist Church in Jackson Heights, NY, USA.

 

1992
Sri Chinmoy delivers a lecture at the International Relations Centre in Kyoto, Japan.

 

1992
Sri Chinmoy plants a Peace-Tree at Hana-Haku Park in Osaka, Japan.

 

1993
Sri Chinmoy composes the song, ‘Australia – My Indian Mind Is Flying’.

 

1996
Sri Chinmoy offers a 4-hour meditation in Jamaica, NY, USA.

 

1997
Sri Chinmoy’s artworks are exhibited at Drei Mohren Hotel in Augsburg, Germany.

 

1998
Sri Chinmoy offers a Peace Concert at New York University in New York, NY, USA.

 

2000

MARCH 13TH 2000

Peace Concert at Sala Palatului — Palace Hall — in Bucharest, Romania, which he dedicates to Raisa Maximovna Gorbachev. (2,500 people attended.)

 

2001
Sri Chinmoy receives the Heart of Colombia Award.

 

2001
Germany is declared a Sri Chinmoy Peace-Blossom-Nation.

 

2003
Sri Chinmoy offers a Peace Concert in Jamaica, NY, USA.

 

2004
Sri Chinmoy offers a concert to celebrate his 28th Western Flute Anniversary in Jamaica, NY, USA.

 

2005
Sri Chinmoy gives a short talk, entitled ‘To the End I Will Love the United Nations’, at his home in Jamaica, New York, NY, USA.

 

 

 

MARCH 14TH

 

1977
Sri Chinmoy’s artworks are exhibited at the Sri Chinmoy Gallery in Hamburg, Germany.

 

1978
Sri Chinmoy delivers a talk, entitled ‘Do We Have the Capacity to Help Others?’, at the United Nations in New York.

 

1979
Sri Chinmoy inaugurates a new meditation centre in the New York area — the Gold Centre.

 

1980
Sri Chinmoy delivers a talk, entitled ‘Five Soulful Friends’, in Honolulu, Hawaii, USA. Following the talk, Sri Chinmoy answers questions from the audience.

 

1988
An article about Sri Chinmoy appears in the Dutch newspaper, Haagsche Courant, in the Hague (Den Haag), the Netherlands.

 

1988
Sri Chinmoy offers an organ recital at Ullern Church in Oslo, Norway.

 

1988
Sri Chinmoy offers a Peace Concert (151) and an organ recital at Oslo Konserthus in Oslo, Norway.

 

1992
Sri Chinmoy receives a personally autographed copy of Raisa Gorbacheva’s book, I Hope, at Hotel Gimmond in Kyoto, Japan. Later that day, after arriving in Tokyo, Sri Chinmoy sends her a heartfelt letter of gratitude.

 

1992
Sri Chinmoy meets with the Head Priest of Kiyomizu Temple in Kyoto, Japan.

 

1997
Sri Chinmoy offers a Peace Concert (489) at RWS Economics School in Augsburg, Germany. There is also an exhibition of the 200,000 soul-bird drawings that Sri Chinmoy completed during his six-day visit to Europe.

 

2000

MARCH 14TH 2000

Sri Chinmoy offers a Peace Concert (583) to an audience of 5,000 at the National Palace of Culture, in Sofia, Bulgaria. Also present there is the cosmonaut Gennady Strekalov who had met Sri Chinmoy in New York and brought the ‘Peace Torch’ of the Sri Chinmoy Oneness-Home Peace Run into orbit.

 

2000
Bulgaria is inaugurated as a Sri Chinmoy Peace-Blossom-Nation in Sofia, Bulgaria.

 

2001
Sri Chinmoy lifts 12 people in Jamaica, NY, USA.

 

 

 

MARCH 15TH

 

1974
Sri Chinmoy delivers a lecture entitled, ‘Why Do I Have To Become Spiritual?’, as part of the Dag Hammarskjöld Lecture Series, in the Dag Hammarskjöld Auditorium at the United Nations in New York.

 

1974
Sri Chinmoy is honoured by Donald Irwin, Mayor of Norwalk, in Norwalk, CT, USA.

 

1977
Sri Chinmoy cooks a 22-course meal for 465 of his students to honour the third anniversary of Annam Brahma restaurant in Jamaica, NY, USA. He begins cooking at 1 a.m. and finishes nearly 14 hours later. Orders come in from his meditation centres, as far away as Europe and Australia, and 265 of the dinners are then sent by air express to destinations around the world.

 

1978
Sri Chinmoy inaugurates a new meditation centre in the New York area — the Silver Group.

 

1979
Sri Chinmoy opens a Santana concert with a silent meditation for world peace at Madison Square Garden in New York, NY, USA. 19,000 people join with him in meditation.

 

1980
Sri Chinmoy gives a talk entitled, ‘Hope’, in Honolulu, Hawaii, USA. Following the talk, Sri Chinmoy answers questions from the audience.

 

1986

MARCH 15TH 1986

The first Sri Chinmoy Peace Mile — a permanently marked running course along the river Thames — is inaugurated by the Mayor of Wandsworth in Battersea Park in London, UK. Also attending the ceremony were Members of Parliament, British running champions and dignitaries representing the Greater London Council, the United Nations Association and the Church. The programme includes several races, ending with a peace walk around the course, led by Sri Chinmoy. The ‘Sri Chinmoy Peace Mile’ song, which Sri Chinmoy composed earlier in the day, is sung at the ceremony.

 

1991
Sri Chinmoy receives the World Citizen Humanitarian Award from the World Peace University in Eugene, OR, USA. Dr. F. Richard Schneider, the Chancellor of the private educational institute, which has campuses in Oregon, Chile and Bangladesh, presents the award.

 

1997

MARCH 15TH 1997

Sri Chinmoy meets with Prof. Dr. Anita B. Pfaff, daughter of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, and Prof. Dr. Martin Pfaff, Member of the Bundestag, at their home in Augsburg, Germany.

 

2000
Moldova is declared a Sri Chinmoy Peace-Blossom-Nation.

 

 

 

MARCH 16TH

 

1969
Sri Chinmoy delivers a lecture, entitled ‘God and Myself’, at Brandeis University, Waltham, Massachusetts, USA.

 

1973
Sri Chinmoy delivers a talk, entitled ‘Where Is God?’, at the United Nations in New York.

 

1974
Sri Chinmoy delivers a lecture, entitled ‘Realisation’, at Dalhousie University in Halifax, NS, Canada.

 

1977
Sri Chinmoy offers an esraj concert and reads a selection of his poetry at the Loeb Student Center, New York University, in New York, NY, USA.

 

1980
Sri Chinmoy delivers a lecture, entitled ‘What I Need from God’, and answers audience questions in Honolulu, Hawaii, USA.

 

1986
A 200-mile run is held to honour Sri Chinmoy’s 200-lb. lifting achievement in Flushing Meadows Park, Queens, New York. Twenty-seven of his students enter the event, each one completing the distance in 4 days, ending on 20 March.
 

1988

MARCH 16TH 1988

A message to Sri Chinmoy on his birthday, August 27, 1987: “Best wishes to Sri Chinmoy, a man of peace who is working faithfully and selflessly for peace throughout the world.” — Thorsteinn Pálsson

MARCH 16TH 1988

Sri Chinmoy meets with Prime Minister Thorsteinn Pálsson and President Vigdis Finnbogadottir of Iceland at Government House in Reykjavik, Iceland. Later in the afternoon, Sri Chinmoy meets with the Bishop of Iceland, Pétur Sigurgeirsson.

 

1988
Sri Chinmoy offers an organ recital at Frikirkjan — The Free Church of Reykjavik — in Reykjavik, Iceland.

 

1988
Sri Chinmoy offers a Peace Concert (152) and piano performance at the University Cinema in Reykjavik, Iceland.

 

1988
Sri Chinmoy’s artworks are exhibited at the University Cinema in Reykjavik, Iceland.

 

1989

MARCH 16TH 1989

Sri Chinmoy offers a Peace Concert (177) with a piano performance and delivers a lecture, entitled ‘Desire versus Aspiration’, in Statler Hall at Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA. Following the Peace Concert, Sri Chinmoy meets with Professor Roald Hoffmann, Nobel Laureate in Chemistry (1981).

 

1990
Sri Chinmoy lifts Mats Wilander of Sweden, 1988 world’s no. 1 tennis player, at Aspiration-Ground in Jamaica, NY, USA. Sri Chinmoy also plays a set with the tennis champion.

 

1993

MARCH 16TH 1993

Australia’s capital city Canberra is declared a Sri Chinmoy Peace Capital by the Federal Minister for Sport Ros Kelly. During his stay in the nation’s capital on 26-27 June 1995, Sri Chinmoy visits all five ‘Canberra Sri Chinmoy Peace-Capital’ signs, installed at all entrances to Canberra under the ‘Welcome to Canberra’ signs.

 

1995
Sri Chinmoy holds a special meditation for Annam Brahma customers in conjunction with the New York restaurant’s recent 21st anniversary (15 March). He also answers questions asked by the staff.

 

1996
Sri Chinmoy composes the song ‘Annam Brahma’ as a tribute to the popular vegetarian restaurant, in Jamaica, New York, USA. (The previous day, 15 March, marked its 22nd anniversary.)

 

1999
Sri Chinmoy achieves a standing two-arm lift of 320 lbs. (160 lbs with each arm) — a new double-arm record — in Jamaica, New York, NY, USA.

 

1999
Botswana is declared a Sri Chinmoy Peace-Blossom-Nation by President F.G. Mogae.

 

2001
Sri Chinmoy receives the Heart of St. Lucia Award.

 

2001
Russia is declared a Sri Chinmoy Peace-Blossom-Nation.

 

2002
Paree’s singing group, My Rainbow-Heart, observes its 15th anniversary with a performance for Sri Chinmoy at Public School 86, in Jamaica, New York. At its inception, the girl singers ranged in age from eight to fourteen.

 

2004

MARCH 16TH 2004

“You are part of the spiritual force of love that emanates from God and which will transform the evil of this world into its counterpart. Thank you for persisting and going on, going on. Perhaps the world continues in existence only because of people like yourselves who help to hold it in being.” — Archbishop Desmond Tutu

Sri Chinmoy lifts Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Nobel Peace Laureate, at 11 a.m. at the UN Plaza Hotel in New York, NY, USA.

 

2004
Sri Chinmoy lifts Jenny Craig — founder of an international chain of exercise and weight loss centres — at 3 p.m., at the UN Plaza Hotel in New York, NY, USA.

 

2005
Sri Chinmoy offers remarks on the ‘Importance of Physical Fitness’, in Jamaica, New York, USA.

 

 

 

MARCH 17TH

 

1970
Sri Chinmoy delivers the third in a series of four lectures, entitled ‘Commentary on the Bhagavad Gita’,3 in Vanderbilt Hall at New York University in New York, NY, USA.

 

1974
Sri Chinmoy delivers a lecture, entitled ‘Give, Receive and Become’, at the University of New Brunswick in Fredericton, NB, Canada.

 

1977
Sri Chinmoy and the Meditation Group he leads at the United Nations hold a& special function in honour of UNICEF staff members, at the UN in New York. Members of the Meditation Group perform Sri Chinmoy’s song ‘UNICEF’ for the first time.

 

1978
Sri Chinmoy plays the esraj and delivers a lecture, entitled ‘Progress’, at Hunter College in New York, NY, USA.

 

1980
Sri Chinmoy delivers a lecture, entitled ‘Peace’, in Honolulu, Hawaii, USA.

 

1990
Sri Chinmoy receives a plaque inscribed ‘To the Great Son of India’ together with the Twentieth Century Global Man Award from the Federation of Indian Associations, in New York, NY, USA.

 

1992
Sri Chinmoy holds a special function in honour of Vladimir Petrovsky, United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, at Public School 86 in Jamaica, NY, USA.

 

1997
Sri Chinmoy offers the U Thant Peace Award to Vladimir Petrovsky, Under-Secretary-General, Director-General of the United Nations Office in Geneva, at the residence of Mr. Petrovsky, in Geneva, Switzerland.

 

1999
Sri Chinmoy lifts 160 lbs. with both arms simultaneously — a total weight of 320 lbs. — at his home gym in Jamaica, New York, NY, USA.

 

2000
Venezuela is declared a Sri Chinmoy Peace-Blossom-Nation.

 

2001
Sri Chinmoy lifts 13 people in Jamaica, NY, USA.

 

 

 

MARCH 18TH

 

1970
Sri Chinmoy delivers a lecture, entitled ‘The Inner Poverty’, at Fordham University in the Bronx, NY, USA.

 

1970
Sri Chinmoy delivers a lecture, ‘The Inner Light’, at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, PA, USA.

 

1975
Sri Chinmoy delivers a lecture, entitled ‘Idea and Ideal’, in the Peace Room at the United Nations in New York.

 

1977
Sri Chinmoy answers a series of questions, which were put to him in writing by the members of the United Nations Meditation Group in Geneva.

 

1978
Sri Chinmoy delivers a lecture, entitled ‘Gratitude-Heart’, at the State University of New York in Plattsburgh, NY, USA.

 

1984
Sri Chinmoy is interviewed by television host Russell Barber in New York, NY, USA.

 

1992
Sri Chinmoy meets with the President of Hungary, Árpád Göncz, at the Hungarian Consulate in New York, NY, USA.

 

1996
Sri Chinmoy delivers a lecture, entitled ‘World Peace From A Hindu Perspective: A Hindu World-Peace-Dreamer’, at the College of St. Rose in Albany, NY, USA.

 

1998
Sri Chinmoy receives a ‘Letter of Welcome’ to Seattle and the University of Washington on the occasion of his upcoming Peace Concert (226), from Gary Locke, Governor of the State of Washington. 

 

1999
Sri Chinmoy lifts 170 lbs., with both arms simultaneously — for a total weight of 340 lbs., in Jamaica, NY, USA.

 

 

MARCH 19TH

 

1974
Sri Chinmoy delivers a lecture, entitled ‘Oneness’, at Laval University in Quebec City, QC, Canada.

 

1978
Sri Chinmoy delivers a lecture, entitled ‘Choice’, at the State University of New York in Potsdam, NY, USA.

 

1978
Sri Chinmoy delivers a lecture, entitled ‘The Seeker’s Duty’, at St. Lawrence University in Canton, NY, USA.

 

1983
Sri Chinmoy is an invited guest at the ASUAB Veterans Athletics Championship held at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi, India. He presents the awards to the winners of the 20-kilometre walk and the 400-metre track race on the final day of the meet.

 

1985

MARCH 19TH 1985

“It is the greatest honour which has been granted through me to UNDP today, with this award named after our late Secretary-General U Thant. We consider this award as a symbol of the service rendered on the part of the United Nations for humanity. We are very privileged, honoured and indebted to you today for what you have granted us.” — Üner Kirdar

Sri Chinmoy presents the U Thant Peace Award to the United Nations Development Programme, which is accepted by Dr. Üner Kirdar, Director of the Division of External Relations and Governing Council Secretariat, UNDP, at a ceremony held on U Thant Island in the East River opposite the United Nations building in New York.

 

1997
Sri Chinmoy appears on Long Island’s Cable News 12 in New York, NY, USA.

 

1997
Sri Chinmoy offers a concert for his 21st Western Flute Anniversary in Jamaica, NY, USA. Sri Chinmoy also composes the song, ‘Australiai Western Flute’.

 

1999
Sri Chinmoy offers a prayerful homage to Maestro Yehudi Menuhin (22 April 1916 – 12 March 1999), together with violinist Edna Michell, his lifelong musical associate, and performers from Mannes College of Music, at a special memorial service at the United Nations in New York.

 

 

 

MARCH 20TH

 

1966

MARCH 20TH 1966

“Quite a few hundred people came to the concert. For me to get over one hundred people in those days was really something. But they came and they appreciated my singing. I sang ten devotional songs in Sanskrit and Bengali, and I gave a short commentary on each one.” — Sri Chinmoy

Sri Chinmoy offers his second recital for the Asia Society, held at the Indian Cultural Centre in New York, NY, USA. His first musical performance is in June 1965, at New York’s Guggenheim Museum. Read more...

 

1970
Sri Chinmoy delivers a lecture, entitled ‘The Consciousness of the Body’, at the City College of New York in New York, NY, USA.

 

1974
Sri Chinmoy delivers a lecture, entitled ‘The Human, the Divine and the Supreme’, at Sir George Williams University in Montreal, QC, Canada.

 

1978
Sri Chinmoy delivers a lecture, entitled ‘Let Us Try to Empty the Mind’, at the State University of New York in Stony Brook, NY, USA.

 

1978
One of Sri Chinmoy’s aphorisms appears in Forbes Magazine, USA.

 

1979

MARCH 20TH 1979

Sri Chinmoy hosts a programme at the United Nations in New York to observe the centennial of Albert Einstein’s birth (March 14, 1879). Featured speakers are the President of New York’s City College, the Ambassador of Cyprus, and H.E. Mr. Yehuda Z. Blum, Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations.

 

1986
Sri Chinmoy first lifts a 101-lb. weight from the ground and presses it overhead with one arm, in Jamaica, NY, USA.

 

1987
Sri Chinmoy offers a Peace Concert (96) at Princeton University in Princeton, NJ, USA.

 

1993
Sri Chinmoy offers a Peace Concert (332) at Queens College in Flushing, NY, USA.

 

1994

MARCH 20TH 1994

An exhibition of Sri Chinmoy’s first one million ‘Soul-Bird’ drawings opens at the Heritage Building in Ottawa, ON, Canada. View the video...

 

1997
Sri Chinmoy makes a guest appearance on WBAI’s radio talk show ‘Walden’s Pond’ in New York, NY, USA.

 

2005
Sri Chinmoy lifts HRH Princess Jelisaveta of Yugoslavia, in Jamaica, NY, USA.

 

 

 

MARCH 21ST

 

1974
Sri Chinmoy delivers a lecture, entitled ‘Freedom’, at the University of Sherbrooke in Sherbrooke, QC, Canada.

 

1974
Sri Chinmoy delivers a lecture, entitled ‘Purity’, at the University of Montreal in Montreal, QC, Canada.

 

1975
Sri Chinmoy offers the opening meditation for Earth Day and delivers a talk, entitled ‘Mother Earth’, at Battery Park in New York, NY, USA.

 

1977
Sri Chinmoy receives a letter of appreciation from Paul O’Dwyer, President of the City Council of New York, NY, USA.

 

1978
Sri Chinmoy delivers a lecture, entitled ‘Lord, My Lord’, at the State University of New York in Farmingdale, NY, USA.

 

1979

MARCH 21ST 1979

Upon hearing a song Sri Chinmoy composed in his honour: “What music I hear! Beautiful! He has written a counterpoint like Bach. Every phrase goes with every other phrase so that no matter what you do, you can’t miss.” — Leonard Bernstein

Sri Chinmoy first meets with Leonard Bernstein, composer and conductor, at the maestro’s home in New York, NY, USA.

 

1980
Sri Chinmoy delivers a talk, entitled Because I Need’, at a memorial service for former Ambassador Allard Lowenstein held at the United Nations in New York.

 

1992

MARCH 21ST 1992

Sri Chinmoy offers a Peace Concert (229) in Palac Kultury, Warsaw, Poland.

 

1999
Sri Chinmoy lifts 800 lbs., using a seated calf-raise, in Jamaica, NY, USA.

 

2001
Sri Chinmoy lifts 11 people in Jamaica, NY, USA.

 

2001
Sri Chinmoy receives the Heart of Albania, Heart of Georgia, Heart of Micronesia and Heart of St. Kitts Awards.

 

2001
Bhutan is declared a Sri Chinmoy Peace-Blossom-Nation.

 

 

 

MARCH 22ND

 

1972

 MARCH 22ND 1972

“This meeting of ours has been most essential. The Hindu life and the Christian life shall go together. Your message and my message are the same. When we both leave this world, you and I, we will meet together.” — Pope Paul VI

Sri Chinmoy meets with Pope Paul VI for the first time at The Vatican. The Holy Father presents Sri Chinmoy with the Papal Medal.

 

1974
Sri Chinmoy delivers a noon lecture, entitled ‘Aspiration’, at Queen’s University in Kingston, ON, Canada.

 

1974
Sri Chinmoy delivers an 8 p.m. lecture, entitled ‘Progress’, at the University of Ottawa in Ottawa, ON, Canada.

 

1975
Sri Chinmoy gives an extemporaneous talk to his disciples about how to sing his most sacred song The Invocation, during a bus trip to Boston, MA, USA.

 

1975
Sri Chinmoy holds a public meditation in Boston, MA, USA. While there, Sri Chinmoy is interviewed by two Boston journalists.

 

1977
Sri Chinmoy delivers a lecture, entitled ‘Spirituality Speaks to Simplicity’, at the United Nations in New York.

 

1981
Sri Chinmoy runs the Brooklyn Half-Marathon, in Brooklyn, NY, USA. He completes the course in a time of 1:57:28 — an 8:58 per mile pace.

 

1986
Sri Chinmoy offers a concert at Buchman Hall in Manhattan, NY, USA.

 

1987

MARCH 22ND 1987
MARCH 22ND 1987

Sri Chinmoy offers a Peace Concert (97) with a piano performance at Buchman Hall in New York, NY, USA.

 

1991
Sri Chinmoy is presented with the ‘Our Lady, Queen of Peace’ award by the international Catholic service organisation, the Legion of Mary, during one of the regular weekly meditation meeting Sri Chinmoy conducts at the United Nations in New York. The award is made by Dr. Charles Mercieca on behalf of the Legion.

Later in the day at the UN, Sri Chinmoy is also presented with the ‘Albert Einstein Peace Medallion’ by the founder and president of the Albert Einstein International Academy Foundation, Dr. Marcel Dingli-Attard (a Maltese diplomat). The Academy is an educational and research organisation with headquarters in Independence, Missouri.

 

1992
Sri Chinmoy runs two solo time trials for 100 metres at an indoor venue in Warsaw, Poland. The first trial is run in 14.60 seconds; the second, in 14.73 seconds. His body weight is approximately 153 pounds.

 

1992
Sri Chinmoy attends the inauguration of a Sri Chinmoy Peace Mile at Park Szczęśliwice (State of Happiness) in Warsaw, Poland.

 

1999
The Gambia is declared a Sri Chinmoy Peace-Blossom-Nation by President Yahya A.J.J. Jammeh.

 

1999
Sri Chinmoy lifts 200 lbs. with each arm simultaneously — a total weight of 400 lbs. — in Jamaica, NY, USA.

 

2000
India’s capital New Delhi is declared a Sri Chinmoy Peace-Blossom by Mayor Meera Kanwaria.

 

2003
Sri Chinmoy lifts 35 Guyanese and Indian citizens, in Jamaica, NY, USA.

 

 

 

MARCH 23RD

 

1973
Sri Chinmoy begins writing The Dance of Life poetry series, in Jamaica, NY, USA.

 

1973
Sri Chinmoy holds a public meditation at Riverside Church in Manhattan, New York, NY, USA.

 

1974
Sri Chinmoy delivers a midday lecture, entitled ‘Limitation’, at Trent University in Peterborough, ON, Canada. After the lecture, Sri Chinmoy answers questions from the audience.

 

1977
Sri Chinmoy offers a special concert and meditation for members of the African-American community at International House, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA.

 

1978
Sri Chinmoy delivers a talk at the New School for Social Research in New York, NY, USA.

 

1980
Sri Chinmoy runs a personal best for 3.5 miles in 25:29 (7:17 pace) at the ‘March Speed Run’ in Prospect Park, Brooklyn, NY, USA.

 

1985
Sri Chinmoy offers two Peace Concertsmidday (25) and evening (26) — at Hochschule der Künste in Berlin, Germany.

 

1991
Sri Chinmoy offers a Peace Concert (264) at Buchman Hall in New York, NY, USA.

 

1992
Sri Chinmoy attends the inauguration of a natural spring inside Powsin Park near Warsaw, Poland, as a Sri Chinmoy Peace-Blossom. Powsin Park was originally an American Embassy recreation park, later gifted to the City of Warsaw.

 

1992
Sri Chinmoy meets with Stanislaw Wyganowski, Mayor of Warsaw, in Warsaw, Poland.

 

1992
Sri Chinmoy offers a Peace Concert (300) at Zaklady Mechaniczne Nowotki in Warsaw, Poland. It is Sri Chinmoy’s 300th Peace Concert since he first began on 24 March 1984.

 

1994
A reception for diplomats is held at the exhibition of Sri Chinmoy’s One Million ‘Soul-Bird’ drawings in the Heritage Building, Ottawa, ON, Canada.

 

1996
Sri Chinmoy receives the Fred Lebow Award from the organisers of the Rome Marathon, in Rome, Italy.

 

1997
Sri Chinmoy completes six million ‘Soul-Bird’ drawings, in Jamaica, NY, USA.

 

2000
The city of Vasco da Gama in the Indian state of Goa is declared a Sri Chinmoy Peace-Blossom.

 

2001
Sri Chinmoy receives the Heart of the United Kingdom Award.

 

2003
Sri Chinmoy lifts 41 children and boy scouts at Aspiration-Ground in Jamaica NY, USA.

 

 

 

MARCH 24TH

 

1968
Sri Chinmoy gives a talk, entitled ‘The Guru and the Hostile Forces’ to his disciples at a Centre meeting in his apartment in Manhattan, New York, NY, USA.

 

1969
Sri Chinmoy delivers a lecture, entitled ‘Duty Supreme’, at Boston University in Boston, MA, USA.

 

1970
Sri Chinmoy delivers the final in a series of four lectures, entitled ‘Commentary on the Bhagavad Gita’,4 in Vanderbilt Hall at New York University in New York, NY, USA.

 

1971
Sri Chinmoy is asked a significant question about how to concentrate on the Guru. His answer covers divine love, divine concern, and divine joy or delight.

 

1974
Sri Chinmoy delivers a midday lecture, entitled ‘Spirituality and Satisfaction’, at the University of Toronto in Toronto, ON, Canada.

 

1974
Sri Chinmoy delivers a 7:30 p.m. lecture, entitled ‘Beauty’, at McMaster University in Hamilton, ON, Canada.

 

1980

MARCH 24TH 1980

Sri Chinmoy meets with Ambassador Nicolas Katapodis of Greece at a special function at the United Nations in New York, sponsored by Sri Chinmoy Meditation at the United Nations, in celebration of Greece’s Independence Day.

 

1984

MARCH 24TH 1984
MARCH 24TH 1984MARCH 24TH 1984

Address to the audience at the conclusion of the concert: “Beloved Germany, breathlessly I am bowing to your soul. Soulfully I am loving your heart. Devotedly I am admiring your life. To me, stupendous is your soul. Generous is your heart and precious is your life.... My beloved Germany, to you my aspiration-heart and my dedication-life bow and bow and bow.” — Sri Chinmoy

Sri Chinmoy offers his first Peace Concert (1) — ‘Peace: God's Beauty in His Oneness-Home’ — to an audience of over 8,000 for 3 hours at the Sporthalle in Cologne, Germany. Watch the full-length video of the concert... Listen to the CD recording of the concert...

 

1985

MARCH 24TH 1985
MARCH 24TH 1985

Sri Chinmoy visits the Olympic Stadium in West Berlin, Germany, where Jesse Owens won four gold medals. In a deeply symbolic gesture in honour of his athletic hero, Sri Chinmoy meditates in the reviewing stand from which Hitler had watched the Games in 1936.

 

1985
Sri Chinmoy offers a Peace Concert (27) at Kongresszentrum CCH in Hamburg, Germany.

 

1996

MARCH 24TH 1996
MARCH 24TH 1996

At the request of race director Umberto Silvestri, Sri Chinmoy offers the opening meditation at the Rome City Marathon in Italy. The race has 16,000 participants, including 340 of Sri Chinmoy’s students.

 

1996
Sri Chinmoy meets with Jacques Diouf, Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organisation, in Rome, Italy.

 

2001
Sri Chinmoy lifts 14 people at Public School 86 in Jamaica, NY, USA.

 

 

 

MARCH 25TH

 

1969
Sri Chinmoy delivers a lecture, entitled ‘The Vedanta Philosophy’, at Harvard University in Cambridge, MA, USA.

 

1974
Sri Chinmoy delivers a lecture, entitled ‘Bliss’, at Guelph University in Guelph, ON, Canada.

 

1974
Sri Chinmoy receives a letter of appreciation from U Thant, Secretary-General of the United Nations.

 

1975
Sri Chinmoy gives a talk, entitled ‘You and I’, in the Peace Room of the Church Centre for the United Nations in New York.

 

1975
Sri Chinmoy pays tribute to the great prophet Mohammed — founder of the world religion, Islam — at the Chapel of the Church Centre for the United Nations in New York.

 

1977
Sri Chinmoy offers a public concert at the Ethical Culture Society of New York, NY, USA.

 

1979

MARCH 25TH 1979

Sri Chinmoy runs a personal best for the marathon in a time of 3:55:07 (8:58 pace) at the Heart-Watchers Marathon in Toledo, OH, USA. The temperature at the start of the race is 24°F. This is Sri Chinmoy’s second marathon, having run his first-ever marathon just 22 days earlier. 

 

1979
Toledo Mayor Douglas Degood declares 25 March 1979 in Toledo, Ohio, USA.

 

1984
Sri Chinmoy gives an introductory talk, entitled ‘My Name is not Sri Chinmoy. My Name is Gratitude’, at a meeting with the parents of his German disciples in Cologne, Germany. At the end of the meeting, Sri Chinmoy answers questions from some of the parents.

 

1985
Sri Chinmoy offers a Peace Concert (28) at Gut Buschhof in Bonn-Königswinter, Germany.

 

1991

 MARCH 25TH 1991

Sri Chinmoy meets with Polish President Lech Walesa, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate (1983), and presents him with three songs he had composed in honour of Poland and the President.

 

2001
Sri Chinmoy receives the Heart of Wales Award.

 

2003
Sri Chinmoy lifts 26 actors from the off-Broadway hit ‘The Exonerated’ Sri Chinmoy lifts 26 actors from the off-Broadway hit ‘The Exonerated’ including Brooke Shields, Jill Clayburgh, Marisa Tomei, Robert Vaughn and Montel Williams. The lifts occurred after the play’s 200th performance at Bleecker Street Theatre in Manhattan, New York, NY, USA.

 

2006
Sri Chinmoy inaugurates the Sri Chinmoy Invitational Marathon to be run in New York by his students who have run faster than 3:55:07 within the last 10 years.

 

2007
Sri Chinmoy lifts 7 horses individually, then 3 at once, at DND Horse Stables in Forest Park, NY, USA.

 

 

 

MARCH 26TH

 

1969
Sri Chinmoy delivers a lecture, entitled ‘God and Myself’, at Brandeis University in Waltham, MA, USA.

 

1974
Sri Chinmoy delivers a lecture entitled ‘Service’, at Sir Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, ON, Canada.

 

1979
The Cape Cod Times carries a photo and an article about Sri Chinmoy running his second marathon of the year — the ‘Heartwatchers’ run in Toledo, Ohio.

 

1981
Sri Chinmoy delivers a lecture, entitled ‘Compassion’, at Brown University in Providence, RI, USA.

 

1985
Sri Chinmoy offers a Peace Concert (29) at the Sporthalle in Cologne, Germany.

 

1997
Sri Chinmoy composes the song ‘C.K.G. the Artist’.

 

1999
Scotland is declared a Sri Chinmoy Peace-Blossom.

 

2001
Sri Chinmoy receives the Heart of Switzerland Award.

 

2006

MARCH 26TH 2006
MARCH 26TH 2006

Sri Chinmoy lifts Nikolai Valuev of Russia, WBA Heavyweight World Boxing Champion, at Palais des Congrès in Paris, France. Read article...

 

2007
Sri Chinmoy celebrates the birthday of Ambassador Chowdhury’s wife Marium at Annam Brahma Restaurant in Jamaica, New York, NY, USA.

 

 
 
 

MARCH 27TH

 

1968
Sri Chinmoy is invited to deliver a talk, entitled ‘Joy Unlimited’, at a luncheon held by the Lions Club of the Bronx, at the Westchester-Bronx, NY Branch of the YMCA, New York, USA.

 

1974
Sri Chinmoy delivers a lecture, entitled ‘Spiritual Seekers’, at the University of Windsor in Windsor, ON, Canada.

 

1979

MARCH 27TH 1979
MARCH 27TH 1979
MARCH 27TH 1979

“...there can be no higher religion than our common allegiance to humanity, which is inherent in the Charter of the United Nations and, which indeed, if I may say so, is the message that is implicit in the teachings of Sri Chinmoy.” — H.E. Dr. Rikhi Jaipal

“In thanking you again, we wish you continued success in your magnificent obsession to spread love, caring and commitment to spread an important peace which we all desire in the United Nations.” — Dr. Estefania Aldaba-Lim

Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations H.E. Dr. Rikhi Jaipal presents one of Sri Chinmoy’s paintings to Assistant UN Secretary-General Dr. Estefania Aldaba-Lim, Special Representative for the International Year of the Child, at the UN Church Centre in New York.

 

1979
Sri Chinmoy leads 127 meditations after reaching a record body weight of 127 lbs., in Jamaica, New York, NY, USA.

 

1981
Sri Chinmoy delivers a lecture, entitled ‘The Vision-Dawn’, at Yale University in New Haven, CT, USA.

 

1985
Sri Chinmoy offers a Peace Concert (30) at Friedrich Ebert Halle in Ludwigshafen, Germany.

 

1967
Sri Chinmoy offers a Peace Concert (98) at Our Lady Queen of Martyrs in Forest Hills, NY, USA.

 

1989
Sri Chinmoy offers a Peace Concert (178) and delivers a lecture, entitled ‘Obedience’, at Princeton University in Princeton, NJ, USA.

 

1993
Sri Chinmoy offers a Peace Concert (333) at Louis Pasteur Junior High School 67 in Little Neck, NY, USA.

 

1996
Sri Chinmoy offers a 4-hour meditation in Jamaica, NY, USA.

 

2000
The city of Ahmedabad in the Indian state of Gujarat is declared a Sri Chinmoy Peace-Blossom.

 

2000
Sri Chinmoy offers the U Thant Peace Award to Svenn Kristiansen, Deputy Mayor of Oslo, at the United Nations in New York.

 

2000
Sri Chinmoy offers a Peace Concert, in which he plays 40 instruments to honour Svenn Kristiansen for having run 40 marathons, in Jamaica, NY, USA.

 

2001
Sri Chinmoy offers a Peace Concert at Public School 86 in Jamaica, NY, USA.

 

2003
Sri Chinmoy offers a Peace Concert at Public School 86 in Jamaica, NY, USA.

 

2003
Sri Chinmoy lifts 22 teachers and students at St. Albans, NY, USA.

 

2006
Sri Chinmoy lifts Enoch Effah, world champion of French boxing, at the Palais des Congrès in Paris, France.

 

2006
Sri Chinmoy lifts 10 ambassadors and 16 other people at UNESCO in Paris, France.

 

2007
Sri Chinmoy offers a Peace Concert, ‘Mother Bengal’s Culture-Flood’, dedicated to Rabindranath Tagore, in Jamaica, NY, USA.

 

 


 

MARCH 28TH

 

1973
Sri Chinmoy delivers a lecture, entitled ‘Concentration, Meditation and Contemplation’, in St. Paul’s Chapel at Columbia University in New York, NY, USA.

 

1974
Sri Chinmoy delivers a lecture, entitled ‘Desire-Man, Aspiration-Man, Dream-Man, Reality-Man’, at the University of Western Ontario in London, ON, Canada.

 

1975
In honour of Sri Chinmoy’s 11th year in the West, a new American flag is flown over the Capitol Building in Washington, DC. Senator Lowell Weicker Jr. of Connecticut later presented the flag to Sri Chinmoy.

 

1977
Sri Chinmoy plays the esraj on ‘This Morning Show’, Channel 3 TV, broadcast from Hartford, CT, USA.

 

1977
Annam Brahma restaurant in Jamaica, New York, hosts a banquet for women delegates to the United Nations in honour of International Women’s Day, attracting diplomats from countries as diverse as Egypt, Honduras and Costa Rica. The event is sponsored by the Meditation Group at the UN led by Sri Chinmoy.

 

1978
Sri Chinmoy delivers a lecture, entitled ‘Silence’, at Fordham University in the Bronx, NY, USA.

 

1987
Sri Chinmoy offers a Peace Concert (99) at James J. Reynolds Junior High School in Brooklyn, NY, USA.

 

1992
Sri Chinmoy offers a Peace Concert (301) at Public School 86 in Jamaica, NY, USA.

 

1997
Sri Chinmoy completes one million ‘Soul-Bird’ drawings in 5½ days for a total of seven million ‘Soul-Bird’ drawings in Jamaica, NY, USA.

 

1997
Sri Chinmoy offers a Peace Concert (490) at Yale University in New Haven, CT, USA.

 

2006
Sri Chinmoy meets with Koichiro Matsuura, Director-General of UNESCO, at the UNESCO office in Paris, France

 

2006

MARCH 28TH 2006
MARCH 28TH 2006

Sri Chinmoy offers a World Harmony Concert, sponsored by the Canadian Ambassador to UNESCO, at UNESCO headquarters in Paris, France. Before the programme, Sri Chinmoy lifts UNESCO Ambassadors from eight countries, including China, Japan and Ukraine, as well as other diplomats and luminaries. Also, a selection of Sri Chinmoy’s artworks is exhibited in the building.

 

2006
Sri Chinmoy offers the U Thant Peace Award to Einar Steensnaes, Chairman of the Executive Board of UNESCO, at the UNESCO office in Paris, France.

 

 

MARCH 29TH

 

1969
Sri Chinmoy delivers a lecture, entitled ‘Desire and Aspiration’, at New York University in New York, NY, USA.

 

1974
Sri Chinmoy completes 16 lectures in Canada – later published in My Maple Treewith a talk, entitled ‘Yoga and Faith’, at York University in Toronto, ON, Canada.

 

1977
Sri Chinmoy offers a meditation and esraj concert at the State University of New York in New Paltz, NY, USA.

 

1981
Sri Chinmoy runs a personal best for 2 miles in a time of 13:42 (6:51 pace) at the Sri Chinmoy Race in Westport, CT, USA.

 

1985

MARCH 29TH 1985

Sri Chinmoy offers an afternoon Peace Concert (31) to an audience of 2,000 people at the Deutsches Museum in Munich, Germany.

 

1985

MARCH 29TH 1985

Sri Chinmoy offers an evening Peace Concert (32) to an audience of 2,400 people at the Deutsches Museum in Munich, Germany.

 

1986
Sri Chinmoy offers a 7-hour public meditation at Buchman Hall in New York, NY, USA.

 

1987

MARCH 29TH 1987

Sri Chinmoy offers a Peace Concert (100) with a piano performance at Rippowam High School in Stamford, CT, USA.

 

1997
Sri Chinmoy offers a Peace Concert (491) at Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan (USA) in New York, NY, USA.

 

2000
The Taj Mahal and Vrindavan are declared Sri Chinmoy Peace-Blossoms.

 

2001
Sri Chinmoy reads his poetry at a programme with Pulitzer Prize Authors at the United Nations in New York.

 

2003
Sri Chinmoy lifts Sugata Bose PhD, grandnephew of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, in Jamaica, NY, USA.

 

2004
Sri Chinmoy lifts Yoko Ono, artist and musician, wife of John Lennon, in Jamaica, NY, USA.

 

 

 

MARCH 30TH

 

1978
Sri Chinmoy delivers a lecture, entitled ‘I Watch, I Pray’, at Long Island University in Greenvale, NY, USA.

 

1980
Sri Chinmoy runs personal bests for 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 miles – his 3-mile split time is 21:31 (7:10/mile pace); 4-mile split time is 29:04 (7:16/mile pace); 5-mile split time is 36:39 (7:20/mile pace); 6-mile split time is 44:09 (7:21/mile pace); and 7-mile time is 51:18 (7:20/mile pace) – at the Sri Chinmoy 7-mile Race in Fairfield, CT, USA.

 

1985
Sri Chinmoy offers a Peace Concert (33) at the Stadthalle in Freiburg, Germany.

 

1991
Sri Chinmoy offers a Peace Concert (265) at Buchman Hall in New York, NY, USA.

 

1993
Sri Chinmoy receives the Award of Excellence from the UN Society of Writers (the society’s highest award) for the completion of his 900th book, Love, Compassion, Forgiveness, which he had dedicated to President Gorbachev. Sri Chinmoy then reads two of his poems — his very first poem in English, ‘The Golden Flute’, written around 1952-53, and a poem he had written just a few hours prior to the award ceremony held at the United Nations in New York. Sri Chinmoy concludes with a note of gratitude to his hosts and a short talk, entitled ‘American Freedom in My Poetry’.

 

 

 

MARCH 31ST

 

1975
An exhibition of Sri Chinmoy’s Jharna-Kala paintings opens at a gallery at 154 Wooster Street in Soho, New York, NY, USA.

 

1976
Sri Chinmoy opens an evening concert of classical Indian music with two Bengali songs and a short meditation at the United Nations in New York. The programme, which is sponsored by the United Nations Meditation Group as a fundraising effort for UNICEF, includes recitals by classical singer Jyoti Pandit and sarod player Vasant Rai.

 

1985
Sri Chinmoy offers a morning Peace Concert (34) at Küchlin Theatre in Basel, Switzerland.

 

1985

MARCH 31ST 1985
MARCH 31ST 1985

Sri Chinmoy offers an evening Peace Concert (35) at Hallenstadion to an audience of 5,500 in Zurich, Switzerland. View the video...

 

1986
Sri Chinmoy offers a Peace Concert (66) at New York University in New York, NY, USA.

 

1989
Sri Chinmoy offers a Peace Concert at Schloss Wilhelminenberg in Vienna, Austria.

 

1993
Sri Chinmoy lifts Arno A. Penzias, 1978 Nobel Laureate for Physics, in Jamaica, NY, USA.

 

2000
Sri Chinmoy offers a Peace Concert (585) at the Sun Dome Stadium, University of South Florida, in Tampa, FL, USA.

 

2001
Sri Chinmoy lifts 13 people in Jamaica, NY, USA.

 

2001
Sri Chinmoy receives the Heart of Kuwait Award.

 

2001
England is declared a Sri Chinmoy Peace-Blossom.

 

 

April


 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

 

APRIL 1ST

 

1969
Sri Chinmoy is invited to speak at the Gandhi Centenary at the University of the West Indies in Mona, Jamaica. The talk, entitled ‘Mahatma Gandhi’, is subsequently printed in Mother India’s Lighthouse.

 

1971
Sri Chinmoy delivers a talk, entitled ‘Does Meditation Really Accomplish Anything?’, in the Dag Hammarskjöld Auditorium at the United Nations in New York, NY.

 

1978
Sri Chinmoy delivers a lecture, entitled ‘Faith, Love, Devotion and Surrender’, at State University of New York (SUNY) at Oswego NY, USA.

 

1978
Sri Chinmoy offers a concert and delivers a lecture, entitled ‘Appreciation, Admiration, Adoration and Love’, at Cornell University in Ithaca, NY, USA.

 

1981
Sri Chinmoy delivers a lecture, entitled ‘Contemplation’, at Columbia University in New York, NY, USA.

 

1985
Sri Chinmoy offers an afternoon Peace Concert (36) at the Wiener Konzerthaus in Vienna, Austria.

 

1985
Sri Chinmoy offers an evening Peace Concert (37) at the Wiener Konzerthaus in Vienna, Austria.

 

1988
Sri Chinmoy holds a public meditation for spiritual seekers in Buchman Hall in Manhattan, NY, USA. He meditates in silence, plays music and answers questions. Three other similar programmes were held at the same venue during April and May.

 

1989
Sri Chinmoy offers a Peace Concert (179) and delivers a morning lecture, entitled ‘My Success-Life and My Progress-Life’, at the University of Vienna in Vienna, Austria.

 

1989
Sri Chinmoy offers a Peace Concert (180) and delivers an evening lecture, entitled ‘Surrender’, at the Kurhalle Oberlaa in Vienna, Austria.

 

1994

APRIL 1ST 1994

From a message on April 4, 1994: “I would like to congratulate You for the new amazing achievement of Your creative spirit. With great joy, I have learned that You created a portrayal of two million birds and that the number of books written by You has reached one thousand. Undoubtedly these creations will be able to inspire … while simultaneously helping the noble cause of the spiritual renewal of mankind.” — President Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev

Sri Chinmoy completes 2 million Soul-Bird drawings in Jamaica, NY, USA.

 

 

 

APRIL 2ND

 

1976
Sri Chinmoy completes 27 Jharna-Kala paintings in 27 minutes in Jamaica, NY, USA.

 

1978
Sri Chinmoy delivers a lecture, entitled ‘Success and Progress’, at New York State University in Cortland, NY, USA.

 

1978
Sri Chinmoy offers a concert and delivers a lecture, entitled ‘Our Human Life and Our Divine Life’, at Syracuse University in Syracuse, NY, USA.

 

1978
Sri Chinmoy delivers a lecture, entitled ‘What Shall I Make of Myself?’, at New York State University in Binghamton, NY, USA.

 

1987
Sri Chinmoy offers a piano performance at Progress-Promise in Jamaica, NY, USA.

 

1989
Sri Chinmoy visits the Heiligenkreuz Monastery in Austria where he prays and meditates with the nuns and the Mother Superior, and answers their questions about spirituality and religion.

 

1993
Sri Chinmoy lifts Gajanan Wakankar, Consul General of India to New York, in Jamaica, NY, USA.

 

1994
Sri Chinmoy offers the opening meditation at the World Choir Concert and meets American poet Maya Angelou in Atlanta, GA, USA.

 

1998

APRIL 2ND 1998

From a letter to Sri Chinmoy: “You are more than ... ‘The Light of Asia’: you are, in your efforts to promote peace and harmony ... the light of the world ....” — Prof. Shawn Wong, Chairman, English Department, University of Washington

Sri Chinmoy delivers a lecture, entitled ‘Poet and Poetry’, and receives the Light of Asia Award at the University of Washington in Seattle, WA, USA. Listen to Poet and Poetry recording…

 

1996
Sri Chinmoy offers a Peace Concert (536) at the opening of a week-long Soul-Bird drawings exhibition held at the University of Washington in Seattle, WA, USA.

 

2007
Sri Chinmoy lifts James Nachtwey, award-winning photojournalist, in Jamaica, NY, USA.

 

 

 

APRIL 3RD

 

1970
Sri Chinmoy delivers a lecture on the great American poet ‘Robert Frost’, at Dartmouth College in Hanover, NH, USA.

 

1976
An exhibition of Sri Chinmoy’s artworks opens in Greenwich Village in New York, NY, USA.

 

1978
Sri Chinmoy delivers a lecture, entitled ‘God’s World and Man’s World’, at New York State University in Purchase, NY, USA.

 

1986
Sri Chinmoy offers a Peace Concert (68) and delivers a lecture, entitled ‘A Seeker’s Peace’, at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, NJ, USA.

 

1989
Sri Chinmoy offers a Peace Concert (181) with a piano performance and a lecture, entitled ‘Happiness’, at Friedrich Ebert Halle in Ludwigshafen, Germany.

 

1990
Sri Chinmoy offers a Peace Concert (228) for the 20th anniversary of Sri Chinmoy: The Peace Meditation at the United Nations – UN, NY.

 

1993
Sri Chinmoy lifts Hans Janitschek, President, UN Society of Writers – Jamaica, NY, USA.

 

1993
Sri Chinmoy offers a Peace Concert (334) in Jackson Heights, NY, USA.

 

1996

APRIL 3RD 1996

Sri Chinmoy achieves a vertical step-up onto a 30-inch platform in Jamaica, NY, USA. Read article…

 

2001
Sri Chinmoy receives the Heart of Japan Award.

 

 

 

APRIL 4TH

 

1973
Sri Chinmoy delivers a lecture, entitled ‘The Inner Experience of Peace’, at St. Paul’s Chapel, Columbia University, in New York, NY, USA.

 

1978
Sri Chinmoy delivers a lecture, entitled ‘God’s Will and My Will’, at Adelphi University, Garden City, NY, USA.

 

1984
Sri Chinmoy holds a 7-hour meditation in Jamaica, NY, USA.

 

1987

APRIL 4TH 1987

Sri Chinmoy offers Peace Concert (101) with a piano performance at Prospect Heights High School in Brooklyn, NY, USA.

 

1989
Sri Chinmoy offers a Peace Concert (182) and delivers a lecture, entitled ‘My Passport’, at Heidelberg University in Heidelberg, Germany.

 

1989
Sri Chinmoy lifts Gerd Binnig, 1986 Nobel Laureate for Physics, in Heidelberg, Germany.

 

1992
Sri Chinmoy offers a Peace Concert (302) at Public School 86 in Jamaica, NY, USA.

 

1992
Sri Chinmoy lifts Aleksandr Gorelik, Deputy Chief, International Organisations Department, Russian Foreign Ministry, and Ambassador to the UN, in Jamaica, NY, USA.

 

1993
Sri Chinmoy offers the opening meditation at the Martin Luther King Program, UN Society of Writers at the United Nations in New York.

 

1996
 

APRIL 4TH 1996

Sri Chinmoy achieves a vertical jump onto a 30-inch platform in Jamaica, NY, USA. Read article…

 

2000
India’s largest city, Bombay (Mumbai), is declared a Sri Chinmoy Peace-Blossom.

 

2003
Sri Chinmoy lifts Marin Alsop, Leonard Bernstein’s protégé and first woman conductor of a major US orchestra; and her father Lamar Alsop, previous Concertmaster for the NYC Ballet Orchestra – Jamaica, NY, USA.

 

2003
Sri Chinmoy lifts film star Jeff Goldblum and artist Peter Max in Jamaica, NY, USA.

 

 

APRIL 5TH

 

1973
Sri Chinmoy delivers a talk, entitled ‘No Nation is Unwanted’, in the Dag Hammarskjöld Auditorium at the United Nations in New York.

 

1976
Sri Chinmoy offers the opening meditation at the Interfaith Observance for the World Day of Prayer at the United Nations in New York.

 

1976

APRIL 5TH 1976

”I wish to say that your presence here is a blessing to our gathering. You are truly representative of the spirituality of our home, India … Sri Chinmoy, it is my privilege to say how open our hearts are to receive you … where you bless us by your presence … Ever since I met you for the first time, the link between us has always grown in strength, although we have seen each other only three or four times. But I want to say how greatly I value the meaning of that bond, because it is the one of true dedication to the service of God.” — Pir Vilayat Khan

Sri Chinmoy meets with Pir Vilayat Khan, Head of the Sufi Order in the West, at the Interfaith Observance for the World Day of Prayer at the United Nations in New York.

 

1978
Sri Chinmoy delivers a lecture, entitled ‘Time Changes’, at Hofstra University in Hempstead, NY, USA.

 

1987
Sri Chinmoy offers a Peace Concert (102) at Riverdale Junior High School in the Bronx, NY, USA.

 

1991

APRIL 5TH 1991

”Since I first set my gaze on Sri Chinmoy, since that first moment of encounter, he has always remained prevalent in my heart and soul. He has been a source of inspiration, especially during the trials of life. There are moments when one needs to be able to feel one has a friend somewhere who is sharing the same kind of responsibilities as one is oneself. That deeper friendship is much more than friendship. It is a real sharing at the soul-level between those of us who are dedicated to conveying spiritual teaching to our fellow beings. It is so very deep that it is difficult to describe.” — Pir Vilayat Khan

Sri Chinmoy presents the U Thant Peace Award to Pir Vilayat Khan, Head of the Sufi Order in the West, at the United Nations in New York.

 

2001
Sri Chinmoy receives the Heart of Bolivia Award.

 

 

 

APRIL 6TH

 

1977
Sri Chinmoy plays the esraj and answers questions on WOR-TV’s ‘Straight Talk’ in New York, NY, USA.

 

1978
Sri Chinmoy offers the opening meditation and delivers a lecture, entitled ‘I Have Offered, I Have Received’, at the International Fair of Religions and Philosophies in Montreal, QC, Canada.

 

1981
Sri Chinmoy delivers a lecture, entitled ‘Liberation’, at Princeton University in Princeton, NJ, USA.

 

1991
Sri Chinmoy offers a Peace Concert (266) at Buchman Hall in New York, NY, USA.

 

1997
Sri Chinmoy offers a Peace Concert (492) at Aspiration-Ground in Jamaica, NY, USA.

 

2001
Sri Chinmoy receives the Heart of Sweden Award.

 

 

 

APRIL 7TH

 

1970
Sri Chinmoy delivers a lecture, entitled ‘Consciousness’, at the New School for Social Research in New York, NY, USA.

 

1981
Sri Chinmoy delivers a lecture, entitled ‘Music and Religion’, at Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, MA, USA.

 

1982
Sri Chinmoy offers a solo concert, playing the esraj, flute and harmonium, at Carnegie Hall in New York, NY, USA.

 

1999
Sri Chinmoy offers a 7-hour meditation in Jamaica, NY, USA.

 

2000
Malaysia is declared a Sri Chinmoy Peace-Blossom-Nation

 

2001
Sri Chinmoy lifts 14 people in Jamaica, NY, USA.

 

 

 

APRIL 8TH

 

1966
Sri Chinmoy delivers an extemporaneous talk, entitled ‘Man and God’ – the first in a Spring series of classes on Yoga – at his home in Brooklyn, NY, USA.

 

1970
Sri Chinmoy delivers a lecture, entitled ‘The Inner Freedom’, at Fairfield University in Fairfield, CT, USA.

 

1977
Thirty-six new books by Sri Chinmoy are published in 2½ weeks in Jamaica, NY, USA.

 

1977
Sri Chinmoy appears live to answer listeners’ questions on the Steve Powers Show on WMCA-Radio, in New York, NY, USA.

 

1977
An exhibition of Sri Chinmoy’s Jharna-Kala artworks opens in the West Village, New York, NY, USA.

 

1978
Sri Chinmoy delivers a lecture, entitled ‘I Shall Go On Loving God’, at New York University in New York, NY, USA.

 

1984
‘The First Estate’ interview with Sri Chinmoy airs on WNBC-TV in New York, NY, USA.

 

1986
Sri Chinmoy offers a Peace Concert (67) and delivers a lecture, entitled ‘Where is Peace?’, at Fairleigh Dickinson University in Rutherford, NJ, USA.

 

1989
Sri Chinmoy lifts 17 people in Jamaica, NY, USA.

 

1991

APRIL 8TH 1991
APRIL 8TH 1991

Sri Chinmoy appears on the TV programme ‘Newsline’ in Westchester, NY, USA.

 

1993
Sri Chinmoy offers a Peace Concert (335) at York College in Jamaica, NY, USA.

 

1994
Sri Chinmoy celebrates his mother Yogamaya’s birth centenary, in Jamaica, NY, USA.

 

1995
Sri Chinmoy offers a Peace Concert (403) at Julia Richman High School in New York, NY, USA.

 

 

 

APRIL 9TH

 

1980
Sri Chinmoy delivers ‘Eulogy for Jesse Owens’ in St. Paul’s Chapel at Columbia University in New York, NY, USA.

 

1986
Sri Chinmoy offers a concert and meets with Dr. Karan Singh, three-time Indian Cabinet Minister and son of the last Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir, at Columbia University in New York, NY, USA.

 

1991
 

APRIL 9TH 1991

Sri Chinmoy lifts his own body weight of 150 lbs. 150 times overhead in 11 min. 13 sec., at Aspiration-Ground in Jamaica, NY, USA. Present at the event is Wayne DeMilia, Vice-President of the International Federation of Bodybuilders, who certifies the lifts.

 

1993
Sri Chinmoy lifts Stanley Kalpage, Ambassador of Sri Lanka to the UN; and Kriesnedath Nandoe, Ambassador of Suriname to the UN, in Jamaica, NY, USA.

 

1994
Sri Chinmoy celebrates his mother Yogamaya's Birth Centenary (8 April 1894- 8 April 1994) in Jamaica, Queens, NY, USA, with a week-long programme of meditations, singing and other spiritual activities, indoors and outdoors at Aspiration-Ground.

 

1997
Sri Chinmoy offers a Peace Concert (493) at Public School 86 in Jamaica, NY, USA.

 

2000

APRIL 9TH 1994

”Born as you were in the small village of East Shakpura, Chittagong in 1931, we are proud to claim you as a true son of our beautiful Country. Now you have become a universal brother of humanity.… I am proud to take our place amongst my brothers and sisters, which are a part of the ever-growing and ever-inspiring Sri Chinmoy Peace-Blossoms family.” — Humayun Rasheed Choudhury, Speaker of the Parliament of Bangladesh

Bangladesh is declared a Sri Chinmoy Peace-Blossom-Nation.

 

2001
Sierra Leone is declared a Sri Chinmoy Peace-Blossom-Nation.

 

 

 

APRIL 10TH

 

1970
Sri Chinmoy delivers a lecture, entitled ‘Earthbound Time and Timeless Time’, at Long Island University in Brooklyn, NY, USA.

 

1986
Sri Chinmoy lifts 103¾ pounds overhead from the ground ‘Clean-and-Press’ using only his right arm, in Jamaica, NY, USA.

 

1994
Sri Chinmoy offers a Peace Concert (393), dedicated to the birth centenary of his mother Yogamaya Ghosh, at the Church of St. Paul and St. Andrew in New York, NY, USA.

 

1996
Sri Chinmoy achieves a vertical jump onto a 31-inch platform in Jamaica, NY, USA.

 

1996
Sri Chinmoy offers a Peace Concert (462), at the High School of Fashion Industries in New York, NY, USA.

 

2001
Sri Chinmoy lifts 21 people including Scotland’s Don Ritchie, 100-km and 100-mile outdoor track world-record holder, in Jamaica, NY, USA.

 

2001
Sri Chinmoy receives the Heart of America and Heart of Germany Awards.

 

2004

APRIL 10TH 2004

Sri Chinmoy twice lifts the equivalent of his own 160-pound body weight, 100 times with one arm, at Aspiration-Ground in Jamaica, NY, USA. In the first session, he alternates between his left and right arm to accomplish the feat in 1 minute, 34 seconds. On his second attempt, he completes the lifts in a record time of 1 minute, 17 seconds, using only his left arm. View the video...

 

2006
Sri Chinmoy lifts 46 people in Jamaica, NY, USA.

 

2007
An exhibition of Sri Chinmoy’s Jharna-Kala artworks, hosted by UN Under-Secretary-General Anwarul Chowdhury, is opened at the United Nations in New York.

 

 

 

 

APRIL 11TH

 

1973
Sri Chinmoy delivers a lecture, entitled ‘The Inner Experience of Light’, at St. Paul’s Chapel, Columbia University, in New York, NY, USA.

 

1975
Sri Chinmoy paints 11 large paintings, dedicated to the ‘Soul of America’, in Jamaica, NY, USA.

 

1976
Sri Chinmoy holds a 7-hour meditation — starting at 6:00 a.m. — at Mt. Neboh Congregation in Manhattan, New York, USA.

 

1982
Sri Chinmoy completes 29 miles in a 12-hour walk at Jamaica High School Track and around the school block in Jamaica, New York, NY, USA.

 

1988
Sri Chinmoy offers a Peace Concert (153) together with a piano and organ recital at Alice Tully Hall in Lincoln Center, New York, NY, USA.

 

1990
An exhibition of Sri Chinmoy’s artworks opens at Buchman Hall in New York, NY, USA.

 

1992
Sri Chinmoy offers a Peace Concert (303) at Hunter College in New York, NY, USA.

 

1997
Sri Chinmoy offers a Peace Concert (494) at the High School of Fashion Industries in New York, NY, USA.

 

2000

”In the 36th year of Sri Chinmoy’s quest to spread Bharat Mata’s light to the far corners of the globe, and in homage to our ancient love of peace, it is an honour to declare India, Bharat Mata, as a Peace Nation in the Sri Chinmoy Peace-Blossoms Programme.” — Ananth Kumar, Minister of Tourism and Culture of India

India is declared a Sri Chinmoy Peace-Blossom-Nation.

 

2000
Sri Chinmoy receives the Heart of Azerbaijan Award.

 

2001
Egypt is declared a Sri Chinmoy Peace-Blossom-Nation.

 

2002
Sri Chinmoy offers a Peace Concert and reads his poetry at a reception hosted by the Indian Consulate in New York, NY, USA. A selection of his Jharna-Kala artworks is also exhibited. After the concert, Sri Chinmoy presents one of his paintings to the Consul General of India, Shashi Tripathi, and also one to the Indian Consulate.

 

2006

APRIL 11TH 2006

Sri Chinmoy opens the World Harmony Run in Dag Hammarskjöld Plaza, near the United Nations in New York.

 

2006
Sri Chinmoy lifts 21 people, as part of a special programme for those born in 1931, in Jamaica, NY, USA.

 

2007
Sri Chinmoy lifts a hot-air balloon in Hampton, NJ, USA.

 

 

 

APRIL 12TH

 

1975
Sri Chinmoy offers a concert and exhibits 11 of his Jharna-Kala 4’ x 8’ canvases dedicated to the ‘Soul of America’ at Columbia University in New York, NY, USA.

 

1976
Sri Chinmoy sings 100 new Bengali songs – later published as Illumination-Song and Liberation-Dance part 1 and part 2at his Jharna-Kala Gallery, 200 Mercer Street in Lower Manhattan, New York, NY, USA. The gallery displays some 12,000 of Sri Chinmoy’s paintings, which he had created in the previous sixteen months.

 

1999
Australia is declared a Sri Chinmoy Peace-Blossom-Nation and the world’s first Sri Chinmoy Peace-Continent, by the Government Whip of Australia, Kay Elson. The Government Whip speaks on behalf of the Australian government. 

 

1999
Belize is declared Central America’s first Sri Chinmoy Peace-Blossom-Nation by Prime Minister Said Musa.

 

2001
Sri Chinmoy lifts 20 people in Jamaica, NY, USA.

 

2001
Barbados is declared a Sri Chinmoy Peace-Blossom-Nation.

 

2001
Sri Chinmoy receives the Heart of Eritrea, Heart of Estonia and Heart of South Africa Awards.

 

2004
Sri Chinmoy lifts Olympians including Bob Beamon, 1988 gold medallist in the long jump; Ottis Davis, 1960 gold medallist in 400m and 4 x 400m relay; Diane Dixon, 1984 gold medallist in 400m, 1988 silver medallist in 4 x 400m; Lindy Remigino, 1952 gold medallist in 100m and 4 x 100m; and Jose Torres, Light Heavyweight Boxing Champion of the World – Jamaica, NY, USA.

 

2005
Sri Chinmoy lifts Ustad Sultan Khan, sarangi player, in Jamaica, NY, USA..

 

 

 

APRIL 13TH

 

1964
Sri Chinmoy arrives at John F. Kennedy Airport in New York at 3:30 p.m. on Air India flight 101A from Madras, where he is met by his sponsor, Sam Spanier, Sam’s friend Eric Hughes, and Sri Chinmoy’s co-sponsor Ann Harrison. He stays as the guest of ‘Samie’ and Eric at their Greenwich Village apartment in Manhattan.

 

1966
Sri Chinmoy gives a talk on ‘The Quintessence of Hinduism’ to the Adult Class of Comparative Religion, Temple Beth-El, Laurelton, New York, a liberal Jewish congregation, at the invitation of Rabbi Ronald Millstein. This date marks the completion of Sri Chinmoy’s first two years in the United States.

 

1967
The first official April 13th celebration of Sri Chinmoy’s arrival in the West is held by the AUM Centre in New York, NY, USA. The occasion marks his third anniversary in America.

 

1974
Sri Chinmoy celebrates the tenth anniversary of his arrival in the West by cooking 10 separate dishes for 400 of his students in Jamaica, NY, USA.

 

1976
Sri Chinmoy offers his first concert at Carnegie Hall, entitled Existence-Consciousness-Bliss. This is Sri Chinmoy’s first public performance of the esraj and the cello. His Jharna-Kala artworks are also exhibited – New York, NY, USA.

 

1980
Sri Chinmoy race-walks a personal best for 10 km (6.2 miles) in a time of 1:07:57 (10:57/mile pace) in the New York Walkers Day Walk in Central Park, New York, NY, USA.

 

1991
Sri Chinmoy offers a concert for his 27 years in the West, at Silver Cup Studios, in Long Island City, NY, USA.

 

1993
An exhibition of 32,000 Soul-Bird drawings opens at Kennedy International Airport in New York, NY, USA.

 

1995
Sri Chinmoy receives a Doctor of Philosophy in Religious Science from St. Mark’s Major Seminary and College in Minnesota, USA.

 

1997
Sri Chinmoy meets with President Gorbachev and Raisa Maximovna Gorbacheva (7th meeting) at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York, NY, USA.

 

1999
Estonia is declared a Sri Chinmoy Peace-Blossom-Nation by Prime Minister Mart Laar.

 

1999
Bulgaria is declared a Sri Chinmoy Peace-Blossom-Nation by Deputy Minister of Culture, Panteley Tsankov.

 

1999
Sweden is declared the 21st Sri Chinmoy Peace-Blossom-Nation in a proclamation jointly signed by five National Party and Parliamentary Group Chairpersons.

 

2001
Sri Chinmoy receives the Heart of Italy Award.

 

2001
Sri Chinmoy offers a Peace Concert, performing on 30 instruments, in Queens College Auditorium in Flushing, NY, USA.

 

2002
Sri Chinmoy offers a Peace Concert, performing on 38 instruments for 38 years in the West, in Jamaica, NY, USA.

 

2004
Sri Chinmoy lifts 13 people, including actress Judith Light; Mr. America and Mr. Olympia Chris Dickerson, in Jamaica, NY, USA.

 

2005
Sri Chinmoy offers a Peace Concert in Jamaica, NY, USA.

 

2007
Sri Chinmoy lifts a stone fountain with 50 roses, dedicated to all 50 States of America, in Jamaica, NY, USA.

 

 

 

APRIL 14TH

 

1969
Sri Chinmoy delivers a lecture, entitled ‘How to Please God’, at University of Bridgeport, CT, USA.

 

1970
At the invitation of Secretary-General U Thant, Sri Chinmoy begins conducting twice-weekly meditations for staff, delegates and NGO representatives at the United Nations Headquarters in New York. As director of the ‘United Nations Meditation Group’, which later becomes known as ‘Sri Chinmoy: The Peace Meditation at the United Nations’, Sri Chinmoy serves the spiritual aspirations of the United Nations for over 37 years.

 

1978
Sri Chinmoy holds a public meditation at an exhibition of his Jharna-Kala artworks at Hunter College in New York, NY, USA.

 

1982
Sri Chinmoy spontaneously composes and sings 100 songs from poems in Ten Thousand Flower-Flames for the birth centenary of his father Shashi Kumar Ghosh, at Thomas A. Edison High School in Jamaica, NY, USA.

 

1990
Sri Chinmoy offers a Peace Concert (229) at Hunter College in New York, NY, USA.

 

1994
Sri Chinmoy receives an honorary doctorate in Philosophy and Literature from the Institute of Slavonic Culture in Moscow, Russia.

 

1997
The New York borough of Brooklyn is declared a Sri Chinmoy Peace-Blossom.

 

2002
Sri Chinmoy lifts 39 people in Jamaica, NY, USA.

 

2004
Sri Chinmoy lifts Bob Mathias, 2-time Olympic gold medallist in the decathlon (1948 & 1952), at JFK International Airport, NY, USA.

 

 

 

APRIL 15TH

 

1966
Sri Chinmoy gives a talk, entitled ‘Within Us is Our Goal’ – the second in a Spring series of classes on Yoga – at 350 East 54th St., New York City, NY, USA.

 

1970
Sri Chinmoy delivers a lecture, entitled ‘The Song of Ego’, at Adelphi University in Garden City, NY, USA.

 

1973
An article about Sri Chinmoy appears in The New York Times.

 

1984
Sri Chinmoy offers a Peace Concert (2) at Prospect Park in Brooklyn, NY, USA.

 

1992

APRIL 15TH 1992

”We have an opportunity today in dedicating this site as a peace site for Sri Chinmoy, an opportunity to continue to inspire the visitors who come here every year to feel as we do that peace begins with each one of us, and we can only offer to others what we have ourselves.” — Pamela Walker, Chairman of the Canadian Niagara Parks Commission

Niagara Falls is declared a Sri Chinmoy Peace-Blossom in Canada. Read article…

 

1993
An exhibition of Sri Chinmoy’s Jharna-Kala artworks is held at the Four Seasons Hotel in Philadelphia, PA, USA.

 

1993
Sri Chinmoy meets for the fourth time with President Mikhail Gorbachev and Raisa Maximovna Gorbachev at the Four Seasons Hotel in Philadelphia, PA, USA.

 

1997
Sri Chinmoy lifts 12 people in Jamaica, NY, USA.

 

2002
Sri Chinmoy lifts 38 people in Jamaica, NY, USA.

 

2003
Sri Chinmoy lifts 30 people in Jamaica, NY, USA.

 

2005
Sri Chinmoy lifts 115 people in Jamaica, NY, USA.

 

 

 

APRIL 16TH

 

1969
Sri Chinmoy delivers a lecture, entitled ‘Conscious Oneness with God’, at Columbia University in New York, NY, USA.

 

1975
Sri Chinmoy delivers a lecture, entitled ‘Earth versus Heaven’, at Harvard University in Cambridge, MA, USA.

 

1983
Sri Chinmoy offers a concert at Columbia University in New York, NY, USA.

 

1997
Sri Chinmoy lifts 21 people in Jamaica, NY, USA.

 

1999

APRIL 16TH 1999

Sri Chinmoy is named ‘Messenger of the Millennium’ by the Department of Theology and Religious Studies at St. John’s University in Jamaica, NY, USA, where he is invited to perform a concert and give a talk on the New Millennium, entitled ‘The New Millennium and World Peace’. Sri Chinmoy is also made an honorary member of Theta Alpha Kappa, the National Honour Society for Theology. View the video...

 

2001
Sri Chinmoy lifts 38 people in Jamaica, NY, USA.

 

2001
Sri Chinmoy receives the Heart of Belarus Award.

 

2003
Sri Chinmoy lifts Ossie Davis and his wife Ruby Dee, actors and civil rights activists; Walt Clyde Frazier, member of NBA Basketball Hall of Fame, in Jamaica, NY, USA.

 

 

 

APRIL 17TH

 

1974
Sri Chinmoy delivers an afternoon lecture (2 p.m.), entitled ‘The Practical Reality’, at The Center for Religion and Life, University of Nevada in Reno, NV, USA.

 

1978
Sri Chinmoy delivers a lecture, entitled ‘Who is My Friend on Earth?’, at the State University of New York in Old Westbury, NY, USA.

 

1989
Sri Chinmoy offers a Peace Concert (183) at Julia Richman High School in New York, NY, USA.

 

1998
Sri Chinmoy is presented with the Corazón de Oro, ‘Heart of Gold’ Award, by the Society of Mexican Authors and Composers at a ceremony held in the Dag Hammarskjold Auditorium at the United Nations Headquarters in New York. The award had been conferred on Sri Chinmoy for his “great altruistic service in the cause of world peace” at the Society’s headquarters in Mexico City on 20 January 1998.

 

1998
Sri Chinmoy offers a Peace Concert at the United Nations in New York.

 

2002
Sri Chinmoy lifts 26 people in Jamaica, NY, USA.

 

2002

APRIL 17TH 2002
 APRIL 17TH 2002

After being presented with the award: “I really do not know how to express my joy and gratitude to you, Sri Chinmoy, for encouraging me with this beautiful award.” — Swami Satchidananda

“In you, I clearly see the Rishis of yore and the Vedic seers of the hoary past. In you, I feel Infinity’s Peace and Bliss.” — Sri Chinmoy

Sri Chinmoy presents the U Thant Peace Award to Swami Satchidananda, founder of the worldwide Integral Yoga Institute, at the 87-year-old yoga teacher’s institute in New York, USA.

 

 

 

 

APRIL 18TH

 

1973
Sri Chinmoy delivers a lecture, entitled ‘The Inner Experience of Bliss’, at St. Paul’s Chapel, Columbia University, in New York, NY, USA.

 

1978
Sri Chinmoy delivers a lecture, entitled ‘The Seeker’, at Long Island University in Brooklyn, NY, USA.

 

1983
Sri Chinmoy offers a concert at Harvard University in Cambridge, MA, USA.

 

1991
Sri Chinmoy lifts Aleksandr Razvin, Deputy Soviet Ambassador to the UN, in Jamaica, NY, USA.

 

1999
Sri Chinmoy lifts 200 pounds in each arm simultaneously to the absolute highest point with full arm extension, in New York, USA. 

 

2000
Sri Chinmoy offers a Peace Concert for the 30th Anniversary of Sri Chinmoy: The Peace Meditation at the United Nations, at the UN in New York.

 

2003
Sri Chinmoy lifts Dr. Jane Goodall CBE, British primatologist and 2002 UN Messenger of Peace, in Jamaica, NY, USA.

 

2007
Sri Chinmoy lifts Michael Hebranko, who lost 700 lbs. in 19 months, in Jamaica, NY, USA.

 

 

 

APRIL 19TH

 

1969
Sri Chinmoy delivers a lecture, entitled ‘The Secret of Inner Peace’, at the University of Connecticut in Storrs, CT, USA.

 

1974
Sri Chinmoy delivers an evening lecture (8 p.m.), entitled ‘What has Life Taught Me?’, in the Memorial Chapel, Stanford University in Stanford, CA, USA.

 

1974
Sri Chinmoy receives the Seal of the City of Berkeley from Mayor Warren Widener in Berkeley, CA, USA.

 

1980
Sri Chinmoy plays four tennis pros, winning 48 out of 101 games, at Randall’s Island, NY, USA.

 

1983
Sri Chinmoy delivers a lecture, entitled ‘A Seeker’s Heart-Songs’, at the Center for the Study of World Religions, Harvard Divinity School in Cambridge, MA, USA.

 

1983
Sri Chinmoy receives the Paul Revere Patriot Award from the State of Massachusetts at Harvard University in Cambridge, MA, USA.

 

1986
Sri Chinmoy offers an afternoon Peace Concert (69) and delivers a lecture, entitled ‘God’s Most Treasured Gift’, at the University of Connecticut in Storrs, CT, USA.

 

1986
Sri Chinmoy offers an evening Peace Concert (70) and delivers a lecture, entitled ‘The Way to Abiding Peace’, at Wesleyan University in Middletown, CT, USA.

 

1993
An exhibition of Sri Chinmoy’s Jharna-Kala paintings opens at the State Capitol Building in Stamford, CT, USA.

 

 

 

APRIL 20TH

 

1978
Sri Chinmoy delivers a lecture, entitled ‘My Life’, at New York State University in New Paltz, NY, USA.

 

1980
Sri Chinmoy completes his first 12-hour walk, for a total distance of 45¼ miles, in Jamaica, NY, USA.

 

1981
Sri Chinmoy delivers a lecture, entitled ‘Truth’, at Harvard University in Cambridge, MA, USA.

 

1997
Sri Chinmoy offers a Peace Concert (495) at Aspiration-Ground in Jamaica, NY, USA.

 

2005

 APRIL 20TH 2005

Sri Chinmoy lifts Paula Radcliffe, marathon world record holder, and her husband, 1500m runner Gary Lough, at Aspiration-Ground in Jamaica, NY, USA.

 

 

 

APRIL 21ST

 

1969
Sri Chinmoy delivers a lecture, entitled ‘The Quintessence of Mysticism’, at the American University in Washington, DC, USA.

 

1978
Sri Chinmoy delivers a morning lecture (9 a.m.), entitled ‘Why?’, at New York State University in Geneseo, NY, USA.

 

1978
Sri Chinmoy delivers an afternoon lecture (3 p.m.), entitled ‘Today is a Good and Special Day’, at the University of Rochester in Rochester, NY, USA.

 

1978
Sri Chinmoy delivers an evening lecture (7:30 p.m.), entitled ‘Three Friends: Inspiration, Aspiration and Realisation’, at SUNY at Brockport, Brockport, NY, USA.

 

1981
Sri Chinmoy delivers a lecture, entitled ‘Sound and Silence’, at Radcliffe College in Cambridge, MA, USA.

 

1981
Sri Chinmoy delivers a lecture, entitled ‘Contemplation in Action’, at Wellesley College in Wellesley, MA, USA.

 

1981

APRIL 21ST 1981

“For so long I have dreamed of meeting you…. Whoever has a large heart is the winner. You are the champion of champions, for God has given you a very big heart…. You stand for everything that is good in the running community.” — Sri Chinmoy

”I have heard so much about you – your books, your running…. It is a good sport; it has been good to me. I’ll always keep running. I’m sure you will too.” — Bill Rodgers

Sri Chinmoy meets with Bill Rodgers, champion marathon runner, in Boston, MA, USA.

 

1988
Sri Chinmoy holds a public meditation for spiritual seekers in Buchman Hall in Manhattan, NY, USA. He meditates in silence, plays music and answers questions. Three other similar programmes were held at the same venue during April and May.

 

1990
Sri Chinmoy offers a Peace Concert (230) at the Community Church of New York in New York, NY, USA.

 

1991
Sri Chinmoy offers a piano concert, performing on 27 pianos for 27 years in the West, in Jamaica, NY, USA.

 

1996
Sri Chinmoy performs a standing vertical jump of 32 inches, in Jamaica, NY, USA.

 

1998
Sri Chinmoy offers a Peace Concert at the Church of St. Ann and The Holy Trinity, in Brooklyn, NY, USA.

 

2001
Sri Chinmoy receives the Heart of Venezuela Award.

 

2001
Sri Chinmoy lifts 23 people, including Dr. Davidson L. Hepburn, former Bahamian Ambassador to the United Nations for 10 years, in Jamaica, NY, USA.

 

 

 

APRIL 22ND

 

1966
Sri Chinmoy delivers a talk, entitled ‘Our Peace is Within’ – the third in a Spring series of classes on Yoga, at his home in Brooklyn, NY, USA.

 

1969
Sri Chinmoy delivers a lecture, entitled ‘Action and Liberation’, at George Washington University in Washington, DC, USA.

 

1974
Sri Chinmoy delivers a morning lecture (10 a.m.), entitled ‘Transformation, Liberation, Revelation, Manifestation’, at Portland State University in Portland, OR, USA.

 

1974
Sri Chinmoy delivers an afternoon lecture (4 p.m.), entitled ‘Just for Today’, in Hughes Auditorium, Gonzaga University in Spokane, WA, USA.

 

1974
Sri Chinmoy delivers an evening lecture (7:30 p.m.), entitled ‘The Existence of God’, in the Administration Building at North Idaho Junior College in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, USA.

 

1978
Sri Chinmoy delivers a lecture, entitled ‘A Special Beauty’, at Niagara University in Niagara Falls, NY, USA.

 

1978
Sri Chinmoy delivers a lecture, entitled ‘Delay Not’, at New York State University in Fredonia, NY, USA.

 

1980

APRIL 22ND 1980
APRIL 22ND 1980

Sri Chinmoy meets with Baron Rüdiger von Wechmar, President of the United Nations General Assembly (1980-81); and American civil rights leader Bayard Rustin, at the United Nations in New York.

 

1991
Sri Chinmoy offers a Peace Concert (267) at Hunter College in New York, NY, USA.

 

 

 

 

APRIL 23RD

 

1969
Sri Chinmoy delivers a lecture, entitled ‘The Supreme Secret of Meditation’, at Maryland University in College Park, MD, USA.

 

1971
Sri Chinmoy holds his first public meditation and delivers a lecture, entitled ‘Arise! Awake!’, at Columbia University in New York, NY, USA.

 

1974
Sri Chinmoy delivers a morning lecture (9:30 a.m.), entitled ‘Beauty’, in the Montana Rooms of the Student Center, at the University of Montana in Missoula, MT, USA.

 

1974
Sri Chinmoy delivers an evening lecture (9 p.m.), entitled ‘Philosophy, Religion and Spirituality’, in the Physics Building, at the University of Colorado in Boulder, CO, USA.

 

1974
Sri Chinmoy delivers an evening lecture (10:30 p.m.), entitled ‘Concentration’, at the University of Wyoming in Laramie, WY, USA.

 

1975

APRIL 23RD 1975

Sri Chinmoy delivers a lecture, entitled ‘With Knowledge How Far?’, at Harvard University in Cambridge, MA, USA.

 

1978
Sri Chinmoy delivers a morning lecture (11 a.m.), entitled ‘The Spiritual Life’, at St. Bonaventure University in Olean, NY, USA

 

1978
Sri Chinmoy delivers an afternoon lecture (3 p.m.), entitled ‘Do I Believe in Miracles?’, at Alfred University in Alfred, NY, USA.

 

1989
Sri Chinmoy lifts Pir Vilayat Khan, Head of the Sufi Order in the West, at Columbia University in New York, NY, USA.

 

2001
Sri Chinmoy receives the Heart of Mauritius Award.

 

2003
Sri Chinmoy lifts Susan Sarandon, Academy Award-winning actress, social and political activist, in Jamaica, NY, USA.

 

 

 

APRIL 24TH

 

1970
Sri Chinmoy delivers a lecture, entitled ‘Intuition’, at the University of Maine, Orono, USA.

 

1970
Sri Chinmoy delivers a lecture, entitled ‘Immortality’, at the University of Massachusetts, USA.

 

1974
Sri Chinmoy delivers a morning lecture (10 a.m.), entitled ‘What Has Life Taught Me?’, at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, UT, USA.

 

1974
Sri Chinmoy delivers an afternoon lecture (4 p.m.), entitled ‘Humanity’s Teachers’, at the University of Arizona in Tuscon, AZ, USA.

 

1974
Sri Chinmoy delivers an evening lecture (9 p.m.), entitled ‘Realisation’, at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, NM, USA.

 

1989

APRIL 24TH 1989

A bridge connecting Central Falls and Cumberland in Rhode Island, USA, is dedicated as the first ‘Sri Chinmoy Peace-Blossom’ in the world. Two measured one-mile courses are also dedicated.

 

1991

APRIL 24TH 1991

Sri Chinmoy offers a Peace Concert (268) and piano performance, in the Dag Hammarskjöld Auditorium at the United Nations in New York.

 

1992
Sri Chinmoy offers a Peace Concert (304) dedicated to UN Secretary-General U Thant, in the Dag Hammarskjöld Auditorium at the United Nations in New York.

 

2002
Sri Chinmoy meditates at the start of the Self-Transcendence Six and Ten Day Races organised by the Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team at Flushing Meadows Park in Queens, New York, USA. The ten-day event starts, followed by the six-day event four days later on 28 April, with both races finishing on 4 May.

 

 

 


APRIL 25TH

 

1972
Sri Chinmoy inaugurates a new ‘divine enterprise’ on Parsons Blvd. in Jamaica, New York, USA. He gives it the name, Guru Health Foods.

 

1973
Sri Chinmoy delivers a lecture, entitled ‘The Inner Experience of Power’, at St. Paul’s Chapel, Columbia University, in New York, NY, USA.

 

1976

APRIL 25TH 1976
APRIL 25TH 1976
 APRIL 25TH 1976

”I treasure the feeling of inner joy which I experienced during my visit with you. The peace and happiness that our meeting provided me with will be remembered forever…. Please accept, Guru, the expression of my most soulful gratitude for your divine light, love and concern.” — Juan Albors, Secretary of State of Puerto Rico (1972-1976)

Sri Chinmoy meets with Juan Albors, Secretary of State of Puerto Rico, at the Jharna-Kala Gallery, at 224 Mercer St. in New York City, NY, USA.

 

1981
Sri Chinmoy delivers a lecture, entitled ‘Music’, at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, PA, USA.

 

1993
Sri Chinmoy completes 43,000 Soul-Birds since he began drawing them on December 29th, 1991. He gives the name ‘Eternity’s 13,000 Aspiration-Cries’ to the collection of 13,000 artworks (nos. 30,001–43,000).

 

1996

APRIL 25TH 1996
APRIL 25TH 1996
APRIL 25TH 1996

“Revived
my long-lost jumping thrills –
standing high jump 33 inches!”
— Sri Chinmoy

Sri Chinmoy achieves a standing vertical jump of 33 inches, at his home in Jamaica, New York, NY, USA.

 

1997

APRIL 25TH 1997
APRIL 25TH 1997
APRIL 25TH 1997
APRIL 25TH 1997
APRIL 25TH 1997

Sri Chinmoy leads a silent prayer at the ‘Interfaith Service of Commitment to the Work of the United Nations’, honouring UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and Mrs. Nane Annan, at St. Bartholomew’s Church in New York City, New York, USA.

 

2001
Sri Chinmoy lifts 12 members of ‘The International Center For Peace, Assisi, Italy’, in Jamaica, NY, USA.

 

 

 

APRIL 26TH

 

1976
Sri Chinmoy offers the opening meditation at the performance of his play The Sacred Fire at the Senate Office Building in Washington, DC, USA.

 

1981
Sri Chinmoy delivers a lecture, entitled ‘Satisfaction’, at Anabel Taylor Hall, Cornell University in Ithaca, NY, USA.

 

1986
The 8th annual Sri Chinmoy 24 Hour Road Race finishes and the 2nd annual Sri Chinmoy 1,000 Mile Road Race begins. Sri Chinmoy meditates with the runners at both events, which are held at Flushing Meadows Park in New York, NY, USA. The cut-off for the 1,000-mile event is 11 May 1986.

 

1998
Sri Chinmoy offers a meditation for participants in the Bangladesh Day Parade, organised by the Bangladesh Students Association in New York City, NY USA. As a proud Bengali native himself, Sri Chinmoy walks in the parade.

 

1999
Belgium and Nauru are declared Sri Chinmoy Peace-Blossom-Nations.

 

2000
Sri Chinmoy meets with Precious McKenzie, champion weightlifter in Jamaica, NY, USA.

 

2003
Sri Chinmoy lifts Sid Caesar, comedian; Red Buttons, comedian and Academy Award winner; Nanette Fabray, comedian; and Neil Simon, playwright, in Beverly Hills, CA, USA.

 

2005

APRIL 26TH 2005

Sri Chinmoy offers a Peace Concert at Annam Brahma Restaurant in Jamaica, NY, USA. Listen to the concert...

 

 

 

APRIL 27TH

 

1970
Sri Chinmoy delivers a lecture, entitled ‘Aspiration: The Inner Flame’, at Purdue University in Lafayette, IN, USA.

 

1981
Sri Chinmoy delivers a lecture, entitled ‘Contemplation In The Hindu Tradition’, at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, NY, USA.

 

1982
Sri Chinmoy is invited to open a two-day Conference on Global Perspectives for Religious life with a silent meditation and a short prayer. The event, organised by the Movement for a Better World, is held in the Chapel of the Church Centre for the United Nations in New York.

 

1987

APRIL 27TH 1987

The first Sri Chinmoy Oneness-Home Peace Run begins at Battery Park in New York, NY, USA. View the video...

 

1987
Sri Chinmoy meets with Carly Simon, American singer/songwriter, Academy Award winner and two-time Grammy Award winner, in Jamaica, NY, USA.

 

1993
The State of Florida is proclaimed a ‘Sri Chinmoy Peace State’ by Governor Lawton Chiles in Tallahassee, FL, USA.

 

1997
Sri Chinmoy offers a Peace Concert (496) at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, USA. It is the 27th of 50 concerts he gives to celebrate the 50th anniversary of India’s Independence.

 

1999

APRIL 27TH 1999

Sri Chinmoy lifts 230 lbs. with both arms simultaneously, for a total of 460 lbs., in Jamaica, NY, USA.

 

1999
Ireland is declared a Sri Chinmoy Peace-Blossom-Nation.

 

2001
Sri Chinmoy offers a Peace Concert in Jamaica, NY, USA.

 

2003
Sri Chinmoy plants a Meditation Tree on Parsons Blvd. in Jamaica, NY, USA. Sri Chinmoy lifts 43 people in San Francisco, CA, USA.

 

2004
Sri Chinmoy lifts 44 ambassadors, diplomats and Canadian government officials, including Jean Chrétien, former Prime Minister of Canada, in Ottawa, ON, Canada.

 

 


 

APRIL 28TH

 

1970
Sri Chinmoy delivers a lecture, entitled ‘Reality’, at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, OH, USA.

 

1974
Sri Chinmoy writes 360 poems in 24 hours, which are published the very next day as The Goal Is Won, in Jamaica, NY, USA.

 

1975
Sri Chinmoy paints ‘Supreme, I Bow To Thee’, a 9’ x 16’ canvas, in Jamaica, NY, USA.

 

1975

APRIL 28TH 1975

”He should just continue to draw and paint and flourish like he has been forever and ever and ever.” — Peter Max

Sri Chinmoy meets with American artist Peter Max at the Jharna-Kala Art Gallery in New York, NY, USA.

 

1978
Sri Chinmoy delivers a lecture, entitled ‘A Seeker’s Conversation with his Inner Pilot’, at St. John’s University in Jamaica, NY, USA.

 

1987
Sri Chinmoy offers a Peace Concert (103) at New Rochelle High School in New Rochelle, NY, USA.

 

1988
Sri Chinmoy holds a public meditation for spiritual seekers in Buchman Hall in Manhattan, NY, USA. He meditates in silence, plays music and answers questions. Three other similar programmes were held at the same venue during April and May.

 

1991
Sri Chinmoy offers a Peace Concert (269) at the State University of New York in New Paltz, NY, USA.

 

2001
Sri Chinmoy lifts 13 people in Jamaica, NY, USA.

 

2002
As part of the Sri Chinmoy Ten and Six Day Races, the 6-day race begins at Flushing Meadows Park, Queens, New York, USA. The 10-day race began on 24 April; both races end on 4 May.

 

2005
Sri Chinmoy offers a Peace Concert in Jamaica, NY, USA.

 

 
 
 

APRIL 29TH

 

1966
Sri Chinmoy delivers a talk, entitled ‘Who is Fit for Yoga?’ — the fourth in a Spring series of classes on Yoga — at his home, 4826 New Utrecht Avenue, Brooklyn, NY, USA.

 

1967

APRIL 29TH 1967

Sri Chinmoy meets with French savant Paul Richard in Flatbush, Brooklyn, NY, USA. Paul Richard was a barrister, a candidate in the French Legislative Assembly elections, a philosophical anthropologist, a supporter of Indian independence, and friend to Sri Aurobindo. He was also the second husband of Mme. Mira Alfassa (Mother of the Sri Aurobindo Ashram).

 

1974
The Goal Is Won, a poetry book containing 360 of Sri Chinmoy’s poems, all written the previous day, is published by his students in Jamaica, NY, USA.

 

1976
Sri Chinmoy paints ‘Larger than the Largest’, a 12-by-27-foot canvas, in two hours between 5:45 p.m. and 7:45 p.m., at the Jharna-Kala Gallery, 224 Mercer Street, Greenwich Village, New York City, NY, USA.

 

1977
An exhibition of Sri Chinmoy’s Jharna-Kala paintings is opened at John F. Kennedy High School in the Bronx, NY, USA.

 

1978
Sri Chinmoy offers a concert at the Artists’ Association in Woodstock, NY, USA.

 

1991
Sri Chinmoy is interviewed by Monsignor Thomas Hartman (Father Tom) for his television show in New York, NY, USA.

 

2006
Sri Chinmoy performs a special duet with cellist Scott Terzaghi in the afternoon at Public School 117 in Briarwood, NY, USA.

 

2006
Flautist Paul Horn performs at a private concert in the evening for Sri Chinmoy and his students at Public School 117 in Briarwood, NY, USA.

 

 

 

APRIL 30TH

 

1975
Sri Chinmoy delivers a lecture, entitled ‘Intellectual versus Spiritual’, at Harvard University in Cambridge, MA, USA.

 

1976
Sri Chinmoy honours United Nations staff members as guests of honour at a reception and banquet at his Jharna-Kala Gallery in Greenwich Village, New York City, NY, USA. Afterwards, Sri Chinmoy ex­plores a new artistic medium: cake-icing. He decorates four large cakes with icing of several colours, dabbing with his fingers to create his signature C.K.G. birds and designs.

 

1977
Sri Chinmoy paints ‘C.K.G. Transcends’, a 13x69-foot canvas, in the boiler room of John F. Kennedy High School in the Bronx, NY, USA. Sri Chinmoy begins painting at 7:46 a.m. and just 2 hours and 29 minutes later, he completes the monumental artwork.

 

1978
Sri Chinmoy delivers a lecture, entitled ‘Our Progress-Story’, at Long Island University in Southampton, NY, USA.

 

1996
Sri Chinmoy completes 4,000 crunch sit-ups, and 100 step-ups of 7½ inches wearing a 50-lb. vest, in Jamaica, NY, USA.

 

1997
Sri Chinmoy offers a Peace Concert (497) at Public School 86 in Jamaica, NY, USA.

 

1999
Sri Chinmoy lifts 250 lbs. with both arms simultaneously for a total of 500 lbs., in Jamaica, NY, USA.

 

1999
Poland is declared a Sri Chinmoy Peace-Blossom-Nation.

 

2004
Sri Chinmoy lifts several athletes, including Martin Strel, the long-distance swimmer who swam the lengths of the Danube, Mississippi, Yangtze and Amazon Rivers; and Tomaž Humar, winner of mountaineering’s prestigious Piolet d’Or award, and famous for his Himalayan solo climbs, at Hala Tivoli in Ljubljana, Slovenia.

 

2004
Sri Chinmoy offers a Peace Concert at Hala Tivoli in Ljubljana, Slovenia.

 

2006
Sri Chinmoy offers a Peace Concert for flautist Paul Horn, who was lifted earlier the same day in Jamaica, NY, USA.

 

2007

APRIL 30TH 2007

Sri Chinmoy offers a Peace Concert at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo, Norway. The recording of the concert is later released on a CD, entitled ‘My Heart-Offering’. Listen to the concert...

2007
Sri Chinmoy offers a Peace Concert at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo, Norway. Sri Chinmoy presents the U Thant Peace Award to Vidar Vambheim, Co-ordinator of Peace Studies at the University of Tromso, in Oslo, Norway.

February 28

Photo by Pulak Viscardi

 

Sri Chinmoy in animated discussion at his home in New York. But always within hands reach are the pens of CKG the artist.

 

Sri Chinmoy’s Love of Running

Video by Utpal Marshall

On March 3rd 1979, Sri Chinmoy completed his first marathon in Chico California in a time of 4:31:34. Each year since then, his students in New York and around the world have honoured him by running the 26-mile distance.

March 21

 

REMINISCENCES OF A CITY OFFICIAL

 

Following is an excerpt from a letter written March 21 by Paul O’Dwyer, President of the City Council of New York, reflecting back on his first meeting with Sri Chinmoy:

“I shall not easily forget the time Sri Chinmoy paid a call to my office. New York was in crisis at the time and [I] ... could think of nothing more irrelevant than a visit to a distraught City Hall of an Oriental man: a practitioner of meditation, a teacher, poet, writer, prophet and philosopher ...

“Yet, when he came into our emotional lives with his young disciples, the Office of the President of the City Council became transfixed. My incredulous staff, who had come out of sheer curiosity, stood enthralled when the young people sang with quiet spiritual commitment. For a brief moment, the atmosphere they had created and the simple reverence of Sri Chinmoy brought a peace and tranquillity to a place of turmoil. Many visitors have come and gone, but none made such a lasting impression.”


Published in Anahata Nada, May 1, 1977, Vol. 4 No. 4 

 

March 22

Photo by Pulak Viscardi

 

Sri Chinmoy relaxing on the porch of his home in New York, drinking from a Soul-Bird-decorated cup.

 

February 22

 

A four-day exhibition of Sri Chinmoy’s Jharna-Kala artworks comes to a close at Langkawi Lagoon Resort in Langkawi, Malaysia.

 

February 21

Sri Chinmoy Answers

questions in New York 

 

Question: Recently you said we should strengthen our friendships.

Sri Chinmoy: God is our only Friend — that is absolutely true. Again, we believe in God’s existence inside everybody. Naturally we will feel our affinity, our oneness with some people more than with the rest of the world. Inside a scorpion, there is God. But I am not asking you to make friends with a scorpion. The scorpion will bite you again and again. But I am begging the disciples to establish friendships on a human level.

Sometimes I tell you to establish your friendship with someone because you have a special connection with that person from a previous incarnation and I want you to maintain that friendship. Then no matter how much you suffer in the hands of that person, please try to keep the friendship alive.

In some cases, people do not want to show their oneness. They feel that they are infinitely superior and their friend is inferior. In other cases, both sides are eager to serve the Supreme in me. Your friendship with one girl is extraordinary. It is more than friendship. It is like twin sisters. Your connection with her is unique. I see that inside her heart, she is for you and inside your heart, you are for her. This is how friendship can develop into complete oneness — oneness of the heart, oneness of the soul, oneness of the life. When two of my disciples are friends, it helps me. It is like a tree. If I shake the tree, all the branches move together.

On the earthly level, we need friends. Sometimes you are depressed or frustrated. That is the time for your friend to lift you up. Again, your friend can be down and you can be the one to lift her up. At that time, she will count on you so much and you will count on her. When you need a friend, you are not going to find a new person to confide in. You may feel that friendship is based upon sacrifice. But I wish to say that there is no such thing as sacrifice where there is love. Again, when you do not feel love, at least through sacrifice you can establish love.

On the human level, friendship is absolutely necessary. At the same time, you have to know that inside the heart of your friend is the real Friend, the only Friend — the Supreme. The Supreme is omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent. But on the human level, if He tells us that He will be able to help us via somebody, or He will be able to help somebody else via us, then we have to take Him seriously.

True friendship is very rare, but it does exist. I cherish those people who are true friends. When I deal with them, it is like dealing with one person instead of two. Each of my disciples should take a few people to be their human friends. I am not asking you to have the whole world as your friend — far from it. Only two or three real friends are needed. Even if you have only one friend, it helps considerably.

Friendship is based on forgiveness. Today if your friend has done something wrong, you have to forgive her immediately by thinking that you could have made the same mistake. If she has been nasty to you today, you have to forgive her immediately. Tomorrow you may be in the same position — you could be nasty to her. So if you forgive her when she is nasty, then if a day comes when you are equally nasty, she will forgive you. Good qualities eventually come forward. Good qualities will not remain dormant forever and forever. Unfortunately, good qualities take more time to come to the fore than bad qualities. Hostile forces come forward to attack us more quickly than the divine forces. The divine forces will eventually be victorious, but in the meantime, the undivine forces make us feel that they have conquered us.

I always feel the supreme need for friendship. The Absolute Supreme is our only Friend, but He tells us on the earthly level, for earthly purposes, we need one or two individuals with whom we can share our sufferings and our joys. As soon as we share our suffering, it is gone. As soon as we share our joy, it doubles. Our sadness is a heavy load. If somebody comes to share it with us, it reduces the burden. If you are carrying twenty pounds on your shoulder and if your friend comes and takes ten pounds from you, then together you can walk along easily. But if you do not tell the person about your suffering, then you are carrying the whole twenty pounds by yourself.

Again, when you have some good news, immediately it becomes like a Russian doll. Inside one piece, you see two, three, four, five, six more. When there is happy news, it is multiplied. When there is sadness, it is shared. So in every way friendship has a very special role to play on earth.

Question: Besides your name, is there a sound or a word that we can use when invoking you that brings us quickly to you?

Sri Chinmoy: Nothing can be sweeter than the word ‘Guru’. It is not a mere word or name. It is a mantra. It has become part and parcel of the life-breath of any disciple who has accepted me sincerely and seriously, just as I have become inseparably one with my true disciples.

Again, there are many, many disciples who get more joy by invoking the Supreme directly. He is my Source. The Supreme is my Guru, your Guru, everybody’s Guru. But sometimes before God-realisation, the term ‘Supreme’ can be vague. The Supreme is both personal and impersonal. Until we see Him and talk to Him face to face, He can remain impersonal. When Naren came to Sri Ramakrishna, he asked him, “Have you seen God?” Sri Ramakrishna said, “Have I seen God? I can talk to Him more clearly, more intimately than I can talk to you. I can see Him more clearly than I can see you in front of me.” I can also say the same. Not only do I see Him, but I can talk to Him. Why would it be impossible for me to talk to my Highest? It is like a little child who wants to speak to his father. No matter what the father is doing, he will spend a few moments with his child. Look at my dog Chela. No matter how serious I am or what I am doing, does Chela care? He just comes and says whatever he has to say in his own barking language. Chela knows his oneness with me. In exactly the same way, God is our Absolute Lord Supreme, but even in my human consciousness I can approach Him.

To come back to your question, you have to use whatever word gives you utmost joy. The Supreme has become inseparably, breathlessly one with your life-breath, and your Guru also has become inseparably one with your life-breath. Unfortunately, there are some disciples who, although they have been with me for many years, have not kept me inside their life-breath. Again, there are some new disciples, especially those who live in other countries, who will never have the opportunity to say a word to me in this incarnation, and I will also not have the opportunity to talk to them. In spite of this, they have established such closeness and such oneness with my divinity’s life-breath, my Eternity’s breath. The oneness that they have established with me is so solid, so concrete.

In other cases, for months disciples do not get any joy either by using ‘Supreme’ or ‘Guru’. That is called a dry period. Even spiritual Masters of the highest order have had to pass through dry periods. Sometimes for months Vivekananda used to go through dry periods. Believe it or not, your Guru never went through a dry period. From the age of six, when I started my prayer and meditation, I have not had that experience. It makes me sad that my disciples sometimes go through dry periods for years. It has happened in some cases that for five long years, not even one single day do they have a good meditation. For up to one year it is common to have a dry period, but five years is too much.

Why do people go through dry periods? Because they lose their devotion. Devotion is like a magnet. If the devotion-magnet is not working, then the spiritual life is all dryness. But if one maintains devotion to the Supreme or to his Guru, then one will never, never go through a dry period. It is devotion that connects both love and surrender. Devotion is the golden link. If one has devotion, constant devotion, sleepless and breathless devotion, then one will never lose the sweetness in life.

Question: What does it actually mean to see the divine in someone or something?

Sri Chinmoy: There are several ways to see the divine in someone or something. To try to see God consciously is one approach. Another approach is to see Him spontaneously. Suppose you enter into a garden. You are not consciously trying to see the beauty or smell the fragrance of the flowers. Spontaneously their beauty pulls you. It is like a magnet. If your eyes are not attracted by the beauty of the flowers and if you have to consciously go very near a particular flower and put it in front of your nose, then it is not spontaneous. The beauty is there, but only when beauty acts like a spontaneous magnet will the immediate manifestation of beauty enter into your eyes and heart as it has already entered into your soul. The beauty you feel inside your mind and inside your heart is real beauty.

I will give you another example. Yesterday morning I went to Goose Pond Park. It was drizzling and I was running slowly. Five times I passed by a man sitting on a bench who was heavily drunk. Each time I came by him, he smiled at me. I could not understand what he was saying, but each time I passed by him, he said something encouraging to me. Now if I had had to consciously try to see the divine in him — if I had said, “He is also God’s creation. Although he is drinking heavily, let me see the divine in him” — I would have been wasting my time. But each time I came by, spontaneously I got such joy. If I had identified myself with his outer life, I would have been disgusted. I do not care for drinking at all. For me, it is something abominable. But while I was passing him, I was seeing the divine in him. His inner divinity immediately attracted me. His heart entered into me and my heart entered into him. Therefore I sincerely got joy.

If the joy or the sweetness that the soul is giving us comes immediately and spontaneously, then we can easily see the divinity in something or someone. But if we have to think of the soul or concentrate on the soul of a chair or some other object, then we are wasting our time. When it comes to the human level, everyone is trying to be conscious of God and we are also consciously trying to acquire some good qualities. Seekers may try to see the divine in others, but they may have no way to enter into the soul or the heart of another individual.

If you can get a spontaneous feeling, that is absolutely the most important. Then if you see that somebody is a good seeker, that he is praying and meditating or that he has other good qualities, then you can appreciate the divine in him. You will not allow your insecurity, jealousy, impurity or dividing mind to interfere. There must be no competition between you and that person.

Sometimes it happens that the heart is appreciating, but the vital is jealous or the mind is mean. The mind does not allow you to get joy. If you see a beautiful flower, the mind may say, “I am not as beautiful as this flower, so who cares for it?” Again, when you see a beautiful flower, you can say, “How I wish I could be as beautiful as this flower, as fragrant as this flower.” This wishing is not creating any jealousy, any insecurity, any separativity.

But just mere wishing is not enough. If you see that someone else is meditating or praying soulfully, you have to pray to God, “Please help me to become as soulful and as prayerful as this person.” Then God will see that you are not competing with that person. You are only seeing something beautiful — like a beautiful flower — inside him. God sees that you want to identify with the divine aspect of His that has already been manifested inside that person. Then God will say, “One of My children has achieved something and now another child of Mine has come to appreciate it, instead of becoming jealous. This child is praying to Me to have the same good qualities. I am more than ready to give them to him.”

Many times it happens that if we do not have certain good qualities, we will try to degrade them in others. We will try to see no value in them. But again, there are some good souls who want to become better and best. Today they are good. Tomorrow they want to become better and best. How do we become best — by separating ourselves or uniting ourselves? By separating ourselves, either through meanness, jealousy or insecurity, we can never, never become better. Only by using the positive way, by having peace, poise and love for the Divine that is manifested, can we become better. We will not love the flower or the seeker as such, but the divinity that made the flower beautiful, the divinity that has made the seeker soulful. You have to have love for the divinity that is being manifested in each thing.

If you get the feeling of divinity spontaneously, that is always best. Otherwise, if you see something beautiful or divine, you can consciously try to become that by praying to God. Then the development of your body, vital, mind, heart and soul will increase and spread wide, wider, widest. Your own divinity will blossom much quicker if you can appreciate the beauty or divinity of something else or somebody else. If you are sincere, God will never think that you have become jealous. No, you are not competing or fighting. You are only appreciating, admiring and adoring something which God Himself has manifested in somebody else.

There is also another way to see the divinity in others. This way is the highest way. When a mother sees that her child is very beautiful or skilful, when she sees the capacities of the child, she does not pray to God, “O God, please give me the same capacity! My son is so tall and strong! He is running so fast! He is so intelligent!” The mother immediately feels that her son’s qualities are all hers. This is not because he is her product, but because she has established her inseparable oneness with her son to such an extent that she feels that what he has is all hers and what she has is all his.

If your consciousness is very high — higher than the highest — you can establish exactly that same kind of oneness with others. When Sudhahota does something, I have such oneness with him. I do not say, “Supreme, can You give me the speed that he has?” No. I have such oneness with him that I feel I have done it. The mind will say you are fooling yourself. But if the heart gets the same joy as he is getting on the strength of its oneness, then it is absolutely real. Sometimes the person who has achieved the thing may not be as happy as somebody else. I have seen that Sudhahota’s mother gets more joy in Sudhahota’s success than Sudhahota himself.

Similarly, my brother Mantu used to get infinitely more joy from my athletics than I used to get. His whole heart used to be thrilled if I was first. On the day of my competition, his whole day was spent only worrying and worrying about me. His oneness was such that it was as if his whole world would collapse if I did not do well in 100 metres or long jump. Definitely I got joy from my sports. But if you measure the joy, his joy was more than the joy that I experienced. Oneness can be on the same level, or somebody else can get more joy than the person who has actually achieved the thing.

First try to see the divinity in others spontaneously. If it comes immediately, that is excellent. If it does not come immediately, then on the human level, try to see it consciously. If you see somebody has already achieved more divinity than you have or that God has manifested one aspect of His Divinity inside someone else more than in you, then you can try to emulate that person or you can pray to God to give you the same qualities. There is nothing wrong in imitating something good. When a child tries to imitate his father, he is not a copy cat. He sincerely appreciates, admires, adores and loves the way his father walks, the way his father talks. Whatever his father says, he imitates. When the child imitates the good qualities of his father, he does not become a carbon copy. He is seeing the good qualities, the divine qualities of his father, so he wants to have the same good qualities. Readiness, willingness and eagerness are coming to the fore at every moment to inspire him and energise him to become as great and as good as his father.

In your case, your divinity will not decrease if you pray to God to make you as sincere or as aspiring or as self-giving as somebody else. It will only increase. Already you have some good qualities, but by appreciating, admiring, adoring and loving the development of the soul in somebody else, you can increase your own good qualities. Here jealousy is not coming, competition is not coming, only appreciation is coming to the fore. Appreciation you have to such an extent that you want to establish oneness.

If I had used the mind for these three questions, I could not have spoken for more than three minutes for each question. After three minutes, my mind would have become bankrupt. But if I use my heart and soul, I can go on and on because it is spontaneous. If I had used the mind, you would not have gotten any joy. Even if the mind had had something more to say, the mind would not have given any joy. The mind does not want to share joy. The mind only wants to hold it. When the mind knows something, it keeps it a top secret. The mind feels that if it gives what it has to somebody else, it will not be the owner any more. The mind feels that if it says something, its secret will be gone. But the heart is a spontaneous flow, only blossoming and blossoming. You have asked me such nice questions, and your questions deserved nice answers. The heart is always ready to appreciate the divinity in others.


Published in Sri Chinmoy Answers, part 24

 

February 21

Prana and the Power of the Chakras

by Sri Chinmoy
the second in a series of four lectures on Kundalini Yoga held on consecutive Wednesday evenings at New York University in New York, at the invitation of Dr James Carse, Chairman of the Religion Department

 

Kundalini Yoga is the Yoga of prana. Prana is the life-energy or life-principle of the universe. There are three principal channels through which this life-energy flows. These channels are Ida, Pingala and Sushumna. In Sanskrit these channels are called nadis. Ida, Pingala and Sushumna are inside our subtle physical body, not inside the gross physical. Ida carries the current of life-energy in the left side of the body. Pingala carries the current in the right side of the body. Sushumna carries the current in the middle of the spinal column. Sushumna is the most important of the three nadis. It receives a ceaseless stream of life-energy from the universal Consciousness-Light. There is an inner connection between Ida and Pingala and the zodiac and planets. Ida has a special connection with the moon and the planet Mercury; hence its main quality is coolness and mildness. Pingala is connected with the sun and Mars; hence its quality is powerful and dynamic heat.

Ida rules the left nostril. Pingala rules the right nostril. When we breathe in and out primarily through our left nostril we have to know that it is Ida that is functioning. When we breathe in and out through our right nostril it is Pingala that is functioning. And when both of the nostrils are functioning satisfactorily we have to know that it is Sushumna that is playing its role. It also happens at times that Ida breathes in and Pingala breathes out.

Ida, Pingala and Sushumna meet together at six different places. Each meeting place forms a centre. Each centre is round like a wheel. Indian spiritual philosophy calls these centres chakras. They are also called lotuses, because they look like lotuses. The six centres, as perhaps you know, are Muladhara, Svadhisthana, Manipura, Anahata, Vishuddha and Ajna. There is also another chakra that is inside the brain, called Sahasrara. Because it is in the brain, and not along the spinal column, it is not counted with the other six centres. Apart from these six, there are many other chakras in the subtle physical body. Here in the knee we have a chakra; even in the toes and the fingertips we have chakras. But these chakras are minor and are not usually mentioned.

The root chakra, or the lotus Muladhara, has four petals, which are red and orange in colour. The spleen chakra, Svadhisthana, has six petals. The petals are orange, blue, green, yellow, violet and blood-red. Blood-red is the most prominent colour in this chakra. The navel chakra, Manipura, has ten petals. They are pink, orange and green, but primarily green. The heart chakra, Anahata, has twelve petals. Here the colour is bright golden. The throat centre, the Vishuddha lotus, has sixteen petals. Blue and green are the colours. The brow centre, Ajna, has only two petals. But inside each petal there are forty-eight petals. Here the colour is rose. The crown centre, Sahasrara, has 1,000 petals, or to be more precise, 972. It has all the colours, but the violet colour is predominant.

The universal Consciousness embodies universal Music. From each chakra where the life-energy from the universal Consciousness gathers, a musical note is produced. From Sahasrara the tone of Shadja or Sa is produced. In western music, you call this 'do.' From Ajna, Rishava or Riis produced: what you call 're.' From Vishuddha, Gandhara or Ga is produced: what you call 'mi.' From Anahata, Madhyama or Ma is produced: what you call 'fa.' From Manipura, Panchama or Pa is produced: what you call 'sol.' From Svadhisthana, Dhaivata or Dha is produced: what you call 'la.' From Muladhara, Nishada or Ni is produced: what you call 'ti.'

There are seven worlds corresponding to these seven chakras. Muladhara corresponds to Bhurloka; Svadhisthana corresponds to Bhubarloka; Manipura corresponds to Svarloka; Anahata corresponds to Janaloka; Vishuddha corresponds to Tapoloka; Ajna corresponds to Maharloka; and Sahasrara corresponds to Satyaloka. Each world is symbolised by something. Bhurloka is symbolised by earth, Bhubarloka by water, Svarloka by heat, Janaloka by air, Tapoloka by ether, Maharloka by energy, and Satyaloka by infinite space.

For each centre there is a special Mother-Power, which is a manifestation of the Supreme Mother. These Mother-Powers are known as Brahmi, Parameshwari, Kaumari, Vaishnavi, Varahi, Indrani and Chamunda. Each one has a special place of her own. Brahmi is the Mother-Power that embodies and pervades the infinite space. She rules all the chakras. Brahmi stays in the Sahasrara, or brain chakra, where there is the thousand-petaled lotus. From there she rules the centres that are below her: Ajna, Vishuddha, Anahata, Manipura, Svadhisthana and Muladhara. Parameshwari is located in the Ajna chakra, the brow centre. There she rules Ajna and the chakras that are below her. Kaumari is located in Vishuddha, the throat centre, and rules Vishuddha and the chakras below her. Vaishnavi begins functioning from Anahata, the heart centre, and rules the others below. Varahi, who stays in the navel centre, rules the lower planes: Manipura, Svadhisthana and Muladhara. Indrani rules Svadhisthana, at the spleen, and Muladhara, at the base of the spine. And Chamunda rules only over Muladhara.

Each centre also has a presiding deity, a cosmic god. Brahma is the presiding deity of Muladhara. Rudra is the presiding deity of Svadhisthana. Vishnu is the presiding deity of Manipura. Ishwara is the presiding deity of Anahata. Sadashiva is the presiding deity of Vishuddha. Shambhu is the presiding deity of Ajna. And Paramashiva is the presiding deity of Sahasrara.

These centres can be opened in various ways. The usual method for those who practise Kundalini Yoga is to concentrate firmly on each centre, invoking the Mother-Power or the presiding deity most soulfully. However, all real spiritual Masters, from the very depth of their experience, say that it is better to open the heart centre first and then try to open the other centres. If one opens the heart centre first, there is practically no risk. But if one starts with the Muladhara or Svadhisthana or Ajna chakra, it is very dangerous. Again, there are some seekers who do not follow this method at all. They do not care for occult power; they care only for God's Love, Light and Truth. They learn how to meditate most soulfully; and when they make considerable progress in their meditation, these centres open automatically. And through the Grace of the Absolute Supreme, these centres may open even without meditation.

If these centres are opened without proper purification, the seeker will encounter great pain. It will be like playing with fire or a sharp knife. He may destroy others or he may himself be destroyed. We have to know that the miraculous powers that one gets when his centres are opened are not actually miraculous or unusual at all in the inner world. The powers that they hold are absolutely normal. In the inner world these powers are constantly used by spiritual Masters. There in the inner world they are normal and natural. Only when they are used on the physical plane do they seem unusual or miraculous.

Any real spiritual Master will have these powers. But again, one need not be a spiritual Master of the highest order in order to have them. One need not be even a great seeker. Even someone who leads a normal, ordinary, undivine life can develop these powers.

In India I came across a few seekers — I cannot call them sincere seekers — who had some occult or kundalini power. But most of the time they misused it. They opened their third eye in order to know what their girlfriends were thinking of them. Now this is ridiculous. The same third eye they could have used to destroy their dark, obscure, impure thoughts. They had the capacity, but they didn't use it. I also know someone who used his occult power to threaten his enemies at night and compel them to do whatever he wanted them to do the following morning. By using his occult power, his third eye, he made his enemies his slaves. But he could have used his third eye to know God's Will in his own life and in others' lives. If it had been God's Will to expedite somebody's spiritual progress, then he could have used his third eye to help. Each centre has something special to offer when it is properly used. It becomes a veritable boon to the Inner Pilot and to all mankind.

I want to make it very clear that the opening of the centres does not mean that one is realising God or that he is about to realise God. The opening of the centres is not necessarily the precursor of God-realisation. No, not at all! God-realisation has nothing to do with the opening of the centres. No matter how many centres one has opened, even if one has opened all the seven centres, it does not indicate that one is on the verge of realisation or that one is realised. From the highest spiritual point of view, the opening of the chakras is like the games a mother plays with her children in the playground. Children are fond of games and the mother is showing her capacity. It is not her pride, her vanity. No. It is just that the mother knows this will amuse the children. She can give some joy, some pleasure to the children, so she plays these games. It is usually Lord Shiva on the Sahasrara plane and his consort, Shivani from the Muladhara plane, where the Kundalini is fast asleep, who play. When they play with their children in the inner world, the occult powers start functioning.

Now let us start from the beginning; muladhara, the root chakra. When one has acquired mastery over the Muladhara centre, one can become invisible at his sweet will. One can conquer all diseases. One can know whatever one wants to know and discover whatever one wants to discover. If one wants to discover God's Compassion, God's Light, God's Love for him, then he is in a position to do so. But if one uses the same power in order to know what is happening in others' minds or what is going on in their outer life, or if one uses it to discover out of curiosity if a third world war is going to break out, then this power is misused.

When a person with mastery over the Muladhara sees that someone has a particular disease, he has to know whether that individual deserves the disease or whether it is the result of a hostile attack. If he has done something wrong, naturally under the law of karma he deserves to pay the penalty. But if the disease is not from the law of karma but rather from the attack of some hostile force, and if it is God's Will that his disease should be cured, naturally a spiritual person who has the capacity should cure it. But if he does it at his own sweet will, or if he acts in an undivine way and just shows off, then he breaks the cosmic law. He will cure the person but this very cure will act eventually against both the healer and the sick person. It will add to their ignorant and self-destructive quality. So the healer has to know if it is the Will of God that the person be cured. Only then will he cure; otherwise he has to remain silent and do nothing. You may ask, how can he see himself or somebody else suffering and still do nothing? If his heart is very big, let him go deep within and see who it is that is suffering in and through the individual. He will see that it is God who is purposely having a special experience in and through that person.

Svadhisthana, the spleen chakra. When one has mastery over Svadhisthana, one acquires the power of love. He loves everyone and he is loved by everyone: by men and women and by animals. It is here that people very often fall from the path of Light and Truth. Divine love is expansion and expansion is illumination. Love can be expressed as an expansion of our divine awareness or it can be expressed as pleasure. When the Svadhisthana centre is opened, the lower vital, the sex forces will try to lower the consciousness of the seeker. But if at that time he can bring down abundant purity from the Anahata centre, the heart centre, then this impurity will be transformed into purity. And purity is eventually transformed into ever-fulfilling and everlasting divinity. But if he cannot bring down purity, then there is real destruction, destruction of the seeker's life. The lower vital acts most vehemently and powerfully and sometimes it becomes worse than the lower vital in ordinary human beings. An ordinary human being does not enjoy the vital life the way some seekers enjoy it after opening their Svadhisthana centre.

Manipura, the navel chakra. If one acquires mastery over this centre, one conquers sorrow and suffering. No matter what happens in his life, he will not feel sad or miserable. But this centre can create a problem like the Svadhisthana chakra. This centre is also dangerous. One can create suffering for others if one misuses the power from the Manipura chakra, and thereby incur the world's curse. This centre, like the Ajna chakra, can show one where a relative or dear one has gone after he dies. It lets one see how he is passing through the vital world and entering into the subtle world and the higher planes. It shows how he passes from one sheath to another after death. This centre also gives one the power of transmutation. One can magnify an object or one can reduce it to an infinitesimal size. In addition, this centre has healing power. As I said before, if one can use this power properly, in accordance with the Will of God, then it is a real blessing. Otherwise it is a curse.

Anahata, the heart centre. Here the power is unbelievable. A seeker with mastery over the Anahata centre has free access to both the visible and the invisible worlds. Time surrenders to him; space surrenders to him. If he uses this centre, he can travel to any part of the world in a few seconds in his subtle body. But if he does this he takes a great risk. Suppose he wants to travel occultly and spiritually to Europe to see what is happening there. If he does not get the proper sanction from the other centres, or if the other centres do not co-operate, then the other centres may not allow the soul to come back to the body after its journey. In India, I know of quite a few cases where Yogis leave their bodies through the heart centre without taking help or getting permission, and without even informing the other centres. They feel that the other centres do not have the same special capacity as the heart centre, and so they should use the heart centre. Then the other centres become jealous. Jealousy is everywhere, in the outer world and in the inner world as well. Even the cosmic gods enjoy jealousy. So the other centres, because they are jealous, do not let the soul come back. If one uses this power, one has to take permission from the Inner Pilot first. If the Inner Pilot sanctions it, then the other centres cannot do any harm, since the Inner Pilot has infinitely more power than these centres.

In the Anahata centre, one can enjoy the deepest bliss of oneness; one can have pure joy. Any person can look at a flower and get joy, but the intensity of joy that the flower embodies we cannot all enjoy. But if one opens the heart centre and looks at a flower, immediately all the joy, all the beauty that the flower has will become his. If the seeker looks at the vast ocean, inside his heart he is bound to feel the vast ocean. He looks at the vast sky and he enters into it, becomes it. Anything vast, pure, divine, sublime that he sees, he can immediately feel as his very own and become that thing. There is no yawning gulf between what he sees and what he is. He just becomes in his consciousness what he sees.

This is not his imagination. Far from it! His heart is a divine heart which embodies the universal Consciousness. The spiritual heart is not the heart that we find in our physical body. The spiritual heart is larger than the largest. It is larger than the universal Consciousness itself. We always say that there cannot be anything superior to the universal Consciousness, but this is a mistake. The heart, the spiritual heart, houses the universal Consciousness. This centre is very safe when we use it to identify ourselves with the vast, with the beauty of nature. But when we use it to travel outside the limitations of the body, we take a risk.

Vishuddha, the throat chakra. He who has mastery over Vishuddha has the capacity to offer divine messages to the world. Universal nature discloses its agelong hidden mysteries to him. Here nature bows to the seeker. He can retain eternal youth. The outer world surrenders to him. The inner world embraces him. We get messages from various planes of consciousness. But when one gets a message from the Vishuddha centre, the message is sublime and everlasting. When this centre is open, one receives direct messages from the Highest and becomes a mouthpiece for the Highest. One becomes a poet, singer or artist. All forms of art are expressed from this centre. This centre is open in many individuals. It functions according to the degree to which it is open, according to one's development. There is very little risk in this centre. It is a mild centre; it does not interfere with other centres, and the other centres leave it alone.

Ajna, the brow chakra. He who has mastery over the Ajna chakra destroys his dark past, hastens the golden future and manifests the present in a supremely fulfilling way. His psychic and occult powers defy all limits; they are endless. The Ajna chakra, which is located between and a little above the eyebrows, is the most powerful centre. The first thing one does when his third eye opens, if it is opened properly, is to destroy the unlit, unaspiring and undivine past. Now we see something and we have an experience. But there is a difference between our experience and the thing that we are experiencing. When the Ajna centre is opened, however, we experience the thing itself. We become one with the thing that we are experiencing. At that time, seeing and becoming go together. Seeing itself is becoming, and becoming is seeing. For this reason, the aspirant who has opened his third eye wants to destroy the past from his memory. In this incarnation suppose one has become a Yogi. When he looks back to his previous incarnation, he sees that he was a thief, or something worse. Since he does not now want to enter into that experience again, he will try to destroy that part of his past. He now has the power necessary.

When one realises God, the past is automatically deleted. As I said before, when one opens the third eye or any other centre, it does not mean that one has realised God. When one realises God, the obscure, impure or undivine past is illumined and nullified all at once. At the moment of God-realisation, illumination takes place. It is like coming out of a dark room into an illumined room. It becomes light where before it was all dark. God-realisation is immediate illumination.

With the Ajna chakra, the past can be nullified and the future can be brought into the immediacy of today. If one knows that ten years from now he is going to do something, achieve something or grow into something, by using the third eye he can achieve that very thing today. He does not have to wait for ten, fifteen, twenty years.

But if one brings the future result to the fore, this can sometimes be dangerous. It has happened many, many times that the future of an individual is very bright, very luminous. But when the future is brought right into the immediacy of the present, the enormity of the result puzzles and frightens the seeker. The seeker is like a young elephant. He is growing in strength and in ten years he will be very powerful. But if the power comes right now, there may be no receptivity, no inner receptivity. The power comes, but it cannot be brought under control or it cannot be contained in a safe vessel. At that time power itself acts like an enemy and destroys the person who invoked it. So there is a great danger when you take the future and bring it into the present.

Let the present grow and play its role. The past has played its role; now the present wants to play its role. Only in some cases, when God wants a seeker to make very fast progress, instead of going systematically he can run extremely fast. It is just like a student's situation in school. Sometimes a student does not go through all the grades of kindergarten, primary school and high school. Sometimes he skips grades. In the spiritual life also, if it is God's Will that the future be brought into the present, then there is no danger. But otherwise there is great danger.

With the third eye, one can accomplish much. The third eye has what God, the ultimate Power, is. If the ultimate Power is misused by the third eye, then it is all destruction. But if the third eye uses the ultimate, transcendental Power properly and divinely, then it will be a great blessing, the greatest blessing that humanity can imagine.

Sahasrara, the crown chakra. The Sahasrara is the Silent One which does not interfere in anything. It is like the eldest member in the family; it does not bother anyone and does not want to be bothered by anyone. When this centre is opened permanently, one enjoys infinite Bliss and becomes inseparably one with the ever-transcending Beyond. One comes to know that he is birthless and deathless. He is always dealing with Infinity, Eternity and Immortality. These are not vague terms for him; these are reality. This moment he sees himself as Eternity, and he grows into Eternity; the next moment he sees himself as Infinity and he grows into Infinity; a few moments later he sees himself as Immortality, and grows into Immortality in his consciousness. And at times it happens that Infinity, Eternity and Immortality all go together in his consciousness.

When the Sahasrara chakra is open the Inner Pilot becomes a true friend. Here the Infinite and His chosen son become very good friends to fulfil a specific mission for their mutual manifestation. They share many secrets, millions of secrets, in the twinkling of an eye. On the one hand Father and son are enjoying infinite Peace and Bliss; on the other hand they are discussing world problems, universal problems, all in the twinkling of an eye. But their problems are not problems as such. Their problems are only experiences in their cosmic game.

Of all the centres, the highest, the most peaceful, the most soulful, the most fruitful is Sahasrara. There Infinity, Eternity and Immortality have become one. The Source becomes one with the creation, and the creation becomes one with the Source. Here the knower and the Known, the lover and the Beloved, the slave and the Master, the son and the Father, all become one. Together the Creator and the creation transcend their Dream and Reality. Their Dream makes them feel what they are and their Reality makes them feel what they can do. Reality and Dream become one.


Published in Kundalini: the Mother-Power

 

God’s Love

A 9:00 a.m. lecture by Sri Chinmoy
in Baird Lounge at Berea College, Berea, Kentucky

 

God loves us. He loves us constantly and unconditionally. No matter what we have done, what we are doing or what we shall do, He will always love us. God loves us much more than He loves Himself. If we use our thinking and doubting minds, this may seem hard to believe. But if we use our loving and surrendering hearts, then we are bound to feel that God loves us infinitely more than He loves Himself. Why does He love us so much? He loves us because He feels that His Dream remains unfulfilled without us, His Reality remains unmanifested without us; without us, he is incomplete. Right now we feel that it is only we who really love ourselves. Then there may come a time when we think that God, too, loves us. But for us to believe that God loves us infinitely more than we love ourselves seems sheer impossibility. 

There have been many, many times in our lives when we have felt miserable because we told a lie or deceived someone or became jealous of others. After we do something wrong or undivine, our inner consciousness comes to the fore and we feel miserable. We curse ourselves and try to punish ourselves. But God’s Love for us remains exactly the same. We hate ourselves for our mistakes, but God still loves us and will always continue to love us. Our justice-power condemns us, but God’s Compassion-power forgives us, illumines us and transforms our weakness into strength with its adamantine will-power. God gets satisfaction when, with His blessingful Smile, He gives us His Compassion-flood, His Concern-sky and His Love-sea so that we can grow into His very Image.

God loves us, and in return He wants us to smile, to love and to transcend. The moment we offer Him a soulful smile, God is pleased with us. The moment we offer Him an iota of our love, God is pleased with us. The moment we want to transcend our earthbound consciousness, God is pleased with us.

Our human love constantly tries to separate and divide, but the divine Love we get from God always adds and multiplies. God used His Delight-power when He created the world, and now He uses His Love-power to protect the world and bring perfection to earth, His creation.

Here on earth we have everything save and except one thing: satisfaction. It is only by loving God that we will get true satisfaction. God is our own highest, most illumined Reality. "United we stand, divided we fall": this is the motto of the State of Kentucky. In the inner life also, when we become consciously one with God, we feel a real sense of satisfaction. But when we are separated from God, when we are divided into two, we feel incomplete, unfulfilled and dissatisfied.

If we are not seekers, we love God once in a blue moon; but if we are seekers of the highest Truth, then we try to love God soulfully and constantly. There is an easy way to love God soulfully and constantly. When we separate darkness from light, the transient from the eternal, and outer knowledge from inner wisdom, then it becomes extremely easy for us to love God soulfully and constantly. After we love God soulfully and constantly, we can go one step ahead and love God unconditionally by giving Him what we have and what we are. What we have within is inner aspiration to grow into the vast Beyond. What we are without is a sea of ignorance.

God also gives us what He has and what He is. What He has is infinite Peace, Light and Bliss, and what He is is constant Concern, Concern for our liberation from the meshes of ignorance and Concern for our perfection. God loves us. We love God. By loving God, we gain victory over our age-old ignorance. By loving us, God makes us consciously feel that we are eternal players, divine players in His cosmic Game.

The great pioneer, Daniel Boone, called Kentucky a second paradise. In the spiritual life, every day we can have a sense of paradise. Paradise means infinite Peace, Light and Bliss. When the seeker prays and meditates, he enters into paradise. When his mind is calm and quiet, when his mind is tranquillity’s flood, his heart becomes all-giving and his life becomes Divinity’s Reality. Paradise is not a place; it is a state of consciousness. When we free our mind from the meshes of ignorance, when we liberate our existence from the mire of earth, we see, feel and grow into paradise.


Published in Fifty Freedom-Boats to one Golden Shore, part 3

 

Self-Transcendence

A 1:30 p.m. lecture by Sri Chinmoy
in the Student Centre of the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Tennessee

 

Dear sisters and brothers, dear seekers of the highest Transcendental Truth, I wish to give a short talk on self-transcendence.

We are all seekers who wish to transcend our present realities. Why do we want to transcend? We want to transcend because the life of ignorance, bondage, imperfection and death cannot satisfy us. We want to achieve something. We want to grow into something which is eternal; we want to grow into the very image of Immortality.

Right in front of us there are two worlds: the world of desire and the world of aspiration. When our life belongs to the desire-world, we feel that satisfaction is always a far cry. When our life belongs to the aspiration-world, we feel that satisfaction is our birthright. The life of desire is a life of self-chosen bondage. The life of aspiration is a life of God-chosen transcendence.

In our life of self-transcendence, from the lower we grow into the higher. The lower is transformed into the higher, the less perfect is transformed into the more perfect. Things that have to be rejected, we reject; things that have to be transformed, we transform; things that have to be transcended, we transcend. This process of transcendence is beyond the thinking of the mental man. It finds its existence in the self-giving of the psychic man. The psychic man becomes part and parcel of reality by identifying with reality itself. The thinking man, the doubting man, finds it extremely difficult or impossible to identify himself with that reality.

In our ordinary life we deal with constant possibility, and at the end of our efforts we meet with either success or failure. But in the spiritual life, we do not care for failure or success; we care only for progress. In this way, possibility is transformed into inevitability.

A seeker of the Highest Truth, the moment he enters into the spiritual life, feels that he has transcended his life of conscious impurity and obscurity. The life of desire he has transcended; now he is living the life of aspiration. At every moment he has the golden opportunity to go high, higher, highest on the strength of his inner mounting cry.

Each time our aspiration, our mounting cry, touches the highest pinnacle, it is fired again. The goal that it touches need not and cannot be the ultimate Goal, for today’s goal is tomorrow’s starting point. Again, tomorrow’s goal will be the starting point for the day after tomorrow. There is no end to our realisation. There is no end to our self-transcendence. Our aspiration ascends, our realisation transcends, our satisfaction dawns, finally our God smiles. With our inner cry we ascend to God’s descending Smile. When we feed our inner cry, and when we become our inner cry, at that time our song of realisation and transcendence begins.

In order to transcend, two things are of paramount importance: our personal effort and God’s Grace. By personal effort alone, we cannot transcend ourselves. Again, God’s Grace will not do anything unless and until we are receptive. If we can receive God’s Grace and properly use it, then only can we reach the Highest. A sincere seeker is transcending his previous reality at every moment. When he transcends, he does not reject anything. The sincere seeker accepts the world as his very own. Like a potter who accepts clay and moulds it into something beautiful, a spiritual seeker accepts the life of ignorance and tries to transform it with his inner wisdom-light.

In our deepest philosophy, we consider past achievements of no value. We say the past is dust. The past has given us what it has to offer, but it has not given us what we need: liberation, realisation, salvation and perfection. So it is today, it is in the immediacy of the present, that we have to grow into the spiritual life. Since most of us are beginners in the spiritual life we try to meditate for five minutes, ten minutes, half an hour, or an hour a day, and to keep our best consciousness always to the fore. If we can meditate an hour a day, we try to extend the effects of this meditation throughout the whole day. As soon as a child throws a ball, its momentum keeps it going, and it covers a considerable distance. So also our soulful prayer and meditation, even if it only lasts half an hour, projects our aspiring consciousness into the heart of each day and enters into all our multifarious activities as they unfold hour by hour.

As in the world of desire we want to grow and expand, so also do we want to grow and expand in the spiritual life. In the beginning we want an iota of Light, then we wish to have abundant Light, and then infinite Light. But there is a great difference between the expansion of our earthly desires and the expansion of our divine aspiration. When we possess mortal life, the desire-life, we are not actually satisfied. Even when our desires are fulfilled, we discover that we have new desires, and there is no abiding satisfaction. We have always the same hunger, the same unsaturated, unfulfilled hunger. But in the spiritual life, when we get an iota of Peace, Light and Bliss — although our ultimate aim is to have these in infinite measure — even an iota gives us a sense of satisfaction. And, in the long run, at God’s choice Hour, we do get Peace, Light and Bliss in infinite measure. Each time we are divinely satisfied and fulfilled, we transcend our earthbound reality and enter into the Heaven-free Reality.

The motto of this state is “Agriculture and commerce”. The spiritual seeker is a farmer. He cultivates his heart here in this world and receives from Above, like falling rain, the divine Grace. At the time when the seeker develops one-pointed devotion to the Inner Pilot, he collects the bumper crop of realisation. It is like an exchange of natural capacities. The seeker identifies himself with the consciousness of earth, increasing his receptivity through surrender. And at the same time he invokes the transcendental consciousness from Above. When the earth consciousness and the Transcendental Consciousness meet, when earth’s surrender and Heaven’s Grace join together, at that time realisation dawns in the seeker’s aspiring life. There is a royal road that leads to self-transcendence. That road is our surrender, our conscious, unconditional surrender to the Will of the Absolute Supreme.


Published in Fifty Freedom-Boats to one Golden Shore, part 3

 

Warriors of the Inner World

A lecture by Sri Chinmoy
at the University of Ottawa, Canad
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There are many warriors of the inner world, but the main warriors are simplicity, sincerity, purity, aspiration, dedication and surrender. These divine warriors help the seekers discover God. Together they fight against bondage-night and ignorance-day. Their supreme commander is faith.

Simplicity shortens the road that leads to God-discovery. Sincerity expedites the journey. Purity feeds the seeker and the journey together. Aspiration loves the journey. Dedication enjoys the journey. And surrender completes the journey.

Simplicity is a very simple word, but it embodies tremendous power. When we enter into the spiritual life, we value this most significant achievement. We have countless desires. But from our list, if we can take out one desire, then to that extent our life becomes simple. When it becomes simple, an iota of peace dawns in our mental firmament. Each time we become simple, simpler, simplest, our desire-life becomes short, shorter, shortest. Then we enjoy peace of mind; we enjoy Light and Delight.

Sincerity is our peerless achievement. If we can become sincere, then we can run the fastest in our spiritual life. When we make friends with insincerity, at every moment we have to justify our insincere life. Once we tell a lie, we have to tell twenty more lies in order to justify that particular lie. And each time we tell a lie, we add a heavy burden to our shoulders. How can we run the fastest when there is a heavy load on our shoulders? But when we are sincere, we accelerate our progress; we run the fastest like a deer.

Purity is of paramount importance in the spiritual life. Purity means the power of receptivity. When our heart is inundated with purity, we feel that our inner receptacle has become large, larger, largest. Peace, Light and Bliss enter into that vessel from above. And inside the vessel we see our divine qualities sporting, dancing and fulfilling their reality’s Light and Delight. Purity is receptivity’s capacity. Purity is the same thing as capacity’s receptivity. When we are pure, immediately our self-expansion, our divine reality, looms large.

Aspiration, dedication and surrender. Aspiration is our journey’s start. Aspiration is the flow of our journey, the continuous, endless journey itself. Aspiration is an inner cry. This cry liberates us from the meshes of ignorance. This cry eventually makes us one with the Eternal, the Infinite and the Immortal. When we aspire, we feel that deep within us there is a higher reality which we unfortunately right now cannot claim as our very own. But there comes a time when, on the strength of our own aspiration, we can claim this reality — our own reality, our highest, supernal reality — as our own, very own. Each time we aspire, we bring to the fore our own hidden, divine, immortal reality.

Dedication. When we dedicate ourselves to a cause, we expand our own reality-existence. This dedication is not done under any compulsion. Responsibility has not been thrust upon us. It is we who want to expand our reality, so we adopt the right approach and try to expand ourselves through dedication. One becomes many; again, many become one. As an individual, when we dedicate ourselves devotedly, soulfully and unconditionally, we grow into the many. And when we do this as a collective body, we become one. So it is through dedication that we become many and that we become one. When we become one, we fulfil God as Infinity’s Silence, birthless and deathless Silence. When we become many, we fulfil God as the eternal, infinite sound, birthless and deathless sound. Finally, we fulfil God the soundless Sound.

Surrender. Surrender completes the journey. This surrender is our conscious awareness of our highest reality. It is not the surrender of a slave; it is the surrender of the finite in us to the Infinite in us. The unlit, obscure, impure existence of ours is making surrender to the illumined, pure and perfect existence of our own reality-height. We are not surrendering to a second or third person. We are surrendering to the divine within us, to the Infinite within us, to the Immortal within us. Surrender here is our conscious and constant expansion, illumination, liberation and perfection. Each time we surrender our earth-bound existence to our Heaven-free life, we enjoy Nectar, divine Bliss.

When a seeker establishes his body’s reality-oneness with the Will of the Supreme, he becomes the simplicity-warrior. When a seeker establishes his mind’s reality-oneness with the Will of the Supreme, he becomes the sincerity-warrior. When the seeker establishes his vital’s reality-oneness with the Will of the Supreme, he becomes the purity-warrior. When the seeker establishes his heart’s reality-oneness with the Will of the Supreme, he becomes the aspiration-warrior. The same seeker, in the course of time, when he establishes his life’s reality-oneness with the Will of the Supreme, becomes the dedication-warrior. Finally, when the seeker consciously, devotedly, untiringly, unreservedly and unconditionally establishes his soul’s oneness-reality with the Will of the Absolute Supreme, he becomes the surrender-warrior.

As there are many divine warriors of the inner world, even so there are many undivine warriors of the inner world. The main undivine warriors are insecurity, fear, doubt, lethargy, disobedience and indulgence.

Insecurity starts in the mind, but the mind is not aware of insecurity at the beginning. From the mind it enters into the vital and finally it comes to the physical consciousness. At that time we are fully aware of the presence of insecurity. Insecurity is a poisonous disease. If we do not get rid of it, this poison spreads and destroys the whole system eventually.

Fear is worse. Fear of the unknown, not to speak of fear of the unknowable, is a fatal disease within the seeker’s life. The seeker is afraid of everything that is not in his domain, of anything of which he is not aware. He fears others, he fears the unknown, he fears the Vast; finally he becomes afraid of himself. He has a knife. When he looks at his knife, fear enters into his mind. He feels that at any moment this knife can cause an accident in his life. He enters into the kitchen. There is a stove, and he uses it at his sweet will. But even when the stove is not on, he is afraid it may catch fire. At every moment he is afraid of his own possessions, not to speak of others’ achievements or realities. When he is afraid of himself, he loses badly, miserably, in the battlefield of life. Fear is a fatal disease.

Then comes doubt. When the seeker treasures doubt with a view to judging others, he digs his own grave. Each time he doubts someone, he digs his grave. If we judge others with our unlit human mind, with the intellectual mind, with the sophisticated mind, the persons whom we judge do not lose an iota of their achievement, of their reality. But we lose. How do we lose? When we start doubting others, we offer something of our own existence to the outer world; something of our own reality goes and eventually we become very weak.

Doubt is the almost incurable disease in us. When we doubt others, we feel that we are now sitting on a high pedestal and, at the same time, we are on a safe footing. But this is a deplorable mistake. We cannot judge others. We do not know their heights; we do not know their depths. We do not know what is actually happening in others. It is the cosmic Will that is operating in and through each and every individual. So we are in no position to judge others. Each one is guided, moulded, shaped and prepared by the Will of the unseen Hand.

First we doubt someone and immediately afterwards we try to see whether we are correct in doubting that person. Then we begin to judge and doubt ourselves. When we doubt ourselves, we lose everything. So we should follow the path of faith. Faith is the commander in us. Faith tells us of the existence of Reality and Truth in us, for us. Then faith tells us that we not only embody the Truth, eternal Truth, infinite Truth, but we as a matter of fact are this transcendental Truth, this universal Truth ourselves. But right now we are not aware of it precisely because we have made friends with ignorance.

Then comes lethargy. When the Hour of God strikes, if we do not respond, then we cannot start our journey. The road is long, very long. When the Hour strikes, owing to lethargy, if we do not respond to the call of the Hour, we unconsciously lengthen our road. The mind becomes totally immersed in ignorance and feels the road is longer than the longest. When the Hour strikes, if we do not respond, then the road is bound to become longer than it was before. So those who wallow in the pleasure of lethargy will have to walk along the road that never ends.

Disobedience is the worst weakness in the seeker’s life. A seeker may listen to the inner dictates quite often. But if one day he disobeys the inner command, then he is bound to notice a hole in the life-boat which is destined to take him to the Golden Shore of the Beyond. His life-boat has sprung a leak. Gradually the hole will become large, larger, largest, and his spiritual boat will capsize and sink. But if he is obedient, then his life-boat will sail fast, faster, fastest towards the destined Goal, the Goal of the highest ever-transcending Beyond.

The last undivine force or warrior is indulgence. When we enter into the world of indulgence, we run backward. We enter into the animal kingdom. We believe in evolution. From the stone world we came to the plant world. From the plant world we came to the animal world. From the animal world we came to the human world. Now we have to go to the divine world. But if we enter into the world of indulgence, then instead of running forward we run backward. And each time we run backward, we again make friends with our old friend doubt.

A spiritual seeker has to be aware of these undivine forces: insecurity, fear, doubt, lethargy, disobedience and indulgence. The divine warriors have only one thing to tell us: accept light and reject night. Acceptance of light is the only thing that is needed. Night is the ignorance within us. Ignorance-night binds our body, blinds our eyes, stabs our heart. Ignorance-night represents the undivine warriors of insecurity, fear, doubt, lethargy, disobedience and indulgence. When we are attacked by these undivine warriors, the divine warriors come to our rescue and offer us perfection-light. As the representative of the Supreme, this perfection-light first liberates us, then illumines us and grants us vision. It grants vision to our eyes and then immortalises our heart. This is what perfection-light does for us.

There are divine warriors of the outer world as well as of the inner world. The outer warriors are our divine personality and divine individuality, which say, “I am of God and I am for God.” The inner warriors do not fight outwardly. They become one with God’s Will and in this way feel that they are establishing God the eternal Truth and Light in the inner world. The outer warriors feel that they have to fight. The hero-warriors fight for God’s victory on earth at every moment in the outer world.

The outer hero-warriors want to establish the Kingdom of Heaven on earth. They want to see the Infinite in the finite. But the inner hero-warriors see that Infinity is already there in the finite. They see that the finite does not have the eye to see the Infinite, whereas the Infinite can envision its own presence in the finite itself. The inner warriors are aware of what they eternally are, whereas the outer warriors are not aware of what they eternally are. Therefore, they do something in order to become. By doing something, the outer warriors want to become. The inner warriors feel that they don’t have to become; they already are.

But there comes a time when the inner and outer warriors become one, inseparably one. The inner warriors bring to the outer warriors the message of realisation: realisation of the infinite Truth, eternal Light and immortal Delight. And the outer warriors try to manifest the divine realities, the divine treasures that are offered to them by the inner warriors. The inner warriors bring these realities to the earth-arena. The outer warriors manifest these realities in the earth-arena. This way both the inner warriors and the outer warriors complete the cosmic Lila, the divine Game.


Published in Warriors of the Inner World

 

February 20

Photo by Adarini Inkei

 

Sri Chinmoy meditates at the Peace Concert at Payap University in Chiang Mai, Thailand. The stage backdrop is decorated with his tiny Soul-Bird drawings.