Sri Chinmoy delivered over 500 lectures at universities and cultural institutions around the world during his more than forty years in the West – most of them in his first two decades, between 1965 and 1985. He also offered thousands of informal talks and answered countless spiritual questions.
With this collection of rare recordings, there is now the opportunity to directly experience the charm and power of Sri Chinmoy’s original spoken words.
In relaxed, intimate surroundings, when addressing his students, Sri Chinmoy was the quintessential narrator. He was animated, using his hands and eyes or even a smile to illustrate a point. When referring to the spiritual heart, Sri Chinmoy would gesture to his own heart; or when referring to God, he would point upwards with his index finger, or raise his eyes and look towards the heavens. By his own account, he could talk “sixteen to the dozen.” Though, in his many formal lectures and on solemn occasions, he would speak from lofty meditative heights – often with eyes closed or half-open – in slow, measured, prayerful tones, where the subtle tension between syllables could stretch the boundaries of time; and the long silences between words would be filled with the immanence of the divine.
The original recordings that follow retain the spontaneity and immediacy of the point in time at which these extraordinary talks and question-and-answer sessions were created. The contemporary listener now has a front-row seat in the audience.
Unfortunately, some of the early recordings, preserved on reel-to-reel tapes or cassettes, are not of the highest quality. Since many first-time listeners may find it difficult to grasp Sri Chinmoy’s unique phrasing, a word-for-word transcription of each original talk is provided so that the listener can easily follow, uninterruptedly, the poetic flow of Sri Chinmoy’s speech.
He had a magnificent command of the English language, a vocabulary that far exceeded most of his students; and a genuine love for the fine, old expressions that are lost to literature today. Moreover, his prolific capacity to coin new compound nouns — each imbued with a subtlety and eloquence that far transcends the meaning of its constituent parts — gives his writings a tremendous freshness and force.
Down the sweep of centuries, it has not been possible to record the speaking voices of the great spiritual Masters. In the case of Sri Chinmoy, we are extremely fortunate that on many occasions his talks were recorded for posterity.
— Animesh Harrington
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THE THIRD EYE – Original Video Recording
by Sri Chinmoy
In 1976, Scottish playwright, poet and musician Nityananda Tom McGrath invited Sri Chinmoy to give a talk at the Third Eye Centre in Glasgow. Fittingly, Sri Chinmoy chose to speak about the third eye (one of the most important chakras in the subtle body). In his talk, Sri Chinmoy reveals the capacities of the third eye as well as offering cautionary advice to seekers who want to make the fastest progress in their life of aspiration.
“When the third eye is opened in accordance with God’s Will, no matter what the seeker did in the past, no matter what is going to happen today or tomorrow, no matter what will take place in the distant future, the seeker will not be affected, for God’s Will will illumine him, perfect him, liberate him and immortalise him.” — Sri Chinmoy View the original video recording along with transcription…
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THE MEANING OF DISCIPLESHIP TODAY – Original Audio Recording
by Sri Chinmoy
On June 1st, 1979, at the request of the Dean of the Pacific School of Religion at Berkeley in California, Sri Chinmoy delivered one of his most historic lectures.
He opens his main address with the question: “Who is a disciple?” And immediately answers: “A disciple is a seeker, a truth-seeker.... A disciple is a lover; he is a Heaven-lover.... A disciple is a server; he is an earth-server.... A disciple is a fulfiller; he is a God-fulfiller.”
Sri Chinmoy highlights the differences between “yesterday’s disciple, today’s disciple and tomorrow’s disciple” and explains the importance of the Master-disciple relationship. Listen to the original recording along with transcription...
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THE EXISTENCE OF GOD – Original Audio Recording
by Sri Chinmoy
On April 22nd, 1974, Sri Chinmoy delivered three university talks in three different US states. In this, the final lecture of the day, at the North Idaho Junior College in Idaho, Sri Chinmoy answers one of humanity’s age-old questions: Does God exist?
“Here we are all seekers. Some of us may not be as sincere as others. Some of us may be curiosity-mongers. Some of us, at times, become doubters. Some of us, at times, become atheists. Yet we are all seekers. Just because we are seekers, at God’s Choice Hour, one day we shall realise God.” Listen to the original recording along with transcription...
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EAST AND WEST – Original Audio Recording
by Sri Chinmoy
In February 1965, Sri Chinmoy was interviewed on a New York City radio station, during which he read a short message. This is the earliest known recording of Sri Chinmoy, made just ten months after his arrival in the West, at the age of 33.
Here, Sri Chinmoy shares his spiritual optimism for the union of East and West: “Across all physical and conventional barriers between East and West, high above national standards, above even individual standards, will fly the supreme banner of Divine Oneness.” These prophetic words were published six months later as an essay in the first issue of AUM Magazine in August 1965. Listen to the original recording along with transcription...
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OUR PATH – Original Audio Recording
by Sri Chinmoy
“Our path is basically the path of the heart and not that of the mind. This does not mean that I am criticising the path of the mind. Far from it. We feel, that the path of the heart leads us faster towards our goal.”
These are the immortal words of Sri Chinmoy as he spoke to members of his newly formed London Centre on November 21, 1970. It is unquestionably one of Sri Chinmoy’s most important talks. The power and conviction of Sri Chinmoy’s voice in this original recording is as accessible and inspiring today as it was all those decades ago. Listen to the original recording along with transcription....
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