Entries from October 2007 ↓
October 31st, 2007 — Sri Chinmoy
(New York, October 30) – More than 700 UN leaders, ambassadors and luminaries from many walks of life and faiths gathered inside the United Nations Tuesday afternoon to celebrate the life and work of Sri Chinmoy, the world harmony leader, spiritual teacher and humanitarian who died at age 76 on October 11th in New York City.
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Photo: Leaders from six different religions offer the opening silence at the celebration of the life and work of Sri Chinmoy at the United Nations (more details of participants)
October 31st, 2007 — Sri Chinmoy
(United Nations, New York) Leaders from six different religions offer the opening silence at the Celebration of the Life of Sri Chinmoy.
(For more details: see photo caption at bottom)
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Celebration of the Life of Sri Chinmoy at the United Nations
New York – More than 700 UN leaders, ambassadors and luminaries from many walks of life and faiths gathered inside the United Nations Tuesday afternoon to celebrate the life and work of Sri Chinmoy, the world harmony leader, spiritual teacher and humanitarian who died at age 76 on October 11th in New York City. He dedicated his life to sowing the seeds of peace and harmony inside the hearts and lives of people throughout the globe.
The UN programme, which was held in one of the main meeting halls, was a soul-stirring tribute to Sri Chinmoy’s 37 years of leading the twice-weekly Peace Meditation at the United Nations, which he founded at the invitation of the third UN Secretary-General U Thant in 1970. Leaders from six major faiths—Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, Judaism and Indigenous religious traditions—opened the ceremony with a minute of silence, including the Very Rev. James Parks Morton, head of the Interfaith Center of New York and Dean Emeritus of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, and Pir Zia Inayat Khan, head of the Sufi Order International.
Many UN ambassadors and officials as well as Aye Aye Thant, daughter of the third UN Secretary-General and President of the U Thant Institute, also paid tribute to
Sri Chinmoy’s work, starting with keynote speaker Ambassador Anwarul Chowdhury, longtime Under-Secretary-General at the United Nations, plus a dear friend of Sri Chinmoy and fellow Bengali:
“In Sri Chinmoy, the world has lost a great man of peace. President Nelson Mandela wrote in his tribute, and I quote, ‘Today, the world is a lesser place as I recall his lifetime of service to humanity in the great cause of world peace.’ The outpouring of messages from all parts of the globe reflects this loss so sincerely
“Sri Chinmoy is a man of the highest spiritual stature, and internationally recognised as the true global Ambassador of Peace. The universal nature of his philosophy embraced and encouraged people of all backgrounds, faiths and nationalities to work together for peace. He is the finest example of a person who has a true vision of peace and one who has untiringly and selflessly inspired peace all over the world.”
Mr. Vijay Nambiar, Chef de Cabinet to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, spoke during the ceremony, stating: “I am sure I represent the Secretary-General when I express my profound respect and gratitude to Sri Chinmoy for his contribution to the building up of inner peace in the United Nations as in the world at large.”
Lord Malloch Brown, former UN Deputy Secretary-General and now Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office for the United Kingdom, wrote that “Sri Chinmoy reached out to so many in the UN. In the UN we felt the force of his love for us. However difficult the moment, he never lost faith in the UN and those who worked in it. He brought courage and support to so many individuals in our organization but also his voice and prayer to those who led it. A man of the spiritual life, he understood the need for the UN in the material world if the two were ever to find justice and harmony.”
UN Ambassadors and officials over the years have participated in a number of programmes organized by Sri Chinmoy, including the World Harmony Run, the world’s largest relay for peace involving millions of participants in 140 nations since 1987. Many UN delegations have been involved in the work of Sri Chinmoy’s humanitarian relief organization, The Oneness-Heart-Tears and Smiles, which has collected and distributed millions of dollars of medical supplies throughout Asia and Africa.
Sri Chinmoy also brought his wide-ranging cultural activities to the UN. Over the years he gave dozens of free Peace Concerts there, and exhibited his colourful paintings and selections from his millions of “Dream-Freedom-Peace-Bird” drawings.
Among the tributes received from world leaders, President Mikhail Gorbachev wrote: “This is a loss for the whole world. Through many years of his selfless work for the sake of peace, Sri Chinmoy has gained recognition and love in the farthest corners of our planet…In our hearts he will forever remain a man who dedicated his whole life to peace.” President Bill Clinton wrote: “Throughout his many years, Sri Chinmoy enriched the lives of countless others and served as a model of generosity and discipline to those he met, fostering an atmosphere of compassion, harmony, and unity. Sri Chinmoy was a leader, humanitarian, artist, athlete, and public servant who will be sorely missed. His legacy of kindness, reflection, and resolve will endure for many years to come.”
Sri Chinmoy was born on August 27, 1931 in a small village in east India. Orphaned at the age of 11, Sri Chinmoy then lived with his six brothers and sisters at a spiritual community in southern India, where he spent the next 20 years in intense prayer and meditation. Heeding an inner call, he travelled to the United States in 1964 and made New York City his home.
One unique aspect of his philosophy was that “the physical and the spiritual must go together.” A champion sprinter and decathlete in his youth, and later a marathon runner, Sri Chinmoy astounded sports heroes and luminaries through a weightlifting career which he began in 1985, at the age of 54. Sri Chinmoy credited God’s Grace which gave him inner peace for the ability to lift thousands, sometimes even tens of thousands of pounds. From cars to elephants to planes, Sri Chinmoy lifted almost every object imaginable in various styles of strongman lifts. “I have learned from Sri Chinmoy that the size of the arm does not make the man; the size of the heart makes the man,” said five-time Mr. Universe and Best Built Man of the 20th Century, Bill Pearl. “Nobody on earth has done what Sri Chinmoy has done.”
Over 7,000 people continue to follow his philosophy through more than 300 Sri Chinmoy Centres worldwide that teach meditation and organise many of the global activities initiated and guided by Sri Chinmoy.
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(United Nations, New York) Leaders from six different religions—Buddhism, Christianity, Indigenous religious traditions, Hinduism, Islam and Judaism—offer the opening moment of silence at the Celebration of the Life of Sri Chinmoy.
From left to right are
- The Ven. Ashin Indaka, Chief Monk of the Mahasi Meditation Retreat Center Association
- The Very Rev. James Parks Morton, Founder of the Interfaith Center of New York and Dean Emeritus of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine
- Nana Boakyewa Yiadom I, Queen of Adamorobe, Aburi-Akuapem (Ghana)
- Swami Amarnathananda, Head Monk of the Bharat Sevashram Sangha of North America
- Pir Zia Inayat-Khan, President of the Sufi Order International
- Maggid Yitzhak Buxbaum, Director, Jewish Spirit.
Photo by Dhanu Alaimo
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October 29th, 2007 — Sri Chinmoy
Sri Chinmoy wrote many poems and articles about the role of the mind and heart.
“Two instruments: mind and heart. The mind is division: world-division and self-division. World-division is nothing short of world-poverty. Self-division is the beginning of self-destruction. The heart is acceptance: acceptance of the inner life and acceptance of the outer life. The inner life is aspiration. The outer life is dedication.”
- Sri Chinmoy
Excerpt from My Rose Petals, Part 5 by Sri Chinmoy “Two Instruments: Mind and Heart”
In this interview, Sri Chinmoy explains the difference between the mind-jungle and heart-garden.
This is a short video of an interview between Sri Chinmoy and Dr Russell Barber, former Religion and Ethics Editor at NBC-TV.Millennium interview Video’s produced by Shambhu Ltd
October 28th, 2007 — Sri Chinmoy, poetry
My Lord,
How I wish
To be with You
In Heaven!
Do you enjoy
Your Heavenly Rest?
~
View: “My Lord” By: Doris at Sri Chinmoy Inspiration Group
“Please forgive me, Father. I have no aspiration, no
Love-Devotion-Surrender today.”
“Aspiration? Love-Devotion-Surrender? Who cares for these things? Give
me whatever you have.”
“I’m sorry Master, but what I have today is nothing you want. Alas,
all I have today is my pathetic orphan-sorrow.”
~
The Master Thief by Michael at Sri Chinmoy Inspiration Group
Continue reading →
October 27th, 2007 — Sri Chinmoy
Some photo albums have appeared on the Sri Chinmoy Centre site remembering aspects of Sri Chinmoy’s life in different ways:
This picture is taken from a lovely photo album called ‘Beautiful Sri Chinmoy’ by Jowan Gauthier which is exactly that - beautiful pictures taken of Sri Chinmoy from his trip to St. Petersburg and his visit to Mongolia which took place in May of this Year. There is also a photo album by Projjwal Pohland, who accompanied Sri Chinmoy on his last trip abroad to St. Petersburg and shares with us some beautiful photographs.
Continue reading →
October 25th, 2007 — tributes
(The following tribute comes from Ted Corbitt, who is known as the ‘father of modern ultrarunning’ having raced in and helped organise races for almost 50 years. He is still active at the age of 87, competing in a 24-hour race as recently as 2003)
Sri Chinmoy: Salutations and goodbye, for now.
Sri Chinmoy was a unique character who chose paths that had upbeat effects around the entire world.
Sri Chinmoy was productive in the expression of his talents. No one matched his artistic and physical output. Sri Chinmoy and his helpers did a unique service in the conduction of many long distance runs allowing many runners around the world to express themselves running. They have shown the world how it is done. They are unmatched.
Sri Chinmoy exploited the hours given to him. His time on earth is unforgettable among those who knew him.
We can remember and appreciate that Sri Chinmoy worked his many talents around the world, to be shared by many groups of people on the globe….
Ted Corbitt
New York Pioneer Club
10/13/07
(From one who appreciated the upgrade in peoples lives provided by Sri Chinmoy’s efforts.)
Continue reading →
October 25th, 2007 — Sri Chinmoy
Two recent prayer-poems written by Sri Chinmoy have recently come to light on the Sri Chinmoy Inspiration Group which seem especially poignant now given the Master’s passing.
Every Saturday morning whenever he was in New York, Sri Chinmoy would arrive at the 2 mile race held by his students to give out the prizes, which (in keeping with the participation-rather-than-winning focus of the races) usually consisted of a banana for each of the first three male and female finishers. Before giving the prizes, he would spontaneously compose a race prayer - sometimes this prayer would even be set to music! Sri Chinmoy composed his final race prayer on the morning of September 29th - here we can see how in the eye of a spiritual Master, the body’s trials and tribulations pale in comparison the soul’s delight:
The fever of the body
Comes and goes.
May my God-love-heart fever
Remain forever and forever.
The fever of the body
Is torture unbearable.
My God-love-heart fever
Is rapture unimaginable.
(unofficial version, not yet published)
The second poem came to light during a meditation function held by Sri Chinmoy’s students in New York yesterday evening. For the past two years, Sri Chinmoy had been composing a series of rhyming couplets, one for every day of the year, in a collection ‘My God-Hunger Cry’. This collection was not released in book form like most of Sri Chinmoy’s output, but rather in sheets containing a week’s worth of poems. Last night, the final sheet was made available during the meditation function, containing prayer-poems Sri Chinmoy had written for the week ending November 1; the following was the last poem on the sheet.
“Alas, my whole body has started to decay.
But I am so happy that every day
My Lord is getting younger day by day.”
Thank you to Meriem Ait-Ouyahia and Arpan De Angelo for posting these two poems on the Inspiration Group. Photograph by Kedar Misani on Sri Chinmoy Galleries.
October 25th, 2007 — Sri Chinmoy
Bhagavan Sri Chinmoy:
Avatar of the era;
Yogi of the highest magnitude;
Sovereign of the Eternal Now.
I bow to You in deep reverence.
Bhagavan Sri Chinmoy:
God of Gods.
Thou who art not the body,
But the manifestation, of a divine power on Earth.
Oh God-man of the ever-transcending beyond.
I bow to You in deep reverence.
Bhagavan Sri Chinmoy:
Mother, Father, Friend and Advocate.
You came to the west in 1964.
At the request of Your Beloved Lord Supreme.
You taught:-The Spirituality of the East,
And the dynamism of the West, must go together;
That Matter has to be,
The conscious expression of the Spirit.
I bow to you in deep reverence.
Bhagavan Sri Chinmoy:
Seer-athlete; poet; artist; musician; weightlifter supreme!
Writer of over 1500 books!
Composer of innumerable devotional songs!
Painter of over 150,000 paintings!
Lifter of over 7000lbs with either hand!
Creator of Soul-birds, Peace-Blossoms, Oneness-Home
Peace Runs, World harmony Runs and Eternal flames,
I bow to You in deep reverence.
Bhagavan Sri Chinmoy:
You taught the ideal of Self-transcendence…….
Going beyond, beyond, into the ever-transcending beyond……
Love, Devotion and Surrender incarnate.
Who placed everything,
At the feet of Your beloved Lord Supreme, saying:-
“In My case, everything is 100% God’s Grace and
God’s compassion”.
I bow to You in Deep reverence.
Oh Mother India, land of Himalayan Souls.
Birthplace of Yoga Maya and Shashi Kumar Ghose,
Parents of ‘Madal’, Chinmoy Kumar Ghose,
Seventh and final son, born August 27th 1931;
Attained Mahasamadhi October 11th, 2007,
I bow to you in deep reverence.
1992. Revised Oct 25, 2007—-Manatita—-
October 25th, 2007 — Sri Chinmoy
A collection of tributes and poems related to the mahasamadhi of Sri Chinmoy
October 25th, 2007 — Sri Chinmoy
A very beautiful recording of Sri Chinmoy singing the word ‘gratitude’ over and over again, spontaneously putting music to the words as he sang, was played during Sri Chinmoy’s memorial ceremony, and again when his body was finally laid to rest. The recording took place on 13 April 1986, 22 years to the day Sri Chinmoy first arrived in America. Prachar Stegemann recalls the occasion:
“Guru was seated at our then-meeting place ‘Progress-Promise,’ painting Jharna Kalas on a table in front of him. He spontaneously started humming, then singing the word ‘Gratitude’ over and over. After a short while, Dhanu brought a microphone and placed it in front of Guru while he continued to sing and paint. From time to time you can hear the rapid sounds of the sponges Guru was using to paint with striking the paper.”
“When the cassette was produced and ready for sale, Guru refused to charge any money for it. He simply gave it away to all…”
These recollections appeared on the Sri Chinmoy Inspiration Group, where students of Sri Chinmoy have recently penned many beautiful memories of their teacher and of the week-long vigil following his passing.
Listen to this recording on Radio Sri Chinmoy….
(Photo of gratitude-flower: Sharani Robins)
