Category: Sri Chinmoy

Tuesday 16th October, 2007.

Visitors continue to arrive at Aspiration Ground, the final resting place of guru, Sri Chinmoy.

Sitting on the court, there is a sense of timelessness, as 24 hours a day people come to sit and meditate in silent contemplation. The silence is only very gently broken by a continuous flow of meditative music; some from the recordings of Sri Chinmoy, and others live performances from his students.

There is great beauty in the simplicity of the events unfolding. There is no set procedure, no formal time of meditation; in fact it feels there is no beginning and no ending. There is just a continuous line of pilgrims, who wait very patiently for their opportunity to pass the current resting place of Sri Chinmoy’s body.

Continue reading “Reflections on a Unique experience”

We continue to receive an overwhelming number of kind words and tributes about Sri Chinmoy. This is a small selection from the past 2 days.

• See also : Selected Comments Part I
• Tributes at Sri Chinmoy.org
• Please feel free to Post Your own Tribute

~

From: Prince Dipokusumo

Yogyakarta, Indonesia,
October 15, 2007

Dear Our Beloved Guru Sri Chinmoy,

We can’t believe when we heard about you but we believe that you are still there as always for the whole word with your big love.

Thank you so much for your love and joy to our family and many people in our country, Indonesia.

Having a beautiful experience with you in Jamaica, New York in June 2006 is an unforgettable memory. We remember that we went to court everyday for meditating, singing, and listening your beautiful music; we followed you meditating in UN; we gathered with the others to celebrate Father’s Day; we took a nice picture in front of your house; we visited your wonderful museum and celebrated Prince Dipokusumo and also Adhityo’s birthday.

Then several months after we came back to our home town, a beautiful, cute and adorable baby girl was born. We name her Saraswati. It has so much bless we have that we can’t write one by one.

A beautiful memory on the Christmas trip in Penang, February 2006 that we were there for the whole family and you lifted us up. It was a remarkable experience. Another memory that keep in mind when you and your brother, Sinuhun met for the first time in the real world in the Surakarta Palace in 2003. Hopefully, you will meet him in the beautiful and peace place.

Also we still remember when you lifted up Prince Dipokusumo and his big family from Surakarta Palace in 2003 with the witness of Sinuhun. It was a remarkable memory that we never forget.

Guru,
You are our inspiration and motivator to create many beautiful things in this life….

… Guru,
We won’t say good bye to you because we believe that you have a special duty from GOD. Your spirit, your love, your energy, and your soul will still leave in our heart, forever.

Many thanks for our beloved Guru, father, uncle, grandfather Sri Chinmoy. We love you.

From Surakarta Palace — Indonesia
Prince Dipokusumo
Princess Febri
Adhityo, Maharani, Gayatri, Saraswati
Hartono Brotoasmoro
Lia
Haryo
Ama
Jojo

~

finding one’s way in life is difficult even in the best of times
the presence of inspiring human beings is the surest way of receiving help and guidance in these matters
5 years of my life were spent under the direct tutelege of sri chinmoy
there are but a few real and true human beings to whom i will never ever be able to repay my debt of gratitude.
the principle reason for this is that they have transcended the merely human and attained the all.
sri chinmoy is one of these human beings my gratitude to him will remain forever endless.

– Mahavishnu

~

A big soul has left this world, a great spirit went on a journey, a unique personality has touched many hearts and will always be with us.

Brigitte McMahon – Olympic Champion Triathlon

~

“We have lost a great spiritual leader. The world is a poorer place without Sri Chinmoy. I am grateful he has left such a legacy of work and teachings with us and I am sure his spirit will continue to work through many of us.”

– Alison Streeter

Swum the English Channel 43 times; holder of the record for the most crossings.

~

Sri Chinmoy’s life has been dedicated to spread peace and harmony around the world. With his generosity and positive energy he has touched the hearts of millions. Like his soul his message will live forever.

Francois Gay – Mr. Olympia Natural Bodybuilding

~

Sri Chinmoy’s name was introduced to us through World Harmony Run and we thought what a great man this was to initiate something so ’simple’ yet meaningful to pass the message of peace and harmony. We applaud his effort and may the Run continues on as an ongoing tribute to this great man. Our deepest condolence and sympathies to those close to him.

Harlinah Rahman

From Darussalam Mosque, Singapore

Continue reading “Selected Tributes to Sri Chinmoy II”

On Wednesday 3 October, Sri Chinmoy held a meditation function for his students at which many of the musical groups which usually play on Wednesdays performed. This was his first meditation function with his New York students since he returned from playing musical concerts in St. Petersburg, although he had been having walking meditations where students would arrive at his house and walk past in a loop whilst he meditated on them. During the function, Sri Chinmoy related many amusing incidents from his Russian trip.

On Friday, a meditation function was held where members of the general public were also invited to come along. Students that had been on Sri Chinmoy’s path for over 30 years were invited to come up and recite a short prayer or poem.

Another walking meditation took place on Saturday afternoon, and then a meditation function on Saturday night. Most of the Saturday night meditation function was taken up by improvised pieces of spiritual theatre. A heart-warmingly funny play was performed by the theatre troupe led by Databir Watters and Abakash Konopiaty – consisting of incidents in the life of Databir! Databir is well known in the centre for being dynamism, enthusiasm and sweetness incarnate – he is in his sixties now, but is still the driving force behind the daily games of frisbee that a group of New York students have every day after their morning meditation. (Read Ashrita Furman’s blog to find out what happened when someone tried to steal his wallet during a visit to Russia three years ago) Sri Chinmoy thought that this play was marvelous. Also that night, there was a play based on a story from the Mahabharata by Udar Robinson’s group – a year earlier, Sri Chinmoy had given them the name “Udar: the Unbounded Troupe”.

On Sunday, there was another walking meditation, and Sri Chinmoy also spoke at length on the importance of valuing the outer guidance of a meditation teacher.

On Tuesday 9 October, Sri Chinmoy hosted his last distinguished guest – Alan Nazareth, a retired Indian ambassador who had served his country in many different locations around the world, including the United States. Upon his arrival in the West in 1964, Sri Chinmoy worked in the Indian Consulate in New York for three years, before embarking full-time upon his life’s service to humanity. The Ambassador was Sri Chinmoy’s boss for a very short time in 1967 before he left, and in the ensuing years he came to quite a few of Sri Chinmoy’s concerts and other activities. Alan Nazareth is currently managing trustee of the Sarvodaya International Trust which works to uphold and spread the ideals espoused by Mahatma Gandhi, and he writes and lectures extensively on applying Gandhian ideals to the modern world. During his visit, he and Sri Chinmoy discussed the life’s work of Mahatma Gandhi, and Sri Chinmoy then presented his guest with an award honouring his years of service for his native country and for the world.

Sri Chinmoy’s creative output continued right up until the day before his passing – he composed several new songs on Wednesday.

Wednesday night was the last meditation function that Sri Chinmoy held with his students. He spoke quite a lot during the function, wondering aloud about the outcome of the Nobel Prize that was to be announced in a couple of days and casting some humorous observations on the relationship between the two words ‘peace’ and ‘harmony’. At that function, the poetry book My Christmas-New Year-Vacation-Aspiration-Prayers, part 52 was made available for sale, consisting of 91 prayer-poems Sri Chinmoy wrote during his stay in Langkawi, Malaysia in early 2006. The ninety-first poem in this book, and the last poem published during Sri Chinmoy’s lifetime, has now attained an immortal status:

“My physical death
Is not the end of my life –
I am an eternal journey.”

One person who was present at the meditation function recalls Sri Chinmoy holding this book of poetry and wondering aloud “Will it ever end?”. We know know that was indeed a rhetorical question, for with Sri Chinmoy’s passing from this earthly plane, something has been set in motion which will propagate onwards into Eternity.

Photo by: Jowan Gauthier, Sri Chinmoy Centre Galleries – (of Sri Chinmoy in St Petersburg)

Sri Chinmoy’s memorial service took place yesterday, attended by thousands of his students and dozens of luminaries from all around the world.

The ceremony opened with some minutes of meditation, filling the space with a deep and profound silence. This was followed by two of Sri Chinmoy’s mantric songs peformed by his favourite musical group, an all female ensemble who have performed at venues all over the world.

Then Shivaram Trichur, a student of Sri Chinmoy’s since the very earliest days of his coming to America, read out some ancient Indian slokas, or scriptural verses, concerning the immortality of the soul. Among them was this one, invoking the eternal relationship between a meditation teacher and his student:

Saha nav avatu,
Saha nav bhuknatu,
Saha nav viryam haravavahai.

(May he protect us both.
May he nourish us both.
May we both work together with energy, indomitable and endless.)
– from Kali-Saṇṭāraṇa Upanishad, translation by Sri Chinmoy.

There were also performances by a group led by Satyajit Saha; this group performed arangements of Sri Chinmoy’s music and writings every week at Sri Chinmoy’s meditation functions. This was followed by another group which performed an arrangement of Smile, My Soul, Smile, also written by Sri Chinmoy.

Then luminaries from all around the world came up to pay their respects; many who could not attend sent heartfelt messages of appreciation and condolence which were read out. You can read many of those tributes on SriChinmoy.org.

Then a choir of Sri Chinmoy’s students sang the song ‘When I am Gone Away‘, that Sri Chinmoy asked be performed only upon his Mahasamadhi – the name given to the process by which spiritual Masters leave the body and enter into the soul’s world:

When I am gone away,
Remember me, O children sweet,

No, not because I failed,
No, not because I cried,
No, not because I tried,

No, not because I saw my Lord in you,
No, not because I served my Lord in you,
No, not because I fulfilled my Lord in you,

No, not because I was your Pilot true,
No, not because I was your ‘Infinite’ blue,

O but because my life was all gratitude, gratitude, gratitude
To you, to you, my children sweet, to you.

Then one by one, all those present, students and visitors alike, filed up to the casket where Sri Chinmoy’s body lies, and placed a beautiful rose at the foot of the casket in appreciation of Sri Chinmoy’s life work. In the background, a recording was played of Sri Chinmoy singing the mantra ‘Gratitude’ over and over again, spontaneously composing the music as he sang.

Today (October 15th), people are still arriving to pay their respects to the earthly body Sri Chinmoy has left behind. Many musical groups that used to play soulful music at Sri Chinmoy’s meditation functions are now performing in the background for the visitors, creating an unearthly spiritual atmosphere in this beautiful warm and sunny day.

Sri Chinmoy wrote this song for his students in 1974, and asked that it be sung only upon his entry into Mahasamadhi and departure from this earth. During the memorial service for Sri Chinmoy yesterday, the song was sung by a choir of Sri Chinmoy’s students in a way that brought heaven down to earth.

When I am gone away,
Remember me, O children sweet,

No, not because I failed,
No, not because I cried,
No, not because I tried,

No, not because I saw my Lord in you,
No, not because I served my Lord in you,
No, not because I fulfilled my Lord in you,

No, not because I was your Pilot true,
No, not because I was your ‘Infinite’ blue,

O but because my life was all gratitude, gratitude, gratitude
To you, to you, my children sweet, to you.

Thank you to Michael for inspiring this post; you can read more about this song on his comment on our tribute form, and also read an indescribably beautiful essay he wrote in tribute of Sri Chinmoy on the Sri Chinmoy Centre site.

Photo by: Kedar Misani, Sri Chinmoy Centre Galleries.

Today, 13 October 2007, the Honorable Gary Ackerman, Member of Congress from New York’s 5th District, offered a soul-stirring tribute to Sri Chinmoy’s life. Congressman Ackerman represents the district where Sri
Chinmoy lived. They were close, personal friends for many years.

Gary Ackerman pays tribute to Sri Chinmoy here…

Tributes have begun arriving from world leaders and inspirational figures from all around the globe; they are being posted on Sri Chinmoy’s official site as they become available to us. among them include moving and heartfelt messages from President Mikhail Gorbachev, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and 9-time Olympic gold medal winner Carl Lewis. View the tributes here…

In addition, Gary Ackerman, the Congressman for the district in which Sri Chinmoy lived, arrived today to pay his respects to his dear friend of many years, and spontaneously gave an incredibly moving speech:

“..Death in itself is confusing. It is even more confusing when somebody who has exhibited such unbelievable dynamism, such strength, such humility, such power, somehow seems gone from our lives. But that is not the truth. It may be the reality, but it is not the truth. Because what is a visionary, but for his vision? The visionary may be gone, but the vision is here...each and every one of us has been privileged, because we have been touched by a great master-teacher, a great inspirer, who has given us a message, a message to live by...”

Read the entire text of that speech…

There is also a very nice article on Sri Chinmoy’s passing in the New York Times…

It has only been a day since Sri Chinmoy left his mortal frame, and yet there have been many articles written on the web eloquently paying tribute to his life and work:

• Obituary at Sri Chinmoy.org

• Tributes to Sri Chinmoy by visitors to Sri Chinmoy News
• Selected Comments from visitors to Sri Chinmoy News

Newspaper Articles

• Sri Chinmoy, athletic and spiritual teacher dies aged 76 at NY Times
• Sri Chinmoy Dies at NY Daily News
• Sri Chinmoy death at Reuters
• Press Release at AP

• Updated Tributes
  – recent tributes

Tributes

• Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team – Tribute at Sri Chinmoy MT
• Tribute to Poetic spirit of Sri Chinmoy
• S. Neil Vineberg talks about the impact his relationship with Sri Chinmoy has had on him
• Sri Chinmoy Tribute at Respectance.com
• Tribute by Sumangali Morhall
  
• Sri Chinmoy passes away at 76 – Writespirit.net
• Sri Chinmoy – A lifetime of service at shanemagee.com; Shane Magee has also written a blog post at zaadz…
• Sri Chinmoy – the man who painted eternity at Sri Chinmoy Art
• Gratitude to Sri Chinmoy by Noivedya Juddery
• Sri Chinmoy’s death at Tejvan’s Blog
• Sri Chinmoy’s passing at Multidays
• Sri Chinmoy – Spiritual teacher – chanakhya jakovic
• The Journey Eternal – Alf at Thousand Eye

If you have written a tribute to Sri Chinmoy, please leave a comment so we can link to it.

On the Wednesday night before his passing away the following morning, Sri Chinmoy held a meditation function for his students at which copies of his latest book of poetry were made available for sale. The book was the 52nd instalment of a series entitled My Christmas-New Year-Vacation-Aspiration-Prayers, consisting of prayer-poems Sri Chinmoy wrote on his visits to other countries between November and February each year.

The final prayer-poem in this series reads as follows:

“My physical death
Is not the end of my life –
I am an eternal journey.”

This poem is the last poem published during Sri Chinmoy’s lifetime.

• View tributes to Sri Chinmoy….