Sri Chinmoy

The meditation techniques that we follow and teach have been created by renowned spiritual teacher Sri Chinmoy. His life of selfless service and uplifting the human spirit inspires us to follow in his footsteps.

On this page: Biographical info • Music • Writings • Art • Athletics

Biography

Sri Chinmoy is a modern meditation teacher. He has developed & written his philosophy primarily through the periods of the 1970’s to the year 2007. So he understands well about the needs and challenges which we currently face. I like the aspect of having his original writings available, in abundant quantity.

Sadly, he passed away on October 11, 2007. In a sense this helps him to be of service to the broader range of humanity, instead of being focused on the surroundings of his physical body. Since then, his students, like myself, have been continuing in a harmonious and energetic spirit to share his teachings and inspiration in many forms & locations around the world.

Sri Chinmoy went far beyond just teaching meditation. He has excelled in a number of different fields, including those referenced on this page, being: Music, Writing, Art & Athletics. His multi-talented efforts are intended to inspire humanity and the individual seeker, in whatever way touches each of us most deeply.

Sri Chinmoy developed a deep, conscious & continuous inner connection with his own soul. He encouraged people who are seeking inner experiences and personal development to use meditative techniques to unlock our own hidden potentials. This allows seekers to go beyond our previously perceived limitations. Expanding our capacities to do or become something new, is what he termed ‘self-transcendence’. He used the power & peace which he unlocked through meditation to become an example of somebody who continually reached for new goals, both inwardly and outwardly. This was not for self-aggrandizement or to feed his own ego, but to demonstrate that meditation and following a spiritual lifestyle can enable us to achieve outstanding results in our own lives.

There are several other websites where you might prefer to read a more comprehensive and objective review of Sri Chinmoy’s biographical information. May I suggest:

Music

Sri Chinmoy played a lot of different instruments.

As with many of his other activities, he approached the world of music with a somewhat different outlook from what we might be accustomed to. He generally wanted to bring forward and emphasize the spiritual, peaceful and/or dynamic ambiance that can be shared via music. So instead of becoming a trained classical pianist for instance, he played the piano in a somewhat looser but perhaps more dynamic fashion than what we typically witness. He may have been using piano music to try and represent some of his inner experiences. Subtle spiritual experiences are perhaps difficult to describe even by the most advanced authors. So when you listen to Sri Chinmoy’s piano music, you are perhaps getting a glimpse into a realm that is difficult to grasp, but very worthwhile to experience.

Sri Chinmoy’s Flute Music for Meditation – his most popular recording. Available on Spotify/Apple Music.

 

 

Sri Chinmoy did not worry at all about how many songs he could sell or how famous of a musician he might become. He did not allow our commercial preferences to mold or dictate the pure and unique realm that he wanted to share with us. This can be considered as a benefit or not, as you please.

One thing is certain, however, is that he worked tremendously hard to get across a message of peace through his music. Following in his footsteps, his students continue to offer many free concerts in various cities, big and small.

Music may be considered as a ‘universal language’. Anybody can listen to any music and get something from it, regardless of what language we speak. One of the tricks that Sri Chinmoy taught, was to listen to spiritual music with an open heart instead of a critical mind, in order to gain the best benefit from it.

Sri Chinmoy also taught that music can facilitate our meditation and allow us to access deeper feelings & inner experiences. Briefly, if you play or listen to uplifting music, with your whole-hearted attention, you can enter into a state nearly as beneficial as meditation.

To listen to more of Sri Chinmoy’s music: www.radioSriChinmoy.org

Writings

Sri Chinmoy wrote over 1,600 books. That allows a very rich field of study for those who want to discover more deeply the secrets of the inner journey. Many of these books dealt directly with meditation techniques, questions and answers, and advice for the spiritually-minded.

Video: Sri Chinmoy reads from ‘My Flute’ – a collection of his early poems.

Many of Sri Chinmoy’s books were written in a poetic format. This allows the reader to take a little bite of wisdom, without worrying about any complex context or conditions of how to interpret the writing. We often refer to them as poetry books, although once again, Sri Chinmoy did things perhaps a little differently. He certainly wrote a fair number of rhyming poems, but more often they were glimpses of his inner wisdom, which in many cases did not rhyme. Over his long career, you can see how his style adapted and developed. During early years there may have been a tendency towards longer poems, which perhaps became more simplified as time progressed. We often call these writings ‘aphorisms’.

Most of Sri Chinmoy’s books can be found at srichinmoylibrary.com

I recall when I first started reading Sri Chinmoy’s books. His vision took what I already knew and perceived about the world, and expanded it far beyond anything I could have imagined discovering myself, without his guidance. In particular, his knowledge of the spiritual realm expanded my understanding that we can each become who and what we Choose to be. His main suggested technique for allowing us to make profound progress in our inner and outer lives, was, of course: Meditation. Fortunately I was determined enough to change my life for the better, and go beyond my self-imposed limitations, by following his suggestions. It takes time and practice, but his writings have supported me through that process with unstinting insight, wisdom, clarity & simplicity. Finally, he is an authoritative source on so many topics, as he gains his knowledge through direct inner experience. From my perspective, this lets me envision the truth as never before, and implement a positive lifestyle with a great degree of faith.

Art

Once again, Sri Chinmoy produced a lot of art in a number of different varieties and formats. One of his greatest contributions was the sketching of 16,000,000 Dream-Freedom-Peace-Birds. These birds are fairly simply drawn, perhaps just a few pen-strokes, but they each clearly have their own feel and leave the viewer with an impression of something fresh and uplifting. Some are a good size, but many are quite small. Because many are small and rapidly-drawn, that enabled Sri Chinmoy to produce so many of them.

The blue-streaked abstract painting that you see here is what Sri Chinmoy called ‘Jharna-Kala’ , which means ‘Fountain-Art’. He created 140,000 of such works of art, in a spontaneous, unplanned fashion. He would paint by following a streak of light or inner inspiration springing from a well of creativity stemming from his meditative consciousness.

Sri Chinmoy did not produce his art in order to sell massive quantities to the public at large. Nor did he display it in galleries for the purpose of financial gain. In fact, in the past & the present, we continue to set up free galleries of his art for people to enjoy, at significant cost. So why did he offer so many things (like art galleries) for free? Similar to some of his other gifts, he did it to inspire people. And that is basically the story of his life. He generally did whatever he felt that he must, to give the public a glimpse of what one person can achieve and offer, based upon the purity & power of prayer and meditation. His works, his self-offering & his realizations came from the highest source, his own deep connection with God. Sri Chinmoy worked tirelessly to share something unique and long-lasting with humanity.

Athletics

Sri Chinmoy was quite an accomplished athlete in his youth, at the Sri Aurobindo ashram in Pondicherry. Sports and athletics was a valued practice in that spiritual community, and Sri Chinmoy was one of the most accomplished champions during his competitive phase. (In the picture here, he is at the far right)

Sri Chinmoy advocates that sports, athletics and/or personal fitness helps us to meditate without impediment. Of course, if we are sick or in pain, it is a little difficult to concentrate without disturbance on Peace, Light, Joy and other valuable inner commodities. So it is advisable to remain healthy and active.

Sri Chinmoy continued to inspire his students and others, by practicing sports & weight-lifting himself, right up into his 76th year. He remained active and engaged until the last year of his life, and encouraged others to do so as well. One of his sayings was “Old age is a new page, and not a broken cage“. Certainly he practiced what he preached, in virtually all ways he lived up to the standard that he recommended for others. There is a wealth of documentation on Sri Chinmoy’s physical feats.

Here is 1 reference: https://www.srichinmoy.org/service/weightlifting