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Each of us is a seeker,
walking along Eternity’s Road,
which has no beginning and no end.
Sri Chinmoy is a spiritual teacher who dedicated his life in service to aspiring humanity. With all of his soulful offerings - his prayers and meditations, his literary, musical and artistic works - Sri Chinmoy is trying to inspire mankind.
We hope that the simplicity, purity and light of Sri Chinmoy's offerings will also inspire you.
I tell the truth. The world is hurt. I tell a lie. God is hurt. What am I to do? Silence. I must live in silence and become the smiling breath of silence. Lo, the world loves me, and God blesses me.
Sri Chinmoy, Meditations: food for the soul, Aum Centre, New York, 1970
The first step toward peace of mind is to sincerely feel that we are not indispensable. We lack peace of mind because we feel that others need something from us, or we need something from others. We feel that if we do not do this or say that, then the world will collapse or everything will go wrong immediately. But the moment we can sincerely feel that we are not indispensable, we will not have to go anywhere to get peace, for peace will immediately come to us.
Another easy way to acquire peace of mind is to feel that nothing is unduly important. Everything and everyone on earth can fail us or desert us as long as we do not desert God and God does not desert us. God will never desert us because He is all Compassion, and even if we try our hardest, we will not be able to desert God because He is omnipresent. Except for God, nothing on earth is indispensable. If we can consciously and continuously make ourselves feel that He alone is indispensable, then nothing can take away our peace of mind.
One can talk for hours on peace. The curious mind may get some satisfaction, but the crying heart cannot get any help from talks. The crying heart is the real reality within us, and that crying heart gets inner peace, everlasting peace, only through prayerful silence and soulful meditation. Only prayerful meditation and soulful prayer can bring about peace. If at every moment we can think that we are growing into a prayerful meditation and a soulful prayer, then peace eternal will be ours.
We own peace only after we have totally stopped finding fault with others. We have to feel the whole world as our very own. When we observe others' mistakes, we enter into their imperfections. This does not help us in the least. Strangely enough, the deeper we plunge, the clearer it becomes to us that the imperfections of others are our own imperfections, but in different bodies and minds. Whereas if we think of God, His Compassion and His Divinity enlarge our inner vision of Truth. We must come in the fulness of our spiritual realisation to accept humanity as one family.
Encouragement for Sri Chinmoy's peace work from Mikhail Gorbachev, Mother Teresa, Nelson Mandela, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and others. more »
The dream behind the world's largest peace torch relay, as well as notable milestones and achievements. more »
“Your deeds are invaluable, for they cannot be measured by any economic or political parameters; they are noble and cure the human soul.”
The heart is the source. We have to start our journey in the heart. Inside the heart is the soul. The consciousness of the soul permeates the entire body, but the special dwelling place of the soul is inside the spiritual heart. So when we enter into the inmost recesses of the heart, from there we derive real soul's love.
Love can go up to the head or it can go down to the feet. But if love comes from the heart first, then it is purified. If love does not originate in the heart, then it is vital love, which is not pure. If pure love, heart's love, soul's love, can permeate your entire being, it can purify and divinise your whole existence. When the entire physical existence is inundated with love, only then can we have the universal feeling of oneness.
We are all citizens of the world. If I can inspire others, and if they can inspire the rest of the world, then we can have a better world. It is by virtue of inspiration that we can do good things for mankind.
I have lifted people from many walks of life, and they all got joy. We call the programme Lifting Up the World with a Oneness-Heart. These world-citizens are great in their own fields, so I have honoured them in my own way. I lifted each of them with one arm using a special apparatus.
Sri Chinmoy started weightlifting in 1985, and began honouring people in this unique way in 1988; over 8,000 people were lifted in total.
“Just as a rose has many petals, all of which add to the beauty and fragrance of the rose, so too the world shall become one world family.” —
You can have heartfelt love for all humanity only when you love the Source. God created us. We did not create God. So in order to love all humanity, you have to go to humanity’s Source, God. If you love the root, then only can you love the tree. The root here is God. If you are conscious of the Source and the qualities the Source has, then only can you really love mankind. You cannot love any human being unless and until you love God. If you can make yourself feel that you love God and God alone, and nobody else, then you love everyone, for God is Someone who is inside everyone. If you say you love him or you love her, from that individual love you cannot go to love of God. But from love of God you can go to love of humanity. If you can please and love the Highest, God, then automatically you will be pleasing and loving humanity as well.
Serving the local community through free meditation classes and concerts, as well as other athletic and cultural events. more »
More about the history of this unique award, and the 8,000 recipients honoured for their role in serving their fellow man. more »
“Happiness is the birthright of every human heart.” —
True happiness is not a mental hallucination. True happiness is not a complacent feeling. True happiness is the spontaneous feeling of joy that comes from knowing you are doing the right thing and leading a divine life.
Joy and cheerfulness is not a life of pleasure. No! It is the conscious awareness of our inner divinity. When we are happy, when we are really happy, we are making real progress. When we become a happy heart, we move forward, we dive deep within, we fly. Progress is in movement, and this movement comes only when we have joy and we become joy.
Real joy comes from acceptance of the world, and not from renunciation of the world. God has chosen the conditions under which you are living your present life. It is like a play. The stage is set and the curtain has been raised for you to perform your part and advance in the spiritual path. Your present conditions are the best possible ones for your advancement.
I am happy because I always choose the right moment.
I am happy because I am a good listener.
I am happy because I keep my voice down.
I am happy because I do not try to convince others.
I am happy because I do not complain.
I am happy because I do not do two things at the same time.
I am happy because I never think of two objects at the same time.
I am happy because I have realised the truth that the most important thing in my life is self-improvement.
I am happy because I unreservedly accentuate the good in others.
I am happy because I have considerably cut down on my desiring needs.
I am happy because I never quit.
Excerpt from a short talk by Sri Chinmoy, given during one of his twice-weekly meditations at the United Nations.
I feel that it is through prayer, meditation and dedicated service that world peace can take place. Each individual has to try and make others happy, for it is only through happiness that we can have peace. If we can offer happiness to someone lovingly and sincerely, then that particular person will have only goodwill towards us. So from happiness we get peace and from peace we get happiness; the two are inseparable.
Photo: Sri Chinmoy finishes the 47-Mile Race in New York, 1981.
For all my achievements I entirely depend on the Grace of the Supreme. His Grace gives me inspiration and guides me in everything I do — whether I am writing a poem, composing a song, painting a painting, running a marathon or giving a lecture. Everything I do depends on the inner guidance, and this inner guidance is nothing other than Compassion and Grace from Above.
The story of Sri Chinmoy's 22-year weightlifting odyssey. more »
More on the philosophy behind the Marathon Team, and the endurance events they organise worldwide. more »
A champion sprinter in the spiritual community where he grew up, Sri Chinmoy was also an avid long distance runner and tennis player. more »
I am grateful to the Supreme for having given me the golden opportunity to serve Him in His own Way. My poetry, my music, my art and everything else that I do are only expressions of Somebody who is operating in and through me.
Some people may say, “What is he doing? He is an artist, he is a musician, he is singer. Why is he not taking one subject and doing the utmost with it?” But I do not see it that way. A piano has many keys. Why should the pianist always stay on one key? If he plays only one key, one note, how can he produce the cosmic melody, the universal melody? Similarly, I feel that art is one key, poetry is another key, meditation is a third key and sports is a fourth key. If you strike the different keys, then you produce nice music.
The meditative power of Sri Chinmoy’s abstract paintings and the ‘Peace-Bird’ drawings. more »
Sri Chinmoy wrote over 1,600 books of prose and poetry; most of them are available online. srichinmoylibrary.com »
Words, translations, scores and audio melodies for Sri Chinmoy's oeuvre of over 22,000 songs. srichinmoysongs.com »
Sri Chinmoy drew over 16 million of what he termed 'Dream-Freedom-Peace-Birds' or 'Soul-Birds'. For Sri Chinmoy, birds evoked the unlimited freedom of the human soul.
We have everything that is needed deep inside us — in the inmost recesses of our heart. There is the safe; there is our wealth. When we pray and meditate, God opens the safe and we see our own treasure. This is why we use the term 'self-discovery.' Through God's Grace, we discover the truth about ourselves; we discover our own inner light and divinity.
Sri Chinmoy explains the importance of regularity, and shares where, when and how best to start meditating. more »
“When we practise spirituality, when our inner cry, which we call aspiration, climbs up high, higher, highest, at that time Peace, Light and Bliss we get not only in abundant measure but in infinite measure.” more »
“Our path is basically the path of the heart and not the path of the mind. This does not mean that we are criticising the path of the mind. Far from it. We just feel that the path of the heart leads us faster towards our goal.” more »
Anything that you appreciate here on earth is not only an embodiment of God but God Himself. God can be above in any form, or formless, as infinite Light, infinite Peace, infinite Bliss. Again, He can be inside our hearts, where our real existence is. And if we open our eyes and look at nature, at the mountains and rivers, that also is God.
So no matter which way we appreciate the reality or want to identify ourselves with the reality, we have to feel that we are appreciating and identifying ourselves with Divinity; and this Divinity we call either God or Spirit or Being. If you don't want to call it God, you are at perfect liberty not to do so. But you have to call it happiness. Happiness itself is God. You can appreciate the beauty of nature and if you are happy, then the happiness that you are getting is God.
There is no fundamental difference between one religion and another because each religion embodies the ultimate Truth. Each religion is right, absolutely right, because each religion conveys the message of Truth in its own way. If you dive deep within, you will see that there is no difference at all between the religions. It is all one Truth called different names by different seekers. Your religion may say one thing and my religion may say something else. But our religions will never differ when it is a matter of the highest Truth. The ultimate Goal of every religion is to realise the highest Truth.
On the way to our Goal we may quarrel and disagree, we may misunderstand each other. Why? Precisely because there are many roads that lead to the Goal. Some will follow one road and some will follow another road. Each road will be able to offer inspiration. After a while, one person will say that his road is by far the best because it is pleasing him. Then another person will say that his road is the best. But when both reach their destination, they will be at the same Goal: Truth. In Truth there is no quarrel, no conflict; Truth or God-realisation transcends all religions.
With the exception of explanatory media captions, the writings above are all by Sri Chinmoy. View sources »
If you would like to explore more of Sri Chinmoy's teachings, you are warmly invited to get in touch with your local Sri Chinmoy Centre.
