A Comparative Timeline of World Events and the Life of Sri Chinmoy

 

                             

 

1970

 

SPRING

The publication of Sri Chinmoy’s first book in the West: Meditations: Food for the Soul.

 

3 MARCH-28 MAY

Sri Chinmoy offered a series of 21 lectures at US universities, including 4 lectures on the Bhagavad Gita at New York University.

6 MARCH

The Beatles released Let It Be in the UK.

 
 

14 APRIL

Inauguration of the United Nations Meditation Group. Sri Chinmoy was invited to be its director and to offer twice-weekly meditations for delegates and staff members. The name was changed to ‘Sri Chinmoy: The Peace Meditation at the United Nations’ several years later.

30 APRIL

President Nixon announced the US was invading Cambodia to disrupt North Vietnam army base areas.

 

1 MAY

Students at Kent State University rioted in protest of the invasion. Campus protests broke out across the nation.

 

4 MAY

Four students at Kent State University shot dead by the National Guard during a peaceful rally.

 

8 MAY

Anti-war protests took place across the US and around the world.

 

9 MAY

100,000 protestors marched on Washington, DC.

 
 

12 MAY

Start of a series entitled Talks from the Peace Room which Sri Chinmoy gave at the United Nations Church Centre. He gave 5 short talks in this series in May and June.

28 JUNE

Muhammad Ali went before the Supreme Court regarding his refusal to be conscripted for the Vietnam War.

 

29 JUNE

US troops began pulling out of Cambodia.

 
 

7 JULY

Sri Chinmoy held the first Sports Day at Alley Pond Park, New York. This marked the beginning of athletics in the Sri Chinmoy Centres.

 

13 JULY

The publication of Sri Chinmoy’s second book: My Ivy League Leaves. containing many of his university lectures.

 

15 JULY

Sri Chinmoy gave a lecture to the United Nations World Youth Congress entitled The Garland of Nation-Souls. This was his first lecture at the United Nations.

7 AUGUST

Israel, Jordan and Egypt agreed to a cease-fire.

 

26 AUGUST

Nationwide women’s strike for equality took place in the US.

 

15 SEPTEMBER

US-backed coup in Chile.

 

SEPTEMBER

Black September in Jordan, with 13 days of fighting and 2,000 dead as King Hussein moved to quash Palestinian elements and restore the monarchy’s rule.

 

27 SEPTEMBER

Cease-fire accord signed in Cairo between the Jordanian Army and Palestinian guerrillas by King Hussein and Yasser Arafat.

 

7 OCTOBER

President Nixon proposed a cease-fire in Indochina and the withdrawal of troops from Vietnam.

 
 

7-9 OCTOBER

Sri Chinmoy offered 4 lectures at universities in Canada. These were later published in Eastern Light For The Western Mind.

10 OCTOBER

Fiji proclaimed its independence from Britain.

 

9 NOVEMBER

Charles de Gaulle, President of France from 1959-1969, died.

 
 

9 NOVEMBER-2 DECEMBER

Sri Chinmoy’s first European Tour. He offered 16 lectures at universities and colleges in England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, France and Switzerland. These were published the next year in My Rose Petals, Part 1.

12 NOVEMBER

A cyclone hit East Pakistan (Bangladesh) killing an estimated 300,000 people.

 

20 NOVEMBER

The UN General Assembly accepted membership of The People’s Republic of China.

 

23 NOVEMBER

George Harrison released My Sweet Lord in the US.

 
 

DECEMBER

Sri Chinmoy’s first commercially published book entitled Yoga and the Spiritual Life was released by Tower Publications, New York.

 

DECEMBER

Meditations: Food for the Soul was published by Harper & Row, New York.