Video by Utpal Marshall
On March 3rd 1979, Sri Chinmoy completed his first marathon in Chico California in a time of 4:31:34. Each year since then, his students in New York and around the world have honoured him by running the 26-mile distance.
Video by Utpal Marshall
On March 3rd 1979, Sri Chinmoy completed his first marathon in Chico California in a time of 4:31:34. Each year since then, his students in New York and around the world have honoured him by running the 26-mile distance.
Sri Chinmoy gives a talk, entitled ‘Students, Devotees and Disciples’, at the Sri Chinmoy Centre in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Sri Chinmoy holds a public meditation at 7:30 p.m. on the Greenwich Civic Center, Greenwich, CT, USA.
Sri Chinmoy offers a concert in Woodstock, NY, USA.
Sri Chinmoy composes his 13,000th spiritual song, — which also happens to be his 8,000th Bengali song, ‘Phukai Amara Jibana Samare’ — in Jamaica, NY, USA. The words to the other 5,000 songs are mostly written in English, with some French and other languages.
Sri Chinmoy holds a celebration at Aspiration-Ground in Jamaica, NY, USA, for his 13,000 Bengali songs, which he had completed earlier in the month while on a visit to Japan.
Sri Chinmoy’s painting ‘United Nations: Heart-Home of the World-Body’ is exhibited in London after being displayed in Glasgow and Ipswich in June and July.
Painted on May 3, 1977, Sri Chinmoy dedicates the artwork to the United Nations, and after briefly being displayed at the United Nations in New York, it is transferred to the UN headquarters in Geneva to be exhibited. From there, it goes on public view around the world.
In a staggering achievement, Sri Chinmoy completed the words and music to 13,000 spiritual songs on July 26.
His 13,000th song, in Bengali, entitled “Victory’s Heart-Song,” marked the completion of an odyssey that spanned more than three decades.
“Each of these songs is a gratitude-flower from my heart to my Beloved Lord Supreme,” he declared. Of all his creative achievements, he added, this was the most difficult because of the necessity of following strict Bengali meter and rhyme.
About 5,000 of the songs are in English and 8,000 are in Bengali.
Among these are his longest song, a 194-line poem which he wrote as a youth in India on August 24, 1945, which he set music to on July 8.
Published in Anahata Nada, Volume 25 April-July 1995
(It is also the 13,000th song overall when combined with the 5,000 other songs Sri Chinmoy has composed in English and other languages)
Phukai Amara Jibana Samare
Phukai Amara Jibana Samare
Param prabhur bijoy bishan
Urai amara hiyar akashe
Param pita bijoy nishan
In the battlefield of life,
We blow the Victory-Horn
Of our Lord Supreme.
In our heart-sky we fly
The Victory-Banner
Of our Father Supreme.
Published in Chandelier, part 3
Sri Chinmoy meditates during a celebration at Aspiration-Ground in New York for his 13,000 Bengali songs, which he had completed earlier in the month while on a visit to Japan.
by Sri Chinmoy
at his home gym in Jamaica, New York
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Sri Chinmoy offers this prayer at 6:03 p.m. before practising for 800-lb. dumbbell bench press.
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Sri Chinmoy offers this prayer at 6:22 p.m. before doing 1,300-lb. standing double-dumbbell lift four times.
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Sri Chinmoy offers this prayer at 6:34 p.m. before practising for 500-lb. seated double-dumbbell lift.
Published in My Morning Soul-Body Prayers, part 15
Sri Chinmoy honours some of the runners in the Self-Transcendence 3100 Mile Race held in Jamaica, New York.
Nolini Kanta Gupta, Secretary of the Sri Aurobindo Ashram, writes an introduction to Chinmoy's book, ‘The Mother of the Golden All’
A child of the Mother
is always a child unto the last —
even unto the last achievement
and fulfilment.26 July 1958
Published in Nolini: Sri Aurobindo’s Unparalleled Friend-Son-Disciple
A talk by Sri Chinmoy
at the Sri Chinmoy Centre in San Juan, Puerto Rico
I would like, with your kind permission, to say a few words on students, devotees and disciples, and on Swamis, Masters and Gurus.
We all know that in the spiritual life, in the inner life, there are students, but who are these students? These students are those who read spiritual, religious, philosophical books and who attend lectures and classes by professors, philosophers and spiritual figures. Now, one cannot expect that these students will live the inner life, the life of the Spirit. What they do and what they say comes mostly from the mind, not from the heart. They belong to all schools, to all teachers, professors, philosophers and spiritual Masters. Unfortunately, they do not care for inner aspiration, inner awakening and inner spiritual realisation. A bit of mental satisfaction concerning the inner life and the spiritual life is enough, more than enough, for the students.
Devotees need not or may not have a particular spiritual guide or Guru. They can be admirers or adorers of a good many Masters at a time. They can also pray to many cosmic gods to help them in their day to day life. But unfortunately, they do not care for a personal spiritual guide, a Guru. Devotees try to follow the advice of many Masters in their inner life, but they do not have a permanent relationship with any particular spiritual teacher. They try to follow every spiritual Master. Unfortunately, this is not the correct approach to spirituality. One should not try to please all the Masters in the world. What one should try to do is learn or acquire everything that one individual Master has.
In the spiritual life, in the inner life, there is only one thing that is required, and that is Self-realisation or Self-discovery. If one has realised his own highest Self, then he has realised God, because God is the highest part inside each human being. The devotee is not loyal to any particular Master, and no particular Master is responsible for the devotee's spiritual progress and illumination. The devotee cannot expect much from any particular spiritual Master, and the spiritual Master does not expect anything worthwhile from the devotee. Devotees can be said to be followers of quite a few Masters at a time.
Now we deal with disciples. A real, true disciple is the very breath of his spiritual Master. The disciple must feel that his Guru is the largest and most conscious part of his inner life as well as his outer life. Through the disciple the Guru sees, and through the Guru the disciple sees. For a real, dedicated, selfless disciple the Master is fully responsible at every moment. He has made a solemn promise to the Supreme that he will guide his real disciples, he will shape them, mould them and bring them to their destined Goal. Unless and until he has done that, he has not fulfilled his mission here on earth. Throughout Eternity the true disciples and the Master will remain faithful to each other.
In India we use the term lila, the divine Game. In the cosmic Game the Guru takes a special role to fulfil the Divine, and the disciple consciously serves the Guru unreservedly, to fulfil him in his mission. The disciple knows that in fulfilling the Guru he is fulfilling the Supreme Himself, for when the disciple enters into his highest consciousness he sees and feels that at each and every moment the Guru breathes in the same breath as the Supreme. The Guru will not and cannot do anything that is against the Will of the Supreme and, at the same time, he can do anything and everything for his disciple if so is the Will of the Supreme. Dearer than the dearest and sweeter than the sweetest is a true disciple to his Guru.
Now I would like to say a few words about the Swamis, Masters and Gurus. In India anybody is called a Swami who wears ochre clothes, shaves his head or adds 'ananda' to his name. Anybody who adds 'ananda', which means joy or delight, can be called a Swami. A Swami is supposed to renounce desires, attachments and earthly bondage, but whether he actually renounces these things or not is a matter between him and God. In the garb of the Swamihood, many people pass for holy men who are not even sincere aspirants. Unfortunately, there are millions of Swamis in India and all over the world who do not have even an iota of higher experiences, not to speak of Self-realisation or God-realisation. Of course, they too have their place in the divine Game. There are students who need this kind of teacher and who are greatly benefited by their presence. We have to see the capacity and sincerity of the aspirant as well as of the Swami. If an unrealised Swami tries to be the spiritual guide of a great aspirant, then needless to say, the seeker will drown in the sea of frustration.
Now the Masters. Master is a very varied and vast term. We can speak of Masters like Ramakrishna, Krishna, Buddha or Christ, who are all Masters of Humanity. But nowadays we use the term Master to mean any spiritual person with minor realisation, partial realisation or even with no realisation. But these so-called Masters, who are available now all over the world, cannot illumine the great mass of humanity. Each of these Masters belongs to a particular type of aspirant. If a sincere aspirant expects liberation or God-realisation from these Masters, then I must say that ninety-nine times out of hundred the disciple's aspiration will end in frustration because most of these Masters do not have that capacity. Also, they do not accept their disciples as intimately as a real Guru does. Very often they work with the theory of mass production; they care for quantity and not for quality. If they have a great following around them, they are satisfied; they feel that their purpose is served.
Now finally we come to the Gurus. A Guru is a constant beggar. He goes to the Supreme with folded hands and says, "You have made me the messenger between earth and Heaven. You want me to work for You and for You alone, so please give me Your infinite Peace, Light, Bliss and Power." The Supreme grants his prayer. Then he goes to his disciples with folded hands and prays to them, "Please give me your sufferings, your ignorance, your limitations and your death. Give me all that you have and all that you are." This is his most ardent prayer to his disciples. Both times he is a beggar. He is fully responsible to the Supreme for what he does for his disciples and, at the same time, he is fully responsible to the disciples for what he does for them.
The Guru is the bridge between the disciple and God, the connecting link between the disciple and God, the hyphen between the disciple and God. God manifests himself directly and integrally through a real Guru for his disciples, and the disciples have every right to ask of the Guru what they need in their inner and spiritual life for their self-illumination and self-fulfilment. True disciples must offer what they have and what they are to the Guru at every moment. When the disciple reaches the highest, attains the deepest and feels the farthest in himself, when he attains to Self-realisation and becomes absolutely one with his Guru in his outer and inner consciousness, he then discovers the secret of secrets: he, the Guru and the Supreme are one.
Published in AUM – Vol. 4, No. 3, March 27, 1977
A talk by Sri Chinmoy
in Conference Room 14 of the United Nations in New York
The title of my talk, “Are spiritual people somewhat abnormal?” is rather amusing. If we answer the question in the affirmative, then all of us in this room are abnormal. But the truth is otherwise. We are not abnormal in the least. We are normal, natural, soulful, devoted, dedicated and God-loving.
In this world, when someone does not see eye-to-eye with us, we immediately say that he is abnormal and unnatural. We even go to the length of saying that he is undivine or hostile. This is the experience that we unfortunately treasure. But if each day we pray and meditate soulfully, then we come to realise that the most important thing in each person’s life is the freedom of his inner life, the freedom to follow his own Inner Pilot. Everyone is being motivated and guided by his Inner Pilot. Just because you do not have the same realisation that I have, we cannot call each other abnormal.
Here in God’s creation countless beings are consciously or unconsciously fulfilling God in their own way. But a seeker tries to please and fulfil God in God’s own Way. This is the difference between those who aspire and those who do not aspire. Non-seekers try to possess God and utilise God in their own way, whereas seekers try to achieve God’s Light to please Him, fulfil Him and manifest Him here on earth in His own Way.
Those who are not crying for God, for Truth or for Light, according to strict inner philosophy, are dead soldiers. One need not be dead on the physical plane, but one is inwardly dead if he does not aspire. If he is wallowing in the pleasures of ignorance, he is already dead. When there is no Light, when there is no divine satisfaction, we feel that life is nothing short of death.
Earth’s understanding of Light is very limited. When we try to judge others or examine others, we immediately lose our sense of identification. But if we focus our attention on all things with the same amount of sympathy, love and concern, then we feel inside all things their basic oneness with everything else and with ourselves. In the matter of strength, my thumb has considerably more than my little finger. But there is a oneness between my little finger and my thumb; so when I concentrate on these two portions of my being, I do not consider one abnormal just because it is weaker or stronger than the other.
Here we are a small group; let us say a family. Right now we are treasuring a spiritual feeling, a feeling of brotherhood and oneness. Now, if someone here happens to have a large fruit, his feeling of oneness will compel him to share the fruit with the rest of us. But if he is miserly, if he has a sense of separativity, he will try to eat it all himself. It is in this separativity that real abnormality looms large. When we see others in ourselves and feel our oneness with them, then there can be no abnormal feeling in us.
Anything that is contrary to our experience seems abnormal to us. But we have to know that the world is singing the song of oneness. God’s Unity and God’s Multiplicity we have to see as one. God the Creator, God the Preserver and God the Transformer are all one. In each seeker God is playing the distinctive roles of Creator, Preserver and Transformer. When we see them separately in a limited consciousness, we become a victim to our own limited understanding. If this moment we identify ourselves only with God the Creator, then without the least hesitation we shall say that God the Transformer is abnormal.
God started His creation with His Silence-Light. From His Silence-Light, Sound-Might came into existence. He wanted to experience Himself in a million, billion, trillion forms, countless forms, like the seed that eventually grows into a Banyan Tree. When the seed grows into a huge tree, we see millions of leaves and thousands of fruits and flowers. But it started its journey as one single seed.
The first thing we have to do in our life is pray and meditate. Early in the morning, if we pray to God, we enter into the world of the Source. Then we try to offer the Light that we have received from our prayer and meditation to the world around us. First we achieve and then we give. If I do not have any Light, then what am I going to give?
We have to go from one to two to three. Our first realisation is one, our second realisation is two, our third realisation is three, the Ultimate. When we start with one, we have to know that we are going to the Root, the Source, the Unity. But the Source needs manifestation; otherwise it will remain unfulfilled. For manifestation we have to enter into the world of multiplicity. And finally we have to transform the world and bring Heaven’s Perfection into the world. Only in this way can we have true satisfaction, and true satisfaction is God’s Perfection-Love.
In unity there must be the song of multiplicity. When we enter into the spiritual life, if we ignore the world around us, if we feel the world around us is dirty and undivine and can never be transformed, then we are mistaken. This attitude is unhealthy, abnormal. We have to accept the world around us as our very own, and inside the world we have to see and feel the living Breath and living Presence of God. Then our realisation will tell us that the world is absolutely normal, that God is evolving in His own Way in and through the world. You may be flying to your destination on a jet plane, and somebody else may be travelling at the speed of an Indian bullock cart. But who is the driver of the bullock cart and who is the pilot of the plane? In both cases it is God. According to His own Will, according to the seeker’s evolution, God is using the bullock cart or the modern jet plane. And it is also He who is proceeding towards the destined Goal, His own ever-transcending Height.
There is a significant anecdote I wish to tell you. An atheist once said to one of his friends, who was a God-believer, “My friend, you constantly pray to that Fellow, but He ignores you. You have given up everything for Him, but He has done nothing for you and He will do nothing for you. Yet even so, you feel that you can live without all worldly pleasures and enjoyments, but not without God. You must be really great.” Immediately the believer replied, “You are infinitely greater than I am, for you need only the fleeting earthly pleasures and you have given up God for them.”
Now, who is normal and who is abnormal in this story? If we have a limited consciousness, then we will say that the one who believes in God is normal, and he who does not believe in God is abnormal. But if we go deep within, into our heart of love and oneness, we see that the atheist is none other than God Himself in the process of evolution. This is not our first nor our last incarnation. We were once in the mineral world, then in the plant world and then in the animal kingdom. Now we are human beings, half animal and half divine. When we enter into the desire-world, we enter into temptation. From temptation we enter into frustration, and in frustration destruction looms large. But since we are all seekers, we are entering into the aspiration-world. And in the aspiration-world we go from Light, to more Light, to abundant and infinite Light.
Now, some seekers who are weak feel that if they remain in the world they will be devoured by earth-ignorance. This kind of seeker feels that the best thing for him to do is to enter into the Himalayan caves where he will be safe. But this is not the answer. Human beings who have undivine, ferocious qualities may not follow him to the Himalayan caves, but whatever is inside him will follow, including his unillumined mind, his earthbound desires and his own animal qualities. These things will play the role of the undivine human beings whom he has left behind him. They will torture him. He will be in the Himalayan caves, but his mind and his vital will be all the time roaming. He will meditate there for five minutes or half an hour, and then if he does not see an iota of Light or if he does not feel any certainty in his inner life, immediately he will say, “I have come here to the Himalayan caves, but I am only fooling myself. There is no truth, there is no reality here. This is all self-deception.”
If we are real seekers of truth, like divine warriors we will face the world and brave the world here and now. Who escapes? He who has done something wrong, he who is a culprit. But we have not done anything wrong, so we need not and must not try to escape. We have to feel that the members of society are like the limbs of our body. If even one part of our being is not transformed, then we are not perfect. We have to strike a balance. Spirit will give us realisation, but matter will offer us the message of manifestation. We have to try to combine the messages of spirit and matter. Only then will we be able to establish the Kingdom of Heaven here on earth.
How can we combine these two? By uniting Heaven-Vision with earth-aspiration. When earth-aspiration climbs up high, higher, highest and Heaven-Vision descends, there is a place where the two meet. And that meeting place is inside our heart of acceptance, in our conscious acceptance of both the Vision of Heaven and the aspiration of earth.
When we separate earth-consciousness, which is manifestation, from Heaven-consciousness, which is realisation, we are totally lost. But when the aspiration of earth and the Vision of Heaven are amalgamated, we become chosen instruments of the Absolute Supreme. At that time, our Heaven-free consciousness and earth’s aspiring consciousness make us complete, whole and perfect. The idea of abnormality is absurd then. We become normal, natural, spiritual, divine and perfect, for we consciously, devotedly, soulfully and unconditionally unite the vision of our height with the aspiration of our depth.
Published in The Tears of Nation-Hearts
A story by Sri Chinmoy
One day a spiritual Master discovered two of his disciples who had a literary bent sitting in his garden, surrounded by all his poetry books, looking very confused and sad.
"What is the matter, my daughters?" he asked. "Why do you look so perplexed?"
One of the girls said, "Master, last week you asked us to select some of your poems for an anthology. But last night you told us that all of your poems are of a high standard, no matter what level of consciousness they express. Doesn't this mean that none of the poems are really better than the others?"
The Master said, "Let me use an analogy to answer this question. If you go to a store where they sell ladies' purses, some of these purses are very beautiful. Some are gold, some are full of ornamentation, and so forth. The price range will vary widely — the purses can cost anywhere from two dollars to twenty dollars or more. Now, if somebody does not have much money and cannot afford to buy the bag which costs twenty dollars, then what will she do? She has to be satisfied with the one she can buy. To some extent, you can say this one is inferior. One who has the capacity to buy something for twenty dollars will naturally call the two-dollar bag inferior. But you have to know that for the woman who has the money to buy only the two-dollar bag, the one she buys will be the most expensive and most beautiful bag because that is the one within her capacity.
"So we have to see an individual's standard. If an individual does not have a very elevated consciousness, there will be certain poems which will come up to his standard and which will satisfy him. And if somebody has a high, elevated consciousness, then there will be some other poems to satisfy him. The consciousness of the person who reads the poems is an important factor. If somebody is not able to meditate well, he will be satisfied with the kind of poem I write that says that my body is this and my vital is that. But if somebody has a very high consciousness, he will like poems expressing my loftiest philosophy. The spiritual height of the words will really satisfy him."
At this point the other girl said, "Master, you have made it much clearer to us. But since you have asked us to make a selection of your poetry, what criteria should we apply?"
The Master explained further. "In considering what criteria to apply, we have to make quite a few categories. In one category the poems will be judged according to their absolute spiritual height. Of course, spiritual people will have to judge the spiritual height. If a poem expresses divine longing, for example, that kind of poem will be on the spiritual side. In another category the poems will have to be judged from the modern stylistic approach. For example, let us say that I have exercised considerable freedom — not like a mad elephant, of course — but I have written with tremendous confidence. Then there will be other categories for poems which are spiritually illumined or mentally illumined, and for those which express earth-aspiration or Heaven-illumination.
"You will need at least ten categories. Only in that way can you judge my poetry properly or make a wise selection. Since I have written a few thousand poems, you can easily have ten categories. There cannot be any one, single, satisfactory point of view. If you judge only on the basis of spiritual height, for example, the selection will not satisfy everyone. Even my poems that express the highest realisation and revelation — my most outstanding poems — are not liked by everyone. Many people prefer the ones that tell of the frustration and emptiness of life. Now look at the difference between these two kinds of poems. One expresses the height of my realisation, when I am one with the Supreme. In the others I am totally identified with the tremendous frustration and destruction of the earthbound consciousness. But many times these poems have been quoted, and I have heard that many people like these poems more than those in the other category. So you see, each one likes and judges a poem according to his own immediate necessity."
The first girl smiled and said, "Before you came, Master, we were both more in the world of frustration than in the world of spirituality. I wonder what our selection would have been like at that time."
The Master blessed both the girls affectionately and said, "True. Why do we even need to speak of different individuals liking different types of poems? Let us take just one person. At every moment his consciousness, his standard, is changing. After his morning meditation he will read one particular poem and feel that this is one of my best poems. Then during the day he may read another poem and feel that he likes this one the most because it is answering his needs at the time. In the evening, if he has met with disappointment and other problems during the day, he will like and identify with a poem which expresses his feelings of frustration. He will not care at all for the poem that he liked in the morning. So it is necessary to choose a great variety of poems which express many moods and needs, human and divine."
Published in God’s New Philosophy