Sri Chinmoy

Sri Chinmoy (pronounced Shree Chin-moy) was born on August 27, 1931 as Chinmoy Kumar Ghose in the village of Shakpura, Chittagong, in East Bengal (now Bangladesh). He is a spiritual teacher well known for his prolific legacy of published writings, musical compositions, art and poetry and for his lifelong commitment to world harmony.

During the past four decades Sri Chinmoy has inspired a worldwide organisation that seeks to encourage and foster a brighter future for humanity through initiatives in sports, music, the teaching of meditation and humanitarian aid. His vast body of creative works and diverse activities are unified by this single purpose.

Sri Chinmoy has lived in New York city since 1964

Early Life

Seventy-four year old Sri Chinmoy was the youngest of seven children, the son of Shashi Kumar Ghose, a railway inspector and later founder of a small Chittagong bank, and Yogamaya Ghose. During his childhood he was known by the affectionate Bengali nickname Madal, meaning ‘kettledrum’, a reference to his noisiness and liveliness. Prophetically, Yogamaya said of her son, "My Madal is destined to be played on by the gods and goddesses in the skies!".

When Sri Chinmoy was 11 his father died - a year later his mother Yogamaya also passed away and the young Madal left Bengal permanently to join several of his family members in the Sri Aurobindo Ashram in South India. Sri Chinmoy spent the next two decades immersing himself in the dynamic culture of a large and active ashram. He was a talented athlete and excelled as a sprinter and decathlete; wrote and published frequent articles and poems, the beginnings of a prolific literary career; and developed a profound love for meditation which he would often practise for up to fourteen hours a day.

On April 13th, 1964, at the age of 32, Sri Chinmoy moved to the West to share, like Vivekananda and other Indian sages before him, the teachings of India and to serve the goal of world harmony.

Religion

Sri Chinmoy was born into a Hindu family but is best known for his deep respect for all religions and spiritual paths and his own deep love for God.

In his own words:
"True religion has a universal quality. It does not find fault with other religions. Forgiveness, compassion, tolerance, brotherhood and the feeling of oneness are the signs of a true religion".

"Spirituality is not hospitality to the other's faith in God. It is the absolute recognition of the other's faith in God as one's own."

In a significant tribute, in both 1993 and 2004 Sri Chinmoy was invited to offer the opening meditation at the Plenary session of the Parliament of the World's Religions, which forms the largest gathering of spiritual and religious leaders and organisations in history. He has promoted many interfaith activities to encourage religious unity and goodwill - often at the United Nations where he shares silent non-denominational meditations with UN leaders, staff members and diplomats each week. Sri Chinmoy was a close personal friend of the late Mother Teresa and has met with many religious leaders to discuss religious harmony. He describes his own teachings and guidelines as a spiritual path, not a religion, thus focusing on inner development and personal practice rather than a framework of formal beliefs.

Goals

Since his departure from India in 1964, Sri Chinmoy has endeavoured to foster a new groundswell for global harmony through an extensive anthology of published writings; through works of art and poetry; in over seven hundred global concerts of his own compositions; through dialogues with world leaders; through sports, athletics and multiple unique initiatives that have involved countless people at a grassroots level. Underlying all of Sri Chinmoy's efforts and initiatives is his recurring theme message that humanity belongs to one world family, and that world harmony is both the birthright and final destiny of mankind which each human being can help to create. He sees the spiritual awakening in each individual - a widening capacity for love and compassion, an empathy and oneness with others, inner peace, a love for both God the creator and God in creation itself - as the great challenge facing mankind and essential in achieving a harmonious world.

"My ultimate goal is for the whole world to walk together in peace and oneness... This ultimate goal requires a transformation of human nature. There must be a great synthesis between the inner life and the outer life. The inner life wants love, and the outer life wants power. Now we are all exercising the love of power. But a day will come when this world will be inundated with the power that loves. Only the power that loves can change the world. My ultimate goal is for the power of love to replace the love of power within each individual. At that time, world peace can be achieved, revealed, offered and manifested on earth".

With their universal appeal and relevance and their complete acceptance of other cultural and religious beliefs, Chinmoy's views lend themselves to a wide audience. He has become well known for his inspirational message of optimism and hope, his unswerving belief in the unlimited potential and innate goodness of the human spirit, and his belief in the oneness of all humankind.

Religion

Sri Chinmoy was born into a Hindu family but is best known for his deep respect for all religions and spiritual paths and his own deep love for God.

In his own words:
"True religion has a universal quality. It does not find fault with other religions. Forgiveness, compassion, tolerance, brotherhood and the feeling of oneness are the signs of a true religion".

"Spirituality is not hospitality to the other's faith in God. It is the absolute recognition ofthe other's faith in God as one's own.

In a significant tribute, in both 1993 and 2004 Sri Chinmoy was invited to offer the opening meditation at the Plenary session of the Parliament of the World's Religions, which forms the largest gathering of spiritual and religious leaders and organisations in history. He has promoted many interfaith activities to encourage religious unity and goodwill - often at the United Nations where he shares silent non-denominational meditations with UN leaders, staff members and diplomats each week. Sri Chinmoy was a close personal friend of the late Mother Teresa and has met with many religious leaders to discuss religious harmony. He describes his own teachings and guidelines as a spiritual path, not a religion, thus focusing on inner development and personal practice rather than a framework of formal beliefs.

Goals

Since his departure from India in 1964, Sri Chinmoy has endeavoured to foster a new groundswell for global harmony through an extensive anthology of published writings; through works of art and poetry; in over seven hundred global concerts of his own compositions; through dialogues with world leaders; through sports, athletics and multiple unique initiatives that have involved countless people at a grassroots level. Underlying all of Sri Chinmoy's efforts and initiatives is his recurring theme message that humanity belongs to one world family, and that world harmony is both the birthright and final destiny of mankind which each human being can help to create. He sees the spiritual awakening in each individual - a widening capacity for love and compassion, an empathy and oneness with others, inner peace, a love for both God the creator and God in creation itself - as the great challenge facing mankind and essential in achieving a harmonious world.

"My ultimate goal is for the whole world to walk together in peace and oneness... This ultimate goal requires a transformation of human nature. There must be a great synthesis between the inner life and the outer life. The inner life wants love, and the outer life wants power. Now we are all exercising the love of power. But a day will come when this world will be inundated with the power that loves. Only the power that loves can change the world. My ultimate goal is for the power of love to replace the love of power within each individual. At that time, world peace can be achieved, revealed, offered and manifested on earth".

With their universal appeal and relevance and their complete acceptance of other cultural and religious beliefs, Chinmoy's views lend themselves to a wide audience. He has become well known for his inspirational message of optimism and hope, his unswerving belief in the unlimited potential and innate goodness of the human spirit, and his belief in the oneness of all humankind.

The Sri Chinmoy Centre

In the four decades that Sri Chinmoy has resided in the West, "Sri Chinmoy Centres" have been established in some 400 cities in over 70 countries. Their activities share a common goal of fostering world harmony through athletic, cultural and musical initiatives that have a popular community following. The "Sri Chinmoy Centre" does not have a dogma or require any particular belief system of its adherents - rather it espouses a spiritual approach to life based upon a belief in the essential goodness and divinity of the human soul.

Sri Chinmoy encourages the practise of meditation as a powerful method of cultivating this spiritual awakening, and sees the inner peace in each individual as a necessary pre-condition to any lasting harmony in the world. In his words, "Each individual has to become the pathfinder of a new world." To this end, the "Sri Chinmoy Centre" offers courses in meditation as one of its principal activities - at Sri Chinmoy's request these are freely available to the public.

Service

In each of the fields of music, literature, art, poetry, sports, Sri Chinmoy's contributions have been remarkable - collectively they form a most distinguished legacy and a source of inspiration to many people seeking a deeper purpose and meaning to life. Sri Chinmoy's anthology of published works, the great volume and variety of his accomplishments and the global reach of his activities have created the foundations of a spiritual and philosophical world view that seems likely to endure for a very long time.