Table of Contents
The Rewards of Pranayama
- The Rewards of Pranayama
- Mr. Jacko: I was going to ask this question. I think that when you do the alternate breathing, the breath goes down one way and then changes. I'm not too clear about that.
The Goal Is Won
The Way to Go
- Professor Carse: Good morning. Twenty years ago, Sri Chinmoy came to the United States from India, possessing little more than a skill in practising and teaching meditation. In the twenty years since, he's acquired a very large and devoted following of students who practise that method of meditation and who consult him on a wide range of spiritual questions. He's also written a number of books and has lectured widely on a very wide range of subjects and I'm delighted to say he's our guest this morning on the programme. Guru, Sri Chinmoy, thank you for being here this morning. Since we're going to talk about meditation, first, may I ask you, if you would please, to play a selection from your flute to set the mood for the discussion?
- Professor Carse: Thank you. Let me ask you first about the philosophy behind your meditation, and then I'm going to ask you about the method of meditating. But, first, what is the goal one seeks in meditation?
- Professor Carse: Let me ask you about that. Your heart's inner cry — do you then in your meditation attempt to listen to your heart?
- Professor Carse: And you let the heart lead the way? You don't instruct the heart?
- Professor Carse: In that listening, then, is there an increasing journey and drawing close, and an increasing closeness to God?
- Professor Carse: Now, when you teach students how to meditate, what are some of the specific instructions you give them?
- Professor Carse: That's a difficult task. Do you have disciplines that they are to follow? Are there ways of sitting, certain physical activities or chants that they are instructed in?
- Professor Carse: So, self-transcendence is certainly one of the goals.
- Professor Carse: One of the most unusual things about your meditation, about your practice, from my observation, is that you bring to it a lot of activities that are not ordinarily associated with meditation or with gurus in the popular mind. One of those is the music that you started the programme with. Let me ask you a little bit about your music and about that flute. I take it that's an Indian flute?
- Professor Carse: I think persons who were tuned in at the beginning of the programme and heard that music would certainly agree that it does set a marvellous mood for meditation. Do you have a philosophy behind the music? Is there a reason why you use music?
- Professor Carse: Do you encourage your students, by the way, to play music?
- Professor Carse: Your own compositions. I know you've composed a great deal of music. You've also written a lot, you've also written poetry, and I know that poetry is a very important part of your whole spiritual life. Would you read us a selection? We did bring some and I'd love it if you'd read us at least one selection from your poetry.
- Professor Carse: That beautiful poem reminds me of the time, I think you recall also, when you talked to my class at NYU many years ago, I'm embarrassed to say how many, I think twelve or fourteen years ago, on death. And your philosophy of death struck my students with great power. Would you share that with us?
- Professor Carse: Does that mean you go from one room to another? There is a reincarnation that is a part of this?
- Professor Carse: You talk about this room being an active room. I think our listeners would be surprised at how active it is for you. Let me ask you a few questions about your painting. I know you do a great deal of painting. What is the process for you, the creative process in painting, and what is its spiritual importance?
- Professor Carse: Let me ask you about one of the terms you used there: 'aspire' — that's different than 'inspire'. Aspiration is an inner activity?
- Professor Carse: And then the painting is your offering?
- Professor Carse: And I have another question in that connection. You're very active athletically, as well. This is not something that I think people associate with gurus at all. You run a great deal, you play tennis, you've run in marathons. I think you encourage your students also to do a good deal of this.
- Professor Carse: Guru, one thing you hear runners talk a lot about is that in the process of running there's a kind of ecstasy that occurs after so many miles or after so much exercise. Do you think that's a spiritual reality or is that strictly a physical experience of theirs?
- Professor Carse: The Centre in Queens where you meet your students is a very active place also. Describe what happens there. I know that you meet them on a regular basis for guided meditation. How often is that?
- Professor Carse: Now the disciples, do they live together? Do they have an ongoing, continuous association with each other?
- Professor Carse: I wanted to ask you about your work at the United Nations. You have been leading meditations there for, I think, as long as fourteen years, if I remember correctly. Talk a little bit about that.
- Professor Carse: I know you meet often with world leaders as well, I suppose for the same reason — to encourage their inner journey to continue being seekers?
- Professor Carse: Certainly, in some sense, we would say that your religious background is Hindu, probably Vedanta. I don't know how technical you want to be about that.
- Professor Carse: Well, does that mean, for example, your disciples can practise meditation as you instruct them and also remain in their own individual religious traditions?
- Professor Carse: You use the term 'Inner Pilot'. I think it is a very lovely spiritual term. You understand God as the Inner Pilot?
- Professor Carse: So, one of our spiritual tasks is to respond to the Pilot. Is it possible to disobey the Pilot?
- Professor Carse: Sri Chinmoy, I want to thank you for being with us this morning and it was a very enlightening discussion. And thank also our audience for being with us. And may I ask you if you would conclude by playing another piece on your flute?
Lofty Utterances
- The Puerto Rican Heart
- Beloved Germany
- My Australia
- Perishable Fruits
- Unconditional Compassion
- The Heart of a Child
- Four Earth-Summit Luminaries
The Goal for Which All Men Should Seek
Yoga and Life
- Yoga and Life
- Lex: Is there something special going on in the spiritual world of today?
- Host: Can you recall what it was for you and other Masters like yourself, how it began to become clear that the world was, indeed, ready for this and that the West was opening up? Was there some special way in which that became clear to you?
- Host: And where did that take you first?
- Host: Can the inner peace have any effect on the outer situation?
- Host: As you speak, I look behind you to fifteen absolutely radiant faces. I wish I could . . . well, we can communicate that radiance in the singing, but it's perfectly true that there's much light behind you.
- Host: Sri Chinmoy, in your readings and in your talk, it seemed to me that you were not appealing to the intellect of man. You seemed to be appealing to his heart and to his sense of surrender and bliss. What is the proper relation between head and heart?
- Host: How do we get into the heart, how do we get into the spiritual heart?
- Host: Can you feel the heart in the body? The spiritual heart, is it located in the body?
- Host: There is so much, I think, in the culture of the West, which wrongly identifies the heart with superficial feeling perhaps, not superficial — authentic, but the heart has somehow been debased in our culture and I think many of us, as reflected in the question that Lex asked, many of us have really lost touch with it, you know, not only because our minds are always busy and always telling us that we are something other than what we truly are, but we seem to have lost touch with the reality and the feeling of the heart. And it's that that I think many, many people are seeking to find, you know. Many, many people are reaching out for techniques and ways to get back to that.
- Host: Can you give us some idea just generally of the meditation on the heart or is this something that you just speak personally to?
- Host: Is spiritual music a path into the heart, perhaps for our culture particularly at this time?
For the Sake of Your Earthly Existence
Lotus-Petals from Nolini
- A Commentary on The First Sukta of The Rigveda
- A Commentary on The Second Sukta of The Rigveda
- A Commentary on The Third Sukta of The Rigveda
- A Commentary on The Fourth Sukta of The Rigveda
- A Commentary on The Fifth Sukta of The Rigveda
- A Commentary on The Sixth Sukta of The Rigveda
Tie Your Camel
A Talk to Boxers
From Country to Country
- A Sea of Confusion
- At the Canadian Border
- The Enchanting Soul of Puerto Rico
- Pronunciation Difficulties
- My Love for Japan's Beauty
- Entering France
- This Is My Place
- My Predicament at the Governor's Residence
- Unique American Pronunciation
- The Soul of Australia
- Frankfurt Airport
- My Talk at Stony Brook University
- The Dancers at Santa Cruz University
- Interruptions in Boston
- Whistling at Berkeley
- Some Priests Attend My Harvard Talk
- The Sleeping Seekers in Montana
- Bengal, Indiana
- Sushumna Screams with Joy
- De Valera Examines Me
- I Am Scolded in Puerto Rico
- The Mother Superior's Gift
Stories from Near and Far
- The Soundless Sound-Heart
- To My Indian Brothers and Sisters
- Unimaginable Sacrifice
- An Interrupted Rest
- Trying to Call My House
- Waiting for the Elevator
- A Gift for Dhrubha
- The Saga of the Salt Shaker
- No Entry for the Wife
- My Indian Garment
- My Carvel Experience
- Lily's Anniversary
- Vivekananda's Request
- My MRI Scan
- The MRI Fiasco
- The Story Never Ends
- Insane with Grief
- My Trip to Oslo
- The Book-Signing Event
- The Elephant and the Barking Dogs
- At the Norwegian Parliament
- Sevananda's Transformation
- White Birds Flying
- The Ring from Nevada
- Australian Customs
- In Transit at Frankfurt Airport
- A Seeker from New Jersey
- Sundar's Customer
- My New Jersey Friend Reappears
- The Fake Pondicherry Dosa
- The Clever Hindu Shopkeeper
Freshness of the Mind
- My Best and Dearest Rival
- Walking Along the Canal
- A Second Encounter
- Brother and Sister
- Turned Away by the Gatekeeper
- My Morning Friends
- My Briarwood Neighbour
- Observing Different Running Styles
- The Taxi Driver's Invitation
- If You Want to Lose Weight
- A Wonderful Sight
- A Golden Opportunity from God
- Sulochana the Great
- I Am Still Alive
- "More Sri Chinmoys"
- View from the Balcony
- Today's One-Mile Race
- Scotland Showing Off
- Long Strides
- A Morning Compliment
- A Silent Admirer
- Hashi's Famous Trick
- While Walking to the Tennis Court
- Maral's Laundromat
- Freshness of the Mind
- Looking Like a Boxer
- The Power of a Smile
- Minus a Wristwatch
- Morning Exploits
- God's Blessings
- Saved by My Inner Beings
- Hailed by a Police Car
- Greetings
- When I Walk Alone
- The Lady with the Two Dogs
- "Strong, Very Strong!"
- At a Loss for Directions
- A Child's Question
- Enjoying My Evening Walk
A Colossal Music-Soul
- Welcome address
- After the singers performed a song by Sri Chinmoy dedicated to U Thant, Ravi Shankar and his wife and daughter came on stage to receive the U Thant Peace Award from Sri Chinmoy.
- Meeting at Encinitas
