The Canvas of Time
The Rewards of Pranayama
– Sri Chinmoy"
On 28 May 1967, during his Sunday afternoon class at his home in Manhattan, Sri Chinmoy gave a talk entitled 'Pranayama'. Afterwards, Sri Chinmoy was inspired to discuss some of the great advantages of 'pranayama' or yogic breathing with one of the participants, Mr. Jacko. A small portion of this exchange has been published in Sri Chinmoy's book "The Body, Humanity's Fortress" (1974). Several long silences on the recording of this conversation are explained by the fact that Sri Chinmoy was demonstrating to those attending the class the correct technique for alternative breathing.
The Rewards of Pranayama
Sri Chinmoy: One thing I would like to tell you here, I forgot to tell. Please, this is personal. Mr. Jacko, I have no idea in this life if he is practising pranayama or not – I think he himself told that he was doing asanas and all this – but in his just past incarnation, he has done this pranayama thousands and thousands of times. Even in this life, his face, I can see it like an open book. During my talk, I wanted to tell that he has done it thousands of times. And, in this life, he is taking physical postures and asanas. Mr. Jacko, in your past life, you did it, and I hope you will do it again successfully and get all the benefit from pranayama. Even in your eyes, here, to me it is an open book that you did it. Others also, yes, some of them have tried in their past incarnations, but nobody seriously and sincerely has done this pranayama as you have done.Mr. Jacko: I was going to say that the alternate breathing you were speaking of especially, I've been doing it for a long time and it really is amazingly effective. For example, when a person has a cold coming on, you can drive a cold out of your system.
Sri Chinmoy: Absolutely.
Mr. Jacko: It's amazing that medical people don't know about this. You actually can.
Sri Chinmoy: Not only cold — headache, stomach upset, anything.
Mr. Jacko: Nervousness.
Sri Chinmoy: Nervousness. You do it and you will see. You are afraid of speaking to someone, that what will he say. Just two or three minutes you practise this and you go and face him, like a hero. There are many, I know so many incidents. Boss in India, the master — the servant is afraid of speaking to his master. Then that particular servant he will breathe in this alternate breathing three or four times and he will go to his master. He will say the same thing, which he was scared of telling. And the master will see in him a new face, a new life. And master forgives.
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.
Sri Chinmoy: What actually happens, when you do alternate breathing, you know, the breath, the prana, goes upward to give you realisation. And the apana, it comes down. One breath goes up; the other comes down. (Sri Chinmoy demonstrates the release of breath) This one tries to keep a firm hold on matter, the physical world, and this one (he indicates the intake of breath) goes up and touches the Highest. So, it is like the link between Heaven and earth. Prana goes up and the apana comes down. And then what you are saying about this breathing, when you do alternate breathing, you will see there are three or four kinds of breathing. Yesterday, someone said that she was seeing different breaths inside her. It is absolutely true. When you do this alternate breathing you will see four or five kinds of breath inside you, four or five. Now you are seeing only one. Here you will see breath; there you will see breath. It is just like children playing there, inside you. So, there are various breaths inside us. And this we get aware of only when we do alternate breathing. Prana goes up; apana comes down. One goes up and one goes down. So, the spiritual figures, what they do, they are conscious of it all the time. Each time they breathe in, they bring it up. Consciously they do it. And ordinary people, they do not breathe correctly. If, supposing twelve to fifteen times per minute we breathe in – between twelve and fifteen, it is said, human beings breathe – but there are people who breathe only four times per minute or three times. This is the thing that when we practise first normal breathing, without doing alternate breathing. (He demonstrates) Once, when you breathe in, you count four times the Name of your God. Four times you count. Then hold the breath there. Sixteen times you repeat the Name of God. Then, while breathing out, eight times you repeat. If you can do this – four, sixteen, eight – daily you can increase, increase, increase, then you will see, instead of fifteen times in a minute, you can breathe six times or seven times or five times. The turtle is a symbol of Immortality, the turtle, in India. Three times per minute it breathes. Three times, can you imagine, per minute!Mr. Jacko: It is easier on the heart.
Sri Chinmoy: So, turtle lives for such a long time. And then, anything that you want to do, if you want to achieve success, if you can hold the breath comfortably, then you will be successful. I happened to be a good sportsman. In hundred metres, if you want to cover the distance — hundred metres — then it is said that once you breathe in, you have to complete, you have to cover the distance. If you breathe in two, three, four times, then you will be nowhere; you will be last. So, what we used to do: command used to come "Get on your mark!" (He breathes in deeply) Then "Go!" Sometimes, I could not do it with one breath. Sometimes I used to take second breath. Although I used to stand first, twelve years I stood, but I know I could have done far better if I could have retained my breath. So, anything you want to do, if you breathe in properly and hold it, you will achieve success. But it should be done comfortably, not against the power of the lungs. And very often what we are doing daily, not even three times, not even four times, we are utilising our lungs to have their proper function. Yogins have observed that during their practice, before they took to pranayama, that not even four times a day they had proper breathing. Then, when they discovered this proper breathing and when they started practising, they laughed at their ignorance and folly. Proper breathing is so important.
Mr. Jacko: I just wanted to mention that I had the privilege of knowing Robert Merrill, the Metropolitan Opera star. And he always was a great singer, but he has been practising the breathing that you speak of for the past five or six years. And he tells everybody that his singing has never been as good, it never came easier to him. And he attributes it to the breathing.
Sri Chinmoy: It gives success in all walks of life because it immediately takes us to inner realm, our inner world. Breathing immediately identifies us with the essence of our existence. We are touching the Source; we are reaching the Source. And, when we are in the Source, it is all success and fulfilment.
The Goal Is Won
Beginning at the stroke of midnight on Sunday, 28 April 1974, Sri Chinmoy wrote an astonishing 360 poems in a single 24-hour period — a pace of one poem every four minutes — using his Yogic powers of concentration. Over the next few hours, a small group of his disciples worked tirelessly to typeset, proofread, illustrate, print, collate and bind these poems into a book entitled "The Goal Is Won". For the cover, Sri Chinmoy chose a picture of himself crossing the finishing line in first place in a 100-metre sprint held at the Sri Aurobindo Ashram on Sports Day 1959.
The day after Sri Chinmoy's poetry marathon, a special celebration was held in the field adjoining the Connecticut Sri Chinmoy Centre at 80 Perry Avenue, Norwalk, Connecticut. During the celebration, Sri Chinmoy gave this beautiful talk about the significance of his creation.
The Goal Is Won
Divinity is great because Divinity gives. Humanity is good because humanity receives.Who gave the poet in me the capacity? The Supreme in you.
Who gave you the receptivity? The Supreme in me.
I am sure all of you here know how to spell the word 'Supreme'. On your behalf, I am spelling it: S-U-P-R-E-M-E. But the Supreme in me asks me to tell you that you are totally wrong in spelling the word 'Supreme' that way. He wants me to spell the word 'Supreme' correctly: G-R-A-T-I-T-U-D-E, G-R-A-T-I-T-U-D-E. Until now, earth's dictionary did not house this word, this word which is Infinity's, Eternity's and Immortality's treasure.
The physical in me will die, has to die; this is the law of the physical. But the Divine in me will eternally remain here on earth and there in Heaven. The Divine in me, which is immortal, will always cherish and reassure two things: my gratitude to my spiritual children and their loving oneness with my soul's light and heart's cry.
Once more, to each of you I wish to say that this is how I wish to spell 'Supreme' in regard to our yesterday's achievement. What you call achievement, what you call success, that very thing He calls His progress, His own progress. Again, it is His progress — His and not mine. My Supreme's Name I spell for each disciple of mine: G-R-A-T-I-T-U-D-E.
About twenty years ago, the sprinter in your Guru won the race, and yesterday the poet in your Guru again won the race. So, the title of the book is The Goal Is Won. Twenty years ago, physically we were not together. But spiritually we definitely were together. You were not yet born in my physical consciousness, my earthly consciousness. But in the inner world you were there. It was your soul's inner vision that ran within me and through me for the ultimate Reality's Oneness. And that is why I won the race again yesterday, because the souls of all the members of our family were within me to inspire me. If you had not inspired me, I would have been absolutely nowhere. You saw inside me your own reality, your own capacity. So, here is our achievement: The Goal Is Won. And I wish to say that as long as we are on earth, we shall win. Earth's message is victory; Heaven's message is progress, continuous progress.
Our symbol, our emblem, has always been the Dream-Boat and the Golden Shore. Our first series of poems this year was entitled The Golden Boat. But this new book has touched the shore, and that is why we named it The Goal Is Won. Again, the word is 'won', but if I spell it properly, then it will be O-N-E. This book is the great accomplishment, the illumining and fulfilling accomplishment, of Heaven on earth and of earth for Heaven. Earth's oneness with Heaven and Heaven's oneness with the Supreme in each of us made it possible for us to achieve what we have achieved. Heaven offered its vision; earth offered its aspiration. And the combination of earth's aspiration and Heaven's vision enables us to become the Supreme Reality for the Supreme Reality — for its constant, perfect, ever-transforming, ever-illumining and ever-widening manifestation.
The Yogi in me, the spiritual Master in me, will always remain a child. I wish to tell you the supreme Truth that God is an Eternal Child. And he who has realised God is also an Eternal Child. I am not God, far from it! But I have realised Him. I have realised that Old Man who is eternally young, so that is why I am also eternally young. Outwardly, you will see that my hair has gone; my strength has gone. This is in the physical. But my inner strength, which is eternal strength, will always remain, and that inner strength makes me an eternal child. So, whenever I write something or do something, it is the Divine Child, the Eternal Child in me that becomes truly manifested for you.
Those of you who have given me gifts, also please feel my gratitude, the way I spell the word 'Supreme'. When a child has a birthday party and he sees so many gifts, he gets such joy. I wish to tell you that there is nothing on earth that your Guru needs. There is nothing I need either on earth or in Heaven — nothing, nothing. But again, when somebody gives me something, the Eternal Child in me gets tremendous joy, either on the physical plane or on the spiritual plane. If somebody writes an article on me or buys me some material thing, it is an expression of oneness. Expression is always necessary. We could have remained in the world of the soul, but we came into this world because the Supreme wanted us to manifest Him. Expression is our manifestation. When we express something, even in thought, that is our manifestation.
We shall go on playing the same tune, singing the same song: the song of oneness, oneness, oneness. This is not my achievement. If I say it is my achievement, it is wrong. If I say it is your achievement, wrong. If I say it is earth's achievement, wrong. If I say it is Heaven's achievement, wrong. No! This is the achievement of the Supreme in each of us. It is absolutely the achievement of the Supreme for the Supreme, for His own manifestation. So, dear ones, for one day become one with me. Let us try to become happy and grateful and one.
The Way to Go
This half-hour television interview with Sri Chinmoy was conducted by Professor James P. Carse, Chairman of the Religion Department at New York University. It was initially aired on 26 February 1984 on WCBS-TV as part of "The Way to Go" Sunday morning programme, which Professor Carse hosted for eight years.
Sri Chinmoy had known Professor Carse for more than a decade. In 1973, Professor Carse invited him to give a series of lectures on the topic of Kundalini Yoga at NYU on consecutive Wednesday evenings, beginning February 14th. Sri Chinmoy gave four lectures in total. These were subsequently published in his book "Kundalini: The Mother-Power".
Over the decades, and in countries around the globe, Sri Chinmoy gave numerous interviews. This particular interview, however, uniquely captures the easy flow of conversation that Sri Chinmoy enjoyed with a kindred soul. Here, in response to Professor Carse's wide-ranging questions, Sri Chinmoy expresses the essence of his philosophy.
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?
Sri Chinmoy plays the Indian flute for a few minutes.
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?
Sri Chinmoy: Each individual seeker has a goal of his own. So, in my case, from my meditation, I try to transcend myself. My heart's inner cry — I want to make it more intense and more perfect. So, this is what I expect from my meditation. And there will be others who expect something else from their own 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?
Sri Chinmoy: Yes, I cry with my heart and, at the same time, I try to feel what my heart has to tell me.
Professor Carse: And you let the heart lead the way? You don't instruct the heart?
Sri Chinmoy: No, I never instruct the heart. It is the heart that instructs me. The heart is in tune, in conscious oneness, with the soul and the soul is the direct representative of God on earth. So, I try to abide by the dictates of my heart, and my heart listens to my soul, and soul listens to God.
Professor Carse: In that listening, then, is there an increasing journey and drawing close, and an increasing closeness to God?
Sri Chinmoy: Yes. When my inner cry becomes more soulful, my life becomes more fruitful. This is what I get from my heart's cry. The more I am soulful, the more I am fruitful.
Professor Carse: Now, when you teach students how to meditate, what are some of the specific instructions you give them?
Sri Chinmoy: I tell them to pray soulfully and meditate devotedly. Now, the basic rule is very simple. I ask them to make their minds calm and quiet so that divine thoughts, divine will, can operate inside them most freely. If their minds are haunted by doubts, fears, worries and anxieties, then they will not be able to meditate soulfully. So, in order to do proper meditation, I ask them to empty their mind first.
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?
Sri Chinmoy: No. I ask them to sit properly and they do not have to adopt any asanas, physical postures, or hatha yoga postures; only they have to sit properly. They can sit on chairs and if they want to sit on the floor, they can. They have to feel comfortable in whatever way they sit. And it is not a life of austerity. Our way is the way of acceptance. We accept life as such and we try to transcend our present capacities. So, through our prayers and meditations, we try to transcend our capacities.
Professor Carse: So, self-transcendence is certainly one of the goals.
Sri Chinmoy: Self-transcendence is the main goal or, you can say, the only goal.
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?
Sri Chinmoy: Indian.Professor Carse: And you played an Indian tune.
Sri Chinmoy: Yes.
Professor Carse: Do you sometimes play Western music?
Sri Chinmoy: On very rare occasions, but I do not know Western music. But only, if it comes from within, I practise, but mostly it is Indian melodies that I play.
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?
Sri Chinmoy: God the Musician created this world as God the Music. We call it God's universal harmony. And if one wants to make progress, then one has to feel harmony in his inner life and his outer life. So, when we play haunting melodies, we feel that our entire being is raised to a higher consciousness and the higher we can go, the better becomes our outer life and inner life. God the Musician has created God the Music, which is the Universe. So, when we pray and meditate, we try to bring into our outer life the soulful music that we already have in our inner life.
Professor Carse: Do you encourage your students, by the way, to play music?
Sri Chinmoy: Yes, I do encourage them. And my students play on various instruments and also I have quite a few good, excellent singers all over the world and they sing devotional songs also composed by me.
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.
Sri Chinmoy reads his classic poem "The Absolute".
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?
Sri Chinmoy: Yes. For me, life and death are two rooms. When I throw myself into activities, it is life, and afterwards I need rest. When I take rest, it is death. Two rooms I badly need. For some time, I have to work and for some time I have to rest. So, both the rooms are of paramount importance.
Professor Carse: Does that mean you go from one room to another? There is a reincarnation that is a part of this?
Professor Carse: So, this is not our only time through this room?Sri Chinmoy: No.
Professor Carse: Not at all?
Sri Chinmoy: We come back again and again. It is when we need rest, we enter into a room called death and when again we want to manifest God, then we enter into the room, life.
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?
Sri Chinmoy: Not only paintings. Whatever I do, I do with a spirit of dedication. And this dedication always follows my aspiration. I pray and meditate. When I aspire, I get something from within and then that very thing I would like to offer to the world at large, to God's creation, with a spirit of dedication. So, when I paint I try to aspire or while I am aspiring I paint and then, when the time comes, my Inner Pilot utilises me to inspire my friends, my dear ones and all the citizens of the world.
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?
Sri Chinmoy: Aspiration and inspiration. Aspiration is an inner activity and inspiration is an outer activity. Here, right now, you and I are trying to inspire millions of people who will be watching the show, with our devoted oneness with them. So, this is inspiration. And before that, we aspired. We aspired to do something good for the listeners. So, aspiration comes from within and inspiration we offer to the world.
Professor Carse: And then the painting is your offering?
Sri Chinmoy: Painting is my offering, poetry is my offering, music is my 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.
Sri Chinmoy: Whatever I do, I try to encourage my students to do the same. For we know, God who has given us the body has also given us the soul. He has given us the inner life and the outer life. And the outer life has a special purpose of its own. So, we cannot neglect the body. If we neglect the body, then the heart, the mind and the vital within us will not be able to function well. Then how are we going to pray and meditate? The inner life and the outer life must go together. If I pray within, then I will have better thoughts. If I pray, if I meditate, then I will be a better person. Then I will be able to love you more; I will be able to establish my oneness with you. So, when I run, at that time my physical, my body, is becoming conscious of a goal. Whether it is hundred metres or two hundred metres or marathon or ultramarathon, there is a goal. In the spiritual life also there is a goal. So, the outer goal and the inner goal must go together.
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?
Sri Chinmoy: No, that is not physical. I am a seeker. On the strength of my inner awareness, I must say that it is something spiritual. Because anything that we give to the world in a spirit of offering will definitely bring peace, light and delight. So, while we are running, on the one hand, we are killing ourselves, and sometimes while running we are disappointed that, you know, we want to go faster and we cannot. But once we reach our destination, even the worst marathon runner — the best and the worst — once he completes the distance, this twenty-six miles, he gets tremendous joy and delight. This is his inner experience. His entire body, physical consciousness, wanted to do something, achieve something for him, and then he reached the goal, so the joy that he gets from his entire being, it is something spiritual, inner. We cannot say it is something physical.
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?
Sri Chinmoy: I meet with them four times a week, and on Wednesday I invite the seekers who are not my disciples to come and meditate with me at P.S. 86.Professor Carse: Oh, in a public school?
Sri Chinmoy: In a public school. Quite a few seekers every Wednesday at seven-thirty come. From seven-thirty to nine, I meditate and quite a few sincere seekers every Wednesday come and join me in our meditation.
Professor Carse: Now the disciples, do they live together? Do they have an ongoing, continuous association with each other?
Sri Chinmoy: Yes, it is like a spiritual community. Of course, they live in different houses, but in Jamaica, in Queens, we have a spiritual community. And during the day, they work and, in the evening, we have our meditation classes. And also they do selfless service. We have quite a few things to do, which is all for the improvement of our consciousness.Professor Carse: Of course, they all have ordinary jobs and so on, too, don't they?
Sri Chinmoy: We have quite a few disciples who work at the United Nations and a few other places.
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.
Sri Chinmoy: I am extremely grateful to the United Nations for having given me the opportunity there to pray and meditate twice a week. Now there are two ways: one is the outer way, the other is the inner way. There we pray and meditate in order to bring about peace in the world community. And also Ambassadors and delegates and others do the same thing. They also want to bring about peace. They want to have oneness-home — peace, the whole world to be inundated with peace. So, they try in their own special way, in their political way or whatever way they feel necessary. In my case, we do it through our prayers and meditations. Every Tuesday and Friday I go there and for an hour, from one to two, I pray and meditate and quite a few members from the United Nations, delegates and such, they come to meditate with me. And, from time to time, we honour the countries, their Independence Day. And when they do something great, we observe special meetings at the United Nations, and we honour the countries so that we can be one family.
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?
Sri Chinmoy: We belong to the same family and God is our eternal Father; we are His children. So, we exchange our inspiration and aspiration. In a family, you know, one brother is a doctor, another is a lawyer and a third is a professor. So, at home we will be together and discuss and share our views.
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.
Sri Chinmoy: Religious background — I come from India and I was born as a Hindu. So, Hinduism is my religion. But once one accepts spiritual life, that is, in the purest of the term, one has to go beyond one's own religion. At that time, if you call it religion, then that religion is nothing but a oneness-family. I was born a Hindu, but I embrace Christianity, Buddhism, Judaism, Islam as my own, very own, for they are also expressing, revealing and manifesting the same truth as Hinduism. Hinduism has been doing it for millennia.
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?
Sri Chinmoy: Absolutely, absolutely! I have so many Christians. Here I am in the Western world. So, I tell them that they do not have to give up their religion, far from it. Religion is, after all, a home. I was born in a particular house and you were born. So, how can you say that you were not born there? But then we go to school to study together. That study is inner school and there we have the Inner Guide. God is our Teacher and Professor. But He definitely wanted me to take birth in India and He wanted you to take birth here in America. Then again, you come to New York University to teach and there I go as a student. So, here we become again together.
Professor Carse: You use the term 'Inner Pilot'. I think it is a very lovely spiritual term. You understand God as the Inner Pilot?
Sri Chinmoy: Yes, God is the Inner Pilot. We say God is the Inner Pilot and also He is the Boat. He is the Boat, He is the Boatman and we are the passengers. When we pray and meditate, we see and feel God as the Pilot, God as the Boat and we are the passengers. He is sailing the Boat towards His Golden Shore.
Professor Carse: So, one of our spiritual tasks is to respond to the Pilot. Is it possible to disobey the Pilot?
Sri Chinmoy: Yes. When we disobey the Pilot, we meet with the consequences. You are the professor, a distinguished, professor, an esteemed professor. You teach at New York University. If you have unfortunate students, if they don't listen to you . . .Professor Carse (joking): Well, then they are very unfortunate!
Sri Chinmoy: They are supposed to listen to you! Because they know, those who are good students definitely know, that you are an ocean of knowledge and wisdom. By listening to you, they are going to get the benefit. You are sharing with them your knowledge and wisdom-light and they are listening to you and they are also being inundated with light. Now, those who do not listen to you definitely become ignorant. So, ignorance itself is punishment. If they remain ignorant, they cannot be happy, they cannot be fulfilled. So, when we do not obey our Inner Pilot, we remain ignorant and the consequence of ignorance itself is a great torture.
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?
Sri Chinmoy plays the flute once more to close the programme.
Lofty Utterances
Most of the words the Sri Chinmoy spoke during his lifetime may be deemed 'lofty utterances'. The following selections, some of which are addressed to the souls of various nations, are rare in that they are infused with Sri Chinmoy's uniquely personal perspective. In 2002, in his tribute book to Pope John Paul II, the Master wrote:
Holy Father,
To have implicit faith
In your world-elevating utterances
Is to ground ourselves utterly
In God-depths.
This poem encapsulates the power of such lofty utterances to touch our innermost core.
The Puerto Rican Heart
(In September 1983, Sri Chinmoy attended the V World Masters Games in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Sri Chinmoy entered several sprinting events, putting his nationality on the entry form as Indian. However, as he is also an Honorary Citizen of Puerto Rico, the officials changed his nationality so that he would be competing under the Puerto Rican flag. They then invited him to compose an anthem for the Games and to open them with a silent meditation at the official opening ceremony on September 24th. Sri Chinmoy was deeply moved by these expressions of love for him. He made these comments the following day.)I have been in the West for almost twenty years. No other country has ever loved me and honoured me in this way. Let us say that love and honour are two different things. They are as different as the finite and the infinite. Love is infinite and honour is finite. Yesterday I felt honour in a very large measure, but the love I felt from the Puerto Rican heart and the Puerto Rican soul was in infinite, infinite measure. No other country has ever loved me and perhaps no other country will ever love me, including my Mother India, in this lifetime, the way my beloved Puerto Rico has expressed her love for me. This love comes from the inmost recesses of her heart, the Puerto Rican heart. Puerto Rico has accepted me, my realisation, long before other countries have even dreamt of accepting me. Puerto Rico gave me her highest honour, including her citizenship, long before others started to honour me in this way. Now, Puerto Rico has again done something unprecedented for me, something on an international scale. As long as I am on earth and when I will be in Heaven, only one thing I leave behind for my Puerto Rico, this enchanting land, the land that recognised me first as a God-lover and a God-seeker, and that is gratitude and gratitude and gratitude.
25 September 1983
Beloved Germany
At the end of his 1984 Peace Concert in Cologne, which was attended by an unprecedented 8,000 seekers, Sri Chinmoy offered his profound gratitude to Germany. That year, Sri Chinmoy had the goal of offering twenty worldwide Peace Concerts to celebrate his twentieth year in the West. This was the very first Peace Concert in the series.Beloved Germany, breathlessly I am bowing to your soul. Soulfully I am loving your heart. Devotedly I am admiring your life. To me, stupendous is your soul, generous is your heart and precious is your life. Down the sweep of centuries, your immortal musicians have covered the length and breadth of the entire world with their music-light. They have offered a music which is unparalleled, a universal music, a music that has awakened the human consciousness and elevated the human life far beyond human imagination. The universal music Germany has offered to the world. Music is, therefore, your universal birthright. An unconditional oneness-heart is also your birthright, for you have given me this evening the golden opportunity to offer you my most insignificant music in this august hall. My beloved Germany, to you I am offering in all sincerity my gratitude-heart. To you, my aspiration-heart and my dedication-life bow and bow and bow.
24 March 1984
My Australia
Sri Chinmoy's Peace Concert in Australia that year was held at the Dallas Brooks Hall in Melbourne. Because of the capacity crowd that filled the hall and the large number of seekers who were not able to find seats, Sri Chinmoy offered a second Peace Concert that same evening. He gave the following message towards the close of his first Peace Concert.
Australia, my Australia, my beloved Australia,
I bow to your inner Pilot Supreme,
I bow to your fulness-soul,
I bow to your oneness-heart,
I bow to your vastness-body
With my soulful gratitude-heart.
12 September 1984
Perishable Fruits
This was Sri Chinmoy's morning prayer at Aspiration-Ground.Love, devotion and surrender — these are perishable fruits. Therefore, I must not delay in taking them. Also, if I want to remain stronger than the strongest in my spiritual life, then every day I need a fresh supply of love, devotion and surrender-fruits.
24 March 1988
Unconditional Compassion
Whatever I have done in this lifetime, whatever I am doing, whatever I shall be doing in the near or distant future, as long as I am on earth, I am only an act, an expression, of my Lord Supreme's unconditional Compassion.3 August 1988
The Heart of a Child
Sri Chinmoy made the following comment after successfully jumping up onto a 30-inch platform from a standing position.The inflexibility of the mind surrenders to the heart of a child. Only a seven-year-old child constantly jumps and jumps, upward and forward. Our childhood memories always give us joy. If we can consciously bring back our childhood memories, then we will be flooded with newness and hope. This is my philosophy: to remain always in the heart. Age is in the mind. With determination we can conquer the age barrier and go back to our childlike heart where hope is blossoming at every moment. So, remain in the heart. If you can remain in the heart, then you can act like a child and there will be no end to your progress. The old age bondage-limitations will return to the childhood freedom-dreams.
4 April 1996
Four Earth-Summit Luminaries
In March 1999, Sri Chinmoy travelled to South Africa to lift President Mandela and to offer him the "Oneness-Peace: Earth-Summit-Transcendence-Fragrance Award". Sri Chinmoy explained to the President that he would be offering this award to the four individuals whom he felt have contributed the most to this latter part of the 20th century.It is not by coincidence but by God's divine Plan that these four luminaries have emerged in the four corners of the world — you, my most esteemed President Mandela, in the south; President Gorbachev in the north; the Holy Father in the West; and Mother Teresa in the East. Although she was born in Albania, she made India her home and the focus of her life's mission.
9 March 1999
The Goal for Which All Men Should Seek
Do not seek a lesser goal.If you do that,
Yours will be a life
Of sombre dole.
– Sri Chinmoy
In the summer of 1970, Sri Chinmoy was interviewed by Iona College Radio in New Rochelle, New York, by George O'Brien, co-ordinator of Iona College Radio Activities. No additional information is available at present regarding the precise date of the interview. It is, however, a remarkable interview, especially for a Catholic institution, and the theme and tone of Mr. O'Brien's questions are, perhaps, typical of the '70s era, where the spiritual quest was uppermost in the minds of many people. It is helpful, too, to remember that this interview preceded Sri Chinmoy's tennis, distance running and weightlifting. In the arts, he had not yet embarked on his painting and drawing; he had not discovered the esraj or the Western flute and he had no thought of offering concerts. His musical compositions at this stage were also very few in number. Only a handful of meditation Centres had been established in his name. Sri Chinmoy's primary activities in these early years were his university lectures, his recently inaugurated meditations at the United Nations, and the more private effort involved in nurturing his disciples and in writing his early books. In effect, his life's work lay ahead of him.
Mr. O'Brien: This conversation is at Iona College in New Rochelle and with me is Sri Chinmoy Kumar Ghose, who is a spiritual Master from India. Sri Chinmoy Kumar Ghose has lectured in many parts of the world, in colleges and universities around America, and presently is holding monthly lectures at the United Nations. Now, Sri Chinmoy, we are going to talk about spirituality, which is the goal for which all men should seek, strive. I hope we try to reach it but, in your concept of spirituality, how do we attain this goal, Sri Chinmoy?
Interview at Iona College
Sri Chinmoy: We attain this goal through proper inner discipline, through inner cry and through conscious self-dedication to God. Every day, we have to feel that we are under inner obligation to please God, as we please our nearest and dearest ones on earth. As a matter of fact, we all know the nearest and dearest is God. Him to please, we came into the world; Him to fulfil, we came into the world; and Him to manifest we came into the world. So, when we are aware, or should I say conscious, of our goal and mission on earth, we make our journey's start.Mr. O'Brien: Well, we were talking before we came into the studio, Sri Chinmoy, about universality, that I really in a way am not an individual standing all alone; I am a part of the great universe. Do I understand that correctly?
Sri Chinmoy: Yes, absolutely.
Mr. O'Brien: Now, another thing, if I see God in other men — as you tell me and other people have told me the same thing in a different way — is it possible for me to see God in some other man before I find Him in myself?
Sri Chinmoy: Yes. It is possible for you to see God in some other man before you see God in yourself precisely because the other man is more advanced in the realm of spirituality. It is like this: a high school student, he has not yet come up to the university to study but he sees that the university student has more knowledge than he has. A day will come, that he will also from high school, he will enter into the college or enter into the university, he himself will, but right now he is a high school student. In the university student he will see more knowledge, more wisdom, than he has. Because of his development, because of his wisdom, inner light, the university student is superior. So, in him he sees knowledge more than he has. In the spiritual life also, when you go to a spiritual Master, he meditates with you. He will be able to offer peace, light, bliss and so forth. In his peace, in his light, infinite peace, light and bliss, you will see the real divinity. Then, while you meditate at home, during your highest meditation, you are going to have the same experience of peace, bliss, delight and power in yourself. Now, the Master, he has practised for years and years inner discipline, spiritual life and so forth. That is why he is in a position to offer light all at once. In your case also, if you also practise for years and years spiritual life, you will be able to see God within you, consciously.
Mr. O'Brien: Well, now getting back to what you said about the students and the various schools, I don't find God and then stop, do I? This is something that I must continue to seek and strive for as long as I live. Do I understand that correctly?
Sri Chinmoy: Yes. Here, at the beginning, we have to feel that we are all God's children. We belong to one family. If we feel that God is our Father, Mother and God is everything, then He has a family of His own and we are the members of this family. Now, when we have the feeling of oneness — that this is my brother, this is my sister — and when I see inside my own sister the living presence of my father, then what happens? My oneness with my sister makes me see, feel, the living presence of my father within me.
Mr. O'Brien: Yes, so that just as I am really part of my natural father, my physical father — in the spiritual life, God is my spiritual Father, I have part of that in me then?
Sri Chinmoy: Already, you have. Already, somebody is more developed. If somebody is taking exercise daily and he has developed his muscle, so now if you look at him, then you will see that he has wonderful physique; he is so strong and robust. And if you also take exercise, you will also have the same development. So, the one who is already developed, if you look at him or enter into him, you will get immediate satisfaction of divinity. And the same thing can be seen and practised in your own life, too.
Mr. O'Brien: Well, in spirituality then we have the same thing we have in muscular body. Unless we exercise it, it atrophies, doesn't it?
Sri Chinmoy: Yes, absolutely. And the same thing as in the physical body, if we don't eat daily, we starve. Then what happens? We lose strength. Then eventually we die. In the spiritual life also, if we do not feed ourselves every day, that is to say, if we don't pray or meditate, then we lose our inner capacity. Then we start doubting God, we start doubting God's peace, light and bliss. We say that these are all imagination; there is no reality. We must meditate daily, as we feed our outer body. Prayer and meditation are nourishment, proper nourishment.
Mr. O'Brien: Yes. Now, I've been thinking as you're talking, I believe it's in the Torah, there is a verse which says something to the effect, "Be still and know that I am God." Now, that to me means that we have to be still and listen, that we don't hear the voice of God unless we're willing to listen. Do we . . .
Sri Chinmoy: It means our dedicated surrender to God's Will. Then only we can keep our inner ear open. When the Christ said, "I and my Father are one"; the Vedic Seers said, "Brahmasmi" — "I am the Brahman." They said it all on the strength of their inner oneness founded on their self-dedication. The moment we see somebody has dedicated his entire life to God, self-discovery, that means he has his inner ear to listen to the dictates of the inner voice. Now you are talking to me and I am listening to you, what you are saying. I have kept my ears open. In the outer world, we are listening to each other. Similarly, in the inner world also we can listen to the dictates of our soul, of our God, of our highest Inner Pilot. How? Only when we open or when we dedicate ourselves entirely to God. The moment our dedication is complete, rest assured, that our inner ear is open. And when inner ear is open, we get the voice, we hear the voice. First, we hear the voice, then we feel that in the inner voice, there is enormous power, strength. Now, suppose you tell me to do something, ask something. I have heard your voice; I am listening. It is up to me to listen to you or not. But when we hear the inner voice, inner voice has the tremendous power. It gives us power to execute the will itself.
Mr. O'Brien: It is something we have to learn so that we are able to communicate with God Himself. We must listen. Now, how do we do this? We can't do this rushing around.
Sri Chinmoy: Thank you! It is absolutely true. In the hustle and bustle of life, it is almost impossible for us to meditate. But we have to know if we really care for God. Do we really need Him? We need food, we need clothing, we need so many things. These are of desperate need, we need. Similarly, we have to ask ourselves a question: do we really need God? If the answer is yes, we need Him, then the next thing is to listen to Him. Right now, everybody in the street will say yes, if he is not atheist. "Yes, yes, I need God, I need God." But what kind of need? There is no desperate need. You are pinched with thirst and you quench your thirst and you are satisfied. Similarly, everyone has to have that inner cry, inner thirst, for God. Then when one is really thirsty, God will provide the necessary drink, nectar. And for that what do we need? We need daily fifteen minutes or half an hour's time dedicated to God before we enter into the outer world. Eight o'clock we leave our home, we go to the office. Why? To meet with the demands of the outer life. But if we want to meet with the demands of the inner life, then first things first. Early in the morning, if God comes first, we have to meditate ten minutes on God and then we have to go to humanity to please humanity or for our own sake to stay here on earth. So, if God comes first, then early in the morning let us pray to God, let us meditate on God. Then let us enter into the activities of the world.
Mr. O'Brien: In my experience, Sri Chinmoy, the majority of us — maybe I'll include myself — when times are good and we have no trouble and we have our health, we pray a little, sometimes not at all. It's when we are touched with illness or disaster or the pain of the loss of one of our loved ones, then we turn to God. I wonder sometimes if you feel like saying to us that we took a long time to come around? Isn't it better, when things are good and we have our health and we have a modicum of happiness, then to meditate and give a little thanks for this?
Sri Chinmoy: Here we have to know our Father is all compassion and all forgiveness. It is not like, you know, fair-weather friend. That only if somebody comes, when you are on good terms, when you are in a happy mood, you are in prosperity, somebody is making friends with you. In the case of God, it is different. He is all forgiveness. If we do not pray to Him while we are happy, while we are living a prosperous life, He does not mind. He is all forgiveness. He feels that we are asleep; we are fast asleep. He says, "Better late than never! My child, I want you to get up early in the morning and pray to Me, but if for months and months you are not getting up, then what can I do? But if one day you get up and meditate, then so much the better for you and Me. And then gradually you will have the feeling that by getting up early in the morning, while you are praying to God, you are feeding yourself and you are feeding Me."
Mr. O'Brien: Yes, yes.
Sri Chinmoy: So, now, in the spiritual life also, we have a big family, a spiritual family. We are all God's children. United, if we can eat the inner food, that is to say, united if we pray and meditate and all that, naturally He will be very happy. But if we cannot do it every day, it is our fault, but He is all-forgiving. He will not mind. But if we consciously pray and meditate every day, He will be much happier. And the next thing is only, I wish to tell you, better late than never. If I cannot get up at five o'clock to meditate, no harm. But if I get up at ten o'clock and then start meditating, that is to say, feeding my Father and being fed together, that is far better than to starve.
Mr. O'Brien: Well, in the whole concept, Sri Chinmoy, the great goal that we are striving for in trying to find God or in finding God in ourselves, in finding Him in other people, is that we are all part of a family; we are interdependent. That all men are equal in the sight of God, men and women, of course, are equal in the sight of God. They are all His children. I would feel He — and I would hope He is a very compassionate God — might look very unkindly on those of us who find people that we just dislike, and have no affection for, no use for and wouldn't want to help under any set of circumstances. I would think that might be, if there is such a thing, the unpardonable sin, wouldn't it, to hate one of my human beings, my fellow creatures?
Sri Chinmoy: Excuse me, here at this point, I wish to say that there is no such thing as unpardonable sin. First of all, being an Indian and being a follower of infinite Truth and Light, I wish to say that there is no such thing as sin. That is all man-made. This word 'sin' is man-made and God-made Truth is always Light and Delight. So, what you call 'sin', we call it 'ignorance'. The moment we use the term 'sin' — "I have committed a sin; I am going to hell" — where is hell? Where is Heaven? It is all in my mind; it is all in the plane of consciousness. So, we Indians and spiritual seekers and Masters are not at all afraid of the word 'sin' because we feel there is no such thing as sin. Yet we do feel that there is something called ignorance. I am ignorant. As soon as I came here, as soon as I came in the studio, you said each one is ignorant; each one has to learn something. Yes. Now, if it is a matter of spirituality, I may offer you a little light, but if it is a matter of radio, you have abundant light to offer me. So, I am ignorant of radio and you are ignorant of spiritual life, let us say it like that?
Mr. O'Brien: Yes.
Sri Chinmoy: Here also, on earth, each one is ignorant of something. So, that is ignorance not sin. And owing to ignorance, I do something wrong; owing to ignorance you do something wrong. And then we rectify it. I have the knowledge of spirituality. I am telling you, "Mr. O'Brien, if you do this, your life will be changed, radically changed." And you have all knowledge of the radio and you will tell me, "Mr. Ghose, if you do this then you will see; you will be able to speak wonderfully and you will be of greater help to mankind if you answer questions this way." Or something concerning your radio apparatus if you tell me then I can be of greater help to you, to mankind. So, this is all ignorance. No sin, there is no such thing. My ignorance has to be removed by you; your ignorance has to be removed by me. In this way, we are all interdependent, interdependent. What I lack, what I am wanting in, you have to fill it, and what you lack, I have to fill it. In this way, we can fulfil each other. By fulfilling each other, that is to say, by fulfilling God's creation, we are pleasing God and the strength is coming directly from God to fulfil you and to fulfil me.
Mr. O'Brien: Now, Sri Chinmoy, we are here at Iona College where we have, I imagine, around three thousand students, boys and girls. All of us are here we say at least for one purpose: to see that the young students who are here are properly educated to have a fine life, to enjoy life. I wonder what would happen here at Iona campus if a certain number of our students, faculty administration, call them what you want, if five hundred of us would sit down every day and meditate on the fact that we are God's children, do this a half-hour every day. I wonder if in six months this campus would change?
Sri Chinmoy: Definitely! It won't take six months. If you meditate — was it fifty or five hundred?
Mr. O'Brien: Five hundred.
Sri Chinmoy: So, if five hundred devoted seekers meditate for one week, the face of Iona College will change. It won't be necessary for you people to meditate for six months. United, if you can meditate for one week, five hundred, aspiration — we call it 'inner flame'. When the inner flame mounts up high, higher, highest you will touch God's boundless Compassion, Light, Peace, Bliss. All will descend; all will descend here into this College. It can easily be by far the best college in the United States. Why only in the United States — in the world! Because no college, as far as I know, meditates with five hundred members daily. We have Centres, a few spiritual Centres. There are sixty, seventy or eighty members in the Centres. When we meditate together, sixty members of a particular Centre, we literally bring down Heaven on earth through our joint aspiration. Dedication, aspiration, divine love, divine surrender to God's Will — "Let Thy Will be done" — these things we do. And we feel that the whole entire meditation room is flooded with Peace, Light and Bliss. So, if five hundred can meditate together here, the Kingdom of Heaven can be established in this building, in this Iona College.
Mr. O'Brien: Not only the College, we might even change New Rochelle, Sri Chinmoy?
Sri Chinmoy: Why only New Rochelle? When light starts spreading, it spreads all over the world. Let us take it as a bird. Here, if the bird starts spreading its wings, from this Iona College, why only New Rochelle? It has to enter into the entire New York, then all the States. Then comes the whole world. Light originates from a particular place. Now you see rivers, our India's greatest river, most sacred river, is the Ganges. It originates where? From the Himalayas, from the topmost Himalayas and then it comes down. But the source is the Himalayas. So, here also, if this is the source, if Iona College becomes a source, then from here, the consciousness, spiritual consciousness, feeling of divine oneness, can easily spread throughout the length and breadth of the world.
Mr. O'Brien: Yes, you know I said five hundred at Iona College. Really there is only one person at Iona College who is the greatest concern to me — that is myself. I would like to ask you now for myself. Maybe we'll start this at Iona College with one or two. What should I do? There are certain things I do now, but I want to do more. What should I do now every day?
Sri Chinmoy: Every day you please meditate for a few minutes, say fifteen minutes. Now, we need a few things to inspire us outwardly. Suppose you have incense right in front of you, burning incense. It reminds you immediately of aspiration. Incense is burning and you are being purified. In the spiritual life, when we have purity, we are hundreds of miles away from the bondage, the man-made bondage. Then if you keep a candle in front of you, you see the flame, burning flame of aspiration. If you keep a few flowers in front of you, then the purity comes, childlike purity. When you look at a child, the child has no enemy because he is flooded with purity, with divine light, divine consciousness. So, when you meditate, when you pray to God, if you could kindly keep a few flowers in front of you, and then incense and candles, automatically your meditation will be heightened by these aspiring qualities right in front of you. And then if you can have one or two friends who are willing to be in the same boat, that is to say, who are really ready to participate in your inner search. Here Hugh is there, Paul — these two will be more than willing to meditate with you. Here, I am sure, they will be more than willing. These are young members of your family here, spiritual family. So, if you could meditate fifteen minutes a day. You are starting with one, two, three. And again, in God's Eye, it is not the number, it is not the quantity. It is the quality. So, you can easily be a host in yourself if your aspiration is thick, intense and most powerful. Then that is more than enough for God.
Mr. O'Brien: Now, the theme I should take, I would imagine, the general theme is that I am a child of God, that as He is my Heavenly Father, my spiritual Father, I want total communion with Him. Now, aside from that . . .
Sri Chinmoy: Excuse me, here you have to know that the word 'Heaven' is very confusing. If you feel that Heaven is something infinitely higher than the ceiling, then you are mistaken. Heaven is right inside your heart.
Mr. O'Brien: Yes.
Sri Chinmoy: So, when you are praying or meditating, if you feel that your God, your Father, is inside here, in the inmost recesses of your heart, and here, inside your heart, you are going to see Him face to face — face to face you are going to see Him — then it becomes infinitely easier for you to meditate and contemplate. Otherwise, while you are meditating, if your mind soars up high, higher, highest, then only it will be roaming there, endlessly. But if you meditate on your heart and go deep within, then you will get constant feeling of sweetness, love, joy, peace, and bliss. So, when you are meditating, please meditate here \[in the heart\] and try to establish your conscious union with God.
Mr. O'Brien: Now if I can accomplish this, Sri Chinmoy, the people around me are going to see this, aren't they?
Sri Chinmoy: Absolutely! They are bound to see, they are bound to feel.
Mr. O'Brien: So, as I said to you before, the people who very often find me very objectionable will see a change in me then, will they?
Sri Chinmoy: They find you objectionable precisely because they do not see the divinity in you or they do not want to see the divinity in you. Now what? Is it your fault? You are also God's child. So, they are seeing your outer cloak, outer garb, if they say that you are objectionable. But why do they not pay attention, why do they not go and enter deeper than their outer vision and see the divinity, the flood of divinity, inside you? It is their mistake that they don't see the divinity inside you. Now, it is your mistake equally that you are not bringing to the fore your own divinity.
Mr. O'Brien: That's the thing I'm most interested in, isn't it?
Sri Chinmoy: Their mistake is that they are not trying to dig inside you and get the wealth, the mine. They know that inside you there is a treasure. Treasure is there but they are unwilling to dig it. They just want to see it on the surface, the wealth. You are under no obligation to show your treasure. They have to come, they have to open the door, they have to open the safe where you have kept your money. Then only they will say, "Oh, he is a very rich man." But again, on your part, if you are kind enough, you will say, "Why should I give them so much trouble? They have to unlock the door and then come into my room and see where I have kept my money and my wealth? Best thing is for me is to open up everything at the gate as soon as they come and let them see it and say, 'This is for you. I am ready to give it.'"
Yoga and Life
During the early 1970s, Sri Chinmoy was interviewed a number of times on WBAI, a public FM radio station in New York City, for a programme called "In the Spirit". This was a weekly inspirational show hosted by Lex Hixon and produced by Paul Gorman. This highly influential two-hour programme introduced many people to spiritual Guides and Masters from all religious and spiritual traditions and was considered unprecedented in its depth, scope, insight and creativity. Hixon himself wrote: "This endeavour involved a tremendous amount of fieldwork in newly emerging American spiritual consciousness, as well as an opportunity to meet the finest representatives of world-traditions who visited New York City." Over a period of thirteen years, Hixon's guests included Pir Vilayat Khan, the Dalai Lama, Mother Teresa and many other prominent spiritual teachers. Sri Chinmoy was the very first guest on the programme, first appearing in the spring of 1971, when he gave the following talk and answered questions from the hosts.
Yoga and Life
I wish to give a very short talk:Yoga is a Sanskrit word. I am sure all of you know it. It means union with God, man's conscious union with God. Now, who is God? God is the Eternal Life.
The aspiring human life is self-purification and self-realisation. The aspiring divine life is earth-transformation and God-manifestation. When these two lives — the human life and the divine life — become inseparable, perfect Perfection dawns on earth.
In the outer life, I do and then I know. In the inner life, I know first and then I do.
Now, in the outer life, when I do selfless service, I know what God the Love is; I know what God's all-embracing and all-fulfilling Love is.
In the inner life, I know first and then I do. What I know is God's Transcendental Will and what I do is to become a surrendered, conscious and constant instrument of God. This is the way how I realise God the Absolute and how I fulfil God the Eternal Pilot in His own Way.
Now I wish to read out a passage from my writings:
The spiritual fitness can be determined by our feeling of oneness, our desire for oneness. The tiniest drop has a right to feel the boundless ocean as its very own. Such is the case with the individual soul and the Universal Soul.
Where is God and where am I? God is on the third floor and I am on the first floor. I come up to the second floor. He comes down to the second floor. We meet, we both meet together. I do not forget to wash His Feet with my tears of delight. Neither does He forget to place me in His Heart of infinite Compassion.
Now, what is Yoga? Yoga is self-conquest. Self-conquest is God-realisation. And he who practises Yoga does two things by one stroke: he simplifies his whole life and he gets a free access to the Divine.
In the field of Yoga we can never pretend. Our aspiration must ring true. Our whole life must ring true. Nothing is impossible for an ardent aspirant. A higher Power guides his steps. God's adamantine Will is his safest protection. No matter how long or how many times he blunders, he has every right to come back to his own spiritual home. His aspiration is a climbing flame. It has no smoke; it needs no fuel. It is the breath of his inner life. It leads him to the shore of the Golden Beyond. The aspirant, with the wings of his aspiration, soars into the Transcendental.
God is infinite and God is everywhere. To a genuine aspirant, this is more than mere belief. He is the Reality without a second."
Paul: My guest today is Sri Chinmoy, who is a teacher of the spirit from India, who was born 39 years ago in Bengal and, six years ago, left to travel — really around the world. And in his name in those years have been established many Centres in the Philippines and the Far East and the Caribbean and the British Isles and North America, perhaps in places I've left out. And the music you have been hearing is from a chorus of disciples of Sri Chinmoy's. The music was written and directed by Mahavishnu John McLaughlin and hopefully we'll hear more of that music. What we would like to do now, really, in preparation for your more active participation and presence in this, is to talk a little bit and then we'd like to take phonecalls. With me in the studio now is my brother Lex.
Lex: Is there something special going on in the spiritual world of today?
Sri Chinmoy: Well, I can say only this much that right now, in this century, spiritual Masters are more active and dynamic, that is to say, the Indian spirituality. There was a time when Indian spirituality was only found in the Himalayan caves. That is to say, Indian spiritual Masters preferred to live in the Himalayan caves. But now spiritual Masters are moving all around the world. They feel that the whole world belongs to them. Spirituality is not the sole monopoly of India. Previously, the spiritual Masters, Indian spiritual Masters, were under the impression that the West was not meant for the spiritual life, forgive me to say this.Host: There was much evidence for that.
Sri Chinmoy: But now the spiritual Masters, almost all, with no exception, have come to the conclusion that the West also has every right to enter into the realm of spirituality and explore all spiritual wealth therein. That is why we can say that now the world is more awakened to the inner life than it was before.
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?
Sri Chinmoy: Yes. In my case, I will be able to say. About the other spiritual Masters, I am not competent to say anything. Each one has his own way of revealing his inner truth. In my case, in 1964, I got the inner Demand from the Supreme, His Command. He commanded me to come to the West and serve Him in the West, that is to say, to serve the Divine in the human. So, in 1964, the Supreme, my Inner Pilot, commanded me to come from India to the West and to be of service to the Western world.
Host: And where did that take you first?
Sri Chinmoy: First, it brought me here, to New York. But the Supreme chose me as one of His instruments to be of service here, and naturally He found New York to be most suitable for my purpose. Otherwise, He would have taken me to some other States. So, in that sense, I can say that the Supreme chose me and chose New York together. At every moment, I feel that the West can easily run abreast with the East. Of course, East has to feel what East has to offer, and the West has to feel what the West has to offer towards the full manifestation of the divine life here on earth. The East is offering its inner peace and the West is offering its inner dynamism. So, this way, the West and East are becoming one. I am using the term 'inner peace'. Please forgive me. Otherwise, you may take me to task. You will say that so many things are happening in India and all that. So, I have to be guarded. It is all inner peace I am referring to. As we spiritual Masters are now in the West and if somebody asks what are you doing for people here? So, we say that we are trying to offer the little inner peace we have received from our spiritual life.
Host: Can the inner peace have any effect on the outer situation?
Sri Chinmoy: Without the least possible hesitation I could tell you that the inner peace has transformed a few hundred disciples of mine. I have come into contact with thousands of people and being very fussy about accepting disciples — I confine myself to only a few hundred disciples, three or four hundred — I wish to say that by the Grace of the Supreme about four hundred disciples have received abundant inner peace and they feel that their life is radically changed. And it is all inner peace. And this is not something like a chimerous mist; it is not something theoretical. It is practical. If you had seen them three or four years ago and now see them, you would be the first person to have firsthand knowledge of the effect that inner peace can offer.
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.
Sri Chinmoy: The thing is that they were ready and there are many, many ready. I am a farmer, a spiritual farmer. The Supreme brought me to this part to cultivate the soil. It was fertile soil. Unfortunately, India was under the impression that this is a barren soil. So, we cherished our wrong notion and belief for a long, long time. Then there came a time when true knowledge dawned on us and we came to the West and we discovered, like Columbus discovered, we discovered that here this place is also equally fertile, only the farmer has to plough the field, the spiritual soil, with love, concern and patience. If love, concern and patience the farmer constantly has, then here, in this part of the world, in the West, we are bound to collect a bumper crop: realisation.
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?
Sri Chinmoy: Excellent. Thank you. Now, I personally feel that heart has to be given more importance than the mind, precisely because inside the heart the soul abides. The soul is all light and all bliss. Now, you can say that the soul permeates the entire body, but I know the actual location of the soul. It is inside my heart and the light that the soul has has a free access, or you can say very often it has a free access to the heart and not the mind. Now, unfortunately, what is happening is this: the mind that we are daily using — the intellectual mind, sophisticated mind, doubtful mind and self-contradictory mind, this is what it is — this moment mind is saying Sri Chinmoy is a good man; next moment, this very mind will say he is a rascal. So then there is no end to mind. And this moment, mind will extol someone to the skies and the following moment, mind will say all absurd nonsense things about a person. Then the mind starts doubting the mind, whether the mind is right in its own judgement.In the case of the heart, it is not like that. Once the heart accepts someone as its very own, then it continues. The mother knows the child is her very own; the child knows that mother is his very own. So, when we accept our father, or mother, everything, God our eternal Friend, if we accept Him with our heart then our relationship lasts forever. Otherwise, if we start realising God with the mind we will be confused. It is the most difficult path to go through the path of knowledge and wisdom. Wisdom is always necessary but the mind that we are using daily has no wisdom. It has only information, book information or newspaper information. So, this is of no use when we want to enter into the realm of spirit and try to realise God. So, heart means identification; heart means the feeling of oneness. The moment I use my heart, I am identifying myself with some reality and then we get the very essence of that reality. I get the very essence of that reality all at once. Then I become part and parcel of that same reality and consciousness.
So, I feel the path of the heart is not only the safest but at the same time the most fulfilling because here I have nothing to doubt. Truth I am seeing, you are seeing, face to face. Then it is up to you to identify yourself with the truth as your very own or not. But in the case of the mind, unfortunately, it is not like that. Mind may see the truth but mind will doubt the very existence of truth and then this very mind will say, "What is the use of staying with the truth when I have my own separativity consciousness?"
Host: How do we get into the heart, how do we get into the spiritual heart?
Sri Chinmoy: That is through true, proper meditation. The necessity of a spiritual Master is of paramount importance at this point. We want knowledge. That is why we go to school. We get knowledge; the teacher helps us. In the spiritual life also, the teacher, spiritual teacher, helps us. He teaches us how to meditate on the heart, how to concentrate on the heart. Here the spiritual teacher is a private tutor; he teaches. As a private tutor teaches you at home, so that you get better marks in the school, the spiritual teacher also helps you in concentrating on the heart and how you can bring your soul to the fore in your day-to-day life meditation.
Host: Can you feel the heart in the body? The spiritual heart, is it located in the body?
Sri Chinmoy: It is in the subtle body. As you know, there are centres — six major centres we have. If you follow the Kundalini path, Kundalini yoga, you will know. So, here also, the spiritual heart is inside, inside the subtle body, not inside the physical body — inside the physical body you have got the physical heart — but it is all inside. But again, it is all there. Inside the physical is the subtle and inside the subtle is the heart and the soul and everything.
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.
Sri Chinmoy: Yes, you are absolutely right. We are trying to go back to the Source. Source is the heart. That is our eternal Home. Now we are moving around like a vagabond. We have lost our way, we do not know where our true Source is. So, if we really and sincerely want to go back to our eternal Home, then heart is the answer. And how to meditate on the heart? We can meditate on the heart when we have some guidance.
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?
Sri Chinmoy: Of course, it will be of greater importance if I give someone a personal interview because each one has a meditation of his own. Meditation is a very significant word, at the same time very vague. Thousands of books perhaps you have read on meditation. You will get from these books inspiration, nothing more. But when it is a matter of aspiration, you have to go to a spiritual teacher. And when we say meditation on the heart, it demands aspiration. Somebody has to kindle the flame of aspiration in the seeker and that is the spiritual teacher. So, a spiritual teacher can easily kindle the flame of aspiration in an individual seeker. Then it becomes infinitely easier for the seeker to follow a spiritual path. But only I can say this much for the public, to the audience: if the individual seeker cultivates love, the very feeling of love, then he will be drawn more towards his heart than the mind. If he, in his day-to-day life, feels the necessity of love more than the so-called knowledge, let us not use the term 'wisdom' here because love itself is wisdom, but the knowledge, which you call intellectual knowledge or the outer knowledge, for some time if we feel that that is not so important. What is most important right now is to have love, all-fulfilling love, not the love that we use in our day-to-day life, which wants to possess and before we possess, we are possessed. That love is of no use. But the love that expands and extends our consciousness, and that love is divine love. And every day, if we can offer our divine love to our fellow beings — first, we have to offer our divine love to the Supreme, to the Almighty, and then we will offer it to mankind. So, when we try to possess love and offer it, divine love, to mankind, then we will try to know its Source. Where are we getting it from? We are getting it from the heart and then we will know from where the heart gets this love, the divine love, and we will come to know that it is directly coming from the soul. And the soul is getting it from the perennial Source, God, Lord Supreme.
Host: Is spiritual music a path into the heart, perhaps for our culture particularly at this time?
Sri Chinmoy: Certainly. Not only for your culture, it is for every culture since time immemorial because music helps us abundantly in our life of aspiration. Very recently, I wrote God the Supreme Musician. Unfortunately, I do not have a copy of it here. Otherwise, I could have read out. Is it here?Host: It's coming, I think. I must say about music, as you speak . . .
Sri Chinmoy: I have written about Eastern music and Western music, and how music helps us in our spiritual life.
Lex: Because Paul has been playing music, the music of Baba Ram Dass, and it cuts through a certain amount of intellectual concern.
Paul: I had to come from my house in Brooklyn here and usually I have to go on the subway, which often scrambles my mind and my concentration. And I sang all the way here, you know, and it was as if I'd passed through the subway almost as if it were a very brief tunnel. And as you were saying before, as you were speaking, I can still hear the music of your chorus.
Lex: Because it's so beautiful. Did you have something you would read to us?
Sri Chinmoy: Yes. With your kind permission, I would like to read out something about music, what role music plays in our spiritual life. Now, to start with:
(Sri Chinmoy reads out)
For the Sake of Your Earthly Existence
My Lord, do not crown my careerWith conquests,
But allow my life to be only
The fulfilment
Of Your constant Behest.
– Sri Chinmoy
The following question was asked by Animesh at an evening function, held at PS 86 in Jamaica, Queens, on 27 January 1978. Animesh had recently returned to live in Australia after many years living in London and he sought Sri Chinmoy's guidance on what line of work he should enter into.
Animesh: Does each seeker have a special role to play, for example in the kind of vocation they choose, or is it sufficient just to work, no matter what kind of job it is?
Sri Chinmoy: No. It is a complicated question. In some cases, you know, if a seeker has specific qualities, specialised in something, then he has to or it is advisable for him to manifest, if he is a seeker, the Supreme by following, by carrying, that particular career in life. You understand? If somebody has studied electricity for a long time and he has become an electrician — now, if he has become a good electrician and if he becomes a seeker, then it is easier for him to manifest the Supreme through his capacity, which he has acquired over the years.Now, again, if somebody is not specialised in anything but is a good soul, then in his case it is not necessary to learn something after becoming a good seeker, to learn anything specific so that he can manifest the Supreme in a more special way, no. For him, whatever the Supreme wants, you understand? He does not have to become a doctor or lawyer or electrician — no, no, no — only whatever. He is in no way inferior to the one who is specialised in something.
One has got some capacity in a particular field. God says, "Then, all right, then do it. Take it as a means for your further development."
One does not have any specific capacity, but God says, "All right, then I am giving you something else to do. Something — do it."
Most important thing is how devotedly you do your job as a doctor or lawyer or electrician or as a simple worker. Devoted service is of paramount importance. If somebody is holding the lowest rank in a big office and doing his duty soulfully, in God's Eye he is infinitely superior to the one who is holding the highest position.
So, now, there is another point. If the Will of the Supreme is to give additional confidence to the seeker by making him in the outer world, say, a celebrity, or by making him into a man of high, noble position so that he will have his confidence more in life, Supreme does it. He is not making progress through conscious surrender. Then Supreme says, "Then be something first. From the desire-world, living in the desire-world, become something and then enter into the aspiration-world."
Vivekananda used to say, "Go and play football. You will understand the Bhagavad Gita better if you play football." And he used to say "Go and tell lies" to someone because he won't budge an inch. He said, "I will be responsible. You are such a lazy person. For you, it will be better to go and tell lies and the world will kick you and you will get up from your sleep."
So, then again, people in the name of peace or poise — which is all false — will not move, they have no life-energy. So, Vivekananda used to say, "Go and play football. If you play football, you will have some life-energy. Then you will be able to understand the message of the Gita."
So, there are some seekers — unfortunately, I have — I tell them, "Do something, become something, make yourself think that you are a human being. You are not just a grain of sand or a speck of dust, no. You are something. First, prove to yourself on the human level that you are something. Then transcend the human level, go to the divine level. If in the human level, staying in the human level, you feel that you have nothing to accomplish, nothing to long for, and what you have or what you are is more than enough for you, then you are totally mistaken."
Many fool themselves by saying that they don't need anything. No, they do have intense eagerness, in a sense greed, to become famous like somebody else, but they do not have the eagerness or willingness to work for it. At that time, if they have the eagerness, then Supreme says, "Then follow. Then offer yourself. Do something, become something."
But if they feel that "No, we do not have the eagerness to do something or to become something, right from the beginning, only make of us what You want us to be," then they do not go through the desire-life. They start right away from the aspiration-life. So, it depends on the individual.
Now, to come to you personally. In your case, you do not have to be specialised in anything. Any job that satisfies you. You do not have to become something great in terms of work, let us say office work or anything. Anything that can defray your earthly expenses is what the Supreme in you needs from you. Just it is only to live on earth, you need money-power. That money-power is only to keep you one with the spiritual power so that you can come here, you can run your Centre. But not by becoming some big shot in the outer life that you will please the Supreme. Only do something that will support you in your outer life. That is what the Supreme wants. And then, with your intense aspiration you have started. This intense aspiration you continue, continue, to realise the Supreme, to manifest the Supreme through your dedication. All by yourself, you are working so hard.
You are in Brisbane? You did not try in Canberra? All right, Brisbane. Very good. So, you don't have to worry about it. Only do something just to support yourself. That is what the Supreme wants. Do well; you are doing well. Very pleased with you, very proud of you. So, sincerity keep, simplicity keep, humility maintain. Your name is /"Animesh' — sleepless. Your aim is sleeplessly to aspire and to devote yourself. That is the sole meaning of your life. So, sleeplessly dedicate yourself to the Supreme and, in order to keep the body and the soul together, to support yourself, you will work — work, work here, work there, just for the sake of your earthly existence. Main goal is to become a supremely chosen instrument of the Supreme, for the Supreme.<html></div></html> <html>
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Lotus-Petals from Nolini
Slowly Nolini petal on petal growsAt the Feet of his Master Divine.
On him the Fount of moon-gold Vision flows;
Through aeons its splendours shall shine.
– Sri Chinmoy
During the 1970s, Sri Chinmoy published many of his translations from Nolini's Bengali writings. The following six commentaries on the Rigveda were not published in New York at that time. They were originally published serially in the "Mother India" from October 1962 through to May 1963 and signed simply 'Chinmoy'. Along with Sri Chinmoy's many other translations of Nolini's writings, they have since been published by the Sri Aurobindo Ashram Press in "The Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta". These particular commentaries appear without attribution in Volume 8: "Vedic Hymns".
From the opening sentence of the first commentary — "Cosmic creation is a great and sublime sacrifice" — the beauty and clarity of Sri Chinmoy's language is so striking and memorable. He shows us that translated works do not have to be a literal equivalent of the original, for the translator strives above all to express the meaning of the original. Indeed, in some exceptional cases, the translation may be said to possess a power that is of its own making and not dependent on the original. Jorge Luis Borges once made the enigmatic comment, "The original is unfaithful to the translation." In this instance, the penetrating intellect of the savant Nolini Kanta Gupta has been expressed through the unique poetic soul of Sri Chinmoy. Both the Bengali and the English stand on their own as works of excellence.
A Commentary on The First Sukta of The Rigveda
Cosmic creation is a great and sublime sacrifice. "The all-pervading Brahman is established in the sacrifice," says the Gita. Each and every object offers itself into this sacrificial fire. Why? Sacrifice indicates movement, that is to say, an ever-proceeding course towards the greater and still greater fulfilment of evolution. Sacrifice is being performed; creation has become dynamic and presses forward with the self-sacrifice of the objects inherent in it. By self-sacrifice one creates another form and gets in it one's larger self. The plant has evolved from Matter; the animal after the plant; man from the animal, and God wants now to manifest Himself through man by virtue of this process of self-sacrifice. Sacrificing itself, the cloud comes down as rain. Parents sacrifice flesh and blood to give birth to their offspring. All these are but different forms of this sublime sacrifice. We may quote the Gita again: "With sacrifice the Lord of creatures of old created creatures and said: By this shall you bring forth (fruits or offspring), let this be your milker of desires."It is the gods who are the primal powers holding and controlling this sacrifice and the cosmic creation. By his self-offering man fulfils the nature of the gods.
What is called the sacrifice of elements outside is really Yoga in union inside. The discipline of human life is also a sacrifice. What is the aim of such a sacrifice? Evolution, ascension, from the little to the vast, from suffering, weakness and ignorance to delight, strength and knowledge. How is it possible? By the same self-sacrifice, self-offering dedication and prostration. The lower levels and basic propensities of our life must be surrendered to the higher levels and sublimer propensities. The Katha Upanishad declares:
"Let the wise man restrain speech in his mind and mind in Self, and knowledge in the Great-Self, and that again let him restrain in the Self that is at peace." (Translated by Sri Aurobindo_) The Gita too says: "And others offer all the actions of the sense and all the actions of the vital force into the fire of Yoga of self-control kindled by knowledge." The innermost and the uppermost "commune" of the divine energies is known as the gods. The aspirant will offer heart and soul and carry their prostration to the "commune" of the gods. Then alone will the gods descend in him with all their divine plenitude. The truth-seeker gives birth to the gods in his being. Likewise the gods draw him towards them. With regard to the mystery of this sacrifice Lord Sri Krishna proclaims: "Foster by this the gods and let the gods foster you; fostering each other, you shall attain to the supreme good." This mutual exchange of sacrifice between man and the divine forces leading to progression, to evolution of life, is guarded by Fire, the light and heat that signify the power born of spiritual discipline. It is this energy that enables the practicant to go forward on his way of sacrifice. The aspirant offers as an oblation every limb of his being into this energy of spiritual practice which in its turn carries the self-offering of the aspirant to his divinity, and continues to work for its establishment; that is why Fire is the offerer. Fire is also called the carrier, for he brings down the divine powers into the aspirant and carries him up into their region. This work Fire has undertaken to perform without the least violation of the rhythm of Truth day after day through the evolutionary process. Hence he is called the priest. The priest is he who knows the proper time for the performance of the seasonal sacrifices. The energy born of spiritual practice too has the spontaneous tendency to determine the spiritual course of the practicant. The Fire of spiritual discipline burns up all the dross contained in the receptacle of the aspirant making him more capable and bringing down into him the divine power, knowledge and bliss — complete success. The power of Fire is no other than the dynamis of the Divine vision, the activity born of direct realisation (_kavi-kratu_); therefore Fire is called the protecting power of Truth (_gopām ṛtasya_). The status that forms the habitat of the vast, the unmanifested and manifested Truth, the fourth order beyond the ordinarily known three states, _viz., the waking state, the dream state and the dreamless sound sleep: this indeed is swarloka, the real home of the Fire-god and all the other gods (_swadhāma_). It is here that the gods reign supreme in their own real form, in their true nature. But, then, every god has his assigned field of activity here on earth through some suitable subtle embodiment. The seat of Fire, his field of action, is the earth, the gross sheath. The Energy of spiritual discipline first possesses the practicant in his body, the body-consciousness; and gradually with the help of the other gods this Fire-god leads him to the vital region and then to the sphere of the mind, thence to the Supermind, the fourth heaven. Each god represents the divine embodiment of the special virtue of a particular region or level. But Fire is the foremost God, and the aspirant who wants to have an access to the secrets of spiritual practice and is eager to progress must become a worshipper of Fire (_angira_).
This Sukta (the word literally means "well spoken", the faultless speech, the infallible words of the seasoned seer of Truth) can be divided into three parts called Riks in accordance with the special differences in the current of thoughts. The first three Riks deal with the theme: Who is Fire, what are his particulars, name and form? The second three deal with the subject: What is Fire, what his virtues, nature and innate tendencies? The third group describes the relationship between Fire and the aspirant in the matter of spiritual practice, the holy sacrifice. The Mantras are composed in the metre called Gayatri, which too has three feet. Thus every Rik too has three metrical divisions.
A Commentary on The Second Sukta of The Rigveda
The upward spirit, the conscious energising power, the aspiration-fire that resides at the root of all spiritual disciplines as their fount and primal inspiration has been invoked in the first sukta. The present sukta throws light upon the different steps and rungs of that upward spiritual discipline.The Vedic spiritual discipline aims at Truth, the Rhythm of Consciousness and the Vast. The ordinary life consists of body, life and mind. The trivial work, the insignificant inspiration and enjoyment of life, the limited knowledge of the mind — man is aware of nothing beyond. But there is something above the body, life and mind. When one reaches that higher plane, one becomes full of truth-consciousness, that is to say, one owns the nature and the law of conduct of the Gods. Body, life and mind stand in the way of the aspirant to the realm of the Gods. However, for that we are not to deny the existence of or do away with body, life and mind. What is actually needed is the purification and transformation of these three instruments. There are three stages of purification and transformation; accordingly the present sukta has been divided into three parts each containing three riks.
The first three riks deal with the purification and transformation of life-energy. Vayu is the presiding Deity of life-energy. "Vayu is life," says the Mundaka Upanishad. In the Rigveda too there is a clear indication of it. It says, "Vayu came into existence from the Supreme as Life." This Vayu or life-energy is the raison d'être of all the activities of the ordinary human life. Life abounds with desires and enjoyments of earthly objects. The ordinary life is blind and ignorant. It hankers after the satisfaction of desires. It gets satisfaction even in fleeting pleasures. But what an aspirant needs in life is to taste the pure and unalloyed nectar which is the perpetual divine delight inherent in each object.
The Somarasa is the transcendental Delight, and this Delight is nothing other than Immortality. It is also an immensely conscious and luminous exhilaration of the divine existence of the Gods. Truth must be revealed with the rhythm and words of direct knowledge, and the delight of the realised truth must be made manifest in life. Those who have done it are called "Aharvida". It means they have now the light of the day. No more do they crave for trivial enjoyments. All the parts of their being are vibrant, conscious and filled with the immortal delight.
Luminous delight in profusion must be established in life. And for that the mind must be purified and made perfect first. Indra is the presiding Deity of pure and perfect mind. Indra gives pure intelligence and with that pure intelligence the aspirant establishes a pure enjoyment of the quintessence of truth, rich delight and fulfilment in life. Therefore in the second three riks Indra and Vayu are invoked together.
The last three riks deal with the full realisation and the goal of the aspirant. When life is purified, when mind is purified, the aspirant will be established in that vast and luminous Heaven. Varuna is the presiding Deity of vastness. The harmony and the union that came into existence from the infinite expanse of Varuna are the gifts of Mitra. Lord Varuna drives away the limitation, isolation and disunion of our ordinary knowledge. He tears away the hostile force that compels us to remain narrow and small. Hence he is called Rishadasam. And Mitra is our divine Guide. With his clear vision he unites all the objects together in perfect harmony. When an aspirant attains to the level of indivisible harmony in the infinite, in the limitless, he arrives at the fundamental Truth and his action then becomes the infallible manifestation of that Truth. Indra possesses pure intelligence. Behind him stand the two powers, Varuna and Mitra, of the Infinite Mother. It is they who turn intelligence into the divine Knowledge and Action. They are also called poets, i.e., the seers of Truth. It is because of their infinite expanse, eternal rhythm, and inborn power of truth that the aspirant is able to draw the stupendous inspiration of energising power and an unobstructed pure genuine capacity to carry on all his activities in life.
A Commentary on The Third Sukta of The Rigveda
Life needs pure, calm and effectuating delight. It is through delight that knowledge, work and truth are revealed. The more the inspiration of life-energy becomes divinely blissful and lasting, the more the aspirant is endowed with the pure intelligence, divine power and fulfilment, and at last he presses forward all the faculties of the vast direct knowledge and creation.In the present sukta there are four groups of three slokas each, graded according to the spiritual progression.
The first group begins with the invocation of the twain equestrians. Who are these equestrians? According to the narration of the Puranas, the Aswinikumaras are generally known as the twain heavenly physicians. It means, they drive away disease, decay and incapacity from the being and make the life-energy pure, sound and indomitable. In other words, they are the gods of immortality. Their work is to found immortality and an eternal youth of divinity in life. Prāṇavāyu which is the conveyance of the divine power has been symbolically expressed as the horses. It may be asked why they have the twain forms. Perhaps it is because the one gives knowledge, the other the energy for work. Both are the presiding deities of immortality and both of them embody the most benevolent delight. Hence they are called Śubhaspati. Also they are called Purubhujā, for they bring into life the divine enjoyment in profusion. However, the one gives much importance to the energy of work, the other to the powerful pure intelligence. Whatever may be the difference in their outlook, they are the twain faces of one and the same God. The two horsemen open the fount of that very divine exhilaration in life by which there awakes and ascends an upward inspiration in the being of the aspirant. As the aspirant has been the possessor of an intense diversified delight, he is now able to proceed farther and farther, higher and higher by sacrificing his lower aspiration to the higher one. It is an immortalised life-energy that makes all the realisation effective, real and beautiful. It infuses spirit and power into the intelligence. The aspirant is endowed with an occult power of hearing and is initiated with the power of mantras which expresses and manifests the Truth. That is why the twain gods are called Nāsatya (the Guides on the path). They are the leaders in our spiritual adventure. They lead us speedily through the different levels of consciousness to the vast ocean of the higher truth.
The second group of slokas. The spiritual delight and the immortal power of life will found themselves in a calm, pure and firmly rooted basis of the entire being. And this immortal delight will lead the spiritual practicant to the Divine Mind, the pure Intelligence, and to the realm of Indra. An ordinary man is unable to have a glimpse of the higher mind, the pure Intelligence, because he is confined to the narrow limits of the lower material world and his life abounds with restless, impure and hurtful desires. It is not by a gross inert inspiration but by a subtle inward power that the enjoyment of life must be purified and divinised. Then only the sloth of the mind will be replaced by the divine Intelligence. With the divine Intelligence of Indra the aspirant enjoys a pure delight in life. It is Indra who fills the different aspects of each object with a luminous truth. The inspiration surcharged with the effulgent knowledge of Indra will bring down and manifest in the aspirant the delightful truth of the Self which is the main support of the divine in the aspirant.
The third group. After this the aspirant rises into the realm of Truth, Delight and the Vast where his being will embody all the gods. The universal Godhead is the collective power of all the gods. Each god has a different aspect and a particular truth to stress. They at once carry out their own work and help one another in performing their work. Thus in their combined efforts they give shape to diversified expressions of the one great and vast Truth. When the power of these gods is established in the aspirant, his aspiration rises higher and higher unfalteringly and infallibly. The body, life and mind which are the different parts of the being are considered to be the channels of different aspects of the Truth.
The fourth group. Saraswati, the wealth of the fullest inspiration of the complete Truth, signifies speedy and rhythmic truth. She is the divine hearing. No doubt, we see and meet the Truth with our divine vision, but to make the Truth active and dynamic and fill the creation with the power of Truth we needs must take the help of divine hearing. As the truth possesses a form, even so it has a name. It is precisely because of form and name that the truth becomes real. The form of truth is visible in the divine vision, the name of truth in the divine hearing. Saraswati gives the divine name and Ila gives the divine form to the truth. Under the inspiration of Saraswati the truth casts aside all untruths. Hence she is called Pāvaka (the Purifier). Above the mind there abides the vast ocean of Truth. We have neither any knowledge nor any experience of it. In a sense, we are quite unconscious of it. Saraswati raises the intelligence into the vast ocean of Truth and purifies it. Afterwards she brings it down to our understanding. She manifests the complete knowledge in all its facets and makes them living.
In the Vedic literature, very often we get the reference to vāk (speech). So it will be no exaggeration on our part to hold that the aim of the Vedic spiritual discipline is to get the significant sound aspect of the truth. And for this the Vedic seers of truth are called the seers of mantras or the creators of mantras. Vāk is the living image of truth. There lies a rhythm in the being of truth and the movement of this rhythm produces a note which was later on called nād (the unsounded sound) or Shabda Brahman (the Brahman manifested as Sound). When the rhythm of this note is found in our intelligence and mind, it takes the form of a sentence and this very thing is called a true mantra. The more a language can express intimately and directly the primal form and rhythm of truth, the more the mantra becomes living. Therefore the aspirant who has acquired this mantra has also acquired truth and the power of truth. The Vedic seers have placed the name of truth in different categories, e.g., Ṛk, Stoma, Uktha, Brahman, etc. At the beginning of the present sukta too, in the spiritual practice of truth Gi, the vāk or name that reveals the truth clearly in the consciousness of the aspirant has been invoked with the help of the twain equestrians. Then with Indra's help the Brahman, that is to say, the true message of the inner Self was invoked. When man gets a purified mind and purified intelligence, he discovers the real Being within and another name of this Being is Brahmanaspati (the Lord of the inner Self). Finally comes in Saraswati who is the power of the Infinite Truth in which the multiple aspects of the truth of the universal God are manifest.
A Commentary on The Fourth Sukta of The Rigveda
The gradual progression of the spiritual discipline takes place by virtue of the bliss-power in the pure mind. It is with that power that a spiritual seeker overcomes all the difficulties on his way and overcomes the downward urge or pull of ignorance of the lower nature.In the first three slokas the nectar-emitting light and pure thought-power of Indra have been invoked. Indra is a milch cow, that is to say, the inexhaustible source from which a seeker draws the nectar of immortality.
But why? Because it is thus that a spiritual seeker can see the manifestation of the All-Blissful in the Vast. In our normal life-activities we have a partial consciousness and our mind remains narrow, degraded and twisted. So whatever we do is bound to fall short of perfection. And if we want to make our creations beautiful, blissful and perfect, we must exceed the boundary of the limited consciousness and rise into the everlasting poise and pure existence of the Vast. We are satisfied with a little, for our happiness and delight and enjoyment are confined to this material world alone. And from this sense-pleasure which is the outer form of the soma rasa we shall have to draw true delight and immortality. This is possible only after one has invoked Indra, the Lord of the senses and the presiding deity of the pure intellect. When the mind has become pure, when the Divine Being within it has awakened, the aspirant's delight gets satisfaction no longer in the little imperfect pleasures of the material world. The ecstasy of the divinised mind is surcharged with the divine light. One who has achieved this delight has also achieved all the well-ordained rhythmic play of Truth inherent in the pure mind. It is there that an aspirant must pay particular attention to one thing. If all on a sudden truth and power descend from above into the aspirant's mind in an excessive manner, then there is every possibility of his losing his mental balance; even if it is not so, the manifestation of this truth and power takes place in a very distorted way. That is why the aspirant has been asked to pray in this fashion:
"O Indra, do Thou manifest thyself before me to the extent of my receptivity and, I pray, exceed not the limit."
The aspirant has to purify first his lower nature before invoking the truth and power in a large measure. Otherwise a reaction may at once take place. The subsequent slokas deal with this matter. The second group of three slokas indicates the process of the gradual ascension of the aspirant. Spirituality is, as it were, a long upward march and the aspirant has to fight and toil faithfully all the way in order to go ahead. It will not do for an aspirant to make an effort to pull the power from above, himself remaining below. He has to raise himself. He has to look upon the Divine Being that resides in the purified knowledge and mind of Indra, and according to the inspiration and guidance of the Being the aspirant has to proceed. When we shall be fully prepared for the realisation of the Godhead of Indra, the obscure and impure forces of ignorance cannot keep us enchained in the lower regions. They themselves will then open the new vistas for a higher journey and declare, "You have conquered us. Now go up, march onward, conquer all the forces that are challenging you from the higher regions." Even obstacles are necessary and useful. We become stronger when we meet with oppositions in our life. The foundation gets firm only after it has weathered some storms. When we are established in the quiet foundation of Indra, by virtue of strength, vigour and courage, we shall be able to make ourselves worthy of possessing a blissful and perfect divine life.
In the three successive slokas of the third group the forces by which all obstacles in our journey are removed have been described. Vritra is only a name for the obstacles in one's spiritual practice. Vritra means the cover (derived from the root vṛ ) that keeps an aspirant in darkness. This blind force of the lower plane does not allow the light of knowledge to dawn on the aspirant. Drinking the nectar of soma_-delight Indra kills Vritra, _i.e., the forces of pure intelligence become fiery, as well as acute and sharp, with the pure and intense Ananda by which is expelled the darkness of ignorance. The aspirant gets strength to fight against the attraction of the unregenerated nature and to climb up and move in the higher regions. His conscious being gets intoxicated with the nectar of delight, armoured with a hundred powers. He surmounts all the obstacles of the spiritual adventure and makes the aspirant firmly established in all the glory of a fulfilled life.
In the last sloka the nature of the divine mental being is described. In this divine mental being the vast delight of the Infinite has descended and with the help of its inspiration the aspirant goes on safely and securely from one level to another, from one shore to another and climbs up from the unregenerated lower nature to the divine status.
In the present hymn we can notice one speciality of Vedic spirituality. Vedic spirituality was not something personal and individual. It was essentially collective, i.e., for the community as a whole. That is why we often hear an aspirant of the Vedas calling to his friends to assemble in spiritual practice and bring down the divine force with a collective effort. The communal life of each clan flourished in those days with the help of friends, companions and helpers. The gods too were among their constant companions and helpers in the spiritual endeavour. Hence they were addressed as friends.
A Commentary on The Fifth Sukta of The Rigveda
The present sukta also tells us that we are to conquer all the powers of the terrestrial life with the help of pure delight and establish in pure mind the foundation of Truth, the perfect manifestation of Force, Knowledge and Bliss, the manifold fulness and perfection of Indra.The diversity in the creation is a profound and sublime Truth. So the sadhaka also has to manifest in his being and nature this immensely diverse play. The manifoldness of Form is revealed consciously through the mind. When the true mental being awakes, all the formations lose their petty and mortal nature and appear as cadences and expressions of the blissful immortal Truth. That is why the mental Purusha or Indra is called Purutaman Purunām. No other god has also many diversified forms as Indra. It is because he is at the root of all manifold diversities. Indra comes with plenitude; he conquers for the sadhaka Sahasrinam Vājam (a thousand-fold plenitude). Vājam is the fulness which is indivisible; it is the vessel of a thousand-fold movement of creation. Indra is the eldest of all, because the primal form of the external manifestation appears first in the heart of the mental being. Later on it becomes manifest in the outward nature. After his very birth Indra wants to be the eldest of all, i.e., as soon as the pure mental being awakes in the aspirant, it becomes the master and guide of his sadhana and his new spiritual creation. For this reason Indra is called Iśānam (Lord) and Sukratu (the all-accomplishing Power of action). It is in him that all the masculine powers of God are manifest. In accordance with the Will of the Purusha all the forms of Prakriti take shape. The vessel or the form which Indra is shaping newly in the aspirant is firmly established on supreme Truth and Knowledge.
Pure mental being is rich with pure knowledge. Pure mental knowledge is that which makes an object stand revealed to the knower. This knowledge of Indra is many-sided. The real function of Indra is to harmonise the truths of all objects and movements of the creation. Hence he is called Purandhi or Purudhi (a city full of intellect-power). Indra does not want dissolution in the One Existent, but he wants a diverse and many-sided manifestation. In unfolding or blossoming alone is his joy. He seeks for a vibrant cadence of the Truth. The Bliss of Indra is founded on Truth. That is why this Bliss is pure and tranquil and yet dynamic. The joy of sensuous pleasure of an ordinary man is emotional and fleeting. Man cannot hold it and an aspirant cannot build anything on it. That joy flows out and man spills it away in trying to hold it. That is the reason why this joy of the senses has to be purified and made noble with the light of pure mind, intelligence and knowledge. Then alone that joy will be beneficial, capable of doing works and yielding fruit. When the pure mental being, rich with the nectar of immortality and supported by the pure vital energy, marches forward driving his two luminous horses of knowledge and power to the battlefield to advance in spirituality, the dumb material forces of Ignorance fail to oppose them. Cutting asunder all limitations of the earthly consciousness and the powers of Death, Indra founds a full-fledged bliss of immortality in the aspirant. He enables the creative genius of the aspirant to blossom in the untrammelled expanse of the infinite consciousness.
A Commentary on The Sixth Sukta of The Rigveda
The theme of this sukta is to awaken the power of Indra with the help of his followers, the Maruts. Who are the Maruts? We find in the Puranas that Vayu (the Wind-God) in the womb of Diti (the consciousness of duality) had been divided into forty-nine parts by the Lord Indra. As a result, the Maruts, sub-divisions or various forms of Wind, came into existence. We also know that Vayu is the life-energy and Indra is the divine mental being. Diti is the divided consciousness, the source of multiplicity. Aditi means the undivided, indivisible and infinite consciousness. When the wave of life-energy rises into the mind and expresses itself as multiple thoughts, it turns into Maruts. In the Rigveda the God Marut has always been invoked and worshipped along with Indra. That is to say, without Indra, the mental being, the Maruts, the mental faculties, have no separate existence.The seat of pure mind is a chariot. The chariot signifies movement and it is the emblem of the spiritual journey. The spiritual adventure of the purified mind gradually rises up. The movement of the purified mind is at once free and vast. Division and littleness are not to be found there. It is fully illumined by the light of knowledge. The purified mind is replete with thought-powers, in other words, the Maruts. And it is the Maruts who help the mind in its march towards the Goal.
Spiritual progress takes place by the conjoint force of two powers. They are nothing but the twin horses — life energies — that carry farther and farther the power of Indra. Of the two horses one is the symbol of knowledge, the other is that of power. The more the knowledge and the power of the aspirant increase, the more awakes in him the spiritual mental being in all its virtues. And the pure thought powers or the Maruts turn the flow of knowledge and power towards an inner spiritual discipline.
It is the power of pure thoughts that manifests the light of knowledge in the darkness of ignorance. With the gradual development of such thoughts the true mental being takes birth in the aspirant, i.e., it becomes vivid and real to the aspirant.
The true nature of the pure thought-power is to reveal the mental being by degrees. It is in the true mental being that the real existence and nature of a creature abide. The mental being comes more and more to the fore with the gradual development of the perennial surge of original thoughts. The pure thought-power when manifested presses forth a particular form of the mental being. Then it merges into the heart of the aspirant and comes out from there with a new form and truth. Thus the thought-power reveals the presiding divine Deity of sacrificial fire and spiritual evolution. A 'name' is the manifest power of truth, called 'numen' in Latin. The process of sadhana does not always follow a straight line. At times it goes into the deeper regions of consciousness and emerges from there with a new truth. Hence we notice a play of dissolution and manifestation. The Vedic seers used to express thus the idea: dawn follows night and night follows dawn, dawn then moves forward in a never-ending succession revealing the infinite truth.
In the innermost recesses of consciousness, in the depth of the night, in inert matter lie hidden the rays of knowledge. The divinised mental being penetrates those secret recesses in search of the rays of knowledge imbedded, stolen and stored there and drives the darkness away to rescue the knowledge-rays symbolised by a pair of cows. It is the mental being that turns the twilight of consciousness into the state of full awakening.
What does actually happen when Indra reveals the knowledge-rays after purging out ignorance and darkness? There echoes in the occult hearing the concrete messages of the vast truth. And of what type are those divine messages? They are the divine existences, they follow the divine nature. They infuse the aspirant with a clear and pointed intellect which can discern the quintessence of truth.
The true mental being and his pure thought-powers, Indra and Maruts, are reflected in that pure divine intellect.
Indra is the being of knowledge and delight and Marut is his power manifested in his divine play. On one side is the pure mental existence, on the other there rise and spread the pure thoughts from that mental existence. With their united help the spiritual sacrifice of the aspirant becomes a receptacle of luminous fulfilment.
Then the truth and plenitude of all worlds in all levels make their appearances in the aspirant, starting from the fourth plane which is known in the Upanishad as the asau loka (That world) down to mental world.
The process does not end here. The truth contained in the material earth which is illumined by the mental light as well as the truth of the vital world filled with pure enjoyment and inspiration are concretely apprehended by the aspirant. Earth, air, sky, that is to say, the vast truths of the body, life and mind that are captured by the mental manifest their divine essence in the aspirant. Indra is the divine mental being and Indra is the power that is capable of revealing the truth.
(Concluded_) (_Translated by Chinmoy from the original Bengali in "Madhuchchandar Mantramala".) _Translator's note: The remaining suktas of Madhuchchandar Mantramala also deal with Indra. So there is hardly any necessity of commentaries. The commentaries given from the fourth sukta to the present one will serve as an aid to make the subsequent suktas comprehensible.
Tie Your Camel
– Sunan al-Tirmidhī 2517"
Sri Chinmoy was always profoundly inspired by the wise words and sayings from other cultures. In a pithy and often memorable way, using simple references from everyday life, these expressions embody the common sense, morals, advice and truth acquired by generation after generation. On 16 January 1998, while staying at the Merida Holiday Inn in Cancun, Mexico, Sri Chinmoy offered his reflections on a number of proverbs from various nations and religious traditions. Interestingly, his comments sometimes give a spiritual and personal context to the proverb. At other times, they expand upon it.
1.
“Tie your camel, then trust in Allah.”– Arabic proverb
First, you must know that God is in you. Then only can you feel that God is for you.
2.
“A stumble is not a fall.”– Haitian proverb
When I do not meditate regularly, it is, indeed, a stumble. But when I give up the spiritual life altogether, it is, indeed, a fall.
3.
“People in trouble remember Allah.”– Hausa proverb
Kunti, the mother of the Pandavas, in India’s greatest epic the Mahabharata, prayed to Lord Krishna to inundate her life with troubles so that she would never forget Lord Krishna even for a fleeting second.
4.
“Every tear has a smile behind it.”– Iranian proverb
Every mind-jungle has a heart-garden behind it.
6.
“It is easy to give advice to the wise.”– Serbian proverb
Those who have accepted the spiritual life seriously, consciously and self-givingly are really the wise ones, and for them to accept any advice from their Inner Pilot is not at all a difficult task.
7.
“An illiterate king is a crowned ass.”– English proverb
An illiterate spiritual Master can be a God-crowned emperor.
8.
“A word spoken in anger may mar an entire life.”– Greek proverb
Some spiritual Masters do not fail to see eye-to-eye with this sublime realisation.
9.
“God did not create hurry.”– Finnish proverb
True, God did not create hurry, but He did create my destination.
10.
“To be willing is to be able.”– French proverb
The outer willingness is the manifestation of the inner ability.
11.
“An artist lives everywhere.”– English proverb
Definitely true. Again, a God-manifestation-artist not only lives everywhere, but he is for God, only for God, everywhere.
12.
“Buying on credit is robbing next year’s crop.”– African-American proverb
I do not believe in the future. Therefore, I deliberately keep myself away from being a credit card exponent.
13.
“Beware the person of one book.”– Latin proverb
Do not forget to read the only book, the book of books: your life-tree.
14.
“Six feet of earth make us all equal.”– Italian proverb
Alas, how is it that we forget this? How and why?
15.
“Virtue is not knowing but doing.”– Japanese proverb
A truth-seeker and God-lover goes one step ahead: he feels the real virtue, only virtue, is in becoming God-Infinity’s Heart and God-Eternity’s Eye.
16.
“Stones decay. Words last.”– Samoan proverb
Not the mind-factory-words, but the soul-garden-words.
17.
“Not to know is bad; not to want to know is worse.”– Gambian proverb
It is bad for me not to know where God is and who God is. But not to want to know who He is and where He is is infinitely worse.
18.
“The best way to get praise is to die.”– Italian proverb
The best way to get praise is to tell the world openly you will do everything for the world and secretly you will actually do everything for God and God alone. In that way, you will get praise both from stupid mankind and from the Compassion-satisfied God.
A Talk to Boxers
Soul the boxer fights for humanity’s aspiration.God the Boxer fights for humanity’s salvation.
Faith the boxer fights for humanity’s perfection and glorification.
Man the boxer fights for humanity’s appreciation and admiration.
Doubt the boxer fights for humanity’s total destruction
– Sri Chinmoy
On Saturday, 30 July 1988, Sri Chinmoy was host to twelve boxing luminaries, both past and present, including WBC Light-Heavyweight Champion Donny Lalonde. This was to be the first gathering of people from a similar field to participate in Sri Chinmoy's lifting programme, and it set the pattern for many future events, where Sri Chinmoy would honour not only individual achievements in that particular field, but also the calling itself. Historically, this was also the first time Sri Chinmoy's formal name for his lifting programme — Lifting Up the World with a Oneness-Heart — was used.
On this day, Sri Chinmoy completely immersed himself in the boxing world. He had written an open letter to the boxers, which he read out as a preface to the lifts. It was dedicated to the memory of the great heavyweight champion, Joe Louis, and in it he addressed the boxers affectionately as 'brothers'. Sri Chinmoy went on to present a radically new interpretation of this, one of the most traditional of sports. He saw boxing, not as mere pugilism, the urge to fight and destroy, but as a spiritual challenge. He encouraged each boxer to feel that when they fight against someone, they are actually fighting against that person's ignorance and imperfections. They are, in fact, helping their opponent to become more perfect. Sri Chinmoy then expounded his philosophy that the dynamic fighting spirit can also be applied outside the ring.
Dedicated to Joe Louis — The Brown Bomber
When I address you as boxers, I feel that my death is imminent. When I address you as brothers, oneness-brothers, I feel that my immortality is within easy reach. When I think of you as giant boxers, I immediately think that your names are synonymous with your thunder-punches. When I think of you as my oneness-brothers, I hear a most soulful, most illumining and most fulfilling song in my life's affection-garden.My dear and divine brothers, you fight and fight — fight against your rivals. Again, you love and love. Whom do you love? You love your dear brothers; you love your oneness-home-family members. As boxers, you are indomitable and invincible. In the same way, I wish you as brothers to be unsurpassable.
Fight we must; but let us illumine our mind first, and see against whom or what we are supposed to fight: against a human being or against his teeming imperfections? Each human being is essentially divine, but alas, the ignorance-night of the world still lords it over us. We see an ocean of imperfections in the form of doubt, weakness, insecurity, jealousy, pride and many other undivine qualities both within us and around us. Before these ignorance-tigers devour our very existence, we must instead challenge and destroy the very breath of imperfection. It is our bounden duty to transcend limitations, not only in ourselves but also in the world at large.
So, when we fight against someone, if we can feel we are fighting against his ignorance, and not against his physical strength, then we will get boundless joy from our victory, and also we will immensely please our Heavenly Father, God the Creator. We can feel that by battling against someone's ignorance and imperfections we are helping that person to become perfect. I fight against your ignorance, and while doing so I am illumining you. And you are fighting against my ignorance in return, to help me reach the highest. While we are perfecting our mutual ignorance-imperfections, this is not and cannot be a destruction-fight, but a most powerful satisfaction-delight. This divine approach to boxing will undoubtedly be an unprecedented and ever-lasting boon to humanity.
We all want happiness. Happiness I can get not by destroying someone but by destroying the negative forces that are inside him — the weaknesses and limitations that cause unhappiness in him and unhappiness in ourselves as well. Happiness abides only in helping others to perfect their lives. Therefore, while boxing, if a boxer sees teeming ignorance-night inside his opponent and feels that he is trying to destroy those undivine qualities so that his opponent can become a better instrument of truth, light and bliss, then this approach to boxing will bring about a new creation of light and delight. With our indomitable strength we create perfection in others, and they do the same for us. If this is the goal we set and keep in mind while boxing, then this can be a helpful way to bring about a peaceful and fruitful world.
I become an instrument of God, truth and light by challenging your undivine qualities. Likewise, you become an instrument of God by challenging my imperfections and transforming them into perfections. I shall help you to become a perfect citizen of the world, and you will do the same thing to make me a perfect instrument of God. May your thunder-blows send a shudder, not to the human mind or human body, but to the undivine human ignorance-life.
Life and sports are one and cannot be separated in the cosmic play of life. Those who are runners, for example, must feel that in our eternal journey, we are trying to go forward as fast as possible, beyond everything that is limiting us and standing against us. If we can be true runners, inwardly and outwardly, then ignorance and imperfections will fall far, far behind us in the life-race. Similarly, if we use our dynamic fighting spirit all the time in the battlefield of life, then world-ignorance will no longer be able to threaten us. If we develop the capacity to use the divine energy in all aspects of life, then we can become excellent players in the life-game. Fortunate you are, for you have cultivated this dynamic spirit that can inspire others to challenge ignorance. You are telling the world:
Action! Action!
I must act in the body,
With the body.
Why?
Because I need
Body-transformation
And life-perfection.
As a boxer, you are great, greater and greatest. We all know Muhammad Ali's birthless and deathless message to mankind: "I am the greatest!" Let each individual offer the same message, "I am the greatest," not by destroying others but by loving others more, infinitely more. My divine boxer-brothers, you are not life-destroyers, but life-transformers with the help of God's universal Oneness-Light.
Again, my boxer-brothers, you are not only great but you are also good. You embody this truth:
Physical strength I need,
Vital energy I need,
Mental poise I need,
Psychic choice I need
In my Godward thought and deed.
The determination, dedication and inner and outer strength that you have brought to the fore inspire many others to do the same. Your very presence reminds us that each human being must be a divine warrior, ready to fight against ignorance and imperfections, not only in himself but in the world at large. Your volcano-blows tell the world that humanity can and must challenge ignorance-life.
My dear boxer-brothers, you are among the athletic elite of America — a country herself elite among nations. The dynamic spirit that inspired America to fight for the unparalleled treasure of freedom for the New World is still alive in you. While singing 'America the Beautiful', what do we actually sing? We sing our own unparalleled inner beauty. Similarly, if we can see our own beauty inside our opponents while fighting, then the dream that we cherish of showing our supremacy to the world can be transformed into the reality of permanent perfection-joy here on earth.
Yours in the Compassion-flooded Heart of the Absolute Boxer Supreme,
Sri Chinmoy
From Country to Country
From country to country we roam,Carrying the flame of Love Divine,
Smiling and smiling.
The secret thought of each country
and the yearning of each life
Here become one.
On the road of Infinity,
In the embrace of the covenant
of the Light Supreme,
O Boatman of our Heart-Boat,
By loving You, we do all this.
– Sri Chinmoy
One evening, Sri Chinmoy was inspired to recount some of his first experiences in various countries. Before beginning, he said, by way of a preface: "During the day, if you did not get a chance to laugh, if you have not laughed even once, today is the golden chance for you to laugh and get rid of all your mental fever from depression and frustration." Most of these first-time stories were told on 2 December 1991 — several decades after they had taken place. They reflect at once Sri Chinmoy's outer worldly innocence and ancient inner wisdom.
A Sea of Confusion
When I came to America for the first time, on the 13th of April 1964, at Idlewild Airport, I was literally thrown into a sea of confusion. I had come from the tiniest town of Pondicherry to the capital of the world, New York. Was it not farther than the farthest from my imagination-flight that twenty-seven years later the capital of New York State, Albany, would become a Sri Chinmoy Peace Capital?It was late afternoon. My boat was plying between the incapacity and helplessness-shores. All of a sudden, an Indian gentleman came up to me. He said to me, "I see you are completely lost, and I am here to help you." He carried my suitcase and brought me out to where my sponsors were anxiously and eagerly waiting for me.
Alas, although I have been in the United States for the past twenty-seven years, I am still swimming in the sea of confusion. I see no shores. I do hope that one day the unknowable shore will become unknown and then, finally, it will become not only knowable but also known by me. How eagerly I am waiting for that red-letter day!
At the Canadian Border
When I went to Canada for the first time, at the end of 1964, in spite of having a diplomatic passport, I was unnecessarily and ruthlessly harassed in Toronto.These border experiences are so painful, but God has compensated me by giving me over two hundred devoted Canadian disciple-children.
The Enchanting Soul of Puerto Rico
When I went to Puerto Rico for the first time in 1965, I stayed in the Sea and Sun Guest House facing the Caribbean. The most enchanting soul of Puerto Rico appeared before me, and we had a most fruitful conversation. Pointing at the sea, the soul said, "This is the saddening confusion-mind of Puerto Rico." Then, showing the sun, it said, "This is the climbing aspiration-heart of Puerto Rico."It seems to me that my beloved Puerto Rico is still the same. My heart and I are all for the great success and good progress of Puerto Rico.
Pronunciation Difficulties
I went to Connecticut for the first time at the beginning of 1965. I went with Alo to visit an aunt of hers. During the conversation, her aunt said to me, "Young man, how is it that you have been here in the States for about a year and still you do not know how to pronounce Connecticut? Instead of saying 'Con-NET-i-cut', you are saying 'Con-NECT-i-cut'." This criticism of hers offended Alo.Even now, to my amazement, some of my Indian friends who live in Connecticut say 'Con-NECT-i-cut'. Believe it or not, the father of an Ashram friend of mine stayed in Connecticut for almost a year. When I met him in the Ashram after he had returned, he pronounced it 'Con-NECT-i-cut'.
Since he and his son are close friends of mine, I said to him, "Luckily you did not have anybody to embarrass you. When I went to Connecticut for the first time, an old lady corrected me."
My Love for Japan's Beauty
When I went to Japan for the first time, in 1969, as soon as I landed at the Tokyo Airport, I said to the soul of Japan, "Towards the end of World War II, you came to destroy me. Japanese planes were bombing Chittagong like anything. You were able to destroy our father's bank. It was turned into a pond. You were able to destroy our house in town. You wanted to destroy my life, but you could not destroy me. Now I am coming to destroy your ignorance."For three months, we suffered so much at the hands of the Japanese. Always there was fear, fear. We could not sleep at night. One Japanese pilot was shot down and landed in a paddy field just three or four miles from our village.
One supreme revolutionary of Mother Bengal — Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose — single-handedly saved Bengal. He was there in Japan during the attack on Chittagong. He said to the government leaders, "What are you doing? This is Bengal. This is my birthplace." And the Japanese stopped the bombing of Bengal.
Now I like Japan so much. My love for Japan's beauty, inner and outer, can only be felt by my heart and never, never expressed in words.
Entering France
When I went to France for the first time in 1970, I landed at Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris. There, one immigration officer said to me, "How is it that you do not have a visa?"I said to him, "I enquired in New York. I used to work at the Indian Consulate there. They told me that if you are going to stay in France less than two days, then you do not need a visa. I am going to stay in France less than two days."
The officer said to me, "No, you cannot enter. You have to go back."
Either he saw my sad face or he felt my sad heart. Anyway, he said to me, "Let me see what I can do for you. Can you speak to the Indian passport officer at the Indian Embassy in Washington, DC?"
I said, "Certainly I can."
He went on, "If he takes responsibility for you, then I shall let you stay for three days without a visa."
O God, he dialled the number in the USA for me! I spoke with the secretary of the passport office. I told her, "I have to give a talk at the American College in Paris."
She said, "No, no, you cannot enter the country without a visa."
Then the secretary asked me my name. I told her, "Chinmoy Kumar Ghose. I come from Bengal."
She said, "My boss, Mr. Mukherjee, is also Bengali. You do not have to worry. I will talk to him."
Then her boss came on the line and began speaking with me in Bengali. He wanted to speak with the French customs officer. God knows what he said to the officer, but the man just smiled at me and said, "You can go."
Then the French officer said, "You do not know how to wear a tie." He very kindly fixed it for me and said, "Now you look like a real gentleman!"
This Is My Place
I went to Switzerland for the first time in November 1970. I was supposed to give a talk at the American International School in Zurich. Alo and Mahalakshmi, who was Mahavishnu John McLaughlin's wife, accompanied me. Mahalakshmi went to buy flowers for the talk. It was evening, and Alo and I were standing outside the flower shop.With utmost delight, I remarked, "This is absolutely my place, my place for God-manifestation. Here I see and feel inner power and outer strength."
The spiritual receptivity of Switzerland in its inner openness and outer fulness conquered my very breath.
My Predicament at the Governor's Residence
In 1972, I went to see the Governor of Puerto Rico, Luis Ferré. He was very, very kind to me. Governor Ferré was extremely fond of playing the piano, and he played for me on this occasion. I knew nothing about the piano. Even now, I know nothing about the piano. But, in spite of knowing nothing, I highly appreciated his performance.Then he asked his attendant to bring us breakfast. We sat at the table. There was pineapple juice, fruits — a complete breakfast. I had never used silver before. I did not know which hand to use for the spoon and which hand to use for the fork, right or left. The Governor asked me to please start.
I said to him, "Please start." Neither one of us would start before the other. I was totally helpless. Two of my students, Kanti and Bansidhar, were also present. So pathetically I was looking at them and praying to them to start. Inwardly I was begging them. But how could they start before their spiritual Teacher?
Finally, I was looking at them so pitifully and helplessly that Governor Ferré's soul felt my predicament and he started first. I looked at his hands and I did exactly as he did. In that way, I was saved.
How he conquered my heart with his love and kindness, Governor Ferré!
Unique American Pronunciation
When I went to Arkansas for the first time in 1974, to give one of my fifty-state university talks, just two or three minutes before the talk, a professor at the University of Arkansas came up to me. He said, "Sri Chinmoy, you are a godly man. I am so happy that you have come to our university to illumine us."I said to him, "I am so happy to come to 'Ar-Kan-SAWS'."
The kind-hearted professor most kindly said to me, "Sri Chinmoy, it is pronounced 'Ar-Kan-SAW', not 'Ar-Kan-SAWS'. This has nothing to do with your spiritual wisdom, which you have so kindly come to share with us."
Even now, some of my younger students, specially girls, correct my unbearable pronunciation. On the whole, boys do not dare to correct my pronunciation. But girls lovingly and compassionately correct my pronunciation.
In the case of the word 'magnificent', I used to put the accent on 'mag' and would say 'MAG-nificent'. They told me, "No, it is 'mag-NIF-icent'."
For 'unique', I used to say 'U-nique'. They said, "No, it is 'u-NIQUE'."
These two words perhaps I pronounce correctly nowadays. But, alas, when it comes to 'Massachusetts', I still perspire when I have to pronounce it correctly!
The Soul of Australia
When I went to Australia for the first time in 1976, as soon as the plane landed at the airport in Perth, the soul of Australia and I began our inner colloquy.I said to the soul, "In India, every day we hear about cricket matches between Australia and India. For an Indian, as soon as we use the word 'cricket', we think of Australia. There is no other place. Now, your country has defeated India many more times than India has defeated you."
I went on, "I will play a game where nobody will win or lose. It is a totally different kind of game. It is God's Game. There is no cricket here. You do not have to worry about winning or losing. Here there is no competition; there is no rivalry. It is all oneness. It is our oneness-game. I have come here to devotedly offer my light to you."
Frankfurt Airport
Quite recently, on the 29th of October, I was in the Frankfurt Airport on my way back to New York. I was having serious problems with the authorities. For no rhyme or reason, they were harassing me. One security guard was asking me so many questions."What hotel were you in?" he asked.
"Just a moment. Let me ask my students," I replied.
"No! You must answer the question yourself. I cannot allow you to ask other people."
I said, "Sir, I do not know. But my students will easily be able to tell you."
Just then an Indian man, who was also an official, came up to me and immediately spoke to me in Bengali. He said, "I am taking care of you." He took me here and there, from desk to desk.
Then he asked me who I am. I said, "I am just an ordinary person."
He said, "You cannot be an ordinary person. You have so many admirers. I asked one of them your name and he said it is Sri Chinmoy Kumar Ghose. This is a Bengali name and that is why I started talking with you in Bengali."
Everything he was doing for me. He took my carry-on bag and went with me to the plane. I was about to enter into the plane when he said, "I am taking you onto the plane to see where you are sitting."
The officials allowed me to enter without showing my ticket, but when he tried to get on, they asked him for his ticket. He showed his badge, but even then they would not let him on the plane. So, he showed them something else out of his pocket. He started scolding them, "You idiots! I have been working here for so many years." I was a little amused that they were harassing one of their own workers.
He took me to my proper seat and then he said something to the stewardess about me. Immediately, the stewardess became so kind to me. She asked, "May I get you anything? Is everything all right?"
Then, before he left the plane, the man said to me, "So many people are admiring and adoring you. You cannot be an ordinary man."
The following group of stories was recounted by Sri Chinmoy on 11 October 2002.
My Talk at Stony Brook University
Here in Long Island, Stony Brook, funniest thing. Savyasachi drove, and his friend Nachiketa rode with us. There I was supposed to give a talk. A Muslim, young man, was studying there. He came to listen to my talk. But when he saw me wearing a Hindu garment — there were quite a few people, about 200 people or more — he became very, very jealous of me. Then I stood up on the stage. I was about to give the talk. He came near the platform and was trying to pull me down. He did not want to hear the talk. I was a Hindu, and he was Muslim. And who saved me? His girlfriend. I did not know his girlfriend. His girlfriend was so embarrassed. She ran away. When he turned around and saw his girlfriend had left, he also left. Then I was able to give the talk. It was Stony Brook.
The Dancers at Santa Cruz University
Then Santa Cruz is another funny story. Funniest! I went there. A professor of philosophy wanted to introduce me, and an Indian professor wanted to introduce me. He said, "I am an Indian. I have the right." The other one said, "No, I am a professor of philosophy. Whatever he says is philosophical." Then they had a fight.At the beginning, the professor of philosophy was supposed to introduce me. He was introducing me. While he was introducing me, very nicely nothing happened. Alas, when I went to speak, boys and girls, two at a time, started dancing in front of me. They had flowers. Like that, four or five were dancing. They would not allow me to talk. They were dancing together right in front of me. They would not allow me to talk. They started dancing. When the professor introduced me, nothing happened. Then when I was supposed to give my talk, they started dancing. Santa Cruz was the worst. See how bad they were.
Interruptions in Boston
Chetana took me to Boston or somewhere. I was about to give a talk. An Indian stood up. He started screaming, "God, God, God. Who wants to hear about God, God?"He was screaming there. I could not say one word.
Then I said, "Today is my day." People were so embarrassed. I said, "Another day somebody will invite you to give a talk."
Then he calmed down; I could talk.
As soon as it was over, the man who harassed me came running and fell at my feet. Then I was supposed to see a few seekers. He wanted to come. I said, "No, no, I cannot trust you." When the meeting was over, he wanted to come and join the seekers. But he had harassed me like anything.
Whistling at Berkeley
Then Berkeley, my first experience. When I gave the talk, they didn't say anything. They behaved well. Then, when I was answering questions, they were whistling very nicely. Then, when one asked a question, before I answered, another one would stand up and answer the question. Like that, one will ask a question, another would answer, so I did not have to answer any questions. That was Berkeley.
Some Priests Attend My Harvard Talk
The first time when I went to Harvard, there were some people wearing priests' garments, five of them. Before I started, those so-called priests were harassing me. They came up to me and they said, "What do you know? What do you know?" They harassed me.I said, "Please, please allow me to talk." Then they sat down. Then I gave a talk and answered questions. They became admirers. "Where do you get so much energy from? How did you answer these questions?"
Then I became very 'undivine'. I said, "In your case, once a week you go to church. In my case, I go to my inner church, and Somebody else gives the sermon. So, I listen to Him. I go there every day without fail. Somebody gives a sermon and I listen to Him. So, that is why, because He is the one who gives the sermon in and through me, so I do not become tired."
They said that they gave a talk once a week. Then they became tired. The rest of the week they need rest. These are all my stories.
The Sleeping Seekers in Montana
The first time I went to Montana. Devashish made the arrangements, and I went there. In front of the stage there were at least twenty men and women, girls and boys, on the floor sleeping there. With great difficulty, they did not take the trouble of getting up. And I was giving a talk. They were lying down, listening to me. That was quite good. All funny, funny experiences!
Bengal, Indiana
We have to collect good experiences. Many, many good experiences I have got also. Funny experiences I have got. So many funny, funny experiences. It was at a Rotary Club, I think. I went to all places. Alas, alas, two men were fighting, they wanted to introduce me, this and that. Finally, one man won the race. He was introducing me. Then he said, "Sri Chinmoy from Bengal, Indiana."So, the other one said, "Look at this idiot! Bengal is in Indiana? Instead of saying India, he said Indiana."
Sushumna Screams with Joy
One incident I will never forget. In those days, Alo and I stayed at Sushumna's place. I went to see the Pope, the previous one. We left and we came back at night to London. The following day I was taking a shower. Sushumna from downstairs was screaming, "Guru, Guru, Guru."What happened? The London newspaper came out that the new Messiah had come. The Pope said the new Messiah had come; he saw him yesterday. Can you imagine? I was taking a shower. Then I came down. She called me from downstairs. That newspaper nobody can find. Can you imagine? She remembers the incident because I was upstairs and she was downstairs. She was screaming because the previous day I met with the Pope at eleven o'clock in the morning. And he was saying that when we die, we would be together, and he was appreciating my work at the UN. He said, "When we die, we shall be together in Heaven." He was telling me.
This one only shows the affection of a grandfather, but that one had so much spirituality. I remember the incident and I was so thrilled. Sushumna was the one who was screaming with joy. My name was not there, but I saw him the day before. They cannot find that newspaper now. She was screaming with joy because she knew the previous day I met with the Pope. Now we cannot prove it. They have tried, they have tried, British. That was very significant.
De Valera Examines Me
De Valera was at that time eighty years old. I was perhaps thirty-six or thirty-seven. I was on the right side of forty. He saw me like this. I could not believe. He was like the Father of the Nation, Ireland, as Gandhi is the Father of the Nation of India. Sundar was responsible. Sundar made the arrangements.And de Valera started asking me a volley of questions on the Bible. I am the right person! He was examining me perhaps if I had studied. So, I was able to satisfy him. This is called luck.
I Am Scolded in Puerto Rico
In Puerto Rico, a Mother Superior scolded me and insulted me like anything. Our president Sudha's father was very sick. I went to see him in hospital. There was a chapel. There the nun saw me wearing shorts. I was looking at the Christ's picture very devotedly, very devotedly. Then the Mother Superior came. She scolded me like anything, how did I dare to?Then she said, "All right, you are looking at the Saviour, but you must never, never come here again."
I said, "Never." That was in Puerto Rico, my insult.
The Mother Superior's Gift
Only five or six years ago, in Switzerland, our Dodula made arrangements for me to meet with a Mother Superior and a few nuns. My job was to meditate in front of them. Can you imagine — where to where? Then they had to ask me questions. Again, they were examining me. These people were authorities. They had to ask me questions on their subject to see whether I studied.Afterwards, the Mother Superior was so happy. She wanted to give me a donation. So, she came to me with an envelope and said, "I would like to give you."
I said, "No, no, no."
She said to me, "No, you have to take it. You have served the Saviour in us."
I said to her, "On one condition. You give me your envelope. I shall give you mine." So, she gave me the envelope, and I saw it was a hundred dollars. But in my envelope, there was \$200. She took mine and I took hers. Then she got \$200 and I got \$100.
Stories from Near and Far
The visible GodIs near and far.
The invisible God
Is sweet and intimate.
– Sri Chinmoy
This selection of personal anecdotes, spanning two decades, captures some of Sri Chinmoy's day-to-day experiences and interactions with his disciples, his sister Lily, hotel staff, medical professionals, airport personnel and shopkeepers, as well as the souls of other spiritual Masters.
The Soundless Sound-Heart
In April 1984, when Prachar asked Sri Chinmoy what he should call his newly formed music group, Sri Chinmoy replied that the name should include the word 'peace'. It was at the time of the new Peace Concerts, and Sri Chinmoy said something to the effect that "Everywhere all our activities now are for peace." Prachar was inspired to name his group 'The Music for Peace Ensemble'. However, the story did not end there. Prachar recalled that Sri Chinmoy had written or said something along the lines of: "Music and meditation are the only ways to establish lasting peace." He asked if anyone knew of such a quote. When his question was relayed to Sri Chinmoy, Sri Chinmoy's response was to write the following statement on the nearest sheet of paper and say: "Here is his answer."
The soundless sound-heart
And the thoughtless music-soul
Are the two God-Ways
To bring Peace into the world.
September 1984
To My Indian Brothers and Sisters
Tomorrow, most probably, two leading Indian newspapers, The Hindu and The Indian Express, will carry articles about me. Two brothers work at these newspapers. They have been running them for years and years. The Hindu is a South Indian newspaper, and The Indian Express comes from Madras, Bombay and so many places.The two brothers came to our house in Pondicherry and interviewed me. They were extremely kind to me, and they promised that definitely our interview would come out.
Finally, they asked for a short message to my Indian brothers and sisters. My message was:
"My Indian brothers and sisters, my message is self-transcendence. If you really want peace of mind, then only transcend yourself. Do not compete with the rest of the world; compete with yourself. If you really want peace of mind, if you really want satisfaction in your life, and also if you want universal peace, then only transcend yourself."
This was the message I gave them.
1 March 1986
Unimaginable Sacrifice
It was Lily's birthday in India today. Once upon a time, I was the possessor of three sisters. Now, poor me, I am the possessor of only one sister. Today my sister has a birthday. She is closer than the closest to me. Her sacrifice for me nobody and nobody will be able to imagine.26 October 1986
An Interrupted Rest
This sequence of stories took place when Sri Chinmoy was in St. Louis to give the opening meditation at the first US National Senior Olympics. While there, he also offered a concert.When I first arrived at the Holiday Inn in St. Louis, I wanted to rest for twenty or thirty minutes. Alas, after five minutes, a phone call came.
"You wanted an iron?"
I said, "What iron?"
The lady said, "Not you? Never mind!"
She did not say, "I am sorry," or anything. She just hung up.
28 June 1987
St. Louis
Trying to Call My House
I wanted to make a call from St. Louis to New York to speak with Ranjana, who was working in my house. Unfortunately, I forgot my own area code. It was 212 for so many years. Now it is 718. So I said, "It is either 718 or 708."The man who was the operator said, "It is quite interesting that you do not know your own area code." He asked me where in New York I live.
I said, "Queens."
"Queens?" he asked. He could not understand me.
I said, "The feminine of king. You are correcting my pronunciation and I am teaching you a little grammar."
Then, for the number, I said "291" and the other numbers, but he dialled "219". I repeated the number. He tried once more and this time Ranjana answered the phone.
He could tell that I do not make many calls to my own house!
28 June 1987 St. Louis
Waiting for the Elevator
The elevator is so bad here! I waited at least ten minutes, then finally the service elevator came. A hotel worker was inside. When I tried to enter, he said, "Oh, no! This is the service elevator. You must wait for the other elevator."I said, "I have an appointment now. May I please come in this elevator?" But he did not allow me to come. Then for another five minutes I had to wait.
28 June 1987 St. Louis
A Gift for Dhrubha
Dhrubha thought that he would be able to come to St. Louis for this event, but at the last moment he was not able to. So, I felt sorry for him. I wanted to buy him a nice St. Louis ballpoint pen.I was standing in a line to buy the pen. Actually, only one person was ahead of me, but it took ten minutes or even more for that person to be served. It went on and on. Then, when my turn came, the salesman said, "Wait a minute. I am coming. Just wait a minute."
Then he went away. I was only holding a ballpoint pen; it was not a big grocery bag or something complicated.
The lady at the next shop came up to me and said, "He will be coming. You wait!" She was mocking me and joking because that man was perhaps a rogue. She was imitating him and saying, "You wait!"
Is it my fate?
28 June 1987 St. Louis
The Saga of the Salt Shaker
Poor Nilima also could not come to St. Louis because she was working on something for me. I happened to see a salt shaker and a pepper shaker in the form of a fish. Once upon a time, she also was a fish. Anyway, I took these salt and pepper shakers as incense containers. One was green and one was black. Since I do not buy black, I wanted to buy just the green one.The salesman said, "No, we will not sell only one. You have to buy a pair."
I said, "I do not need both. I will use it for an incense container."
"Incense container? Incense container! This is a salt shaker!"
I said, "But my purpose is not salt here. I want an incense container."
"You have to buy both."
I said, "All right. I will not buy both, but I will pay for both. What shall I do with both? If I buy both from you, I will just throw one away since I do not want it. The best thing is if you can sell it to somebody else."
He said, "I will not be able to sell it."
I said, "You will not be able to sell it? Then at least you will get the full amount from me. I am asking you to keep the black one because I will not use it. Since I will not use it, you keep it. But you take the money for both."
Finally, he agreed to take the money for both. But at the last moment, his compassion came forward. He charged me only for one!
28 June 1987 St. Louis
No Entry for the Wife
When I was introduced at the US National Senior Olympics, the keynote speaker asked me how it was possible for me to lift 7,000 pounds. I said, "It is not my physical strength. It is all from Above. It is God's Grace that enables me to lift up such heavy weights."Then the speaker jokingly pointed to his wife and said, "She is not even two hundred pounds, but I cannot lift her!"
The unfortunate thing is that his wife had wanted to come and be seated near her husband, among the distinguished guests. But because of limited seats, only the distinguished guests were allowed. The main speaker was a great man, and yet his wife was not allowed to come up to the stage! I felt very sad for her.
It was so nice of the organisers of the Senior Olympics to announce our Peace Concert that evening. Because of the announcement, more than seven hundred people came. They were very nice and receptive.
28 June 1987 St. Louis
My Indian Garment
When I was coming to give my concert, two young girls saw me and said, "He's neat! He's neat! He's very rich. Look at his garment!"I said, "I am very poor. I am very poor."
I was wearing my Indian clothes. The young girls replied, "You are very poor? You are very poor? Your clothes are so expensive. We know, we know."
I explained, "I am a musician. This is my musical garment."
They insisted, "No, you are very rich!"
So, they made me very rich!
28 June 1987 St. Louis
My Carvel Experience
I will tell you the world's greatest, unprecedented story! Today I went to Carvel, where they sell all kinds of cakes, ice cream, everything! I wanted to buy a birthday cake for Nishtha. A man was there, putting a funny face on a cake — he was making rabbit ears. I asked him, "Do you sell birthday cakes?"He pointed to a display case. I went there and chose a cake. Then I wrote down on a piece of paper the message: "Happy Birthday Nishtha! Guru."
How much trouble he had writing 'Nishtha'! Perhaps he could not read my writing. He wrote 'Nishtta' and then something else. When it came to 'Guru', he thought I had written 'Garro'. So, I spelt it for him. As soon as he heard the correct word 'Guru', he became so happy, so delighted. The name meant so much to him that he was smiling and smiling.
I asked him, "Why are you so happy?"
He said, "I used to go to PS 86 and across the street is the world's best restaurant, best food — BEST — The Smile of the Beyond."
"I own it," I said. He could not believe his ears.
"You do not own it!"
"No, but one of my disciples does own it, and I am his boss."
"Oh," he said, throwing up his hands, "that means you are Shry!" I nodded and immediately he folded his hands and bowed.
When it came time to pay for the cake, three times I tried to give him twenty dollars, but he would not accept it. He said, "From you I cannot take anything."
I told him, "I have come to your place. Please take it as a gift." He was just a young man. He cannot have been the owner of the place. Finally, after I begged him to take the money, he did accept it. He said, "Since you have come to my place, I will take it as a gift."
I asked him if he knew of Annam Brahma Restaurant. He answered, "If it is the restaurant on 164th Street, I have been there three or four times. But I used to go to the Smile every day. It is the best restaurant."
I explained to him that the cake was for Nishtha, the owner of Annam Brahma. All the time he was looking at me with such respect and joy. I think this is the first time I have ever had this kind of experience in America. In Japan and India it has happened, but not in America. Did it ever happen to you that someone did not want to take money from you?
22 March 1988
Lily's Anniversary
I would like to observe the 50th anniversary of my sister Lily's spiritual life. She completes 50 years at the Sri Aurobindo Ashram where I lived for 20 years. She came at the age of nineteen. I wish to offer her my soul's infinite affection and infinite love and my life's boundless and boundless and boundless gratitude for the affection and love that she has lavished upon me, and also for the unimaginable sacrifice that she has made for me and for my life. Half a century to be in the same Boat is undoubtedly a most difficult task, a monumental task and, indeed, a supreme achievement.8 August 1990
Vivekananda's Request
In May, I went to see our Jharna-Kala Card Company booth in Manhattan. I was looking at one particular card and appreciating it when all on a sudden I heard the voice of Vivekananda. I was looking at the card, but I was hearing only his emotional request or divine command that I had to give a Peace Concert dedicated to him. At first, he said one concert and then it became thirty-nine. He said, "Because you are my younger brother, you have to give." So I said, "Fine."One day later, I phoned up my sister Lily just to chat. Perhaps I would have given her the message. But, as soon as I said hello, she started saying to me, "Madal, I have something to tell."
I said, "What do you have to tell?"
She said, "What happened? What happened?" Then she said, "You know, I see Mother Kali, Ramakrishna, Vivekananda, specially Ramakrishna, I am seeing them in your room, clapping their hands. They are so happy, so happy. Then they come to my room, full of happiness. Kali is so happy, Ramakrishna is so happy. What has happened?"
Then I told her that they were so happy that I had listened to Vivekananda's request. They were showing their appreciation, love and joy inside my family to my sister Lily.
19 September 1993
My MRI Scan
Last Monday, while we were eating at a restaurant, the inspiration flashed across my mind to have my knees examined, since I had been suffering with knee pain for some time. A few years ago, I had an MRI and the doctors had a difference of opinion. This time, from San Francisco, Hiyamallar, the great doctor, made an appointment for me to be at a particular place at eleven o'clock.The place is nearer than the nearest. It is exactly at my one and a half mile mark. You take the Grand Central Service Road, turn left, turn again, come to Queens Boulevard and it is there at the corner.
My problems started with Pulak. He wanted to confirm my appointment. I gave him the appointment slip and he phoned them up. When we arrived at the clinic, I did not have the slip to show them. So, they asked me the name of the doctor. I said, "Dan is the name." I could not remember Hiyamallar's surname and Pulak was parking his car.
Finally, Pulak came. I said, "Pulak, such a long time you have taken! Where is the appointment slip?"
He said, "I left it at your place."
Fortunately, he knew that Hiyamallar's surname is Shalom. In the meantime, I saw that my name was there in the appointment book, but those people would not listen to me. Then they asked me, "How are you going to pay?" I gave them \$600 in cash. They are civilised; I am civilised. I did not ask them for a receipt.
Then, for at least forty minutes, I waited. At last, one Spanish lady took me to the MRI room. She showed me the place to lie down and she put a cover over me. In two minutes, she came back and said, "You moved!"
I said, "I did not move! I did not move!" I went on, "If you think I moved, then tie either my ankle or my thigh." Then immediately she said that I did not move.
For twenty minutes I had to be there. The sound was going on, tuk tuk tuk. It would stop for four or five minutes and then start again. After twenty minutes, the lady came back and said, "Oh, you did not move." That is great.
Coming out, one girl said to me, "Would it be possible for you to come back at eleven o'clock on Thursday to have your other knee tested?" She did not give me a slip. I said, "Definitely."
14 November 1996
The MRI Fiasco
This morning I had an eleven o'clock appointment to have my left knee tested. Three days ago, they did my right knee, which is far more painful, so today I knew what to expect. Before I went to the clinic, Pulak took me to run at my haven, the TWA terminal at JFK.He knows the place so well, but today he took a wrong turn. Then he said, "What have I done? What have I done?" Anyway, we arrived at the clinic five minutes before eleven. Luckily, we were on time. In the waiting room, there were two patients before me, so naturally they went in ahead. I waited for my turn. Ten or twelve people came after me and, one by one, they were all called to go and be examined. Now it was 11:45 and I was still waiting for my name to be called.
I went to the Indian lady at the desk and said, "My appointment was for eleven o'clock. These others all came after me. Why are you keeping me waiting?"
She said, "Everybody's case is not the same. That is why we are allowing others to go through."
I said, "Even if their case is not the same as mine, my appointment was for eleven o'clock. You should keep to the schedule."
Then one man who was there in the waiting room had to say, "Nobody is perfect."
"True," I said, "but I came here to perfect my knee."
At that moment, another lady came and asked me to pay in advance for my MRI. It came to \$600 and I handed her six one-hundred-dollar bills. She did not give me a receipt. The last time, they gave me the receipt as I was leaving, so I thought that this time they were planning to do the same thing.
Now it was two minutes to twelve. Meanwhile, Pulak was waiting for me outside in the car. He did not know that I was having so many problems.
More time passed by and I became disgusted. I went up to the lady at the desk and said, "I wish to speak to the doctor who is running the clinic."
She said, "The doctor is not here, but the manager is available. She is the one who took the money from you."
I said, "What kind of clinic is this? The manager is also the cashier?"
When the manager came out to speak to me, I said to her, "My scheduled time was eleven o'clock. Now it is after twelve. What is the reason why I am not being called?"
She said, "No, it says in the appointment book that your time was 11:45, not eleven o'clock." She was holding the book in front of her, so I challenged her.
I said, "Show me!" But she would not show me the book. She was so furious that she just stormed away.
The next person to be called was a man of my age. His name was Eric. I think they examined both his legs. He was in the examination room for about thirty minutes.
Finally, at 12:30, I got the call to go to the MRI room. When I went there, I immediately approached the technician and said to her, "Can you please tell me my scheduled time for today?"
She made the schedule appear on the computer screen. There it was written: "Chinmoy Ghose — Thursday, 11:00 a.m." I saw it with my own eyes.
"Is it written eleven o'clock?" I asked her.
"Yes," she said. "It is eleven o'clock."
At once I left the room to find the manager. I went to this room and that room looking for her. When I found her, I said, "Come with me and see." Then I brought her to the MRI room.
"Look, look!" I said. This time the manager was really furious. When the poor technician saw the condition of the manager, she became frightened and started trembling.
Then she did me a big favour: she told a lie. She said to her boss, "I only showed him the day. I did not show him the hour."
I interrupted, "I saw the screen myself. Definitely my appointment was for eleven o'clock. I have seen the proof."
The manager did not even condescend to give me a reply. She left the room.
Then the technician began getting ready for the test. I felt sorry for her because she had been badly frightened by the manager and now she was upset. Just three days ago, she had been so polite to me. Now, very abruptly, she barked, "Lift up your leg!"
Inwardly, I replied, "Lift up your consciousness, for God's sake!"
When you go for an MRI, they strap your leg very tightly so that you cannot move at all. The very first time I went for one, about six years ago, they informed me afterwards that I had moved and the test was ruined. That is how I lost \$900. Then, when we eventually got the film back, it showed that I had not moved at all. I knew all along that I definitely did not move and, right after the examination, the technician reassured me that I had not moved.
This time, the technician was not tying up my leg. I said to her, "Why are you not tying my leg? If anything goes wrong, I will be the one to lose my money." But she was not talking to me because she was so upset.
Three days ago, the test for my right knee took twenty minutes. Today more than thirty minutes I had to spend in that machine, and it made such a horrible noise from beginning to end: tuk tuk tuk. Usually, the noise goes for a few minutes and then stops for a few minutes. But this time it was continuous.
I thought, "This is how she is trying to disturb my consciousness!" Then, after ten minutes, I was only worrying that she would come and tell me that I had moved my leg.
When it was over at long last, I was about to come out of the room when another patient came in. That lady said to me, "A young man like you is waiting for you in the car." That is how she described Pulak, as a 'young man' like me!
This poor lady was so unbalanced physically that twice she fell down as she was moving about the office. The technician grabbed her. I felt so sympathetic because I also have trouble with my legs. Meanwhile, the technician was telling me, "You go, you go!"
I said, "I have to put on my shoes." She would not allow me to put on my shoes.
Then I went back to the main desk to get my receipt. A different lady was there. I said to her, "Before I went for my MRI, I paid the money. It was \$600 cash. Could you kindly give me a receipt?"
She opened up the register, but there were no hundred-dollar bills inside. There were only a few tens and twenties. She was hesitating to give me a receipt because there was so little money inside the drawer.
I saw that she was suspecting me, so I said, "Bring the manager! She can verify it. I must get the receipt."
That manager was, by this time, in another room, hiding. She refused to appear.
Now another worker arrived. This was the lady who originally gave me the eleven o'clock appointment. She said to me, "Oh, you are the one who lives on 149th Street." The funniest thing is that she knows of me. Her husband used to live on my street, and he is an admirer of mine.
She was standing by the desk with an innocent smile. I asked her, "Please tell me, was my appointment time eleven o'clock or 11:45? Today everybody has been arguing with me that I have made a mistake, but the computer screen shows that I am right."
She was only smiling at me because she remembered that she gave me that time. What could she do? Then I said, "Even now, they do not believe I am telling the truth. The lady at the desk does not want to give me a receipt, and I gave the manager \$600 cash before I went in. The last time you gave me the receipt after the examination was over. Now I am leaving. Can you ask them to give me a receipt?"
She said to her colleague, "Give him the receipt. I am asking you to do it. I know he is not telling lies."
Luckily, she was there to save me! Otherwise, what liars they all were! It went from one lie to another. Shame, shame, shame! And the main rogue, the manager, was caught because the technician made the mistake of showing me my real appointment time on the screen. What is more, this rogue had to hide in her room when it came time to collect my receipt so that nobody would know I had handed her the money personally.
Then I asked for my film. It is like an x-ray film. They had it there in a large, brown envelope, but they would not give it to me. They said they were going to send it to the doctor. It is my film, I paid for it, but they would not give it to me. I said, "Fine, fine." Who wanted to argue with these idiots any longer?
Some were idiots, some were rogues. One idiot was the technician. The rogue was the manager. She should have changed the hour on the computer screen. Then I would not have discovered the truth!
What an experience I had!
When I left the building and entered into Pulak's car, I told him the whole sad story. Then he had to say, "Guru, I had a feeling that maybe you were having a problem."
I said, "If you had come in, you would have seen how I had to fight with them at every moment."
14 November 1996
The Story Never Ends
Two days after the MRI, I spoke to Hiyamallar. They promised him that they would send the films to San Francisco on Thursday, and he asked them to send it express. Still he has not got it. When he receives the films, he wants to take them to the best authority.The next time Hiyamallar comes to New York, I will ask him to perform this story, since he is the culprit who made the appointment! He can take my part, the part of the patient.
16 November 1996
Note: The MRI results showed osteoarthiritis in both Sri Chinmoy's knees. The only surgical option was complete knee replacement. Unmilan recalls that long before this date, sometime in the 1980s, before Sri Chinmoy began serious weightlifting, he and Agraha accompanied Sri Chinmoy to a knee specialist, who said, "Anyone else would be in a wheelchair."
Insane with Grief
Sri Chinmoy's beloved elder brother Chitta passed away suddenly on 2 July 1998 at the age of 82. At that time, his sister Lily was also very ill. She was being cared for in the Nursing Home of the Sri Aurobindo Ashram in Pondicherry. Sri Chinmoy describes how Lily became insane with grief when she was told the news of Chitta's passing.They fed my sister and then Dr. Shalila, who is very nice, gave her the news. When they gave her the news, three nurses could not control her. My sister is so sick, so weak. She cannot get up by herself. She needs help to get up. But when she heard the news, she became insane, insane with grief. Such a bond between sister and brother! She was kicking them. Three nurses could not stop her. Then they took her to see Chitta. It was too much, too much, too much.
The first day, she suffered a lot. The second day, she was only consoling me, consoling me, saying, "He did the right thing, he did the right thing. See how I am suffering! He did not want to die like me. The day he could not walk, he wanted to die."
When I went there after two days, she was consoled. She started consoling me. She said, "It was good. See, I am here. For the last two years, what am I doing?"
He didn't want to take this kind of help. He always said, "I won't take any help. I want to go. The day I can't walk, I want to die."
Lily gave me the same message as my brother: "Do not think of him. Go and do your own work. He will be very happy if you do your own work. You do your own work and he will be very happy. Do not stop."
9 July 1998
My Trip to Oslo
Before my concert in Oslo, I met with a few ambassadors at the reception — the Chinese ambassador, the South African ambassador and ambassadors from other places.I met with the Indian ambassador three times. He is a Bengali. His name is Nirupam Sen. /"Nirupam' means 'unparalleled beauty, matchless beauty'. His wife is not Bengali; she is Polish. She was showing me how she shed tears when Ranjana's Bhajan group was singing at their residence in Oslo. 6 June 2001<html></div></html> <html>
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The Book-Signing Event
We had a book-signing event in Oslo. Eight hundred times my signature I offered. And, for each person, I drew a bird. Some received two or even three birds when I signed my name.When I was a little boy, I was so proud of signing my name to prove how great I was. Alas, I never realised that there would come a time when I would have to sign my name eight hundred times in a row! And my attendants kept giving me wrong information. They said there were only fifty people to go. Fifty by a magical touch became eighty! Every time they gave me a figure, the number only increased out of the blue! My wrist did not ache, but my shoulders were aching.
The line went on and on. What an experience for me, this signing of books! The bookstore manager was very, very pleased. He said it set a record.
6 June 2001
The Elephant and the Barking Dogs
We have sown the seed of aspiration in the fertile soil of Norway. Most of the time we had fruitful experiences. There will always be a few critics. That is not a new story.Swami Vivekananda used to tell the story of an elephant that was going to the market. The goal of the elephant was to have bananas. On the way, the dogs started barking and barking and barking. The elephant paid no attention to them.
Similarly, that should be our attitude. There will always be critics. They have to prove their true nature and we have to prove our nature. We shall walk, march, run and sprint towards our Destination.
6 June 2001
At the Norwegian Parliament
I went to meditate at the Norwegian Parliament. It was a very small room. A little over forty people were there. First, they said they would allow us to bring twenty; then we stretched it to twenty-six. About ten or twelve members of the Parliament were also there.I meditated, I played my esraj a little and then I sang a song on the Parliament. Mridanga took a video, and it was shown on Norwegian television.
17 June 2001
Sevananda's Transformation
When Sevananda first came to the meeting in our Puerto Rican Centre, his hair was longer than the longest, and his T-shirt was uglier than the ugliest.I said to him, "José, tomorrow you will not be allowed to come in this way."
Then he said to me, "But Jesus Christ had long hair." That was how he started.
I said, "Yes, but there is a little difference between you and Jesus Christ! If I see Jesus Christ walking, I will run and fall at his feet. But if I see you walking, I will run away! Tomorrow, if you are going to come this way, you will not be allowed.
The next day he appeared with a proper haircut and nice, clean clothes. There was an immediate transformation from Sevananda.
17 June 2001
White Birds Flying
This morning, I could not believe it, we saw hundreds of white birds, a flight of birds. They were flying over Savyasachi's car, only a metre above. I do not think it was more than a metre. Some were flying to the side, and some right across the car. There were hundreds of them, and they were all white.Afterwards, some even lowered their height until they were only a metre above the ground. How they were flying! Hundreds — flying this way, flying that way — and they gave us so much joy. Even some birds — I could not believe it — were flying at a lower height than the height of our car. It was very beautiful, very beautiful.
It was around 6:45. Perhaps one day you will see these white birds. There were so many, and very happily they were flying. For me, it was a unique experience. I never before had that experience of white birds flying.
5 February 2002 Kota Kinabulu, Sabah, Malaysia
The Ring from Nevada
I had a friend, my half-sponsor, not full sponsor. She was older than me by 25 years. Now she has passed away. Her name was Ann Harrison. She lived in Woodstock, very near. She was extremely fond of me. I used to go to her place. She was like my elder sister.One funny story. She was serving me food in the evening, dinner. I came there three or four hours early, right after the Indian Consulate. I took the Greyhound Bus and then went to her place. We were chatting. Then she said to me the funniest thing — "Astrology, there are a few books. Chinmoy, can you tell the future?"
I said, "No, absolutely no."
She said, "Can you tell anything all around these places?"
I said, "Absolutely no."
She asked, "Why do I feel that you can see?"
I said, "It is all mental hallucination. I cannot see anything."
"But I feel deep inside that you can see."
I said, "You are absolutely wrong, absolutely wrong, absolutely wrong."
Then she said, "Please tell me something. I am begging you to say something about my future or anything."
I said, "I know nothing. I cannot say what is going to happen the next second. Will I be able to tell about the future?"
Then I told her, "Well, you are doing something wrong. I can see you have extreme fondness, or whatever they say, you are in love with somebody, this and that. But you have not chosen the right person."
She said, "How can you say that?" She was so fond of me.
I said, "I see in one of the books" — she had about 50 or 60 books or even more on her bookshelf — "I see in one of the books there is a small ring."
She said, "How do you know? You just sat here."
I said, "I can see it. Inside the book there is a ring." In those days, I did not know 'boyfriend' and 'girlfriend'. In India, we do not use the term. I said, "A friend of yours has given you a ring, and I can see it in one of the books."
She said, "Since you are kind enough to say, now you have to prove which book." She did not deny it.
Then I stood up and gave her the book, and the ring was inside. I never knew the name of the State, but I said it was from Nevada. Believe me, at that time I did not know the names of all the States. So, her friend lived in Nevada. That is why I said the ring was from Nevada.
11 October 2002
Australian Customs
At the Australian customs, they had to cut off the skin of my esraj. They would not allow it. It is like cutting the skin off your own child. Then they allowed us to keep the wooden piece, but the skin they have taken away.Sumadhur gave them a list of all my musical instruments, showing how many items he was bringing. He made a very good list; then they became sick of his list. They allowed him to go through. Otherwise, my Beena also would have been cut. The skin would have disappeared.
Can you imagine? We brought the instrument all the way from New York, and we had to surrender the skin to customs.
In Tamil, the word for 'customs' also means 'suffering'. I used to laugh that customs means suffering and pain in Tamil. Now, I see that it is true.
4 January 2003 Cairns, Australia
In Transit at Frankfurt Airport
What an experience I had when we stopped at Frankfurt Airport in Germany on the way to Singapore!They told us we would have to wait an hour and forty minutes in the terminal before we could return to our plane. But after only twenty minutes, they started calling us to come back! The passengers came right up to the gate, but the officials did not open the door.
I was only twenty metres away from the gate, getting massaged, and I could see that people were starting to form a long line. They were thinking that it was time to board the plane. But the officials were not opening the door. They were only making announcement after announcement.
Such lies! The airport officials wanted to make sure that the passengers would be on time, true, but what kind of treatment was this? It was so unfair! People were standing for such a long time in that line. They were not moving at all.
24 November 2003
A Seeker from New Jersey
While I was waiting to reboard the plane at Frankfurt Airport, an Indian man came and stood very near me. He said, "May I come and touch your feet?"Prabhakar and Ketan immediately said, "No, no, no!"
I looked at the man and I found that he was very good. He was quite young, about forty years old. First, I asked him his name. He told me his name and that he lived in New Jersey. He said he had heard so many things about me. He was looking and looking at me.
I said to myself, "All right. He is a Bengali." Then I said to the man, "All right, come."
He came and fell flat at my feet. His legs were fully outstretched. He touched my feet and then again, with folded hands, he was looking at me. Even after touching my feet, he did not get up.
In Bengali, I said to him, "Enough, enough! Now please stand up."
The man stood up for a few seconds, then again he started touching my feet.
I said to myself, "O my God, this has become a real episode!"
So, I said farewell to the young man and went inside the gate.
24 November 2003
Sundar's Customer
When I was inside the gate, another incident took place. This one was so funny.A young Muslim man came up and saluted me. Then Prabhakar told me that he lives on Parsons Boulevard, near Hillside Avenue. Now look at this! He lives on Parsons Boulevard, and we had to meet for the first time in Frankfurt. Our boys said that he comes to Sundar's barbershop for a haircut. He was very, very nice.
The story does not end there. He told me that he originally came from Chittagong. Everywhere we are seeing Chittagonians. Chittagong is famous!
24 November 2003
My New Jersey Friend Reappears
The next incident took place when we landed here in Singapore. I came out of the plane and walked about twenty metres. Then, whom did I see? My New Jersey friend.He said to me, "My long-cherished dream you have fulfilled today. I have been longing for this for a long time, but I never thought that I would be able to touch your feet. I am so happy and so moved that I could see you at last."
This Bengali gentleman told me that from Singapore he will go to Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh. Then he will go to Chittagong.
I said, "Good!"
He saw me again, for the second time, when we arrived at our destination. In his case, he was in transit. Nevertheless, he followed me through the terminal, although it was such a long walk for him.
We were going to get our baggage. I was in a meditative mood. I was following the railing, but then, all of a sudden, I went to the other side, which took me in the opposite direction. This is what happens when I am in a meditative mood.
My New Jersey friend screamed at me, "No, that way is wrong, wrong, wrong!" He became my guide. He walked and walked with me. Out of love and respect, he came all the way. It was a long walk, perhaps four hundred metres.
Then again he saluted me. He said, "I am going now."
He was in transit, but to accompany me was the greatest honour for him.
24 November 2003 Singapore
The Fake Pondicherry Dosa
The other day, in New York, I went to the Dosa Hut. They have a list of fifty items on the menu. All of them are different types of dosa. I ordered quite a few regular dosas and then I saw that one of the items was called 'Pondicherry dosa'. I was so thrilled to see the name 'Pondicherry', since I lived there for twenty years. I immediately ordered a Pondicherry dosa.Alas, alas! When I ate it, I discovered that it was anything but Pondicherry dosa. The size was larger than the largest, but there was nothing in the filling that you could say resembles a Pondicherry dosa.
The owner comes from Bombay, which is now Mumbai. The cook is from South India, so perhaps he has fooled his boss. So many times I have eaten Pondicherry dosas. I definitely know the difference between a real one and a fake one!
24 November 2003 Singapore
The Clever Hindu Shopkeeper
Today, here in Singapore, I went shopping in the Indian section. There were so many people! Everything was helter-skelter. Little children were blocking the pavement. Then, from behind, older people were pushing. I went with Alo and Saraswati, and whom did we see? Paree and Govinda.Today is a holiday to celebrate the end of Ramadan, the Muslim time of fasting. Some people told us that all the shops would be closed. When we got there, I saw that people were going into one store through the side door. This store belongs to a very clever Hindu shopkeeper. He knew that most of the Muslim shops would be closed today. He wanted to show his sympathetic oneness with the Muslims, but he was also thinking about his pocketbook. He saw a unique opportunity to make money. So, he kept the front door of his shop closed, but the side door was wide open.
When we went in, we saw that there were hundreds of people inside. Indeed, this was his oneness!
25 November 2003 Singapore
Freshness of the Mind
In his later years, when Sri Chinmoy could no longer enjoy running, he loved to go walking in whichever country he was visiting and at various hours of the day. These stories are gathered from those experiences.
Every day
Freshness-newness-earth-flowers
Are needed
For the inner shrine.
– Sri Chinmoy
My Best and Dearest Rival
This morning I walked two miles at our race. My timing was forty-four minutes. I will make progress during the Christmas trip, and I expect all of you to make progress as well.My best and dearest rival, Nirvik, what happened? Were you sleeping? In South Africa, how we enjoyed each other's company!
6 December 1998 Hawaii
Walking Along the Canal
This morning, I was walking along the canal. A tall, thin man came up to me and asked, "Are you Sri Chinmoy?"I said, "Yes."
He said, "Yesterday, the whole day, I was planning to come to your concert and, in the evening, I forgot!"
I asked him, "Are you running the Honolulu Marathon?"
He answered, "Yes."
Then he said, "Please do not walk alone all by yourself."
8 December 1998 Hawaii
A Second Encounter
A few minutes later, someone came along carrying a flower. He said to me, "Where do you come from?"I said, "India."
Then he said, "Oh, I have so many things to tell you."
I thought he would go on and on. The first fellow was right!
8 December 1998 Hawaii
Brother and Sister
There was a time when Mahiyan and his sister Bhagirathi used to run together. They used to talk together, mile after mile. Now perhaps they have quarrelled! Each time I go out walking, I see Bhagirathi this side and that side, but where is Mahiyan? Is he sleeping? Or perhaps he is more interested in playing frisbee.In those days, brother and sister were always together, together — walking, shopping, in the restaurant, everywhere. Now I only see the sister. It seems that Mahiyan is still in San Diego!
10 December 1998 Hawaii
Turned Away by the Gatekeeper
At our apartment in Hawaii, the gatekeeper is quite short and fat. I call everybody 'fat' now that I have lost weight! Every day he sees me going in and out. One day, when I went out, I did not have with me my key card to get back into the building. I said to him, "Could you please open the door for me? And you can see the name. It is Ghose."He barked at me, "Show me your identification."
I said, "I am not carrying any identification."
"You do not carry identification? The police will arrest you," he said.
He was delaying and delaying. A young girl who was there was shocked at how rudely he was behaving towards one of the tenants. I thought of calling Savyasachi, since he has another card. I told the man that I would return with the key card. My intention was that I would not come back for at least two hours.
When I returned, the gatekeeper was still there. I gave him the card. He took it. He was smiling at me. Then we smiled at each other.
The following day, he was standing outside the gate. Usually he sits on the chair inside. He saw me, signalled to me, smiled and showed me the way upstairs. I could not believe it was the same man!
11 December 1998 Hawaii
My Morning Friends
About three months ago, while I was walking, a young boy came up to me and said, "Are you Sri Chinmoy? Please, please, wait for my sister! My sister has to see you."I waited and waited, but his sister was not coming. How long could I wait? Finally, his sister appeared. She was about fifteen years old, and she was extremely shy. She looked at me and we had a little conversation. She was so happy to see me.
Then I went on my way. I made a turn and came back. Then I saw the same brother and sister with their mother. The mother was about to take the children somewhere in the car. All of them folded their hands when they saw me.
11 December 1998 Hawaii
My Briarwood Neighbour
Another day it happened that a tall black girl came up to me. She said, "Are you Sri Chinmoy?"Then she said, "May I be allowed to shake your hand? We are so lucky to have you here in this community."
11 December 1998 Hawaii
Observing Different Running Styles
Nowadays, I see Nishtha and Pranika running together every day. Shall I comment on how they run? When Pranika runs, her whole body, from the waistline, bends. And when Nishtha runs, her body goes zigzag. I observe them when they are running.Like that, for everybody's walking or running, I can pass comments. I am in my very good, high consciousness but, when they pass by me, I see them. Each one has his own peculiar style. Ninety per cent, or even more, of my disciples do not have a good style. Only very few girls and some boys have a good style. More boys have good styles than girls, that I must say. I am proud of them, really proud of them, that they are running at all, but when some of the girls run, their styles are so horrible! The upper portion you have to keep a little smart. I do not want you to be too tight, too stiff, but you have to be smart-looking.
Today, while we were walking on one side of the street, about forty or fifty runners were running on the other side. Alo asked me, "Are those our boys?"
I said, "No, I can see from the running styles that it is another running club because forty of our runners will not run that way." They had very good styles.
Again, who cares for style? Speed is the most important thing. For long distance, good style is a great asset, but for short distance, you just kill yourself. But if you have style, it really helps. Sudhahota has such an excellent running style, whereas, quite a few world-class sprinters do not have good styles at all.
Tomorrow, I will go out again for our two-mile race. I am sure my timing will be worse. The pain in my legs has increased enormously.
11 December 1998 Hawaii
The Taxi Driver's Invitation
Once, I ran in the Orange Bowl Marathon in Florida. It started at four o'clock in the morning. It was so hot, and it was raining heavily. At one point, I was taking shelter from the rain under a tree. A taxi driver was so kind to me. He came up to me and said, "Come into my taxi. I will not tell anybody."He wanted to save me a few miles, but I did not want to become like that famous girl, Rosie Ruiz. So, I started running in the rain again.
Fred Lebow was also running in that race. When he came up to me, he walked with me for three hundred metres. Then he smiled at me and indicated that it was time for him to go on.
12 December 1998 Hawaii
If You Want to Lose Weight
Here, in Singapore, the disciples have to walk to the place where they serve the meals. It is good for them to walk! With my bad leg, yesterday I walked a mile and a half, and today also the same. If you want to lose weight, this is the way. Is there anyone who does not want to lose weight? Of course, there is Shephali. Exceptions are always to be found!I have to take exercise every day. I am an exercise-aholic! I belong to that category. If I do not take exercise, I feel that I have committed a most heinous crime!
17 December 1998 Singapore
A Wonderful Sight
In the two-mile race today, what a wonderful sight to watch: Nayak and Sanjaya were racing against each other! Nayak sounded like he was ready for the hospital. I cannot imitate him.When Abakash runs the 100-metre sprint, it is worth seeing. I do not know whether his legs run or something else. It seems that his upper portion runs. He looks very charming.
Poor me, one mile I walked and the timing was 21:09. After the first round, every step was agonising.
19 December 1998 Singapore
A Golden Opportunity from God
This morning, at half-past five, I went out to walk. I went straight on 150th Street until the Grand Central Service Road and made a left turn. Then I crossed Main Street and was heading towards Queens Boulevard. My one-mile mark is on that side.It took me forty minutes to walk one mile. Then, coming back, it took me another forty minutes. Forty minutes, forty minutes! It was not the cold weather. The weather did not bother me, but my right leg was bothering me.
Now I am telling you the secret: I did not use my mind. If I had used my mind, I would have been disappointed, disgusted and what not. I used my heart. I said, "I could have done a mile in twenty minutes, or at least in half an hour. But here is the golden opportunity God gave me to meditate longer."
So, this is how I was able to maintain my happiness. Sometimes I was even chanting "Supreme" out loud in the street. Nobody was there at that hour. Nobody could hear me.
Usually, when I walk alone, the whole world tells me something, but this time there was no incident, nothing. The most important thing was that I took the divine attitude and said, "I am so happy that I am able to meditate longer. I am so grateful to God."
Always try to change your attitude. The mind has to be brought under control. When I lived on Utrecht Avenue in Brooklyn, I had to take three subway trains to go to work at the Indian Consulate. It took me such a long time. I used to sit near the conductor. From there I used to watch the train, and I was so happy that it was taking such a long time. It was a great opportunity to meditate! Then again, when I used to live across from Central Park, it took me only five minutes to get to work. It was within walking distance and I was so happy that I had the time to do the needful at home.
Always try to control the mind. Try to see everything as an opportunity. If you are supposed to get up at six o'clock and for some reason you cannot get up, do not curse yourself. Only say, "Is my world going to collapse? No." Absolutely in no way allow the mind to create frustration or disappointment. Whenever you get up — at ten, eleven or even two o'clock — feel that your body needed this rest desperately. You could not get up because your body demanded it. You can say that for two months you were on the Christmas trip and you are still suffering from tiredness.
Always think that you are not a lazy person. Whichever way you can convince the mind, that is the best way to keep yourself happy. First, control the mind. Otherwise, this mind will ruin your whole day. It will constantly remind you, "Why could you not get up at six o'clock?" So what if you could not get up on time for one day? Create every reasonable excuse: you were tired, you had a stomach upset or you had a headache. Then give some unreasonable reasons. In this way, you can shut the mind up. Otherwise, I see that many of you are allowing the mind to ruin your whole day.
The last few days I have been very, very sick. Usually at 3:15 in the morning I start my exercises. I take stretching exercises for an hour and a half. Then, at 4:00 or 5:30, I start weightlifting. Now I cannot do that because my body is sick. Shall I be unhappy? Why, why, why? Unhappiness does not work. If you do not create happiness for yourself, nobody will do it for you. You have to create happiness for yourself by controlling the mind. Just tell the mind, "You shut up! It is my life, not your life. Mind your own business. I will do whatever I want." This is the message you always have to tell the mind.
If you keep that kind of strength in your heart to control the mind, you will see that every day you will get happiness from what you do — and from what you do not do. But once you surrender to the mind, then finished! The whole day you will feel miserable: why you could not do this, why you did that and so forth. It is between you and your heart. Your heart wanted you to do something, and you did it. Your heart did not want you to do something, and you did not do it
In that way, always keep the heart to the fore. If I had kept my mind to the fore today, I would have started thinking, "When did I ever take forty minutes to walk a mile, unless I was very badly injured?" But I took forty minutes, and I was quite happy. I came home happy, and then I practised so many songs. If I had come home in a miserable frame of mind, would I have practised songs? No, no, no.
Divine ones, always keep yourself happy by bringing the light from within to the fore and then saying, "My mind, I am controlling you, which means I am illumining you so that you do not bother me."
13 February 1999 New York
Sulochana the Great
So many disciples see me on the street walking, but I give very special attention to Sulochana. I greet everybody but, when I see Sulochana, I get extra joy. Four or five times I greet her, and she also greets me four or five times. Then we continue on our way. She runs and I go on walking. Others I also greet, but Sulochana gets the utmost time from me.20 March 1999
I Am Still Alive
This afternoon I went for a walk, and I walked for two miles. Nothing happened in the second mile, but in the first mile everything happened! First, I was greeted by an elderly gentleman. He looked at me and somehow he knew my name. He said, "Sri Chinmoy, are you still…?" Then he did not say anything.I completed the sentence for him. "Do you mean, am I still alive?"
He looked at me very curiously.
Next, I saw a very tall, thin man. As soon as he saw me, he started pretending to lift weights with both arms. He was smiling and lifting his arms.
A little further on, I saw a young man, perhaps twenty years old, driving a car very fast. As soon as I saw the car, I stepped out of the street and onto the sidewalk. So many times I make solemn promises that I will not walk in the street.
Then I saw that the car was coming very near the sidewalk. As it drew level with me, the young man said, "Sri, Sri, Sri!" He also raised his hands over his head.
It is dangerous to walk in the street. I am begging all of you not to do it. In this case, I was not walking in the middle of the street, but on the side. I could see that one car was parked just ahead of where I was walking. As I drew closer to the car, all of a sudden it pulled away and went very fast. Then it stopped. The gentleman who was driving said to me, "I did not mean to frighten you. I want to congratulate you." He was a very nice man.
This all happened near 150th Street. He could have honked, but no, he just accelerated the car very quickly and frightened me like anything.
31 March 1999
"More Sri Chinmoys"
Yesterday, during the New York City Marathon, one man stopped running when he saw me and said to me, "The world needs more Sri Chinmoys!"8 November 1999
View from the Balcony
Today's race I enjoyed so much! Instead of walking, I was watching all the runners from my hotel balcony. The race was along the beach and some of the disciples were running in the water instead of on the sand. It gave me special joy to see my eternal rival, Nirvik.18 December 1999 Rio de Janeiro
Today's One-Mile Race
During this morning's one-mile race, I enjoyed Shivaram's and Nirvik's performances the most. They were having their own race. Shivaram walked most of the way. Then, all of a sudden, in the last twenty metres, he started running. Poor Nirvik!Today marked the descent of my running. I have been getting better little by little — my times were 23:27, 20:12, 17:10 and 16:54. Then today I had to do 17:42. I found it hard to see properly at Iguaçu Falls. I was full of apprehension, specially during the first two rounds. I had a little fear that I would go off the course. If I could have gone faster on the first two rounds, perhaps I would again have done under 17 minutes. But what can you do?
8 January 2000 Iguaçu Falls, Brazil
Scotland Showing Off
This morning when I went walking, I went up to the green football field, and then I returned. It was a very nice course. On the way, I saw 'Scotland' showing off. She was running very, very fast. I always appreciate her plays and her stories. She can defeat many people with her imagination. Imagination is a reality in its own right.17 January 2000 Paraguay
Long Strides
Today, when I was walking, I saw Darshanika taking very long strides! But I do not know if she saw me.18 January 2000 Paraguay
A Morning Compliment
Today I received a compliment from a young black man who was smoking. I was at a place that went uphill for about forty metres and where some runners were coming down the hill from the opposite direction at the same time.As I was going up, the young man said to me, "You are doing the right thing! You are doing the right thing! You are going uphill. Look at them: they are going downhill."
After going uphill, I walked for a few metres and then I started going downhill. Luckily, he did not see me at that time!
26 February 2000
A Silent Admirer
About a week ago, I came out of Vinaya's car and started walking. A very tall, stout, dignified gentleman came and stood right in front of me with folded hands. He was bowing to me and showing me such respect, love and, you can even say, devotion. He did not say a word.Now that I have started my walking again, I will always have funny, funny, funny stories and these things always happen to me when I am alone. When my guards are with me, people get frightened. They do not talk to me or approach me. But when I am alone, all kinds of things happen.
29 March 2000
Hashi's Famous Trick
Ten thousand years ago there was a race — at least ten thousand years ago! On that day, quite a few disciples were running behind the Master. Hashi was one of those. Then one runner came and was talking and talking to me and disturbing me while I was running.In Lord Krishna's time, he would employ various tricks. Why? It was unavoidable. He used those tricks so that he could play his Cosmic Game satisfactorily and perfectly. So, on that day, ten thousand years ago, Hashi also played a divine trick: Hashi fainted. It was a very short race, but Hashi fainted deliberately. It was all founded upon tricks and trickery. Then the person who was running with me and talking had to stop and pay attention to Hashi. And I was able to complete the race to my great satisfaction.
When people do me a very good favour, do I ever forget? No, never! When people do the wrong thing, I immediately try to forget. But when they do me a big favour, I never forget — never!
28 April 2000 Kanan and Hashi's 30th disciple anniversary
While Walking to the Tennis Court
This morning, I was walking to the tennis court and I saw Ketan's new car. At first, I thought, "Of all colours, he has to choose black! What is this?" Later, Pranika told me that it is not black; it is dark green. I said, "Fine." Ketan will not dare to buy a black car.After 100 metres, a tall, thin, black gentleman driving his car honked at me, and I stopped. He asked me the directions to 192nd Street. I said, "Please excuse me. I cannot tell you exactly."
He said, "I do not blame you. You are a very great man." Then he gave me a broad smile.
29 March 2000
Maral's Laundromat
When I was walking, a young man passed by me and came very near. Smilingly, he said to me, "Your laundromat is very good."Long live Maral! The funniest thing is that just before that, I saw Maral come out of his car. He was going into the Guatemalan store. When he saw me, he stood with folded hands, and I blessed him in silence.
Then I continued walking to the end of the street and made a left turn. That is when the young man came up to me and said, "Your laundromat is very good." See how it works!
With regard to laundromats, we have many, many sad and also funny stories. One story is funnier than the funniest. It concerns the father of one of the disciples. Many years ago, one disciple wanted to open up a divine enterprise. So, I said to him, "Then open up a laundromat."
He said that his father would get a heart attack, so how could he open up a laundromat? His father was the mayor of his city. Then this disciple did not open up any divine enterprise.
Now Maral has done it. Long live Maral and long live his main helper, Jyotipriya. Maral also had problems with his father in the beginning. Perhaps his father was almost getting a heart attack! It was too much for Maral's father to see his dentist-son open up a laundromat, in addition to his dental practice, but now it is so successful.
1 July 2000
Freshness of the Mind
As long as I can take exercise at one point during the day, I am happy. At any hour if I can take exercise, it is good for me. It can be morning, afternoon or evening. For throwers, evening is better. For runners, morning is better because of the freshness of the mind.28 July 2000
Looking Like a Boxer
Four or five days ago, I saw two Puerto Rican boys going to school. One of them came up to me and said, "Are you the guy who lifts?"I said, "Yes."
Then he said, "Oh, you do not look like a weightlifter. You look like a boxer!"
Then all the way to school, they were looking at me and smiling, smiling. So, now I look like a boxer! The funniest thing is that on television recently they said, "He is 69, but he looks 25."
28 July 2000
The Power of a Smile
Three or four days ago, I walked three miles. When I was coming back, I was so tired and exhausted, specially the last half-mile or so. When I was only 120 metres away from my house, I saw an elderly lady sweeping the sidewalk. I have seen her many times.I came near her and she said to me, "Good morning!" Then she gave me such a smile. Her smile took away all my pain and miseries — everything. The last 120 metres I felt that I was not walking — I was flying! This is what a smile can do. She gave me such a beautiful, powerful smile that she took away all my miseries and pain.
So, always smile, smile.
7 September 2000
Minus a Wristwatch
The same day, I had another experience when I was out walking. I had gone to the Grand Central Service Road. Then I walked along the Service Road, behind the school where Suprabha and others run the 3,100-mile race. Then I came back to Parsons Boulevard. When I reached Parsons Boulevard, a very nice-looking black lady asked me, "Do you have the time?"I smiled at her and said, "No, sorry."
She said to me, "That means you are not a gentleman."
I said, "You are right."
When I walk two or three miles, deliberately I do not take a watch. If I look at the time, I know I will feel miserable, so the best thing is only to complete the distance. I am wise! I cover the distance, but I do not look at the time.
7 September 2000
Morning Exploits
Let me tell you my morning exploits. I did my meditation, as usual. Then, a little after five o'clock, I came downstairs. My body was unwilling to take stretching exercises, so what could I do? I said, "The best thing is for me to go out for a walk." I left the house at ten minutes past five. My dog Chela was fast asleep. I blessed him and then I left.I started walking on 150th Street towards the Grand Central Service Road. All the time, there was a struggle going on between my mind and my heart. My heart was telling me that I closed the front door of my house. My mind was telling me that since I did not hear the sound of the door closing, that means I did not close the door properly. In the morning, I am in quite a high consciousness, so I could easily have been unmindful.
Then I came to a decision. I turned back. I wasted 200 metres going back to my house. There I saw that the front door was very nicely closed.
10 September 2000
God's Blessings
I was walking in a very high consciousness. There was no car problem at that hour, so I was walking in the street, right next to the sidewalk. As I came near Parsons Boulevard, I saw that a nickel was shining very brightly on the road in front of me. Whether it is a nickel or a dime, if you see it, you should pick it up.I picked it up and it was in very good condition. Then I said, "I hope I do not have to bend down any more." I had not yet taken stretching exercises and I was a little bit stiff. Lo and behold, after two hundred metres, I saw a penny.
Four days ago, I was unwilling to pick up a penny because I was so tired. I was about to pick it up, but the soul of the penny said, "No, no, no. I do not want you to bend any more. You have blessed me. Now whoever gets it will be a lucky person." I listened to the soul and did not pick it up.
But today was a different story. I said, "I cannot deny money-power. It is God's Blessings. Since I bent down once for a nickel, let me pick up this penny." I took it, and it was also in very good condition.
10 September 2000
Saved by My Inner Beings
When I crossed the one-mile mark behind Thomas Edison High School, something within me said, "Do not walk on the street." I looked behind me and there was no car whatsoever — absolutely nothing for at least 200 metres. I said, "Now what to do?"Then I said, "All right, since something is warning me, I will listen."
I went up on the sidewalk and continued walking. One car came from behind me along the Grand Central Service Road. Another car came from the highway. What an accident! It was only a matter of two minutes since I had started walking on the sidewalk. I could not believe it. The car from the highway dashed against the one from the Service Road. I saw the crash. What a thundering sound!
I was warned. Otherwise, I would have been walking right at the place where the accident occurred. Sometimes my inner beings ask me not to walk on the street and in this way they save me.
I continued walking and covered another 500 metres or so. Coming back, I stopped at my favourite place, at the mile and a half point: Utopia Parkway. When I turned around, I saw at that time four police cars at the scene of the accident, but I did not see anybody in the two cars.
What an experience!
10 September 2000
Hailed by a Police Car
This afternoon, at around 12:30, I went out for a three-mile walk. I came to 150th Street and reached my 600-metre mark. I was on the sidewalk, so there was no problem with the cars.Then I heard a car honking at me. It happened to be a police car. I was doing nothing wrong. Then I saw the driver, a middle-aged woman, wave her left arm outside the window. She started screaming with joy, "Sri Chinmoy! Sri Chinmoy!" She said it three or four times.
She practically stopped the car to call my name at me; she was so excited to see me. Who she is, God alone knows.
13 September 2000
Greetings
Yesterday something similar happened when I was walking. Unfortunately, this time I was not on the sidewalk; I was walking in the street. A red car stopped abruptly, and the driver said, "Excuse me."I thought he was going to ask for directions. What would I tell him? Do I know the name of any street?
But after saying, "Excuse me," the driver said, "Shrai, Shrai, Shrai!" He only wanted to greet me.
13 September 2000
When I Walk Alone
When I was on 150th Street, right near my house, I saw a middle-aged lady with a huge dog. She said, "I have not seen you for a long time, Sri Chinmoy. Where have you been? How are you?"I could not recognise her at all, but she recognised me and started talking to me. Then she said, "It is so nice to see you." She was very, very kind to me.
This happens when I walk alone. When I take my guards with me, people get frightened and nobody comes to talk to me.
13 September 2000
The Lady with the Two Dogs
This evening, when I went out walking, a lady with two dogs started bothering me. I started to pass her. Then she went ahead of me deliberately. Each time when I was passing her, again she would bother me and go ahead of me. After four times, I became disgusted, and I came back home.This happened around half past seven. Today nobody encouraged me, but this lady with the two dogs bothered me.
14 September 2000
"Strong, Very Strong!"
Three or four days ago, when I was walking, I saw so many people. I saw Jyotsna first, and then it never ended! While coming back, I saw Sulochana there at the same spot. In between, I saw many, many disciples.At one point, a little five-year-old boy was saying to me, "Strong, very strong!"
Then his brother said, "I want to be strong. I want to be strong." He began showing me his muscles.
They were both using the word 'strong'. Their mother was very short and thin. Either these little boys have seen me on television or their parents have told them about my weightlifting. From both of them I received that compliment: strong.
17 September 2000
At a Loss for Directions
Three days ago, I was walking on the sidewalk. All of a sudden, a very smart car stopped right beside me. The driver was absolutely panicky. He said, "Please, please tell me, where is the police station?"O God, am I the right person to ask? I have been in this neighbourhood for more than thirty years, but still I do not know proper directions. So, I said, "I do not know exactly, but I do know that you have to turn around."
He was going towards Jamaica Hills, and the police station that I know of is on the other side of the Grand Central. Why did he not call the police? His accent was Puerto Rican.
I felt sorry that I have been here for so many years and I cannot help these people. I went a little further and then turned around. After thirty metres, I saw that he was asking an elderly woman the same question.
She started saying, "Go this side, go that side." All kinds of directions she gave. Either she was telling the truth or she was fabricating the directions.
24 October 2000
A Child's Question
The day before yesterday, around 7:15 in the evening, I went out for a walk. I had a very unusual experience. I covered about 300 metres on 150th Street. I was walking on the sidewalk. Two young boys between ten and twelve years old were doing that famous thing: skateboarding. It frightens me all the time. They were doing it on the street, and then one boy jumped up on the sidewalk. I could not believe it!At that time, I happened to be in a very high consciousness. Then this young boy came and just stood in front of me with his skateboard. He looked at me very seriously and said, "Excuse me, do you believe in God?"
Then I smiled at him. It was very difficult for me to talk. I said, "I do believe in God."
He asked me, "Which religion do you follow?"
I could not believe I was getting this kind of question from a boy ten or twelve years old. I could not enter into any real philosophy, so I said, "I belong to the Hindu tradition and I come from India."
Then the other boy arrived. He said, "We know you, we know much about you." Both of them started smiling and then they went away.
I could not believe that this little boy looked straight into my eyes and said, "Do you believe in God?"
24 October 2000
Enjoying My Evening Walk
I continued walking and covered half a mile. In front of me, on the sidewalk, I saw an elderly couple. The gentleman was using a cane and his wife was helping him, clasping his arms.I was so happy that there are some people who walk even more slowly than I do! God is so kind to me. Then I did not have to worry about my walking speed.
For 300 metres, or even more, how slowly they were walking! And I did not have the inclination to enter into the street to pass them. I said, "It is night. The roads are dangerous. Everything is peaceful here on the sidewalk. Why do I have to pass them? If I walk at their speed, I will be able to have my own meditation. My meditation will be more powerful."
Then I walked and walked and walked very slowly. At last I came to Utopia Parkway. I stayed there, at the junction, for a few minutes. That is my favourite place. Then I came walking back home.
When I came near my house, I saw Shephali taking Chela out for his walk. Shephali said, "Guru, we were worrying like anything! Ranjana is so worried. Where did you go for such a long time?"
I came home and then Ranjana said, "How can you be so late?"
I was enjoying my evening walk.
24 October 2000
A Colossal Music-Soul
On 20 September 2002, Sri Chinmoy honoured Ravi Shankar, the legendary Indian sitar player, at the Del Mar Hilton Hotel in San Diego. Ravi Shankar was accompanied by his wife, Sukanya, and his daughter, Anoushka. To begin the evening, Sri Chinmoy read out the English translation to a Bengali song he had composed, which was dedicated to the Maestro, and then he performed it while accompanying himself on the harmonium. The song was "Bindu eseche sindhu duare".
A drop has arrived at the heart-door of the ocean
To receive affection and compassion from the ocean.
Ravi Shankar, Sri Chinmoy is absolutely enamoured
Of your nectar-flooded music.
Sri Chinmoy garlanded Ravi Shankar and offered bouquets to Sukanya and Anoushka. A video was then shown featuring remarks made by the late Secretary-General U Thant when he was the guest of honour at the première of Sri Chinmoy's play "Siddhartha Becomes the Buddha."
Afterwards, Sri Chinmoy chanted in Sanskrit, "Asato Ma Gamaya," (O, lead me from the unreal to the real) and gave his welcome address:
Sri Chinmoy: My highly esteemed Friend, Ravi Shankar, and my deeply affectionate Brother Ravi-da, my aspiration-heart and my dedication-life are telling me that every single day your colossal music-soul swiftly travels the universe and prayerfully gathers a huge bouquet of twinkling stars to place at the Feet of the Absolute Lord Beloved Supreme. His Joy and Pride in you are far beyond the flights of our imagination.
Welcome address
In the inner world, an irresistible music you are. In the outer world, a magnetic musician you are. No hyperbole, your music elevates not only our consciousness high, very high, very, very high; but also intensifies our aspiration deep, very deep, very, very deep. Something more, to our greatest delight, we see divinity streaming from your God-dreaming eyes, lightning-speed fingers and towering confidence-hands and arms.When a God-seeker listens to your music, he in no time is blessed with a rare capacity to invoke joy, to breathe in joy, to radiate joy and, finally, to become joy unfathomable.
The joy of the heart and the peace of life are inseparable. Ravi Shankar the divine musician and God the Supreme Musician sleeplessly communicate through the language of love. This love is at once the Beauty of God's universal Peace and the Fragrance of God's transcendental Bliss.
Ravi-da, Ravi Shankar, to be in your blessingful and music-flooded presence is to reclaim our own vast cheerful and blissful heart-kingdom.
We are all God's sweet children of music in His Heart-Garden. Alas, we have buried this infallible truth in stark oblivion. But you, Ravi Shankar, musician nonpareil, are the reassuring whisper that echoes and re-echoes in our hearts with God's Message supreme: 'We are all God's sweet children of music.'
Here we are perpetuating the memory of U Thant, the third Pilot Supreme of the United Nations Boat, whose very life was to spread the message of brotherhood, harmony and peace throughout the length and breadth of the world. While offering you the U Thant Peace Award, our Meditation Group at the United Nations and I are swimming in the ocean of infinity's Peace and Bliss.
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.
Ravi Shankar (after receiving the Award): Sri Chinmoy, my brother, I am so overwhelmed and emotionally I feel choked with the love that you have shown towards me and by this great honour that you have given me. I feel so grateful and proud, more so after I saw the giants and some of the greatest people that have received this before me, that have been given this wonderful Peace Award by you. As I said, I don't feel like saying much. I am very grateful, and I'm full of love and gratitude. Thank you again, Sri Chinmoy.Sri Chinmoy then honoured Ravi Shankar by lifting him overhead with one arm as part of his Lifting Up the World with a Oneness-Heart programme. As Sri Chinmoy was presenting him with the medallion_, Ravi Shankar commented: It is I who should honour you in this way. This award I should give you. You deserve it. _Ravi Shankar's parting words at the end of the function: You are all so wonderful — beautiful singing! Thank you, thank you. You are so lucky to have him as your guide in life. And what wonderful work is being done! Please keep it up. We are all so tired of all the violence and all the negative things, all the discord that is happening. Amidst that, people like him and those who love him and follow him, are doing wonderful work. Keep it up! Thank you.
The following day, at Ravi Shankar's invitation, Sri Chinmoy and his students, along with Sudhahota Carl Lewis, visited Paramahansa Yogananda's Self-Realization Retreat and Hermitage in Encinitas. At the conclusion of their visit, this memorable exchange took place:
Meeting at Encinitas
Ravi Shankar: Go on giving as much as you have been giving all the time.Sri Chinmoy: I shall treasure in the inmost recesses of my heart your blessings, your blessing-light.
My Express Message
The tragic events of 11 September 2001 — now known universally as 911 — rocked New York to the core. On that fateful morning, a number of Sri Chinmoy's students had just arrived at the United Nations Headquarters to begin work, while others commuted to their jobs in financial institutions and various businesses in Manhattan, all of which were in close proximity to the World Trade Centre. At the same time, a number of Sri Chinmoy's students were in the midst of staging a trio of ultra races — 700 miles, 1,000 miles and 1,300 miles — at Wards Island, located between the East River and the Harlem River in Manhattan. At certain points on the course, the participants had a panoramic view of the Manhattan skyline and, on that day, they were among the first to see the dense plumes of smoke and ash rising from Lower Manhattan.In the aftermath of this tragedy, not only the city of New York but the entire world was engulfed by feelings of horror and helplessness. At this critical time, Sri Chinmoy wrote a message of consolation to his students around the world. Although the precise date he composed this message is obscured, it was received by fax in Australia on 15 September 2001.
My Express Message
My Express Messageto all my students
all over the world:
At this juncture our only
bounden Duty is to identify
our prayerful hearts with the
innocent, harmless and helpless
victims and their beloved ones.
Our tearful eyes and the
bleeding hearts of the relatives
and friends have already touched
the Compassion-Feet of our Absolute Lord
Beloved Supreme. He is with His
Infinity’s Compassion-Affection-Love
Sweetness-Fondness taking care of
His supremely chosen children who
have recently arrived at His Heaven-
Home.
May America the Beautiful forever
shine bright-brighter-brightest in the Heart of
God the Creator and God the Creation.
Guru
Preface
“Oneness is the reality of peace on the canvas of time.”– Sri Chinmoy
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When Sri Chinmoy spoke about 'the canvas of time' in this aphorism from 1978, he turned spontaneously to the language of the artist, the painter, who stands before his vast, white canvas awaiting that moment of inspiration when he shall dip his brush into his palette of colours and apply waves of mystic indigo, flecks of glinting emerald, splashes of sun-warmed wattle yellow or streaks of lustrous red to reflect his inner vision. For Sri Chinmoy, Eternal Time is a many-hued canvas on which peace is a motif that weaves in and out, linking all the various elements in sublime oneness.
— Vidagdha
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