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Spirit News Blog - Sri Chinmoy
To deliberately criticise
Another individual
May cause an indelible stain
On the critic.
- Sri Chinmoy
Those who serve the world constantly
Do not have time
To criticise others,
While those who do not serve
Others selflessly
Have endless time
To criticise the whole world.
- Sri Chinmoy.
Even absent-mindedly,
We must not
Criticise others.
- Sri Chinmoy.
Every time we start
To criticise the world,
We must stop ourselves.
- Sri Chinmoy
Alas, how we waste
Our precious time
In the company of
Jealousy and criticism.
~
Each soul, each heart
And each life
Has something very special
To offer
For the betterment of humanity.
~
There is only one examination
That cannot and will not stop,
And that is the examination
Of self-improvement.
Poems Selected from Sri Chinmoy Books
Image by Abhishek, Sri Chinmoy Centre Galleries
Pure thinking is not escaping But Self-offering. Pure thinking is not observation But Self-transformation. Pure thinking is not experimentation But Self-perfection. Pure thinking is not God-fearing But God-becoming.
- Sri Chinmoy
- For a daily quote or poem by Sri Chinmoy, visit Daily Wisdom of Sri Chinmoy
- For Poetseers, Poem of the Day
Thursday, October 11, 2007 - A lifetime dedicated in the service of humanity has ended with the passing of Sri Chinmoy, the global humanitarian, meditation teacher and advocate of the boundless potential of the human spirit, at the age of 76 in his New York home. In the 43 years since he arrived in the America in 1964, Sri Chinmoy had turned his life into a living example of his firm conviction that, in his words, "the answer to the world's problems is for each one of us to go beyond our current capacities and become better". Even now, as people from all countries, religions, cultures and walks of life gather to pay tribute to him, it is not the death of his mortal frame that comes most to mind, but the immortal spirit that lay behind his tireless contributions to the evolution of human consciousness.
What truly sets Sri Chinmoy's work apart is the sheer variety of avenues through which he gave wings to this vision. In fields as diverse, art poetry, music and athletics, Sri Chinmoy left his own indelible mark that inspired all who came across it to in turn better themselves in their own sphere of talent. In exploring such a wide variety of endeavours, he sought to demonstrate that no matter where our talents lie, they can be put to use for the betterment of the world. In each field of activity, Sri Chinmoy embarked upon new challenges with an enthusiasm, poise and imagination that flowed directly from his deep inner awareness of the limitless capacity of the soul. His output in the creative fields was enormously prolific - 20,000 songs, over 100,000 poems and 200,000 pieces of mystical art, to name just some of his achievements: his inner feeling was that the quantity of his output need not be a hindrance to its quality, and so he kept on creating with the spontaneity of a child:
"If we know how to pray and meditate to gain a free access to the world of inspiration, if we have an inner communication with our Pilot Supreme, then quality and quantity can go together."
In addition, his many grassroots initiatives aimed at uniting his fellow beings behind the vision of a world based on harmony and oneness won him a unique position as a figure above political, religious or regional considerations, a person with truly the betterment of the world at heart. These initiatives included the World Harmony Run, an Olympic-style global relay which crossed the world seeing for themselves how the best qualities of humanity - kindness, empathy, largeness of heart - were qualities that could be found anywhere, and then spreading that message to everyone they met along the route. In 1990, he founded the Oneness-Heart Tears and Smiles humanitarian initiative, which provided aid to 24 countries with a philosophy based on recognizing that those we 'give' to are in fact giving us much more by enabling us to expand our heart. Sri Chinmoy was repeatedly honoured during his life, receiving the UNESCO Nehru medallion and the Mahatma Gandhi award, and being twice invited to hold the opening meditation for the Parliament of World religions in 1997 and 2004.
Every facet of Sri Chinmoy's work spoke of the timeless and eternal qualities of the human soul, a timelessness that feels alive and vibrant even now, even if its creator has left his mortal abode. He often spoke of life and death being merely two sides of the same coin:
"We have a short span of life, say forty, sixty or eighty years; then we pass behind the curtain of Eternity. There is an eternal Life. This Life existed before the creation, it exists now in the creation, then it passes through death and it goes beyond death and enters again into its own realm....It had no beginning and it has no end. It existed, it exists and it will forever exist. Through our meditation, when we realise God, when we stay in God, we become the possessor of that eternal Life. Consciously we go beyond the veil of death and we remain in the eternal Life, which has neither beginning nor end."
His last weeks on earth did not see any slowing down in his activities - in the middle of September, he had travelled to the Russian city of St. Petersburg to give concerts of meditative music, and just the day before his passing he was composing more songs to add to his existing total of over twenty thousand, as well as hosting a meditation function for his students.
I feel in all my limbs His boundless Grace;
Within my heart the Truth of life shines white.
The secret heights of God my soul now climbs;
No dole, no sombre pang, no death in my sight.
No mortal days and nights can shake my calm;
A Light above sustains my secret soul.
All doubts with grief are banished from my deeps,
My eyes of light perceive my cherished Goal.
Though in the world, I am above its woe;
I dwell in an ocean of supreme release.
My mind, a core of the One's unmeasured thoughts;
The star vast welkin hugs my Spirit's peace.
My eternal days are found in speeding time;
I play upon His Flute of rhapsody.
Impossible deeds no more impossible seem;
In birth chains now shines Immortality.
By: Sri Chinmoy
Photo by: Jogyata, Sri Chinmoy Centre Galleries
"We must realise that a life of failure is never permanent."
"Patience is the most sublime progress in disguise."
"Life needs these three things: effort, perseverance and patience."
Photo by Tejvan, Sri Chinmoy Centre Galleries
Forgiveness
Forgiveness
Is mightier
Than the mightiest.
Negativity
Eventually digs
Its own grave
No human being
Shall remain
Indefinitely unrealised
By: Sri Chinmoy
From: Seventy-Seven Thousand Service Trees part 33
Photo by: Tejvan, Sri Chinmoy Centre Galleries
When this world of ours
Was first born,
There was only one thing:
Delight, Infinity's delight.
From: My Christmas-New Year-Vacation-Aspiration-Prayers, Part 21
Photo By: Tejvan Pettinger, Sri Chinmoy Centre Galleries.
My Gratitude Flames
Thorns die,
Roses live.
Hate dies,
Love lives.
Desire dies,
Aspiration lives.
The human in me dies,
The divine in me lives.
My gratitude-flames
In the Heart of God
Never shall die.
Eternally they breathe,
Eternally they sport,
Eternally they manifest
The Supreme,
My Supreme.
By: Sri Chinmoy
More: Gratitude Quotes
Photo by: Prabhakar Street, Sri Chinmoy Centre Galleries
Revelation
No more my heart shall sob or grieve.
My days and nights dissolve in God's own Light.
Above the toil of life my soul
Is a Bird of Fire winging the Infinite.
I have known the One and His secret Play,
And passed beyond the sea of Ignorance Dream.
In tune with Him, I sport and sing;
I own the golden Eye of the Supreme.
Drunk deep of Immortality,
I am the root and boughs of a teeming vast.
My Form I have known and realised.
The Supreme and I are one; all we outlast.
By: Sri Chinmoy
Poem from: My Flute
Criticism has no peace
Either in the inner world
Or the outer world.
~~~
Forgiveness
Is mightier
Than the mightiest
~~~
The aspiring heart
Makes my life
Beauty's heart-garden
By: Sri Chinmoy
Aphorisms from Seventy Seven Thousand Service Trees part 33 by Sri Chinmoy
Photo by Prabhakar: Sri Chinmoy Centre Galleries
by Vidagdha Bennett
A university-educated friend of mine once asked Sri Chinmoy if he should accept a challenging, executive position or one that offered far less pay. Sri Chinmoy responded with this enigmatic message: “Just earn enough to defray the costs of your earthly existence.” Overcoming a certain amount of ambition, my friend accepted the lower salary. It enabled him to live simply and, at the same time, this job gave him the freedom to pursue his spiritual life.
According to Sri Chinmoy’s philosophy, a moderate simplicity is a great advantage. The desire for material things not only binds us but also entangles our thoughts, our emotions. It creates unnecessary worries and anxieties in our lives. Admittedly, it is extremely difficult to extricate oneself from that cycle, but if we can make even the slightest move to lead a simpler life, the resultant feelings of freedom and joy percolate through our entire existence. That is why, perhaps, books like Karen Kingston’s Clear Your Clutter have found such a receptive audience in recent years. They encourage us to examine all our possessions and reduce them—drastically.
By: Vidagdha Bennett
Complain— groan, grumble, mutter, fret and fume, air a grievance, gripe, grizzle, kvetch, beef, bellyache, whine, find fault.
Decidedly, it is difficult to imagine anyone who does not fall into this category on a fairly regular basis. The possibility that there might exist a Pollyanna, somewhere, who does not get up each morning and immediately launch into a rant against the weather, the surroundings, the morning news, the day ahead and so forth, bedazzles any normal individual.
Complaining is part of our everyday diet. It is not an activity we choose; it is ingrained. And yet, now a pastor in Missouri has stepped forth to rid us of this scourge. With all the best intentions in the world, Pastor Will Bowen, a 47-year-old clergyman based at Christ Church Unity in Kansas City, has come up with the bright idea of purple plastic bracelets. Those among his flock who have been "complaint-free" for 21 straight days are eligible to wear the bracelets on their right wrist. Those who sadly lapse must switch to the left wrist and start their three week countdown all over again.
Our human mind says,
"Silence is emptiness; it is sheer emptiness and nothingness."
But our aspiring heart knows that silence
is the fulness and plenitude
of our Eternity's Height and Infinity's Light. (1)
By: Sri Chinmoy
By: Vidagdha Bennett
"Ultimately everything becomes boring," begins philosopher Sri Chinmoy in a poem from 1973. And who can deny it? The tedium of a long plane flight, of waiting in a queue, of following the same routine day after day, of seeing the same faces, all bring home to us the fact that we easily become bored not only with what we are doing but, essentially, with our own company. The solution, argues Sri Chinmoy, is not necessarily to change our outer circumstances but to radically change our inner attitude. He explains further:
"Every day the sun rises. Every morning we can look at the sun, if we are lucky enough to have a clear day. Although it is the same sun that is rising, every day we can see a new beauty inside the sun. Our mind is telling us that it is the same sun that we saw yesterday and the day before yesterday. But when the heart sees this same sun, there is tremendous joy, tremendous thrill, tremendous ecstasy.
Sitar Melodies at Radio Sri Chinmoy
These beautiful and uplifting Sitar Melodies are performed by Dr. Madan Shankar Mishra and his son Vijay. The music is composed by Sri Chinmoy.
I really enjoy listening to this track they play with an energizing and soulful dynamism. It is really infectious. Listen Now m4a Format.
"When we play soulful music, psychic music, then immediately we are transported to the highest realm of consciousness."
- Sri Chinmoy
- More Indian Music
"There are people who say that spirituality is not meant for this world or this outer life. There are people who say that spirituality should be practised only in the evening of one's life-that is to say, after having had all the experiences that the outer world can give, one should enter into the inner life. But these opinions are not true. Spirituality can and should be practised irrespective of place and time. Anybody on earth can practise spiritual life. Spiritual life can never be an artificial life. Spiritual life is something which is natural and spontaneous."
By: Sri Chinmoy
Read more on True Spirituality
Many spiritual seekers in the past have felt that suffering and spiritual progress are inexorably linked. There are numerous examples of great saints who went through tremendous physical suffering during their life. For example St Teresa of Avila, St Francis of Assisi and many others suffered with painful illnesses throughout their life. In the Mahabharata we come across Kunti, the mother of the Pandavas. She used to pray to Lord Krishna that she would always suffer so that she would be inclined to always think of him. When she was happy she said she would forget about Sri Krishna.
It seems a paradox that a God who embodies infinite love, and inner ecstasy should require a seeker to suffer in order to realise him.
Meditation Silence is a weekly podcast of meditation videos. They offer simple guidance about meditation with spiritual teacher Sri Chinmoy
This week is an exercise to try and control the mind. Meditation Silence 7 - The Heart Lotus
"Please try to imagine a lotus inside your heart. Then try to imagine that the lotus is not only inside your heart, but that your heart itself is a lotus. When you look at the lotus or imagine the lotus, try to be deeply absorbed in the beauty of the lotus. It is your own heart-lotus. Then your mind will have no time to roam. "
Watch Meditation video now uses Apple Quicktime
Sri Krishna
"God is proud of His Divinity in Sri Krishna.
Man is proud of his humanity in Sri Krishna.
Sri Krishna is the beloved Boatman who untiringly plies His Boat of Consciousness
between India's unparalleled history and Her unrivalled spirituality.
The Gita is Sri Krishna's Heart, His Vision-in-Fulfilment.
The Gita is humanity's breath, its journey towards Immortality.
Sri Krishna's Flute stirs the Universal Consciousness.
Sri Krishna's Gita enchants the Transcendental Consciousness.
Sri Krishna plays on His Flute. We hear. We do something more.
We barter our body's dust with His Soul's Plenitude.
Sri Krishna is the shoreless ocean of Bliss.
But as soon as I sincerely dedicate myself to Him,
He presents me with His own Boat and takes me to the boundless Shore,
the Golden All."
To Change the World
To change the world around you.
Give the World
What you have
And Serve the world
With what you are.
By: Sri Chinmoy
Photo by Pavitrata Sri Chinmoy Centre Galleries
The Hour Came
Sri Krishna
Here is a play recently performed for Sri Chinmoy and his students. Its aim is to illustrate how misunderstandings between religions are an ancient challenge for humanity, but as Sri Chinmoy teaches, there is hope for the oneness of all humanity, and that historical figures such as Sri Krishna, Mirabai and Akbar The Great can inspire us and show is the way.
View: Play of Mirabai and Akbar
Script by Sumangali Morhall
An article about a world record set by Ashrita Furman for balancing the longest pole on your chin.
Aspendos – what magic and charm are to be found in that name! Fifty kilometres east of Antalya, on Turkey’s Mediterranean coast, lies this masterpiece of the ancient world. In AD 162, out of the granite bedrock, the Roman architect Zeno crafted an amphitheatre which could seat 12,000 spectators – a perfect acoustic and visual shell. From tiers of ascending marble seats, people could watch dramas, pageants and heroic athletic feats.
"When God fulfils your desire, you are all gratitude. When God does not fulfil your desire, if you can become all gratitude to Him, then God Himself is bound to come to you, not only to replace and fulfil your desire, but to give you what He has and what He is: Infinitude."
Love
What is Love?
It is something that has
Infinite possibilities
To enlarge and expand.
Love is the inner bond,
the inner connection, the inner link between man and God,
between the finite and the infinite.
We always have to approach God through love.
Without love, we cannot become one with God.
What is love?
If love means possessing someone or something then that is not real love;
that is not pure love.
If love means giving and becoming one with everything,
with humanity and divinity, then that is real love.
Real love is our total oneness with the object loved and with the possessor of love.
Who is the possessor of love? God
By: Sri Chinmoy
From: Quotes on Love
Photo by Ranjit Sri Chinmoy Centre Galleries
Thought of the Day by Sanjaya Spettigue.
In this episode of "Thought Of The Day", Sanjaya Spettigue reflects on the legacy and contribution of George Harrison, one of the Beatles, whose genuine interest in Eastern philosophy influenced a whole generation.
- Listen Now
- Thought of the Day is hosted at Radio Sri Chinmoy
Poem - Hope
Hope, my pilot-star, hope
I have seen your face.
I have felt your heart.
Therefore
In ignorance-night
I shall no more grope.
Hope, my pilot-star, hope
You are humanity's peerless rope
For human souls to climb
God's transcendental height.
By: Sri Chinmoy
From: Excerpt from Eternity's Breath by Sri Chinmoy.
Photo b yRichard Sri Chinmoy Centre Galleries
Quotes on Transformation
"Neither an individual effort nor an individual abnegation can bring about the transformation of your consciousness.
This transformation is possible only by the descent of a Higher Light. "
"Both the descent of Truth into the lower nature and the ascent of the lower nature into the higher Truth are capable of solving the problem of problems, the illumination of human consciousness. They are equally effective and have an equal speed. "
"Be Universal in your love.
You will see the universe to be the picture of your own being. "
Quotes By: Sri Chinmoy
From: Excerpt from Eternity's Breath by Sri Chinmoy.
Photo by Kamalika Sri Chinmoy Centre Galleries
"When you meditate, what you actually do is to enter into a calm or still, silent mind. We have to be fully aware of the arrival and attack of thoughts. That is to say, we shall not allow any thought, divine or undivine, good or bad, to enter into our mind. Our mind should be absolutely silent. Then we have to go deep within; there we have to observe our real existence. "
Video of Meditation Silence featuring spiritual teacher Sri Chinmoy.
Produced by contributors to Sri Chinmoy TV
Subscribe to other editions at iTunes - Meditation Silence
Quote on Meditation from Excerpt from Earth's Cry Meets Heaven's Smile, Part 1 by Sri Chinmoy.
Modern life with all its distractions and features seems particularly unsuited to silence. Even if we have actual outer silence our mind is rarely silent. If we analyse our thoughts there seem to be a never ending stream of worries, anxieties, and regrets.
In meditation we try to do a very difficult thing - silence our thoughts completely. It is difficult only because we are so unused to this idea. The mind is so used to thinking that it is easy to think our existence is defined by our thoughts and this must be our only existence. To quote the famous saying of Descartes “I think therefore I am” However meditation teaches that what we are is unencumbered by thoughts. The real “I” is our self which is beyond thought.
Time
Is everywhere
Precious.
Do not waste time
Thinking of a better future
The futures is here –
In the heart of
Here and Now.
Poems By: Sri Chinmoy
Photo by Kamalika Sri Chinmoy Centre Galleries
Ashrita Furman breaking a new Guiness record for crawling .
Ashrita crawled on his hands and knees as fast as he could to cover a mile in 24 minutes and 32 seconds, beating the previous Guinness record of 29 minutes and 27 seconds. Ashrita's latest record was watched by some enthusiastic children who were pleased to see someone crawling as fast as they could. Ashrita is a meditation student of Sri Chinmoy. He says his meditation training enables him to be flexible in taking on new challenges. He sets records to show others that we all have unlimited potential if we can harness the power of the spirit.
Photo by Jowan Sri Chinmoy Centre Galleries
More on record
"Patience is a tree that grows within us and produces not one fruit, but four fruits: wisdom, joy, peace and victory. Patience requires energy as well as the co-operation of the body, the vital and the mind. Without patience, the mind works automatically, like a machine. It moves by compulsion, not by choice. It is restless; it darts here and there. The body may be inert, but the mind is constantly roaming. There can be no peace without patience."
By: Sri Chinmoy
From: Illumination Fruits
Photo by Richard Sri Chinmoy Centre Galleries
"Meditation and music cannot be separated. When we cry from the inmost recesses of our heart for peace, light and bliss, that is the best type of meditation. Next to meditation is music, soulful music, the music that stirs and elevates our aspiring consciousness. "
- Listen To Esraj playing of Sri Chinmoy (m4a format)
- Listen To Flute Music and Conch by Sri Chinmoy (m4 a Format)
- Selected Meditation Music with a variety of audio formats
- Spiritual Music with Indian Flavour
"A young aspirant was sitting at the foot of a tree in the summer heat. Fortunately or unfortunately, the tree he happened to be sitting under was the Kalpataru tree, the tree that fulfils all desires, but he did not know this...."
.....
Read complete story: "The Wish Fulfilling Tree" from Gopal's Eternal Brother And Other Stories for Children by Sri Chinmoy
" So, as George Bernard Shaw said, "There are two tragedies in life. One is not to get your heart's desire, the other is to get it." In this story, the young aspirant got it!"
Photo by: Pavitrata: Sri Chinmoy Centre Galleries
Stories of the Moghul Emperors
At Write Spirit there are many stories of the great Moghul Emperors. Including Babar, Humayun and Akbar.
These traditional Indian stories both entertain and inform. These delightful stories of the Moghul Emperors have been retold here by Sri Chinmoy and .
You can also listen to online dramatisations at Inspiration Sounds; including an episode on stories about the Mogul Emperor Humayun
Picture by Unmesh, Sri Chinmoy Centre Galleries
The World Harmony Run visits 11 beautiful Caribbean nations in three action-packed weeks. Island culture and music abound in this short compilation of events in each participating country.
View Video at Sri Chinmoy TV
Produced by Salil Wilson and Ketan Tamm of the World Harmony Run Team
The World Harmony Run was founded by Sri Chinmoy in 1986, it is now an annual global relay running seeking to promote harmony and friendship between people from across all social and cultural sections of society.
Over the weekend of 16th and 17th September various heavy weights including a giant pumpkin and a plane were lifted by weightlifter and spiritual teacher Sri Chinmoy
Sri Chinmoy who is 75 years old lifts to inspire others that age need not be a barrier to achievement. Chinmoy also says the strength for his extraordinary lifts comes from his inner life of prayer and meditation. Asked about his message Sri Chinmoy says:
"Never give up! Never give up! Physical fitness is of paramount importance. There is no age limit when we live in the heart and when we try to be of prayerful and soulful service to God in the heart of humanity."
- Sri Chinmoy
Love is not a thing to feel.
Love is not a thing to give and receive.
Love is a thing only to become And eternally be. "
by: Sri Chinmoy
Poems on Love by Sri Chinmoy at Sri Chinmoy Poetry
World record breaker gets inspiration for 119th record.
Ashirta Furman, of Queens, N.Y., established a record for running a mile on tin pots earlier that afternoon, with a time of 18 minutes and 26 seconds. The pots were held against his shoes by hand-held strings. A stipulation of the record was that the tin pots musn't fall off.
The record was set at POWNAL Green Mountain Race Track on Friday 8th September. After setting and submitting a record it usually takes about 6 weeks for it to be ratified by Guiness.
Furman credits his study of meditation, under the tutelage of Sri Chinmoy, for his ability to break so many records.
"It's all in fun, but there's a serious side because there's physical conditioning and a lot of mental focus required," he said. "You really have to focus deep within yourself. I really have to use the training I got from meditation to be very one-pointed and not allow other distractions to stop me."
After crossing all 48 mainland states in the USA the World Harmony Run finished in New York on August 23rd.
The World Harmony Run founded by Sri Chinmoy is an initiative to promote greater world harmony and friendship. The run does not raise money or seek to highlight any political cause.
The American section run began in April of this year and has been on the road for over 4 months.
The finishing ceremony was for the American run. There are also run being held simultaneously in Europe, Asia and Africa. The European leg will finish in London in October