Documentary by Satyajit Roy
Documentary by Satyajit Roy
Rabindranath Tagore biography and poems at Poetseers
My Country Awake by Tagore
Author Archive
Poem by Kabir – The Moon Shines
The Moon Shines
The moon shines in my body, but my blind eyes cannot see it:
The moon is within me, and so is the sun.
The unstruck drum of Eternity is sounded within me; but my deaf ears cannot hear it.
So long as man clamours for the "I" and the "Mine", his works are as naught:
When all love of the "I" and the "Mine" is dead, then the work of the Lord is done.
For work has no other aim than the getting of knowledge:
When that comes, then work is put away.
The flower blooms for the fruit: when the fruit comes, the flower withers.
The musk is in the deer, but it seeks it not within itself: it wanders in quest of grass.
By: Kabir
Translated: Rabindranath Tagore
Weekly Spiritual Links
"The Mongolian steppes stretch as far as the eye can see ? right to the edge of the sky: hard-packed dirt and shale punctuated by small shrubs and feathergrass. Here and there, a lone ger ? the round nomadic tent ? with dung smoke rising through its roof hole toward a pale sun!"
- A Spiritual Odyssey Through Mongolia : Chidananda Burke, of the Sri Chinmoy Centre, recounts a recent visit to Mongolia.
"My heart-rate drops almost instantly, but jolts on hearing the dulcet tones of 50 Cent, which a kindly school boy at the back is treating his fellow travellers to. Too much of a coward to ask him to lower the volume, I realise this is the perfect test of my meditation techniques.."
- Commuting Meditation Meditation on your daily commute at Sumangali.org
"One evening, Shyama Charan Lahiri was roaming at the foot of the Himalayas while on a short visit to the area, when he heard a voice saying,
The Existence of God
The Existence of God
"They proved to me by convincing reasons that God does not exist; Afterwards I saw God, for he came and embraced me. And now what am I to believe- the reasoning of others or my own experience? Truth is what the soul has seen and experienced; the rest is appearance, prejudice and opinion."
By: Sri Aurobindo
Photo by Unmesh Sri Chinmoy Centre Galleries
- Talk on the Existence of God by Sri Chinmoy
Related:
Swami Vivekananda – Sri Ramakrishna
Sri Ramakrishna and Swami Vivekananda
Swami Vivekananda
When Naren, (Swami Vivekananda ) first came to visit Sri Ramakrishna , he was not altogether impressed with what he saw. His mind doubted this perplexing, unorthodox figure. He left dissatisfied, but, at the same time he felt strangely compelled to return to visit Ramakrishna at Dakshineswar. Sri Ramakrishna, on the other hand, immediately saw in his beloved Naren, tremendous spiritual potential. After his first meeting, he predicted Naren would at one time do great things for his beloved Mother Kali.
At the time, that seemed unlikely because to some Naren appeared quite ordinary, and enjoyed debating about the existence of God. However, the faith Sri Ramakrishna had in his Naren was unprecedented. On one occasion, people started gossiping that Vivekananda had become an atheist. Ramakrishna could not bear to hear people speak ill of Naren. Instinctively he knew the accusations were false; Ramakrishna always maintained the highest faith in Naren.
Naren had tremendous aspiration and inquisitiveness, as a young man, he would ask learned spiritual men whether they had seen God. Unfortunately, he could not find anybody who could answer yes. However, the great Rishi, Debendranath Tagore replied to Vivekananda that although he had not seen God, if he wanted to meet a man who had seen God, he should go and see the Saint of Dakshineswar. When Vivekananda asked Ramakrishna, Ramakrishna replied, without any pride, false modesty or uncertainty that yes, he had seen God; furthermore, he saw God more clearly than he saw his current disciples. Vivekananda was impressed, not just with the answer, but with the unmistakable spiritual authority with which Ramakrishna spoke.
Sri Ramakrishna
At times Naren could not understand why Sri Ramakrishna made such a fuss about him, it led Naren to rebuke Ramakrishna, "why do you give so much attention to me". Ramakrishna replied: "Mother Kali, says to pay no attention, it is only because I see God inside you…."
During his sadhana, Ramakrishna gained mastery over all the occult and kundalini powers. In all sincerity, he offered to give them to his dearest disciple. Vivekandanda’s only reply was "will these help me realise God?" Ramakrishna replied "no, they won’t, but with them you can do great works for the Mother" Vivekananda was uninterested in occult powers he replied to Ramakrishna that if they did not help him realise God he did not want them. This is an example of the sincerity, of the spiritual aspiration of Vivekananda. Like his Master, he realised outer miracles were often worse than useless; both Ramakrishna and Vivekananda wished only to use spiritual power for the inspiration of aspiring humanity.
The spiritual sadhana of Ramakrishna was extraordinary, he prayed and meditated with an unparalleled intensity and devotion. He cared not for mental learning and outer forms; Ramakrishna wished only to go directly to the source. Thus Ramakrishna was an embodiment of intuition and spiritual realisation. Despite his dishevelled looks and lack of outer education, learned scholars would come to listen at his feet. But, it was Vivekananda who was the ideal instrument for the spreading of Ramakrishna’s light in the West. Vivekananda was the messenger of Ramakrishna’s realisations. In truth, they were like 1 soul in 2 bodies.
"The Master and the disciple were hardly two distinct individuals. Each helped to shape the other. To our deeper vision, they formed an integral whole."
[1] Sri Chinmoy
Vivekananda relied on the guiding spiritual light of Ramakrishna. Ramakrishna relied on the dedicated service of Vivekananda.
When in America, Vivekananda did not once mention his Master. When asked why, Vivekananda replied that it was too difficult to do justice to the spiritual height of his Master; he worried that people would not understand and appreciate the spiritual greatness of his Master. However, in whatever he did in the West he felt the guiding hand of his Master.
"His life is a searchlight of infinite power thrown upon the whole mass of Indian religious thought. He was the living commentary to the Vedas and to their aim. He had lived in one life the whole cycle of the national religious existence in India."
Swami Vivekananda on Sri Ramakrishna [2]
Links
Mano Chalo First Song by Swami Vivekananda sung to Sri Ramakrishna at Dakshineswar.
Vivekananda speaking at World Parliament of Religions
References
Love’s Philosophy – Shelley
Love’s Philosophy
THE fountains mingle with the river
And the rivers with the ocean,
The winds of heaven mix for ever
With a sweet emotion;
Nothing in the world is single,
All things by a law divine
In one another’s being mingle—
Why not I with thine?
See the mountains kiss high heaven,
And the waves clasp one another;
No sister-flower would be forgiven
If it disdain’d its brother;
And the sunlight clasps the earth,
And the moonbeams kiss the sea—
What are all these kissings worth,
If thou kiss not me?
By: Percy B. Shelley
Buddhism and Lord Buddha
Daibatsu Buddha
"For centuries the light of the Buddha has shone as a beacon beckoning men from across the sea of darkness. Like lost children, millions of seekers have reached out to the light with their heart’s inmost cry, and the Buddha has shown them the Way. The world stood before the Buddha with it’s ignorance, and the Buddha, the Enlightened One, gave man Truth. The world offered its age old suffering to the Buddha’s heart and the Buddha, Lord of Compassion, showed man the Dharma."
From Introduction to: Siddhartha Becomes The Buddha by Sri Chinmoy
Other selected parts from the play:
Buddha and Ananda On the passing of Lord Buddha.
Other Buddhist Links
The Buddha’s Silence Wins short story on the power of silence.
Conquer The Angry Man by Love – The Quintessence of Buddhism
Buddhist Poets at Poetseers
Lord Buddha’s Compassion at Sri Chinmoy Library
Photos of Bodhgaya – The Place of Buddha’s Enlightenment.
Spiritual Music: Baoul Style
Ranjit and Unmesh Swanson, are meditation students of Sri Chinmoy, who have frequently visited the Indian subcontinent. They have visited various spiritual sites such as Dakshineswar (where Sri Ramakrishna lived)
This is a selection of some of their music. It is sung in the Baoul tradition of wandering mendicants; they are accompanied by simple stringed instruments and percussion. Enjoy:
Recording 1: Vishna Ar Droma by Sri Chinmoy + Song of Sri Ramakrishna. Listen Now (m4a)
Recording 2: 1 song by Sri Chinmoy: 1 song by Sri Ramakrishna: Listen Now (m4a)
Recording 3: 1 song composed by Sri Chinmoy: 1 song a Bhajan of Mirabai: Listen Now
More:
Picture of Dakshineswar, India by Unmesh Swanson: Sri Chinmoy Galleries