73 Facts About Sri Chinmoy

1.

Chinmoy Kumar Ghose, better known as Sri Chinmoy, was an Indian spiritual leader who taught meditation in the West after moving to New York City in 1964.

2.

Sri Chinmoy advocated a spiritual path to God through prayer and meditation.

3.

Sri Chinmoy advocated athleticism including distance running, swimming, and weightlifting.

4.

Sri Chinmoy organized marathons and other races, and was an active runner and, following a knee injury, weightlifter.

5.

Sri Chinmoy was the youngest of seven children, born in Shakpura, Boalkhali Upazila, in the Chittagong District of East Bengal, British India.

6.

Sri Chinmoy lost his father to illness in 1943, and his mother a few months later.

7.

Sri Chinmoy began his serious practice of meditation at the age of 11.

8.

Sri Chinmoy claimed that for about eight years, he was the personal secretary to the General Secretary of the ashram, Nolini Kanta Gupta.

9.

Sri Chinmoy successfully applied for a job as junior clerk at the Indian consulate, despite his lack of formal education.

10.

Sri Chinmoy received support and encouragement from his colleagues and bosses and was invited to give talks on Hinduism.

11.

Sri Chinmoy started to give talks at universities and later, at the United Nations.

12.

Sri Chinmoy has published books, essays, spiritual poetry, plays, and commentaries on the Vedas.

13.

In 1973, the New York Times wrote that Sri Chinmoy was "revered in India as one of the few holy men to have reached Nirvikalpa Samadhi, the absolute highest level of consciousness".

14.

Sri Chinmoy offered the musicians a disciplined spiritual path that forbade the use of drugs and alcohol and encouraged music and poetry as expressions of thankfulness to the Divine.

15.

In 1973 they released an album based on Sri Chinmoy's teachings, titled Love Devotion Surrender.

16.

In 1971 he formed the Mahavishnu Orchestra, named for the spiritual name Sri Chinmoy had given him.

17.

Sri Chinmoy told all my friends not to call me ever again, because I was to drown in the dark sea of ignorance for leaving him.

18.

Spiritual teacher Frederick Lenz became a follower around 1972, but in 1981 he broke with Sri Chinmoy and became a guru on his own.

19.

Sri Chinmoy advocated "self-transcendence" by expanding one's consciousness to conquer the mind's perceived limitations, and this was often applied to athletics.

20.

Sri Chinmoy learned to meditate from Chinmoy, and practices the techniques regularly.

21.

In 1987 Sri Chinmoy inaugurated the Sri Chinmoy Oneness Home Peace Run, a symbolic relay style run for peace through many countries of the world where runners carry a flaming torch representing harmony.

22.

Sri Chinmoy described his concept as a "grassroots effort for peace".

23.

In 1991 Sri Chinmoy initiated the 'Oneness Heart Tears and Smiles' humanitarian service which sends food and medicine to those in need.

24.

The organisation, which as of 2007 served 136 countries, began with members of the Sri Chinmoy Centre distributing humanitarian aid to needy children and adults worldwide.

25.

Sri Chinmoy travelled widely, and dedicated his many activities and the events he founded to peace.

26.

Sri Chinmoy met with world figures, and was often described as an ambassador of peace.

27.

Sri Chinmoy did not charge fees for his spiritual guidance or music performances.

28.

Sri Chinmoy was respectful towards all religions and religious figures of the world.

29.

Sri Chinmoy attracted an estimated 7,000 students in his lifetime.

30.

Sri Chinmoy's path was a contemporary spiritual system of yoga, practised under the guidance of a guru, or spiritual teacher.

31.

Unlike in some other older traditions, Sri Chinmoy taught that a complete withdrawal from the world was not necessary for spiritual progress, but rather "a gradual and total Illumination of life".

32.

Until his death in late 2007, Sri Chinmoy was the spiritual leader to thousands of devoted followers worldwide.

33.

The Sri Chinmoy group was considered to be a cult by some.

34.

Sri Chinmoy was never sued or charged with any crime, and his lawyer denied the 2004 allegations at the time.

35.

Tamm, who was born into Sri Chinmoy's organisation, claimed that Sri Chinmoy predicted she would become his perfect disciple.

36.

Sri Chinmoy was banished from the group when she was 25.

37.

Tamm notes however that the 7,000 other followers around the world, and others who encountered Sri Chinmoy, are likely to have had different experiences and perceptions.

38.

Sri Chinmoy died from a heart attack while at his home in Jamaica, Queens, New York on 11 October 2007.

39.

Sri Chinmoy taught that rapid spiritual progress could be made by following a path of love, devotion, and surrender.

40.

Sri Chinmoy's path was not one of earthly renunciation or asceticism, but a middle path where the seeker has the opportunity to renounce, or transform, the negative qualities which stand in the way of union with the Divine.

41.

Sri Chinmoy taught that meditation on the heart brings the light of the soul forward to reach the highest reality as soon as possible.

42.

Sri Chinmoy believed that we are all truly unlimited in spirit.

43.

Sri Chinmoy asked his disciples to adopt a vegetarian diet, abstain from recreational drugs including alcohol, and lead a pure and celibate lifestyle.

44.

Sri Chinmoy taught a range of techniques for meditation, especially those for calming and bringing silence to the mind, purifying the thoughts of the mind and meditating on the spiritual heart.

45.

Sri Chinmoy explains that by keeping your mind calm and quiet for ten or fifteen minutes, a new experience can begin to dawn within you and this practise of stilling the mind is the root of all spiritual progress.

46.

Sri Chinmoy recommended meditation during the quiet atmosphere of the early morning, before starting daily activities.

47.

Sri Chinmoy taught that reading spiritual writings or singing soulful songs was useful to prepare for meditation or to remain in a meditative mood after practising meditation.

48.

Sri Chinmoy believed that running and physical fitness were a help to the inner spiritual life as well as to the outer life of activity, and encouraged his followers to run daily.

49.

Sri Chinmoy regarded the benefits of running as keeping the body fit and clearing the mind; he felt it can be a form of external meditation.

50.

In 1970, Sri Chinmoy began giving twice-weekly non-denominational peace meditations at the United Nations for UN delegates, staff, and NGO representatives.

51.

An integral part of Sri Chinmoy's teaching is the respect for other paths and religions.

52.

Sri Chinmoy said that although he was brought up in the Hindu tradition, he felt that his only religion was the "Love of God".

53.

Sri Chinmoy began painting in 1974 during a visit to Ottawa, Canada.

54.

Sri Chinmoy called his artwork "Jharna Kala", which in Bengali means "Fountain Art".

55.

Sri Chinmoy's artwork is inspired by the themes of universal oneness and universal peace.

56.

Sri Chinmoy used a wide variety of sponges, brushes and colors to paint in a unique spontaneous mystical style with a lot of vigour, strong movement and rhythm.

57.

Sri Chinmoy has said that when he paints he finds a spontaneous flow of creativity from the stillness of his meditation that allows him to follow an inner inspiration or 'streak of light' to follow.

58.

In December 1991 Sri Chinmoy started a new series of art-work entitled "Dream-Freedom-Peace-Birds" or 'Soul Birds'.

59.

The soul bird drawings, Sri Chinmoy stated, symbolize humanity's heart cry for freedom.

60.

Sri Chinmoy's art has been displayed in the UNESCO offices in Paris, London's Victoria and Albert Museum, the Mall Gallery in London, the Museum of Modern Art in St Petersburg, John F Kennedy International Airport in New York, and the United Nations Headquarters.

61.

Sri Chinmoy released two albums in Jamaica on the Studio One subsidiary label Port-O-Jam.

62.

In 1976, Sri Chinmoy released a meditative album on Folkways Records entitled Music for Meditation.

63.

Sri Chinmoy gave hundreds of peace concerts, many of them free.

64.

Sri Chinmoy gave concerts in notable venues around the world, including London's Royal Albert Hall, New York's Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall, Tokyo's Nippon Budokan, the Eiffel Tower in Paris, and the Sydney Opera House.

65.

Sri Chinmoy played a number of different instruments at his concerts including the flute, esraj, piano, cello and other Eastern and Western instruments.

66.

In 2001, Sri Chinmoy recited his poetry at the United Nations, as part of a UN sponsored event of promoting "Dialogue Among Civilizations Through Poetry".

67.

In 1985 Chinmoy, with the then Mayor of Oxford, inaugurated the first "Sri Chinmoy Peace Mile", which is a measured mile in Cutteslowe Park, Oxford giving joggers something against which to measure their progress.

68.

Many of Sri Chinmoy's followers run daily for health and physical fitness.

69.

Sri Chinmoy himself continued to enter races until his 60s when a knee injury hampered his ability to run; afterwards he turned his attention to tennis and weightlifting.

70.

Sri Chinmoy began weightlifting in 1985, at the age of 54.

71.

Sri Chinmoy's weightlifting included a creative array of objects and machinery designed to challenge his strength and ability.

72.

Sri Chinmoy described his motivation: 'I lift them up to show my appreciation for their achievements,' Among some of the 7000 people he lifted include: Nelson Mandela, Desmond Tutu, Muhammad Ali, Sting, Eddie Murphy, Susan Sarandon, Roberta Flack, Yoko Ono, Jeff Goldblum, Richard Gere, and Helen Hunt.

73.

Terry Todd, a professor of kinesiology at the University of Texas, concluded that Sri Chinmoy misrepresented the type and weight of some of the lifts he claimed to have completed.