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How to listen to your own inner voice

Advertising, friends, relatives, world leaders, religious leaders, scientists - the world is full of different voices telling us we should do this thing or that, or we should go in this or that direction. In the midst of this cacophony, it is very easy to forget we have our own inner voice or conscience, which is acutely aware of our life's purpose and always tries to prompt us in the direction of our ultimate happiness.  read more »

Sri Chinmoy 1931-2007: a lifetime of service

Yesterday, 11 October, my meditation teacher Sri Chinmoy passed behind the curtain of this mortal world, after a lifetime of service to humanity spanning 76 years. 43 of those years were spent in the West, tirelessly demonstrating his firm conviction that another, better world is indeed possible, if only we can all go deep within and find the strength to better ourselves. Tributes have flooded in from all corners of the globe, and their sheer variety is testament to the myriad ways in which Sri Chinmoy demonstrated his vision: some remember him for the volume and depth of his musical works, others for his groundbreaking achievements in athletics, and yet others for his work to break down the barriers of suspicion and distrust between countries and faiths and remind us of the eternal truth that the world is indeed one large family. Those who are fortunate enough to be his meditation students remember him for all these things and more, for he truly instilled in each one of us a deep and lasting awareness of the divine beauty that is at the core of each human being.  read more »

Sri Chinmoy's jayanthi: A birthday like no other

Every August, over a thousand people converge on a beautiful sunny open-air meditation space in Queens, New York: during the time they are there, the place will play host to a cornucopia of singing and instrumental performances from the four corners of the globe, accomplished theatrical improvisations, heartfelt tales of inspiration, a Guinness world record or two, a marathon, and a fully-fledged circus! The reason? Quite simply, a birthday like no other.  read more »

Seventy Seven Thousand Service Trees - a vast poetry collection by Sri Chinmoy

Poetry has always been Sri Chinmoy's forte, and he has been composing poems ever since his early teens. However, has he gets older, his poetic rate of output only seems to increase, and he is currently over half way towards completing his largest collection yet - an amazing 77,000 poem-aphorisms, published serially in a 77-volume collection called "Seventy-Seven Thousand Service-Trees".  read more »

Sri Chinmoy's plays: spiritual simplicity

Sri Chinmoy's creative and athletic output has been so prolific that it is very easy to overlook gems from years gone past. One such gem is his oeuvre of spiritual plays which he wrote in the early seventies, which have since been performed at theatres all over the world.  read more »

Sri Chinmoy's world of sport

If you were to narrow yourself down to discussing just one aspect of Sri Chinmoy's creative and athletic output - be it music, art, literature or sport - if you were to take even that one aspect and go through all the achievements therein, you would still wonder in amazement at how it all fits into a finite lifespan of seventy-odd years. Sri Chinmoy's contributions in the world of sport are no exception, spanning athletics weightlifting, tennis and more.  read more »

The Sri Chinmoy Centre: spirituality for a dynamic world

There are some who say that spirituality is an escape, a way of refusing to accept the realitiies of life. Based on my experiences as a member of the Sri Chinmoy Centre, I can confidently assert the opposite: that spirituality is about accepting circumstances as they are, and working to transform them.

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Sri Chinmoy's weightlifting: a lesson in never giving up

Meditation teachers are masters at the art of seeing a golden opportunity where others would see a dead end. When Sri Chinmoy, a prolific athlete and tennis player, had to curtail his involvement in those two sports due to a severe knee injury, this became the launchpad for another surprising development, one that perhaps he did not even envision coming.  read more »

Songs of the soul: a look at Sri Chinmoy's musical creations

"When I was four or five years old, my sister started teaching me songs.", Sri Chinmoy recalls about his early introduction to music. "Then, when I was in my adolescence, God blessed me with a good singing voice. I learned hundreds of songs and composed a few as well." These 'few songs' he speaks of were composed at a time when he was making rapid strides in his meditative prowess, and they speak of this new and beautiful reality of vastness that the young Chinmoy found himself immersed in at this time.  read more »

Sri Chinmoy's artistic output

For those souls who have reached high meditative states and realised their oneness with the Source, their inner source commands them to be of service to humanity, sometimes in ways that come as a surprise even to them. This can certainly be said of Sri Chinmoy's athletic output; he has often said how out of all the creative endowments he has recieved through his meditation, his artistic output is the one which he least expected.  read more »