Sri Chinmoy

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 The neutrality of this article is disputed.
Please see the discussion on the talk page.(December 2007)
Please do not remove this message until the dispute is resolved.
Sri Chinmoy

Sri Chinmoy, c. 1997.
Born August 27, 1931(1931-08-27)
Shakpura village, Chittagong District, East Bengal, British India (now Bangladesh)
Died October 11, 2007 (aged 76)
New York City
Burial place Queens, New York
Nationality Indian
Religious beliefs Hindu

Sri Chinmoy Kumar Ghose[1] (27 August 1931 – 11 October 2007) was an Indian philosopher and teacher (guru) who emigrated to the U.S. in 1964.[2] A prolific author, composer, artist and athlete, he was perhaps best known for holding public events on the theme of inner peace and world harmony (such as concerts, meditations, and races). His teachings emphasize love for God, daily meditation on the heart, service to the world, and religious tolerance rooted in the syncretic modern Vedantic[3] view that “all faiths” are essentially divine.

Contents

[edit] Early years in India (1931-1964)

He was the youngest of seven children, born in Shakpura village in the Chittagong District of East Bengal (now Bangladesh).[4] His parents were Shashi Kumar Ghosh, a railway inspector turned banker,[5] and Yogamaya Ghosh, an Indian homemaker of devout temperament.[6] He lost his father to illness in 1943, and his mother a few months later. Orphaned, in 1944 the 12-year-old Chinmoy joined his brothers and sisters at the Sri Aurobindo Ashram in Pondicherry, South India, where elder brothers Hriday and Chitta had already established a presence.[7] There he spent the next twenty years in spiritual practice, including meditation, study in Bengali and English literature,[8] and work in the ashram’s cottage industries.[9]

In his teens and twenties he was a sprinter and decathlete.[10] In 1955 he became secretary to Nolini Kanta Gupta[11] - the third in charge at the ashram - translating many of the latter’s articles from Bengali to English.[12] He also published articles of his own about India’s spiritual leaders,[13] and continued filling notebooks with poems, songs, and reflections on ashram life.[14]

[edit] In the West (1964-2007)

In 1964 he accepted the invitation of American sponsors,[15] and emigrated to New York City with the intention of teaching. Between 1968 and 1970, he gave talks at Yale, Harvard, Cornell, Brandeis, Dartmouth, and The New School for Social Research. He continued to travel, lecture, and open new meditation centers, until his death.

While in America, he attracted well-known followers including musicians Carlos Santana and John McLaughlin.

[edit] Artistic pursuits

Sri Chinmoy was a prolific composer of short songs in Bengali and English,[16] which he also performed on the flute, esraj, cello, and synthesizer, as well as improvising sonorous compositions on piano and pipe organ. In 1984 he began a series of free concerts for world harmony, performing in such venues as London’s Royal Albert Hall, New York’s Carnegie Hall, Tokyo’s Nippon Budokan, and the Sydney Opera House.[17] These concerts became his most numerous and popular productions.

[edit] Athletic and humanitarian programs

In 1977 he founded the Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team, which holds running, swimming, and cycling events worldwide, from fun runs to ultramarathons.[18] Its precursor was the 1976 Liberty Torch Run, a relay in which 33 runners marked America’s bicentennial by covering 8,800 miles in 7 weeks, mapped out over 50 states.[19] The run began and ended in New York City, and was met on its final leg by then Mayor Abraham Beame, who proclaimed August 16, 1976 “Liberty Torch Day.”[20] This concept was expanded in 1987 to become the international Peace Run (later renamed World Harmony Run),[21] generally held every two years. Many of Chinmoy’s followers run daily for health and fitness. In 1978, he received a distinguished service award from Runner's World magazine “for dedicated service to humanity through the promotion of running.”[22] Chinmoy continued to enter races from his youth until his sixties. In his closing years, a knee injury hampered his ability to run. In Cutteslowe Park, Oxford there is a Sri Chinmoy Peace Mile, which is a measured mile around the park giving joggers something to measure their progress against. An approximate map of it is available at http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=1551236 giving the start and endpoints, as they are marked on the ground. The Peace Mile was inaugurated in 1985 by Sri Chinmoy, with the then Mayor of Oxford.

[edit] Teachings

He calls his path the “path of the heart”[23] or the path of “love, devotion, and surrender”[24] to God, whom he calls “the Supreme.” [25] His conception of the Supreme includes both form and the formless,[26] and both Father and Mother aspects.[27] He does not view the Supreme as a fixed or static entity, but rather uses the term “ever-transcending Beyond.” He also describes God as inner Truth, and as one’s most illumined part. This is consistent with the Hindu doctrine of Tat Tvam Asi (Skt. “That Thou Art”) found in the Chandogya Upanishad.[28] His teachings are essentially monotheistic. His teachings are non-exclusivist, and value the contributions made by spiritual figures from Mother Teresa[29] to Pir Vilayat Inayat Khan.[30]

[edit] Lifestyle

He asked his students to adopt a vegetarian diet, abstain from recreational drugs and alcohol,[31] and lead a pure, celibate life.[32] At weekly meetings, the men wear white clothing, while the women wear Indian saris.[33] Although strongly influenced by Hinduism, his path catered to an international community of seekers from diverse backgrounds.[34]

[edit] Controversy

 Please help improve this article or section by expanding it.
Further information might be found on the talk page or at requests for expansion. (October 2007)

In 1996, a plaque associated with Sri Chinmoy at the Statue of Liberty was removed by the National Park Service after several weeks of protests due to a call by American Atheists, who viewed this as a violation of the separation of Church and State.

[edit] See also

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Sands 2001, p. 26. Sri Chinmoy is the name under which the guru has taught, published, composed and performed since approximately 1972. (See front and back matter of referenced works.) He was previously known as Sri Chinmoy Kumar Ghose (e.g. “Many at U.N.” New York Times 8 Nov. 1971: 42). He signed most of his paintings and drawings C.K.G. (“C.K.G.” Jharna-Kala Magazine 1.1 (Apr.–June 1977): 1).
  2. ^ Dua 2005, p. 7.
  3. ^ Adiswarananda, “Swami Vivekananda (Part 3)” Ramakrishna-Vivekananda Center of New York 1996.
  4. ^ Dua 2005, pp. 10, 17.
  5. ^ Chinmoy, My Father 1992, pp. 1, 3.
  6. ^ Dua 2005, p. 10 and Chinmoy, To the Streaming Tears 1994, pp. 6, 14.
  7. ^ Dua 2005, pp. 18, 22 and Chinmoy, My Brother Chitta 1998, p. 58.
  8. ^ Chinmoy, My Brother 1998, pp. 60, 65.
  9. ^ Chinmoy, Sri Chinmoy Answers, Part 23 2000, p. 28 and Chinmoy, How Nolini-da 2004, pp. 6–7.
  10. ^ Dua 2005 pp. 33–35 and Sands 2001, p. 32.
  11. ^ Chinmoy, How Nolini-da 2004; Chinmoy, Sri Chinmoy Answers, Part 23 2000, p. 28; Chinmoy, A Service-Flame 1974.
  12. ^ Chinmoy, How Nolini-da 2004, pp. 3–4; Gupta, Lotus-Petals, Part 1 1971 and Part 2 1973; Gupta, An Exquisite Petal 1984.
  13. ^ Chinmoy, Mother India's Lighthouse 1973.
  14. ^ Chinmoy, My Brother 1998, p. 65 and Sands 2001, pp. 32–34.
  15. ^ Chinmoy, Sri Chinmoy Answers, Part 23 2000, p. 28.
  16. ^ Dua 2005, p. 68 claims that as of 5 May 2005, Chinmoy had composed 18,897 devotional songs, comprising 12,000 in Bengali - his mother tongue - 6,684 in English, 180 in Sanskrit and 33 in French.
  17. ^ Dua 2005, p. 66; “Sri Chinmoy Composes” India Post 2 Aug. 2006.
  18. ^ Bennett, Ultrarunning Apr. 1987: 23–25.
  19. ^ Among the Great 1978, p. 174 (description and White House commendation).
  20. ^ Among the Great 1978, p. 176 (Mayoral proclamation). Mayor Beame also sent a letter to Sri Chinmoy saying: “During the 12 years you have been a resident of our City, you have selflessly offered hundreds of public meditations - attended by thousands of New Yorkers of every age, race, and religion - conducted dozens of free concerts and opened your art gallery to the people, and never have you charged a fee. ... [I] look forward to seeing you again as each of us continues to do our very best to serve the needs of New Yorkers.” (Among the Great 1978, p. 50, signed letter.)
  21. ^ Greene, “Runners Span Globe” Salisbury Post 2005.
  22. ^ Among the Great 1978, p. 192 (photo of plaque).
  23. ^ Chinmoy, Mind-Confusion, Part 2 1974.
  24. ^ Chinmoy, The Oneness, Part 2 2004, pp. 254–56.
  25. ^ Chinmoy, The Vision 1974, p. 39.
  26. ^ Chinmoy, The Wisdom of Sri Chinmoy 2000, p. 131.
  27. ^ Chinmoy, My Flute 1972, p. 55 and Chinmoy, The Wisdom 2000, pp. 126–27.
  28. ^ Chandogyopanisad VI.8.7–VI. 16 passim. Commentary by Chinmoy in The Oneness, Part 2 2004, pp. 135–36, p. 168.
  29. ^ Rogers, “Mother Teresa Receives” The Italian Voice 1994; English 1997; “Queens Guru” Queens Courier 1998; Chinmoy, Mother Teresa 1997.
  30. ^ Among the Great 1978, p. 154 (photo with Pir Vilayat Inayat Khan); Chinmoy, Sri Chinmoy Answers, Part 9 1999, p. 7 (remarks praising Pir Vilayat Inayat Khan).
  31. ^ Kubacki, “An 868-kilometre ‘Spiritual Journey’” Ottawa Citizen 2006.
  32. ^ “Peace Institute” Hinduism Today Feb. 1994; “Tribute” Hinduism Today Dec. 1997: 34–35;
  33. ^ “Sri Chinmoy Writes” People Weekly 1976: 50; Knox (ed.), Religion and Public Policy Religion Counts 2002, p. 30.
  34. ^ Hinnells 1991, p. 80.

[edit] External links