:: March 2008: Volume 7/Number 2

In Memorium

Sri Chinmoy Enters Mahasamadhi

by Sujantra McKeever
Photo courtesy of: Sujantra McKeever

just one smile

immensely increases

the beauty of the universe

sri chinmoy

In the early morning hours of October 11, 2007, at the age of 76, Spiritual Master Sri Chinmoy entered Mahasamadhi (the final stage of enlightenment and leaving the earthly body behind). Sri Chinmoy dedicated his life to world harmony and helping individuals discover their true potential. He established over 300 meditation centers worldwide and was a spiritual teacher to more than 7,000 students. He was also an athlete, poet, artist and musician.

Chinmoy Kumar Ghose was born on August 27, 1931, in a small village in East Bengal (now Bangladesh). Orphaned at 11, he spent the next 20 years of his life living at the Sri Aurobindo Ashram in southern India with his six brothers and sisters. He spent up to eight hours a day in meditation. Heeding an inner call, he moved to the U.S. in 1964 making New York City his home.

In 1970, at the invitation of then Secretary-General U Thant, Sri Chinmoy began conducting twice-weekly meditations at the United Nations. He continued offering those meditations until the final months of his life.

In the early 1980s Sri Chinmoy leased an old cul-de-sac from the city of New York and he and his students transformed it into a beautiful park named Aspiration-Ground, complete with a tennis court. Sri Chinmoy loved tennis and spent much of his time there.

As a spiritual teacher he asked for a serious commitment on the part of those wishing to be his students, yet never charged them a fee. He described his path as that of love, devotion and surrender to God. He emphasized the yogic practices of concentration, meditation and contemplation. He stressed the importance of physical fitness, conscious eating and service to others. He upheld the importance of the yamas (personal restraints) and the niyamas (ethical observances), notably brahmacharya (energetic restraint). He taught that the use of non-medicinal or recreational drugs damages the subtle nervous system.

Sri Chinmoy offered over 800 free musical concerts where he performed his own compositions (which totaled 18,000), on a variety of instruments from around the world. These were held at venues as diverse as Central Park in New York City and London’s Royal Albert Hall. He visited California dozens of times and performed free concerts at Copley Symphony Hall and Cox Arena in San Diego, Davies Symphony Hall and Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco, and at UCLA.

A champion athlete, Sri Chinmoy took up marathon and ultra-distance running in the 1970s. Shortly thereafter, his students formed the Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team (SCMT), which today organizes some 500 athletic events worldwide. In 1987, Sri Chinmoy founded the World Harmony Run, a global torch relay celebrating international friendship and understanding. In the relay, runners pass a flaming torch from hand to hand and heart to heart while traveling 35,000 miles through more than 120 countries. The SCMT hosts two annual Swim & Run events in San Diego and a yearly Masters Track-and-Field meet in Long Beach.

A prolific artist, Sri Chinmoy created more than 200,000 vivid Jharna-Kala paintings (Bengali for “fountain-art”). These, as well as selections of his millions of spontaneously-created bird drawings, have been exhibited at major galleries worldwide. Sri Chinmoy composed over 120,000 poems and published more than 1,500 literary works, including prose, poetry, plays and university lectures.

There are Sri Chinmoy Centers in San Francisco, San Diego, Los Angeles and Santa Barbara. Two of California’s best-loved vegetarian restaurants are Sri Chinmoy divine enterprises that continue to thrive after twenty-plus years: Jyoti-Bihanga in San Diego and Ananda Fuara in San Francisco.

Asked by a reporter to sum up the essence of his teachings he said: “Our path is the acceptance of life for the transformation of life and also for the manifestation of God’s Light here on Earth at God’s Choice Hour in God’s Own Way.”

For information on Sri Chinmoy Centres in California, call (619) 640 - 4438. For more on Sri Chinmoy and the World Harmony Run visit srichinmoy.org.

Sujantra McKeever has studied with Sri Chinmoy since 1980. He owns Pilgrimage of the Heart Yoga in San Diego and is the author of five books. Pilgrimageyoga.com

 

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