Latest news and features

from Sri Chinmoy Centres around the world.
15 February

From Alaska to Mt Cook

After coming to the West in 1964, Sri Chinmoy, travelled tirelessly around the world visiting many countries and establishing Sri Chinmoy Centres in over 60 countries. Sri Chinmoy Centres have been established in cities from Siberia to South Africa and North America to New Zealand.

Alaska

Alaska

Photo by Palyati, Alaska

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The Sri Chinmoy Centre is a truly global organisation reflecting Sri Chinmoy's inspiration to promote a global world family.

"A oneness-world either in the near or in the distant future is not only possible and practicable, but inevitable. A oneness-world expedites God’s Hour, and it is only in God’s Hour that humanity’s agelong hunger drinks in Divinity’s Nectar-Delight."

- Sri Chinmoy from U Thant - Divinity's Smile, Humanity's Cry

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Meditating at the Base of Mount Cook

New Zealand Sri Chinmoy Centre at Mount Cook in the south island of New Zealand. More pics

You can see a list of countries at Sri Chinmoy Centre

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13 February

Featured Gallery - Macedonia

This weeks featured gallery is from the Macedonia Sri Chinmoy Centre.

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Macedonia

A wonderful view of a Macedonian church.

Macedonia Sri Chinmoy Centre Gallery
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macedonia From a recent walk on New Year's day 2010

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Light streaming through the clouds macedonia

Caption in Gallery 'Frosi:-)'

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Taking a breather for the photographer.

Find out more about the Macedonia Sri Chinmoy Centre

6 February

Kailash's Singing Group

Kailash explains how is group learnt 7,000 of Sri Chinmoy's songs and performed them over a period of a few years.

Kailash at Radio Sri Chinmoy

Kailash explains some of his techniques for learning new songs and how his group are able to learn so many new songs. Sri Chinmoy composed over 20,000 spiritual songs - a prolific output of devotional songs.

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You can also hear Kailash's group from a recording in April 2005 at: Radio Sri Chinmoy

Photo: Sri Chinmoy Centre Galleries

5 February

World Harmony Run in Colombia

Recently, the World Harmony Run visited school and runners in different parts of Colombia

Gagane from Iceland introduces the World Harmony Run to Escuelas Profesionales Salesianas school in Colombia.

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Each of the 600 members of the school gained a chance to hold the harmony torch and offer their good wishes for world peace.

Earlier in the month, the Harmony Run team met up with world record holder and inspiration Lazaro Matinez Cruz. Lazaro set a world record by travelling by wheel chair from Buenos Aires to Paipa - a distance of over 6000 km which took him over the Andes mountain. From: Paipa 22 January

More info at World Harmony Run site

31 January

Featured Gallery - Jharna Kala Exhibition Moscow

This week's featured gallery is a Jharna Kala exhibition in Moscow, Russia during 2009.

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Selection of Paintings from exhibition

The exhibition of Sri Chinmoy's art was held in the Museum of Russian Contemporary History.

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A view of the gallery

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Part of the choir who performed music at the exhibition.

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Two lions guard the entrance to the museum.

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Food as colourful as the art

More photos of Gallery at Sri Chinmoy Centre

30 January

Sri Chinmoy Reflections

Sri Chinmoy reflections is a site with a range of essays and articles on the different aspect of Sri Chinmoy's life.

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Sri Chinmoy

The website is maintained by Animesh Harrington, who has been a student of Sri Chinmoy since the 1970s.

Recent articles on the site include:

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Cascading Organ-Delight - an article by Prachar Stegemann on the organ playing of Sri Chinmoy

... Sri Chinmoy: Yes, I find spirituality in the organ, more than I find it in any other instrument. Here I see that the organ is not only the King of all the musical instruments but it is also the Queen of all the instruments. It has a very subtle, delicate touch at the same time....

Sri Chinmoy

Sri Chinmoy playing tennis

Sri Chinmoy's Peerless Tennis Achievement Part 2 by Dr Vidagdha Bennett

"...At 7:30 p.m. people began arriving for meditation. Instead, they found themselves witness to a remarkable display of energy and skill. In the final moments of play, Sri Chinmoy employed his whole repertoire of dipping and angled shots, spins and lobs, to defeat the opposing team. The scores stood at 50-35 games in his favour. Smiling, he said: “Almost nearing 100 games – so one can become tired!"

24 January

Annapurna Restaurant

Annapurna was opened in 1974, by Shivaram & Devavira two students of Sri Chinmoy from Toronto.

annapurnaIt is now the oldest vegetarian restaurant in Ontario. It is renowned for its peaceful and welcoming atmosphere and its excellent range of healthy gastronomic delights.

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Anna Purna

Annapūrṇā is a Sanskrit name which literally means "full of food" (feminine form), but is normally translated as Goddess of the Harvests. In Hinduism, Annapurna is a goddess of fertility and agriculture and an avatar of Durga.

More Canadian enterprises at Sri Chinmoy Centre

23 January

Concert Bristol Cathedral

Ananda, a  group performing the music of Sri Chinmoy recently offered a concert at Bristol Cathedral.

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Ananda Concert

The concert was held in the Charterhouse an ancient part of Bristol Cathedral. Over 100 people attended the concert of soulful music, performed by Ananda.


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"When we play soulful music, we elevate our consciousness most rapidly. Soulful music is a form of aspiration, a form of meditation."


- Sri Chinmoy

Excerpt from Sri Chinmoy Speaks, Part 5 by Sri Chinmoy.

Bristol Cathedral

Bristol Cathedral

After the concert - Sadanand (from Dublin Ireland), Devashishu, Upasana.

Ananda at Radio Sri Chinmoy

17 January

Everest Aspiration

Everest Aspiration is a collection of talks given by Sri Chinmoy on the Spiritual life.

"Smile, my friends, my soulful friends, smile. Let us smile. True, this world of ours is full of suffering and excruciating pangs, but that is no reason why we should not smile. We must smile in order to unburden the world's suffering-burden. We must smile in order to diminish its untold pangs."

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- Sri Chinmoy, Extract from Smile, Love And Claim - Everest Aspiration Part 1

You can also hear Sri Chinmoy read  extracts from his book at Radio Sri Chinmoy - Everest Aspiration

Photo by Pranlobha, Sri Chinmoy Centre Galleries.

14 January

Featured Gallery - Glastonbury

This week's featured gallery is by Pavitrata Taylor from a recent visit to Glastonbury.

glastonbury tor

This is a shot of Glastonbury Tor taken last summer.

During last summer, the music group Ananda played a concert of Sri Chinmoy's music in the famous town of Glastonbury.

12 January

Songs of the Soul - Guatemalan Tour

The Songs of the Soul concert tour began 2010 with three enthusiastically received concerts in Guatemala.

Songs of the Soul began in 2008 as a way to celebrate and introduce people to Sri Chinmoy's musical legacy. The concerts feature Sri Chinmoy's music played in different styles by many different groups, from instrumental duets to huge 100-member orchestras. In 2009, 19 such concerts were performed across 3 continents.

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The first Guatemalan concert was performed in Panajachel overlooking beautiful Lake Atitlan. The second concert took place in Guatemala city.

The last concert was an outdoor performance in front Hermita de Santa Cruz in the ancient colonial town of Antigua. Much of the town was destroyed in earthquakes in 1773, leaving many impressive ruined structures behind. Around the building there is an outdoor amphitheater which seated 600 people for the concert.

More from songsofthesoul.com:

3 January

Ashrita Furman—Top Record Breaker of the Decade

Officially the most prolific Guinness World Record breaker of all time—a total of 265 records set over the last three decades, and currently holding 108—Ashrita Furman of Queens, New York is now one of the most popular, voted as the leading claimant of the decade by members of public at the Guinness World Records website.

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"With so many remarkable achievements over the past decade we decided to let the fans dictate the best of the best," explained Craig Glenday, Guinness World Records Editor-in-Chief. "After thousands of votes the Top Records of the Decade does not disappoint."

Ashrita, an anything but disappointing 54 year old health-food store manager, and possibly a better advertisement for good health than the products he sells, set his first record in 1979 by performing the most star jumps—an astounding 27,000—and has since gained the monikers Mr Versatility and Mr Guinness Records by hopping, skipping and juggling his way to records on all seven continents, and in disciplines as diverse as the most pogostick jumps in one minute (238), the fastest mile somersaulting (19 min 11 sec), and standing on a swiss ball for the longest time (3 hrs 38 min).

As one of the top record breakers of the 2000s, Ashrita joins an illustrious field including Usain Bolt, whose 2008 9.69 second 100m was voted the top sports record, and Barack Obama, who made history and the record books as the first African-American U.S. President.

2 January

2010 World Harmony Run

The 2010 World Harmony Run began in spectacular style from the top of Pacaya Volcano in Guatemala.

Volcano

Lighting of the torch

The World Harmony Run, founded by Sri Chinmoy, will be covering 56,000 Kilometres during 2010 as it passes through over 100 countries.

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The 2010 launch began with lighting the torch from the molten lava of an active Volcano in Guatemala. The team in Guatemala includes runners from around the world including countries such as Ukraine, Switzerland, China, Brazil, Canada, El Salvador, Iceland and Mongolia as well as Guatemala.

To follow the 2010 run in different parts of the world visit World Harmony Run for all latest updates.

24 December

Music From Mountain Silence

Mountain Silence are a music group composed of students of Sri Chinmoy, who regularly offer public concerts across Europe.

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In this video, produced by Kedar Misani, Mountain Silence offer a selection of songs performed in a Church in Zermatt, Switzerland.

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Songs About Jesus Christ

Sri Chinmoy composed many Songs about Jesus Christ, and put to music some of his immortal utterances.

21 December

Dhaka Songs of the Soul

On 13 December in Dhaka, Bangladesh, a historic concert - Songs of the Soul - celebrated the music of Sri Chinmoy and Rabindranath Tagore, two of the greatest Bangla composers.

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The music was performed by Ghandava Loka and  Shurer Dhara  who performed a mixture of music by Sri Chinmoy and Rabindranath Tagore, to an audience of 1,800 at Bangabandhu International Convention Centre (BICC.

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14 December

Shindhu - Featured Music Group

Shindhu are a female group of musicians based in the UK, studying the art of meditation under the guidance of Sri Chinmoy.

Shindhu

The group is led by Udasina Hansford who studied piano and classical guitar at the Royal Academy of Music. The group comprises members from 14 different countries - a few are professional musicians but most are just women who have discovered their love of music and capacity for singing through the music of Sri Chinmoy

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Shindhu on Tour in Scandanavia

Shindhu on Tour in Scandanavia

They have produced a range of music recordings that can be heard at Radio Sri Chinmoy.

See: Shindhu at Radio Sri Chinmoy

12 December

Featured Book - Emil Zatopek

A photo capturing a meeting between Sri Chinmoy and the great Olympian Emil Zatopek

Sri Chinmoy meeting Emil Zatopek

Sri Chinmoy meeting Emil Zatopek

Emil Zatopek was a great runner who achieved the unique feat of winning three gold medals at the  1952 Helsinki Olympics (5Km, 10Km and marathon). He had great determination and moral character. Sri Chinmoy admired the feats of Emil Zatopek and wrote a book in his honour.

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Emil Zatopek: Earth's Tearing Cry And Heaven's Beaming Smile

"In the case of Zatopek, higher reality and higher divinity descended on him precisely because he had confidence in his own capacities and also an implicit faith in the vision and satisfaction of the higher worlds. On the strength of his unparalleled confidence in himself and confidence in God, he not only conquered the runners' world but also illumined the consciousness of the runners' world."

- Sri Chinmoy

Excerpt from: Confidence is Good - Emil Zatopek: Earth's Tearing Cry And Heaven's Beaming Smile by Sri Chinmoy.

Photo by Kedar Misani Sri Chinmoy Centre Galleries

10 December

Sri Chinmoy Inspiration Group

The Sri Chinmoy Inspiration group is a forum for friends and students of Sri Chinmoy to share their experiences and what Sri Chinmoy means in their life.

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All well-wishers are welcome to join and post.

To post you just need to create a Yahoo ID, and follow a few quick procedures here

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Some Recent Postings include:

For more great postings browse through Sri Chinmoy Inspiration

2 December

World Harmony Run and Statue of Sri Chinmoy in Mazatlan Mexico

A life-sized bronze statue of World Harmony Run founder Sri Chinmoy (1931-2007) depicted holding a World Harmony Run torch was inaugurated in a festive ceremony on the evening of November 26, 2009 in Mazatlan, Mexico.

Mayor of Mazatlan Receives Torchbearer Award

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The statue is right on the coast of the Pacific Ocean ringed by palm trees in a location adjacent to a coastal plaza featuring other statues and lookouts over the ocean. Eventually its environs will be landscaped with benches and will include additional information about the late spiritual leader’s contributions in various fields.

Other statues by the same sculptor, British artist Kaivalya Torpy, are located in Norway, Bali and the Czech Republic. The statue unveiled in Mazatlan is the first in the Americas and the first ever of the spiritual leader holding a torch -- the symbol of the World Harmony Run.

The Mayor of Mazatlan Jorge Abel Lopez Sanchez was in attendance to unveil the statue and he was presented with the World Harmony Run Torch Bearer Award during the ceremony. Students of Sri Chinmoy representing various countries also were in attendance. The Mazatlan Fire Department Band and Gymnastics Team performed a stirring drum and trumpet performance and ascended heavenward with gravity defying human pyramid formations. The World Harmony Run torch was held aloft from atop one such human pyramid.

Fire Dept. Gymnastic Team and Band

Activities continued the following day with visits by the World Harmony Run to three elementary schools culminating in the school children running the torch to the foot of the statue where they were greeted by the Secretary of the Mayor.

Mazatlan Statue

A World Harmony Run ceremony including school children also visited a large Mazatlan shopping mall where Sri Chinmoy’s Jharna-Kala artwork was on exhibit inside the mall.

Mall Entrance Exhibit Sign

The local daily newspaper Noroeste featured an article about the statue dedication in the November 28th edition of the paper and a second article about the World Harmony Run festivities also appeared on the sports page in the same day’s paper.

Read more at WorldHarmonyRun.org.

30 November

Featured Gallery - Nature's Beauty

This week's featured gallery is Nature's Beauty - Celestial by Unmesh Swanson.

TECHNICOLOR

Unmesh, with his brother Ranjit, have been students of Sri Chinmoy since the early 1970s. They have travelled around the world and taken some great photos during their travels.

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"Be  Home Before Dark"

SUNSET-OVER-NIIHAU

A beautiful woman is nature's beauty.

A cheerful child is nature's beauty.

A soulful flower is nature's beauty.

A thoughtful man is nature's beauty.

But

A trance-bound silence

Is nature's Beauty Supreme.

Excerpt from I Need Only God by Sri Chinmoy.
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