Chinmoy, Sri (1931-)

Sri Kumar Ghose Chinmoy is a modern Hindu mystic. He was born August 27, 1931, in Chittagong, East Bengal. He is said to have had profound mystical experiences during childhood, achieving the enlightened condition of nirvikalpa samadhi (superconsciousness beyond subject and object) at the age of twelve. Soon afterward, he entered the Sri Aurobindo Ashram at Pondicherry, where he remained for 20 years, developing and perfecting his realization through prayer and meditation.

Sri Chinmoy immigrated to the United States in 1964 and founded a center in New York. Soon his teachings spread to Puerto Rico, then to other parts of North America, Europe, and the Far East. After establishing his mission in America, he conducted regular weekly meditations for delegates and staff at the United Nations Church Center (dedicated to creating world peace through spiritual development) in New York; later he became the first director of the U.N. Meditation Group. Sri Chin-moy has also lectured at more than 150 universities throughout the world, including Oxford and Cambridge. He had a private audience at the Vatican with Pope Paul, who presented him with a medallion.

Sri Chinmoy's basic teaching is the pathway of love, devotion, and surrender to God. He also emphasizes the value of sports, particularly running, and is himself a dedicated runner. The Sri Chinmoy Center in New York sponsors over 100 public races each year, including marathons and ultramarathons, which are an example of what Chinmoy refers to as the meditation of action. The center also runs the Annam Brahma Restaurant in Jamaica, New York.

Sri Chinmoy has written over 300 books of spiritual aphorisms, lectures, poems, and questions and answers and has composed over 2,000 songs and musical works. He has given concerts at music centers in the United States and Europe. He has also expressed the experience of meditation in color and form in thousands of mystical paintings. There are now Sri Chinmoy centers throughout the world. U.S. address: PO Box 32433, Jamaica, NY 11432.

Sources:

Chinmoy, Sri. Arise! Awake! Thoughts of a Yogi. New York: F. Fell, 1972.

——. Astrology: The Supernatural and the Beyond. Hollis, N.Y.: Vishma Press,1973.

——. Death and Reincarnation: Eternity's Voyage. Jamaica, N.Y.: Agni Press, 1974.

——. Mother India's Light-house. San Francisco: Shi Chin-moy Center, n.d.

——. The Seeker's Mind. Jamaica, N.Y.: Agni Press, 1978.