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Sri Chinmoy (August 27, 1931 – October 11, 2007), born Chinmoy Kumar Ghose, was an Indian spiritual Master who began teaching meditation in the West when he moved to New York City in 1964. A prolific author, artist, poet, athlete and musician, he is perhaps best known for holding public events on the theme of inner peace (such as concerts, meditations, and races) and was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. He taught meditation on the spiritual heart as a core spiritual practice, as well as encouraging prayer and performing dedicated selfless-service as a way to personal enlightenment, or God-realisation as described by Eastern philosophies.

Early years (1931-1964)
Chinmoy was born in Shakpura village in the Chittagong District of East Bengal (now Bangladesh). Orphaned in 1944 at the age of 12, he was taken to the Sri Aurobindo Ashram in Pondicherry, South India where he spent the next twenty years in spiritual practice.

In 1964 Chinmoy immigrated to New York City where he opened the first of what later became over 100 meditation centers around the world that teach meditation and philosophy

United Nations
In April 1970, Sri Chinmoy was invited by UN Secretary-General U Thant to give twice-weekly meditations for UN delegates, staff and representatives of NGOs as the director of the meditation group called “Sri Chinmoy: Peace Meditations at the United Nations” in New York. Chinmoy believed the UN offered the best hope of international peace and reconciliation.

Art and Music
In 1974 Chinmoy began painting colorful acrylics on abstract themes - which he called "Jharna-Kala" or "fountain-art". His artwork has been displayed in the Louvre in Paris, the UNESCO offices in Paris, the Mall Gallery in London, John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, and the United Nations Headquarters.

In 1984, he began a series of free musical performances that he named "peace concerts" where he would play various instruments and offer silent meditation between each instrument. He gave over 700 free peace concerts in venues such as London’s Royal Albert Hall, New York’s Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall, Tokyo’s Nippon Budokan, the Louvre in Paris, and the Sydney Opera House. Composers and musicians who were spiritually inspired by Chinmoy include Leonard Bernstein, Roberta Flack, Narada Michael Walden, Clarence Clemons, Boris Grebenshikov, Carlos Santana and John McLaughlin. Leonard Bernstein described Chinmoy as "the very model of abundance in the creative life."

Athletics
Chinmoy encouraged physical activity to play a vital role in the search for enlightenment. In 1977 the Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team was founded, which holds running, swimming, and cycling events worldwide, from fun runs to ultramarathons. In 1987 he created the Sri Chinmoy Oneness-Home Peace Run (also known as the World Harmony Run), a torch relay for peace held every two years. Olympic gold-medalist Carl Lewis, who was also advised by Sri Chinmoy throughout his Olympic career, is the spokesman for the torch relay. The Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team has sponsored ultra-distance events including the Self-Transcendence 3100 Mile Race, described by the New York Times as the "Mount Everest of ultramarathons".

A lifelong athlete, he took up weightlifting in his fifties and accomplished feats of strength to inspire others to go beyond their limits. In a program created in 1988 known as 'Lifting Up the World With a Oneness-Heart', Sri Chinmoy lifted people of inspiration while they stood on a platform overhead. Chinmoy described his motivation: 'I lift them up to show my appreciation for their achievements.' Among some of the 7000 people he lifted include: Nelson Mandela, Desmond Tutu Muhammad Ali, Sting, Dr. Jane Goodall, Eddie Murphy, Susan Sarandon, Roberta Flack, Yoko Ono, Jesse Jackson, Jeff Goldblum, Sid Caesar, Richard Gere and Helen Hunt. In April 2011, a documentary film about Sri Chinmoy's feats of strength titled Challenging Impossibility premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival.

Teachings
Chinmoy advocated "self-transcendence" by expanding one's consciousness to conquer the mind's perceived limitations. He authored hundreds of books, wrote thousands of poems and aphorisms, to which he put thousands to music in his own original compositions.

He never charged any fees for his spiritual guidance or music performances, and also encouraged his students to offer free music performances and meditation classes to the public.

Sri Chinmoy’s efforts to promote inter-faith harmony resulted in him being invited to open the Parliament of the World's Religions in Chicago (1993) and Barcelona (2004) with a silent meditation.

Over the years Sri Chinmoy had ongoing friendships with Mikhail Gorbachev, Nelson Mandela, Mother Teresa Desmond Tutu  and US Congressman Gary Ackerman.

Chinmoy passed away in his home in Jamaica, Queens, New York on October 11, 2007.

Awards
A summary of award highlights includes:


 * 1978 Distinguished Service Award Presented by Runner's World magazine "for dedicated service to humanity through the promotion of running" in 1978.


 * 1993 Honorary Doctorate of Humanities and Peace Studies University of Southern Philippines in Cebu City, the Philippines in 1993.


 * Sri Chinmoy Peace Mountain, an unscaled Himalayan peak in Nepal was dedicated by King Birendra of Nepal in 1995.


 * Sri Chinmoy Tulip named for an orange Triumph tulip edged with yellow by the International Cultivar Registration Authority for the Tulip in 2005. The Tulip was cultivated by Jan Ligthart of Breezand, the Netherlands.

Poetry

 * (1979–1983) Ten Thousand Flower-Flames - Agni Press (100 volumes)
 * (1983–1998) Twenty-Seven Thousand Aspiration-Plants - Agni Press (270 volumes)
 * (1998–2007) Seventy-Seven Thousand Service-Trees - Agni Press (50 volumes... unfinished)
 * (1973) The Dance of Life
 * (1974) The Wings of Light
 * (2000–2007) My Christmas-New Year-Vacation-Aspiration-Prayers (51 volumes)

Spiritual Plays

 * (1973) Sri Ramachandra - My Rama is My All - A play on the life of Sri Ramachandra
 * (1973) The Singer Of The Eternal Beyond - A play on the life of Sri Krishna
 * (1973) Siddhartha Becomes The Buddha - A Play on the life of Lord Buddha
 * (1973) The Son - A play on the life of Jesus Christ
 * (1973) Lord Gauranga: Love Incarnate - A Play on the life of Sri Chaitanya
 * (1973) Drink, Drink, My Mother's Nectar - A play on the life of Sri Ramakrishna
 * (1973) The Heart Of A Holy Man - various plays on spiritual figures
 * (1973) Supreme Sacrifice - a book of spiritual plays
 * (1974) The Descent of the Blue - A play about the life of Sri Aurobindo

Books of Sri Chinmoy in Library of Congress

 * Arise! Awake! Thoughts of a Yogi; Chinmoy, Sri, ISBN 0-8119-0207-2
 * Astrology; the supernatural and the beyond; Chinmoy, Sri, ISBN 0-88497-037-X
 * Commentaries on the Vedas, the Upanishads and the Bhagavad Gita : the three branches of India’s life-tree; Chinmoy, Sri, ISBN 0-88497-113-9
 * Commentary on the Bhagavad Gita; the song of the transcendental soul; Chinmoy, Sri, Published/Created: Blauvelt, N.Y., R. Steiner Publications
 * Death and reincarnation: eternity’s voyage; Chinmoy, Sri, ISBN 0-88497-038-8
 * Garden of the soul : lessons on living in peace, happiness, and harmony; Chinmoy, Sri, ISBN 1-55874-314-6
 * The garland of nation-souls : complete talks at the United Nations; Chinmoy, Sri, ISBN 1-55874-357-X
 * The goal is won; Chinmoy, Sri, ISBN 0-88497-092-2
 * God is-- : selected writings of Sri Chinmoy; Chinmoy, Sri, ISBN 0-88497-059-0
 * Gorbachev : the master-key of the universal heart; Chinmoy, Sri, ISBN 0-88497-984-9
 * Heart-songs : everyday prayers & meditations; Chinmoy, Sri, ISBN 1-56838-103-4
 * The inner promise; paths to self perfection; Chinmoy, Sri, ISBN 0-671-21720-8
 * Light of the Beyond : teachings of an illumined master; Chinmoy, Sri, ISBN 0-88497-481-2
 * Meditation : man-perfection in God-satisfaction; Chinmoy, Sri, ISBN 0-88497-444-8
 * Mother India’s lighthouse: India’s spiritual leaders; flame-heights of the West; Chinmoy, Sri, Published/Created Blauvelt, N.Y., R. Steiner Publications
 * Mother Teresa : humanity’s flower-heart, divinity’s fragrance-soul; Chinmoy, Sri, ISBN 1-885479-08-5
 * My flute; the poetry & teachings & philosophy of Sri Chinmoy; Chinmoy, Sri
 * My Lord’s secrets revealed; Chinmoy, Sri, Published Herder and Herder
 * Nelson Mandela : the pinnacle-pillar of mother earth; Chinmoy, Sri, ISBN 0-88497-043-4
 * The silent teaching : a selection of the writings; Chinmoy, Sri
 * Songs of the soul; Chinmoy, Sri, Published Herder and Herder
 * The spiritual life : selection of writings; Chinmoy, Sri
 * The Supreme and his four children; five spiritual dictionaries; Chinmoy, Sri, ISBN 0-8303-0121-6
 * A true disciple; Chinmoy, Sri, Published/Created Jamaica, NY : Agni Press, c1998.
 * The wings of joy : finding your path to inner peace; Chinmoy, Sri, ISBN 0-684-82242-3
 * The wisdom of Sri Chinmoy; Chinmoy, Sri, ISBN 1-884997-23-6
 * Yoga and the spiritual life; the journey of India’s soul; Chinmoy, Sri, ISBN 0-88497-040-X

Books and True Stories of Sri Chinmoy on Hindu Guru Nigamananda
Sri Chinmoy had written a great deal on Hindu spiritual Guru Nigamananda of India.

Books

 * (English)
 * (Spain)
 * (Spain)

Stories

 * (English)
 * My Guru Is The Highest
 * Dream Becomes Reality
 * Temptation-Power Almost Succeeds
 * Not The Outer Form, But The Inner Essence
 * Body's Beauty Fails; Soul's Beauty Sails
 * Divine Love Consoles Human Loss
 * Swami Nigamananda (Not an Avatar)
 * The Master's Protection-Arms
 * Attachment-Cry Versus Oneness-Sky
 * A Mere God-Lover


 * (German)
 * Was ist das Wesen der Versuchung? (What is the being of the temptation?)
 * Was meinst du, wenn du sagst: „Die Schönheit des Körpers vergeht; die Schönheit der Seele segelt.“? (What do you mean if you say: "the beauty of the body passes; the beauty of the soul segelt".?)
 * Wie wichtig ist es, an seinen eigenen Guru zu glauben?'' (How important is it, to believe in its own guru?)
 * Sollte man seinen Guru immer als das Höchste betrachten?'' (Should one regard its guru always as the highest?)
 * Schönheit (Beauty)


 * (Serbian)
 * MOJ GURU JE NAJVIŠI (My Guru is the highest)


 * (Hungarian)
 * Történet a szépségről (The Story)

When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace.