Notes to photographs

On 26 December 1996 Sri Chinmoy made a special pilgrimage from Kyoto to Tokyo to pay homage to Netaji’s ashes. They are preserved at the most peaceful and spiritual Renko-ji Temple.

Renko-ji means “lotus-light” and the lotus is the national flower of India. This was Sri Chinmoy’s thirteenth visit to Japan. His first visit was in 1969.

In the courtyard of the temple there is a most striking bust of Netaji. Sri Chinmoy said afterwards that it is “a living statue.”

He meditated before the statue and spontaneously offered his obeisance to Netaji in the form of an invocation: “Netaji, I bow to you.”

When asked why he chose to wear read on that day, Sri Chinmoy replied, “Red is power. Red is blood. Before embarking on my journey, I remembered Netaji’s most powerful motto: ‘Give me blood! I shall give you freedom.’ This colour stands for the thousands of freedom-fighters who sacrificed their lives for India’s independence.”

A special plaque at the temple commemorates the visits of three leaders of independent India and the message they gave:

Inside the temple a special shrine to Netaji has been created on which stands the golden urn containing his ashes as well as some rare photographs and mementoes.

An assistant to the temple requested Sri Chinmoy to sign the visitor’s book. He wrote:

To Netaji’s Soul — Netaji’s Heart — Netaji’s Life — I bow and bow and bow.

Chinmoy Kumar Ghose, Dec. 26th 1996.

Sri Chinmoy offers a moment of silent meditation before beginning his Peace Concert at the Kyoto Conference Centre on 19 December 1996. This concert was part of a series of fifty Peace Concerts which Sri Chinmoy has dedicated to the 50th Anniversary of India’s independence. He inaugurated the series on 23 November 1996 with a concert at the headquarters of Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan (USA) in New York. Sri Chinmoy’s second concert, on 25 November 1996, was held at the United Nations in New York. His goal is to offer his 50th and final concert of the series on 15 August 1997, the date that India’s independence was finally won fifty years ago.

The supreme significance of this year for India is further enhanced by the fact that it is the Birth Centenary of one of her most beloved sons Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose. Sri Chinmoy became inspired to write this book as his humble offering for these two celebrations which have been linked from Above for all Eternity.