Picture

This is a photo of Sri Chinmoy at a recent celebration conducted by his disciples in honour of “United Nations Day.” It took place on Parson’s Blvd., Jamaica, New York, in front of the disciple-run shops. The disciples provided the public with all-day entertainment consisting of music, speeches, games and refreshments.

Stories

Sri Chinmoy told the following traditional Indian story to his disciples on 13 October 1976.

The foolish wisdom of a Brahmin

They say that all fools are not really fools; some pretend to be fools. And again, all wise men are not really wise; some just pretend.

There was a very poor Brahmin and Brahmini. The Brahmin was very, very idle and his wife always used to insult him. One day she insulted him and kicked him out of the house. “You are such a fool,” she said. “Your idleness I can forgive, but not your stupidity.” So the poor man was thrown out. He went away from his home and at the end of six months he came back. On that day his wife was making special cakes and although he did not enter into the house, from outside he was secretly listening to the noise, and he could easily count how many cakes she was making.

Then he shouted aloud, “Are you at home?” In India husbands don’t call their wives by name. It is just our Indian custom. His wife came outside and she was so happy to see her husband. “This time you can’t call me a fool anymore,” he said. “I have developed intuition-power. I can easily say how many cakes you have made.” “How many?” she asked. “Twenty-one,” he replied. She was so moved. How could he have known when he had not even entered into the room? She was so happy and proud that her husband had become so wise, so full of intuitive knowledge. “Now that you know everything,” she said, “let us beat the drum and tell all the villagers you can save each and every one of them from their difficulties and dangers.” The husband agreed, “Certainly.”

Now many people would come to see the poor Brahmin and he used to tell them, “Not today, not today. Today the Supreme Goddess is not pleased with me because I have done something wrong. I will speak to you some other day.” His wife had taught him to say this. One day a man came who was very sad because he had lost his donkey. When the Brahmini heard the petition of the man, she instructed her husband, “Don’t say you will speak to him today.” Then on behalf of her husband she said, “Today the Goddess is not pleased with him. Please do not bother him. If you come tomorrow, he will be able to help you. I can see that tomorrow the Goddess will be pleased with him.” The man was so happy that perhaps tomorrow the Brahmin would do something for him.

The wife was so tricky. At night around midnight the husband was sleeping, but not the wife. She heard a donkey braying and she followed the sound. She found the donkey and tied it to one of the pillars of the house. When the man came the following morning to see the Brahmin, he found the donkey there. It happened to be the same one he had lost. He was so happy and pleased and he gave the couple some money.

The Brahmin’s name spread all over the village. Finally the King came to know about the incident. The King had lost the Queen’s golden necklace and both the King and the Queen were very upset. They summoned this poor man to the palace. His wife also came with him, for she knew that he wouldn’t know how to find the necklace. The man was trembling all over because he was afraid that the King and Queen would punish him. The wife told the King, “He is trembling, not because he will not be able to tell you who has taken the necklace, but because you are so great. It is not because he does not have the capacity, but because we are so insignificant.” The King said, “You have to find the necklace. I have no idea whether it was stolen or misplaced.” “Please give me a few days,” replied the Brahmin, “as this is a serious matter.” Take as many days as you want,” said the King, “But I have to get it back! When I get it back, I will reward you.”

The Brahmin and Brahmini went home and the Brahmin started crying to the Goddess Jagadhambha, “Save me, save me, save me! I do not know who has taken the necklace. The King is no good. Perhaps the King will kill me. Are you so unkind? Please save me!” At night he cried in silence; during the day he cried aloud. That day one of the King’s maidservants, whose namesake was the Goddess Jagadhambha, happened to be passing by. She heard somebody crying because he was going to be killed, saying, “Goddess Jagadhambha, why are you so unkind? Where have you taken the necklace? You have to save me. Save me!”

The maidservant felt extremely sorry because she was the culprit; she had stolen the necklace. She said to herself, “I stole it and because of me this man is going to be hanged. He is crying so badly.” She came and told the Brahmin it was she who had stolen the necklace. “If you tell the King, the King will kill me,” she said. “You have to do something so that the King will not punish either you or me.” The wife was so clever. She said, “You have saved us; now we will save you. Bring the necklace.”

The maidservant went home and brought the necklace to the wife. Then the wife said, “We will save you. Don’t worry, we will not disclose you.” The maidservant said, “Oh, they will never suspect me. They are so fond of me.” The wife put the necklace into a box that could float on water and went to the King. “It will be good for my husband to concentrate at night,” she said. “He can concentrate better in the dark. He will come to your palace and concentrate on the necklace and let you know where it is.” The King was very happy. “Do anything you want, only find the necklace,” the King said.

That night the husband and wife went to the palace. All the lights were extinguished and they threw the box containing the necklace into a small pond near the palace. Then they went to the King and said, “Now we would like to meditate and definitely we will be able to tell you where the necklace is.” They meditated for some time and vision dawned on them. Their vision was working powerfully today; yesterday they had had no vision.

“Please send someone to yonder pond,” said the man. “There is a tiny box floating on the water and the Queen’s necklace is definitely inside it. My intuition is working today.” The King’s guards found the box and indeed, inside it was the necklace. So the King said, “Who stole it?”

“You have the necklace,” said the Brahmin. “My intuition goes only this far. You wanted to know where it was and we found it. We have fulfilled your request. Now it is up to you whether you will give us the reward or not.” The King said, “Why wouldn’t I give it to you? You found the thing which I had lost. It is so precious to me, so invaluable.”

Thus the King gave the Brahmin and his wife a very good fortune and with that fortune they left their village. After all, if this kind of thing ever happened again, perhaps Jagadhamba the Goddess would not save them at that time and even now, perhaps Jagadhamba the maidservant is not satisfied!

Radio interview with Sri Chinmoy

In May 1976 Sri Chinmoy was interviewed by telephone on the Stan Major Show, Radio WDAE, Tampa, Florida. Following is the transcript of that interview.

Radio interview with Sri Chinmoy

Jeff Kamen: I would like to introduce my eternal Friend, the Indian spiritual Master Sri Chinmoy. Sri Chinmoy is the Director of the United Nations Meditation Group. He is 44 years old, to be 45 in August. He is one of the most extraordinary human beings anybody can ever hope to meet, because he wants to give you everything that is divine.

Now, that may sound absurd but please remember that this is my seventh year as a police reporter and political reporter. I don’t believe anybody; even if they tell me that the sun is shining, I look up and check to be sure. In a sense you might say that I believe nothing until someone shows it to me. Sri Chinmoy has shown me something that nobody else has shown me. He has shown me my own higher nature, which everyone of us has. My friendship with him has been a source of incredible joy to me and it gets better every minute. Guru, can you hear me?

Sri Chinmoy: Yes, yes.

Jeff Kamen: Sri Chinmoy, I think that there are thousands of people in the Tampa-St. Petersburg area who have never had an opportunity to hear a genuine spiritual Master, and certainly not had a chance to ask him some questions. I thought that first I would like to ask you just two or three questions.

In the event that the telephone line is not of sufficient quality for Stan Major and his audience to hear you, we’ll call you back.

Sri Chinmoy, can you please tell our listeners why so many Americans — not just young children, teenagers and people in their twenties, but men and women in their thirties, forties and fifties — are turning to spiritual Masters from India? What are they looking for? What’s happening?

Sri Chinmoy: They are looking for two things: peace of mind and divine love. These are the two things that most Americans need right now. And they feel that if they turn to the Indian spiritual Masters, then they will find this peace of mind and genuine love which comes from within.

Jeff Kamen: Sri Chinmoy, why is it at this time in America’s history, as we approach the Bicentennial itself, that there seems to be a kind of awakening of this kind of spiritual direction within Americans who have been portrayed for so long as fundamentally materialistic people who have no real interest in their spiritual natures?

Sri Chinmoy: The Bicentennial is a spiritual event in the history of the world. The pioneers, the forerunners of American history, were spiritual. Here “spiritual” means having an inner awakening. Now, two hundred years later, the same spirit has entered again into the consciousness of America. Therefore, the American consciousness is responding to the consciousness that originally illumined Americans and liberated them from European dominion. So right now is the golden hour; we call it God’s Hour. The same American consciousness is awakening for a higher truth and for a more illumining and fulfilling reality.

Jeff Kamen: Sri Chinmoy, what do you see as America’s future, based on this return of that spiritual quality which was so strong at the founding of America?

Sri Chinmoy: America’s future is very clear to me, clear to my inner vision. America is destined to play the role of a supreme leader. Right now on the material plane, America is in the vanguard of evolution. There shall come a time when America will play the role of a supreme leader in the spiritual world because it is the Will of the Supreme that America play a most significant role in the inner world, as America has been playing a most significant role in the material life, the outer world. The perfection of matter and the evolution of the material life, the success and progress of the material life, America has offered to the world at large. America has offered its achievements, realisations and fulfilments in the material field to the length and breadth of the world. A day shall dawn in the near future when America will play the role of the spirit, the inner life: inner awakening, inner satisfaction, inner development, inner perfection.

America always runs the fastest. As it has been running the fastest in the outer world for quite a few decades, even so there shall come a time when America will run the fastest in the inner world also, for this is what is destined. Because I am in America, people may think that I am flattering America so that Americans will have a better opinion of my life. But no, long before — many, many years ago when there was no indication of my coming to America — I wrote quite a few articles on America: “America in Her Depths,” “America the Transmitter of the New Light,” and a few other articles on America’s future and America’s destiny. There I clearly indicated and emphasised America’s spirituality; that America’s spiritual destiny is also something most striking. As in the material field America is the pioneer, even so in the inner life, spiritual life, America’s role will be unique.

Jeff Kamen: Sri Chinmoy, Stan Major, who is the host of this wonderful programme on WDAE Tampa, wants to ask you some questions. Here he is.

Stan Major: Sir, it’s nice to talk to you. One word which you mentioned throughout your last refrain was “materialistic”, and we Americans have always been a little bit overconscious about the materialistic things that we have: the extra car in the garage, the extra colour television. It’s interesting that you would mention that word materialistic so often. I wonder, do you feel that the spiritual rebirth or awakening that you are talking about is going to reform the American way of thinking as far as these materialistic things are concerned?

Sri Chinmoy: Yes, the new spiritual awakening will transform America’s material life. When I use the term “material life” here, I wish to say I mean the material extravagance. The material life is necessary, like the spiritual life, but if one can satisfy his needs with one car, then he does not have to have two cars. Sometimes we see that the human desires compel us to live beyond necessity. So there shall come a time when Americans shall want only the basic necessities. Now unfortunately, in some cases the abundance of America’s material life to some extent stands in the way of inner awakening. Right now quite a few individuals are unconsciously, let us say, wallowing in the pleasures of ignorance. One day the hour will strike. At that time they will see and feel and realise that no matter how much they get in the material life, even if they get the material life in infinite measure, there will be no abiding satisfaction if the spirit is not to be found therein. So if we discover inner peace, inner joy, inner satisfaction first, then only the outer life, outer manifestation will give us satisfaction.

So material life will not be a hindrance, an obstacle; it will only add to the inner life. But the material life has to be regulated, perfected, illumined and fulfilled in the inner life. Otherwise, if we leave aside material life without taking any help from the spiritual life to perfect it, the material life will always remain imperfect for it has not yet fully accepted the message of the spirit. The real spiritual life will never negate the material life as such. Only it will try to help the material life in listening to the message of the divine, of God. So, we will take gladly whatever is necessary from both the material life and the spiritual life. Only the extravagance, the things that are superficial and unnatural, will be illumined by the touch of the spiritual life so that the two brothers in the family, matter and spirit, can go together.

Stan Major: Are you saying that the problem is that we have too many extravagances — that we go too far?

Sri Chinmoy: Right. We go to the extreme. If we need, say, two pieces of fruit to satisfy our hunger, then we shall eat only two pieces of fruit. We shall not eat five pieces of fruit just because we can afford to buy them. What happens is that when we do have five pieces of fruit and we eat them, then we find that something goes wrong. Our stomach gets upset and thus we cannot function properly. Just because we have the capacity to afford five cars, that doesn’t mean that we shall have five cars. No, two cars are more than enough.

Stan Major: Let me move away from the more personal, materialistic life and let me move just a little bit into our national problem at the moment. We now have a situation, as far as the United States is concerned, where apparently we are moving back into the age that we suffered through at the end of World War II that was commonly called “the Cold War”. At that time we spent a tremendous amount of money on weapons to kill. At the end of Vietnam for a while we were in a position where people were very much against war. But at this moment in our political campaign we seem to be very much back to the situation where defense posture is more important again than the social or domestic problems that we have. I wonder if you could put this into perspective? What can Americans do when we are forced into a situation where a potential adversary is spending so much money on military weaponry and is not in the least concerned with the spiritual well-being of its people?

Sri Chinmoy: I have listened to your question with utmost concern and reverence and at the same time I beg to be excused for I know nothing about politics and about the way the Government handles the world affairs. So I am absolutely the wrong person to answer this. Please forgive me. If you could ask me some spiritual questions I will be more than willing to answer them. In spirituality I have a little bit of knowledge. When you ask me something that deals with politics, I am absolutely the wrong person because politics is totally Greek to me. Whatever I say will be all absurd.

Stan Major: May I rephrase the question in a more spiritual sense?

Sri Chinmoy: Certainly.

Stan Major: We, as a country celebrating our Bicentennial, our 200th anniversary, are faced with a dilemma. I believe that basically within us, within our inner being, most of us in the United States would like to have peace. I think that that is the basic wish of most persons in this country in this Bicentennial year, because of our heritage, because of our founding freedoms, because of our Constitution, our Bill of Rights, etc. Now, a person who basically believes in peace, which is the philosophy of this country and the people in it, how does he attempt to influence others who perhaps, do not have this spiritual belief in peace?

Sri Chinmoy: I am so glad that you are asking this question, which is so meaningful and significant. The Father of the Nation, George Washington, wanted to have peace by any means. But unfortunately he had to resort to fighting because at that time it was a supreme necessity to fight against the British. Although he wanted to have peace at any cost, he was forced to fight.

Now here from the spiritual point of view I can say that our prayer is also powerful. Our prayer is much more powerful than weapons and atom bombs. These things have been created by human power. But when we pray and meditate, we establish an access to a higher power. The power that has created the atom bomb — which is the human mind — or any power that we utilise here in the physical world, has also a superior force and that superior force we call spiritual power, inner power, the power of oneness.

When we quarrel, when we fight, when we wage war, it is with the power of our vital, of our mind, and not with the power of our heart. Our heart-power is oneness. To strike somebody is infinitely easier than to embrace that person. So also, the power that we have within is infinitely stronger than the power that we have without, in our outer life. So if we pray and meditate, then we can establish a universal oneness. And that universal oneness is far more powerful, infinitely more powerful than the atom bomb power or hydrogen bomb power that has been created by the human intelligence or human capacity.

We believe in that inner power, the power of the soul. If we pray and meditate devotedly and soulfully, then the Supreme Pilot within us is bound to listen to our inner cry. And that inner cry within us will without fail grant us boundless peace, light and oneness.

Stan Major: Why is human nature such that it is easier to hate than to love?

Sri Chinmoy: Human nature is like a child’s nature. When you give a child a toy or you give him a doll, what does he do with it? He wants to play with it but first he throws it on the ground, he strikes it, and he gets great joy. We want peace; you want peace, I want peace. But a child gets peace by pinching another boy, by striking someone. His sense of joy is in striking someone, in destruction, unconscious destruction. Human nature is not yet illumined fully, therefore the human nature finds satisfaction in destruction. The divine nature within us finds satisfaction only in union, in oneness.

We are human beings but even now the animal in us predominates. When we see two animals in front of us, they may get tremendous satisfaction by fighting. Similarly, the animal in us quite often plays the animal role; therefore, we want to strike, we want to quarrel, we want to fight, we want to destroy one another. But again inside us is the soul, the Divine. The origin of all human beings is the Divine and there shall come a time when we shall all be illumined and perfect. Right now we are not yet fully illumined, but we believe in evolution. Once upon a time we were all in the animal kingdom but now we are in the human kingdom and we are trying to establish within us the divine kingdom, the Kingdom of Heaven. As long as we remain in our human consciousness, then the animal in us will play a considerable role. It is not yet possible for us to fully bring to the fore the divine which is all peace, all love and all universal oneness.

Jeff Kamen: How long has it been since Americans, as a group of human beings, have felt any real oneness with God or with other Americans? It seems that it’s been a long time.

Sri Chinmoy: In the inner world I must say the feeling of oneness started right from the very beginning. It is not only in America, but each time the Divine, the Supreme, creates a soul in order to manifest His divinity, He grants the message of oneness. So when the American consciousness was revealed in the outer life, the American consciousness also embodied the message of oneness. In the outer life some great American figures did cry for the manifestation of this oneness. So I wish to say that the day the Supreme created the American soul in order to offer something unique to the entire world, the message of universal oneness came into being with it.

Stan Major: I’m wondering whether or not you plan to come to our area in Florida so that you can give a talk on Yoga and the spiritual life, so that people will have an opportunity to see you in person?

Sri Chinmoy: I do hope to come to Tampa. I have been to Miami at least seven or eight times since 1968. I like Miami and we have a Centre there that is doing quite well. Unfortunately, right now, I have no idea when I shall come. But my love and admiration for Florida I wish to offer to the seekers who are kind enough to be listening to our spiritual discussion. I have tremendous love for Florida. It is not only the outer sunshine that we see in Florida. Each time that I have come to Florida I have been blessed with the inner sunshine of Florida as well. Both the outer sun and the inner sun have blessed me; therefore, I am extremely grateful to the soul of Florida.

Jeff Kamen: Guru Chinmoy, there is another one of your disciples who is here on the WDAE Tampa Radio microphone right now with Stan Major and myself. That is eight-year old Nathan Kamen, and he has been bursting to ask you a question. Will you take a question from Nathan?

Sri Chinmoy: Certainly, certainly. Nathan, dear boy, please ask me your question.

Nathan Kamen: How long does it usually take to realise God in your first incarnation?

Sri Chinmoy: Good boy, it entirely depends on God’s Will; there is no fixed hour. If God is pleased with you, He can give you realisation in three or four human incarnations. But nobody has realised God in his or her first human incarnation.

Usually it takes many, many incarnations in the process of evolution. But there is no hard and fast rule. God can easily break His rules. Right now He has not granted any human being God-realisation in his first human incarnation, but if God wants to change His Plan, He can because God is the Almighty Father. Otherwise, God usually grants God-realisation to a human being after that human being has come into the world quite a few times. Each time a human being comes into the world he gets the opportunity to realise, reveal and manifest God in a better way. This is called inner maturity, the inner acceptance of light, inner receptivity. As you cannot become strong physically in one day, even so you cannot become strong spiritually in one incarnation.

Three years ago you came into our family with your parents. At that time when we used to ask you to repeat the Supreme, you did it, but not as cheerfully as you do now because it was a new subject to you then. Now we don’t have to ask you to pray and meditate. You pray to the Supreme, you meditate on the Supreme, and your parents don’t have to ask you to. Even sometimes it may happen that you ask your parents to pray and meditate, when they are not in a spiritual mood. So you see, once upon a time your parents had to request you to pray and meditate. You are a little child but you have advanced spiritually to such an extent that sometimes you have to ask your mother and father to meditate when they are delaying, when they are not on time to pray and meditate. That is your inner progress.

Stan Major: Thank you very much, Sri Chinmoy.

To-morrow's dawn

//[continued from October 1976 issue]//

14.

Yesterday you returned good for evil. Therefore you were good. Today you are transforming the very existence of evil. Therefore you are not only becoming perfect but you have already become perfect.

15.

Don’t persecute me. I shall hate you. Don’t proselytise me. I shall suspect you. Don’t command me. I am not yours.

16.

Gratitude, you are my heart’s beautiful flower. Gratitude, you are my life’s soulful fruit.

17.

Outer poverty means starvation. Inner poverty means destruction.

18.

Hesitation is trouble.

19.

Glorify man. God will love you more. Glorify God, man will suspect you ever more.

20.

You do not have to go to Heaven to hear God speak. Just consider your heart to be a radio receiver with an adequate tuning system.

21.

The barber is there to perfect the thing (hair) on your head.
God is there to perfect the thing (love) inside your heart.

22.

Birth is good. Death too. Who wants to see the same undivine beings indefinitely.

Sri Chinmoy visits the West Coast

From 1 November to 5 November 1976 Sri Chinmoy made a visit to his West Coast Centres.

Sri Chinmoy visits the West Coast

On 1 November, he was awarded the following proclamations in front of the Board of Supervisors, City Hall, San Francisco. The Board greeted Sri Chinmoy with thunderous applause.

Office of the Mayor
SAN FRANCISCO

GEORGE R. MOSCONE

Proclamation

The Sri Chinmoy Center, which was founded by Sri Chinmoy Kumar Chose, is an international, non-profit, educational organization, devoted primarily to the study of philosophical, humanistic, and spiritual issues affecting contemporary humanity.

Mr. Ghose, author and lecturer, is director of the United Nations Meditation Group and delivers the monthly Dag Hammarskjold Lecture Series at the U.N. He is currently a nominee for the Nobel Prize in Literature and was recently the recipient of the Papal Medallion. Mr. Ghose will be in San Francisco from November 1 through 3, 1976 and will visit the Sri Chinmoy Centre, which sponsors lectures, films, and meditation and discussion groups at Bay Area universities and organizations.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, George R. Moscone, Mayor of the City and County of San Francisco, do hereby proclaim November 1, 1976 as SRI CHINMOY DAY in San Francisco and urge all citizens to be aware of the fine work of this organization.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Seal of the City and County of San Francisco to be affixed this eighteenth day of October nineteen hundred and seventy-six.

George R. Moscone
Mayor

Following is another document of honour which Sri Chinmoy received during his visit.

MAYOR'S PROCLAMATION

CITY OF SANTA CRUZ
CALIFORNIA

WHEREAS, The Sri Chinmoy Center of Santa Cruz is being honored by a visit from their founder, Sri Chinmoy Ghose. He will conduct a public meditation at the First Congregational Church on November 3, 1976; and

WHEREAS, Sri Chinmoy is a prominent interdenominational religious leader and is currently the Director of the United Nations Meditation Group in New York City, and the head of a non-governmental representative organization at the United Nations; and

WHEREAS, During the eleven years in which Mr. Ghose has lived in the United States, he has acquired a very distinguished reputation as an author and lecturer and was a nominee for the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1975. Also an acclaimed artist, he recently received the highest award of the Manhattan School of Visual Arts.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, John G. Mahaney, Mayor of the City of Santa Cruz, join with the citizens of this City in welcoming

SRI CHINMOY GHOSE

to the City of Santa Cruz and to congratulate him on his achievements.

John G. Mahaney, M.D.
Mayor, City of Santa Cruz

Signed and sealed this 21st day of October, 1976.

Sri Chinmoy also received a certificate of lasting friendship from the office of the Secretary of State of California.

Office Of The Mayor
City of Seattle

Wes Uhlman, Mayor

PROCLAMATION

WHEREAS, on Sunday, October 17, 1976, runners from the Sri Chinmoy Centre of Seattle will conduct a fifty-mile non-stop relay run dedicated to the City of Seattle and its citizens, expressing appreciation to the city as a place of human warmth, harmony, and natural beauty; and

WHEREAS, the runners will follow an extensive route through the city, passing many historic and significant places; and

WHEREAS, the Sri Chinmoy Centre of Seattle will be observing its first anniversary on October 17; and

WHEREAS, Sri Chinmoy is a world-renowned authority on yoga, a prolific author and musician, and conducts regular meditations and lectures for delegates and staff at the United Nations, and encourages his students toward wholesome activities, spiritual growth, and physical fitness;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, WES UHLMAN, Mayor of the City of Seattle, do hereby proclaim October 17, 1976, as "SRI CHINMOY RELAY RUN DAY" in Seattle, and encourage the citizens of Seattle to cheer the runners and otherwise note the fine ideals which the run represents.

Wes Uhlman Mayor

October 17, 1976

Proclamations

Sri Chinmoy Sangit

On 4 November, Sri Chinmoy presided over the second “Sri Chinmoy Sangit” which was held at Lowell High School, San Francisco, California. (The first Sri Chinmoy Sangit was held in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico in October 1976).

Sri Chinmoy made the following comments and presented awards to the musicians who gave the best performance of Sri Chinmoy’s music.

Sri Chinmoy: It was a great pleasure and honour for me to hear the music played by you so soulfully and adequately. Therefore to each musician I offer my soulful love, joy and gratitude. I pray to God the Supreme Musician to grant each musician more capacity, abundant capacity, infinite capacity so that each of you can grow into a master-musician. Again I wish to offer my gratitude from the very depth of my heart to each of you.

Jharna-Kala Gallery

Picture

Above is a photograph of the Jharna-Kala Gallery in San Francisco, California. This was an exhibit of Sri Chinmoy’s art which lasted for the month of November, in honour of Sri Chinmoy’s visit to the West Coast as well as the second anniversary of the commencement of Sri Chinmoy’s art-life.

Question: What is the best method to meditate on your paintings, i.e. to receive the most from them as a meditation?⁴

Sri Chinmoy: Each painting has something to offer. According to one seeker one painting may embody more light than the other paintings. Now that seeker may think that it is light that he is seeing in the painting, but you as another seeker may come and find that particular painting abounding in peace. A third seeker may come into the gallery and see neither peace nor light, but power in that same painting. At that time, the seeker should dive deep within and see whether he needs light, peace or power. If you need to add more peace to your life, more than you already have, then at that time, try to invoke the peace which the painting embodies. If the other seeker who saw light in it wants to add more light to what he already has, then he should meditate on its light quality. If the third seeker wants to acquire more power, then he should meditate on the painting’s power aspect.

When he sees the painting right in front of him, he sees power. He concentrates on the painting and feels that it is not just a drop of power, but a flood of power, dynamic power, a running river with tremendous power. If it is a flood of power, a running reality that means the seeker is constantly creating something. Then he has to become one with the flow of the river. He has to become one with the flood of this power-consciousness. So if he sees power, then let him concentrate only on the power aspect of the painting. If he sees peace, then let him concentrate only on the peace aspect. If another person sees light, then he should concentrate on its light aspect, on the strength of his identification with the painting.

One should not see it as a piece of paper or the strokes of brushes or the physical medium of paint. No. Please feel that the painting is an intimate friend of yours. You can talk to him, chat with him, communicate with him because in him you have got a friend. For a long time you have not seen your friend, and now you can unburden yourself to him. Feel that you have to tell him everything that you have heard, that you have felt, since you last saw him. Each time you see a painting which you appreciate, please feel a long forgotten friend has just appeared before you. Now what happens when an old friend of yours comes to you quite unexpectedly? You get tremendous joy and you exchange your ideas with him; you exchange your feelings and experiences with him — everything you exchange. Each time you have this kind of exchange, you increase your light and delight. And believe me, you may feel that you are receiving something from the painting and the painting is not receiving anything from you, but this is wrong. It is a reciprocating friendship. Each time you appreciate the painting on the strength of your oneness, the painting itself increases its light-capacity.

I know there are many times when I have done this with my poems, with my paintings, with my music, with everything. Even after something is completed and being displayed, you can concentrate on the creation and increase its own achievements. When Aum Magazine, our monthly bulletin, first came out many years ago, say ten or twelve years ago, I had written articles to be printed in it and I did this same thing. After the magazine was printed and came back from the press, the first time I read it I had an experience. After I read it, I became totally one with each word, each idea, each ideal. With each experience that I had while reading it, I felt that I was giving new life to the article.

Something more: we look at a flower and our human mind feels that the flower has given us tremendous joy. It is true, but we have no idea as to how much joy we have given the flower itself. We have seen a flower and appreciated the beauty and the fragrance of the flower. We feel that out of its magnanimity, the flower has given us everything. But instead of using our capacity to appreciate the flower, we could have become jealous of the flower; we could have thought, “Oh God, you have made this flower so beautiful, why have you made me so ugly?” Instead of doing that, we became one with the beauty and fragrance of the flower and became inseparable friends with it. We gave the flower our best achievement, our sense of appreciation. What we had as our best quality, our best capacity, we offered to the flower or in the case of the gallery, we offered it to the painting.

When we give something cheerfully and devotedly, will it not be an added factor; will it not add to the reality that somebody or something is? The beauty of the flower definitely increases when we appreciate it. Our appreciation, sincere appreciation, means our conscious awareness, conscious oneness with the reality that we call a flower. So here also when you look at a painting and you appreciate it, please feel the beauty, inner beauty, subtle beauty of the painting. If you can soulfully appreciate it, then the reality of the painting has definitely increased. I have done it many, many, many times with my writings and my paintings and my own creative life.

So here the game is not one-sided — that somebody does something and you appreciate it and your part is over. No. You have given joy to yourself by seeing it. But you have no idea how much joy that particular object, that creation of God, has received from your soulful appreciation. Here appreciation is the expression of conscious oneness. So if you see power in a painting, then please identify yourself with that power aspect. You will not see the paper, or the painting, no, nothing. You will only see a consciousness-reality of God which at the present moment you are calling power and somebody else is calling light, and still another is calling peace or delight. Do not let the mind function at that time. Simply enter into the consciousness-reality of it and become that aspect.

Sri Chinmoy visits Ottawa

On 19 November 1976, Sri Chinmoy visited Ottawa, Canada upon the request of his disciples to commemorate the second anniversary of his art, //Jharna-Kala//. It was in Ottawa that Sri Chinmoy drew his first of a presently 128,000 painting collection. The following is a transcript of this commemorative ceremony which took place in the exact spot, hotel room 322 of Sheraton El Mirador Hotel, where Sri Chinmoy first began his Fountain-Art.

Question: What prompted you to paint?

Sri Chinmoy: I do not know. There was no special necessity, it just came from within to paint and I went out and I walked along the street and found a stationery store and from there I got books and materials and I started drawing.

Question: Was there any reason why you chose a rose as subject matter for your first painting?

Sri Chinmoy: I chose the rose because here in the Western world the rose is most significant. In India the lotus is most significant. No matter which flower you take it is a sign of my aspiration and loving gratitude to the Supreme. Petal by petal the rose blossoms inside my heart as a sign of my aspiration, as a sign of my dedication to the aspiring man. It was drizzling then. Drizzling, according to the spiritual terminology, is a divine blessing from above. So I was blessed right from the beginning. A new chapter started here — a new chapter in my life. A new light dawned on my devoted head and surrendered heart. The Supreme out of His Infinite Bounty made me an instrument in my life of aspiration and my life of dedication. You are all in my boat. We are sailing towards the Golden Shore, our destination. Each painting is not only my aspiration but your aspiration. It is not only my way of dedication but your way of dedication too.

Remember that 128,000 paintings mean 128,000 ways to aspire and improve ourselves, to perfect our lives and at the same time 128,000 ways to dedicate ourselves to the supreme cause of humanity. You are all part and parcel of my aspiration and inner realisation. You treasure my paintings the way I treasure your souls, your loving and illumining souls. There is a special reason why this place was chosen, why Ottawa was chosen, why Canada was chosen. Only in silence we shall discover the special reason.

Outwardly Ottawa is the capital of Canada. The soul is our illumination, the source of our love for mankind. Canada has a special role to play in spreading the light of my painting. Especially Ottawa, because it was here that I began my paintings. Each painting is a golden opportunity for us to become good. Here I see twenty-five disciples of mine. When I look at you with my inner vision I see each of you as a most beautiful painting of the Supreme for the Supreme. There shall come a time when the world of aspiration will look at you and derive abundant satisfaction from your peace, light and bliss. Your entire being will radiate. And that day will dawn without fail.

(The Manager of Hotel and Marion Dewar, Comptroller and Deputy Mayor of Ottawa arrive.)

Marion Dewar: How do you do, Sri Chinmoy? I would like to present greetings from myself and the Mayor telling you how pleased and honoured we are that your creative art work all started in Ottawa. It is a real privilege to be able to meet with you this morning.

Sri Chinmoy: I am extremely grateful to you for I was told you like my paintings. For that I wish to offer you my heart of soulful gratitude. You appreciate and that means your soul is one with our aspiration and dedication. And just because you are one with our aspiration and dedication you deserve my gratitude from the inmost recesses of my heart. And what you call honour I call blessings from the Absolute Supreme. This is the place where I started painting. The new light, the new light of dedication and aspiration dawned on me in this particular room. I am extremely grateful to you, to this hotel, and to the Mayor and to the soul of Canada, for it was the blessing of the soul of Canada that turned me into an artist, an instrument of the Supreme.

Each student of mine is a painting and it is our bounden duty to serve God in aspiring mankind. Here I started two years ago and now I am able to offer to the aspiring mankind 128,000 paintings. It is my Inner Pilot who has done this. My own physical mind would never be able to believe it, but in my aspiring heart which has established oneness with my Inner Pilot, nothing is impossible. Everything is possible as long as you do it with a devoted and dedicated heart. And from the Supreme I offer you special gratitude. This is the place, Ottawa, that gave me the supreme opportunity to be of dedicated service to aspiring mankind through art in the form of my dedication.

Marion Dewar: The gratitude is ours, Sri Chinmoy.

(They exchange letters and plaques.)

Sri Chinmoy: (To Manager of the Hotel) Here in this place I did my first painting. This a picture of my first attempt. It is a flower of gratitude. I wish to offer it to you. This is the place where I embarked upon a new journey towards the highest Height.

Manager: Thank you very much. We are very honoured that we were lucky enough to have you start here.

Marion Dewar: I also want you to know how very happy you made the people in the community of Ottawa who enjoyed this beautiful exposition. (Mrs. Dewar reads a letter from the Mayor)

Marion Dewar: And I would like to say it was a week of great joy in the community of Ottawa to be able to enjoy your art.

Sri Chinmoy: Please express my deepest gratitude to the Mayor for his encouraging words. My soul is all love and gratitude for his ability to appreciate my art. This is a historic place for me and for my disciples. It was drizzling then — drizzling blessings from above. I started my journey with the blessings from above and I wish to invoke the same blessings for all those who are here. To me, each of you is a beautiful and soulful painting. Each individual is a painting drawn by the Supreme Artist Himself.

Each individual human being is bound to spread his light, his supreme light, according to his capacity and receptivity. (Short meditation.)

I pray to the Absolute Supreme to grant us light, abundant light, infinite light so that all of us can be of true inspiration to those who need light. The world is in darkness. It does not have to remain in darkness forever. We have the inner cry and with our inner cry, at God’s choice Hour, we shall be able to illumine the world. This illumination is our supreme dedication to the Supreme, the Absolute Supreme.

Proclamations

OFFICE OF THE MAYOR
CABINET DU MAIRE

November 1, 1976

Mr. Sri Chinmoy
The Ottawa Sri Chinmoy Centre
Ottawa, Ontario

Dear Mr. Chinmoy:

On behalf of the Council and citizens of Ottawa, it gives me great pleasure to extend greetings on the occasion of the founding of Jharna-Kala "Fountain Art".

Since the completion of your first painting in Ottawa on November 19, 1974, I am sure your works have been enjoyed by many art enthusiasts in the community and I am pleased to exhibit a number of your paintings which will be on display in the Foyer of City Hall during the week of November 1 to 7, 1976.

With best wishes for continued success in your contribution to the world of artistic expression, I remain,

Lorry Greenberg
Mayor

OFFICE OF THE MAYOR
CABINET DU MAIRE
OTTAWA
Canada

LORRY GREENBERG
MAYOR MAIRE

November 18, 1976

Mr. Sri Chinmoy
Jharna Kala Association
of Ottawa
Ottawa, Ontario

Dear Mr. Chinmoy:

On behalf of the Council and citizens of Ottawa I would like to thank you for donating one of your many paintings to the City.

The painting is now hanging in my office and I am sure will be enjoyed by all who visit.

With best wishes, I remain,

Sincerely

Lorry Greenberg
Mayor

CITY OF OTTAWA
VILLE D’OTTAWA
CANADA
K1N 5A1

MAYOR — MAIRE
LORRY GREENBERG

CONTROLLERS — COMMISSAIRES
MARION DEWAR
DON B. REID
GARRY J. GUZZO, B.COMM., LL.B.
WILLIAM A.H. LAW

SECRETARY — SECRETAIRE
E.C. ARMSTRONG

BOARD OF CONTROL
BUREAU DES COMMISSAIRES

November 18, 1976

Dear Sri Chinmoy:

May I thank you for your very kind gesture in presenting me a symbol of your spiritual accomplishments here and at the United Nations. It is with deep appreciation that I wish to convey my feelings of admiration and honour for the respect shown by the community during the recent exhibition of your Fountain Art at City Hall and for the devotion shown to you by the members of the Jharna Kala Association.

In all sincerity.

Marion Dewar
Controller

Pictures

Parade in honour of Sri Chinmoy

On 20 November 1976 a parade in honour of Sri Chinmoy's //Jharna-Kala// second anniversary marched up Madison Avenue, from 23rd Street to 72nd Street.

Pictures

The Core of India's Light

//[Sanskrit terms continued from October 1976 issue]//

29.

Agādha

Unfathomable

O human mind, you have been swimming in the unfathomable ignorance-sea since I saw you for the first time. Do you not feel like changing the game. Try to swim in the unfathomable wisdom-sea. See what happens.

30.

Agni

Fire

Consciousness-fire we need to illumine our mind. Consciousness-fire we need to immortalise our heart.

31.

Ahaituka

Unconditional

The human in us never does anything unconditionally. The divine in us at times does a few things unconditionally. The Absolute Supreme in us does everything unconditionally. As a matter of fact, He knows no other way to act.

32.

Aham

I-ego

Only I love God. Here my ego dances. God loves me only. Here too my ego dances. God and I love each other. Here my ego fails to dance. Here both of us together sing our oneness song.

33.

Aja

Unborn

One reality yet unborn alone can expedite humanity’s progress and that is reality’s and humanity’s offering of their gratitude-heart to God’s unconditional compassion-Light.

34.

Ajapā

Conscious, constant, spontaneous and effortless mantra

The best conscious, constant, spontaneous and effortless mantra is: On earth I see infinity; in Heaven 1 have eternity; and in God immortality I am.

Jharna-Kala

Jharna-Kala in Washington, D.C.

From 13 November to 21 November a Jharna-Kala Gallery was set up in Bethesda Square, Bethesda, Maryland (outside Washington, D.C.). On the opening night, Sri Chinmoy received over 52 telegrams as well as a number of lovely flower arrangements. Below are two photos of the exhibit.

Pictures

Jharna-Kala in Europe

A permanent Jharna-Kala Gallery has been opened in Zurich, Switzerland. However, a portion of the 200 painting strong European Collection is much on the move. Aside from the regular Zurich showing, the following shows have been in progress : 1 Nov.-14 Nov. — Augsberg, Germany; 16 Nov.-28 Nov. — Frankfurt, Germany; 3 Dec.-13 Dec. — Freiberg, Germany.

Pictures

20th anniversary of the founding of the Universalist Church

Tribute

On 14 November 1976, Sri Chinmoy was invited to address those assembled for the 20th anniversary of the founding of the Universalist Church of New York City at Central Park West and 76th Street. Sri Chinmoy meditated and then made the following remarks:

Sri Chinmoy: I would like to express my heart’s soulful gratitude for having been given the divine opportunity to be of humble service to the body and soul of the Universalist Church.

Asato mā sad gamaya
Tamaso mā jyotir gamaya
Mṛityor mā amṛitaṃ gamaya

Lead me from the unreal to the Real.
Lead me from darkness to Light.
Lead me from death to Immortality.

I bow to the body of this church which constantly sings the unity-song of God the Many, the Reality Universal. I bow to the soul of this church which constantly dances the oneness-dance of God the One, the Vision Transcendental.

The Universalist Church is the only God-Abode, the only Truth-Temple where the aspiring human heart can soulfully, unreservedly and unconditionally voice forth what it spontaneously, cheerfully and breathlessly feels from within.

Here, here alone, in and through us man the evolving God shares with us his ever-transcending realisation-Reality. Here, here alone, in and through us, God the manifesting man shares with us His ever-fulfilling satisfaction in perfection and perfection with satisfaction.

Satisfaction in perfection and perfection with satisfaction. Satisfaction in perfection is what we have — love of God in the heart of Infinity. Perfection with satisfaction is what we are — God-oneness along the road of Eternity.

My dear spiritual brother, Roland Gammon (Dean of All Faith Chapel): Again I wish to thank you for having given me the signal honour to be of service to all the sincere seekers here. In you I find an instrument with an illumined mind and a dedicated heart. The combination of these two divine qualities have made a unique instrument of God to champion the cause of aspiring humanity. These two qualities of yours I shall always deeply value and treasure.

Pictures

Above pictured are Sri Chinmoy and Roland Gammon in All Faith Chapel.

Letter

Editorial
Communications, Inc.
655 Madison Avenue
New York, N. Y. 10022
212 GA 1-0967

November 19, 1976

Hon. Sri Chinmoy
c/o Guru Stationary Store
86-24 Parsons Blvd.
Jamaica, NY 11432

Dear Sri Chinmoy:

Celestial Salutations! I wish to thank you formally for your inspiring participation in our 20th anniversary celebration of the All Faith Chapel of the Universalist Church last Sunday morning. Your very sovereign presence made the worship service unusually beautiful and many members of the church congregation and staff felt uplifted by your verbal, mantric and silent meditation. Personally and mystically, I felt exalted… and shall never forget your generous and gracious praise of me on that birthday occasion in our fine old New York Cathedral!

I hope the "Bright Gods" will smile on our future meetings as they did on Sunday, November 14, 1976.

Faithfully yours,

Roland Gammon
President

Letters

Letter from UNICEF

UNICEF

UNITED NATIONS CHILDREN'S FUND - FONDS DES NATIONS UNIES POUR L’ENFANCE
UNITED NATIONS, NEW YORK

1 November 1976

Dear Members of the Sri Chinmoy centre,

On behalf of our Executive Director, Mr. Henry R. Labouisse, I wish to thank the members of the Sri Chinmoy Centre for holding the Jamaica Festival in honor of the United Nations Day and contributing the sum of $100 to UNICEF. You all have shown unusual imagination in staging the many types of events, particularly in your statement about the support for the United Nations by the President of the United States and many other American citizens. We join you in your hope that the United Nations will help to bring peace to our troubled world.

We are glad that you received news coverage of the Jamaica's United Nations Festival on channels 4 and 11.

We most appreciate what your organization has done to forward the cause of the United Nations.

Sincerely yours,

David S. Burgess
Senior Officer

Members of the
Sri Chinmoy Centre Church
85-45 14th Street
Jamaica, New York 11435

P.S. Attached is an official receipt for your kind contribution.

Letter from Jimmy Carter

Please accept my personal thanks for your expression of congratulations.

You have deeply honored me with your trust and confidence. I will do my best never to disappoint you, and hope that you will give me your continued friendship and support in the challenging years ahead.

Jimmy Carter