The latest edition of Inspiration Letters focuses on the topic of luminaries, and includes a selection of thoughtful articles on inspirational people.
“…Luminaries are those who spread light and knowledge — and since God the pre-eminent Illuminer is spreading His light through every human life — each of which is His own life — it follows that we are all luminaries. It is really only a question of to what extent… (From Jogyata’s Travels in Iceland.)
The World Harmony Run was founded by Indian Peace-Philosopher, Sri Chinmoy, 25 years ago; recently the run returned to its roots visiting cities in south India. The run which seeks to promote peace, friendship and harmony was joined by many Indians in Delhi and Agra.
Sri Chinmoy was born in East Bengal (now Bangladesh) in 1931 and he moved to New York, US in 1964. On the spirituality of India, Sri Chinmoy wrote:
“India’s strength is not in her arms, but in her heart. More so, it is in her seer-vision.
India tells the world that the realisation of unity is the only strength which can conquer the world.”
…
“India has three world-conquering weapons: Non-violence, Peace and the Wisdom which tells that she is in All as All is in her.”
At Radio Sri Chinmoy, there is a new recording of one of Sri Chinmoy’s Peace Concerts from the 1980s in Paris.
Concert de Paix features Sri Chinmoy playing on the flute, esraj, and his own soulful singing.
After the concert, the prestigious French newspaper Le Monde remarked the “extraordinary sociological factâ€Â that “a single man, simply by standing with folded hands, is able to impose several minutes of silence upon thousands of people of varied origins.â€Â The reporter went on to say,“Curiously, one had the feeling that the crowd had not come for the music but rather for what was in between the compositions, that is, the inner peace that the sound only served to prolong.â€
Kalatit Jeffrey Baker talks about his new book ‘Eat my dust, Martin Luther!’ – a collection of essays on modern Sprituality and new American Mysticism. Kalatit explains his choice of title for the book. When a friend heard he was going to write 100 essays, she replied:“Why not 95, like Martin Lutherʼs Theses?â€
“Iʼll do him one better,†I boldly replied, “and attempt 96!â€
Hence, this collection and itʼs odd title.
Kalatit
Question: Why did you write the book?
The American poet, Emily Dickinson wrote: “This is my letter to the world that never wrote to me.†Sri Chinmoy encouraged me to write and I published a pamphlet just about yearly, as my birthday gift. Amazingly, on the night he passed, the Guru asked if I was writing anything new (my birthday was about two weeks away) so since then I’ve had it in mind to honor his request. Also, unlike my previous publications, and in Emily’s spirit as well, to make this new effort to the degree my talents might allow, my Magnum Opus. So I spent about two years on “Eat My Dust, Martin Luther!†and retained a professional editor, someone from the Harvard Divinity School, in fact.
Question: What do you hope people will pick up from this book?
First I hope they will pick it up at all! If they do, that they will see that spirituality is not abstraction. That it is based upon self-improvement and world-improvement and not merely mumbo-jumbo (or wearing copper triangles on one’s head!)
Question: How would you summarize your approach to life?
I do not really understand how anything actually works and the more I do understand the more miraculous it all seems. For instance, how do I survive. Of course, I have to be able and perhaps more importantly, prepared to work, to exploit every opportunity, but how those very opportunities come about still remains a supreme mystery.
Question: You are well known for your humorous writing. How can humor help us understand the mysteries of life?
A comedian will stand-up and say: “You know how when you go to the fridge and you’ve only got a couple of packs of Chinese duck sauce and two end slices of stale bread but you’re still thinking, “That would make a pretty good sandwich,†and the audience (hopefully) laughs, well what I think is happening is that our awareness is being expanded. Of course, we are also laughing at our own frailties or learning not to take ourselves so seriously or something, but in the macro sense, even unconsciously, I believe we are becoming aware that existence itself is fundamentally delightful.
Question: Any plans for another book?
I have a back catalog of all those aforementioned pamphlets which I will probably edit at some point and publish under the title, “Collated Works†or similar. I am now writing some (again, hopefully) humorous essays on political and other worldly topics. I have, as well, a few other books previously written but yet unedited and unpublished because the costs to do this used to be prohibitive. Now that one can relatively, inexpensively self-publish e-books, look out! Yes, it seems the only modern requirement is time, which I have plenty of, if not practically, certainly cosmically (Sri Chinmoy’s name for me, Kalatit, (“Kal†= “time,†“atitâ€=â€beyondâ€)) and inspiration, which even more inexplicably and gratefully, I’m presently wallowing in! And, of course talent, which the world will have to, and assuredly will most disparagingly, judge.
Book Available to Buy
Eat My Dust Martin Luther – 95 essays on Modern Spirituality and New American Mysticism – at Amazon.com (kindle edition)
The World Festival of the Heart is an event to be held in Melbourne, November 2012; it will seek to explore how we can use ‘heart-power’ to improve the well-being of the world.
Sri Chinmoy has a very famous and much quoted aphorism:
“When the power of love replaces the love of power, man will have a new name: God.†[1]
In an explanation of this, Sri Chinmoy elaborated by saying that here ‘God’ means universality.
He said that when we use the power of love, individuality immediately disappears and is replaced by universality or a positive feeling of oneness; however when we use the love of power, we feel separate and superior, feelings that very often lead to destruction.
Using this deeply insightful and meaningful ideal to build upon, the World Festival of the Heart, an event to be staged in Melbourne, Australia in November this year, was born. The Festival is a gathering of luminaries across the fields of spirituality, science and the arts, to celebrate their wisdom and life achievements, and to collectively explore how we can use “heart-power†to improve the fundamental wellbeing of all life on our planet.
Our world is standing on the brink of a new era and all around us we are witnessing a thrilling convergence of these three amazing fields of endeavour. Festival organisers are planning a three-day program that will explore this “convergence†and the possibilities it holds to change our lives in unimaginable ways.
Festival organisers are creating a program full of activities: workshops, music, dialogue, devotions, performance, concerts, an expo and a grand forum. The program is designed for anyone who has a passion for life, for the world and our future. Themes for Festival participants to explore will include:
The Great Mystery: life, consciousness and the universe
The Universal Heart: recognising the oneness in diversity of all life
Creative Living: using heart-power for a healthy, happy and harmonious life.
We will be adding more streaming channels and also adding new content to Radio Sri Chinmoy, in the near future.
Sri Chinmoy was a prolific composer of songs. He often performed his own compositions at his 777 Peace Concerts which he offered around the world during his lifetime.
Recently, members of the Sri Chinmoy Centre participated in a European ‘Songs of the Soul’ Concert tour at venues in Poland, Germany, Czech Republic, Austria and Slovakia.
A variety of groups performed arrangements of songs composed by Sri Chinmoy
The concerts played to packed venues in the different cities. More photos and details can be found at: Songs of the Soul
In a recent interview, Ashrita Furman, a student of Sri Chinmoy, explains how the practise of meditation helped him in his spiritual journey and setting a wide range of Guinness World Records.
Ashrita setting a record for fastest fireman's carry (1 mile)
When Ashrita was young, he admits he was not good at sport, in fact he mentions he was ‘a bit of nerd’. But, after practising meditation for several years, Sri Chinmoy saw Ashrita had the potential to aim for a big mileage in a 24 hour cycle race. To Ashrita’s surprise he was able to ride 405 miles in 24 hours, with little training – displaying to himself how techniques of meditation and mantra can help us to transcend our previous limitations.
Ashrita setting record for biggest Hula Hoop
View this video at Sri Chinmoy TV for more inspirational words from the man with the most Guinness world records.
Video produced by Parimal Repka, Hungary Sri Chinmoy Centre.
On 9th October, a two mile race was organised to celebrate the 5th anniversary of the dedication of the Sri Chinmoy Heart-Garden in Flushing Meadows Park, Queens, New York.
Dignitaries including former Olympians hold the World Harmony Run torch and offer their good wishes for peace.
Sri Chinmoy Heart Garden
The Sri Chinmoy Heart-Garden was dedicated by the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation to Sri Chinmoy, on October 11, 2006. Exactly one year later Sri Chinmoy passed away, leaving a vibrant legacy of world service and creativity in many fields.
The Heart-Garden Two-Mile Race, first held in October 2009, is an annual event organised by Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team to celebrate the legacy and vision for world peace offered by Sri Chinmoy.
Everything that is beautiful,
Inspiring and aspiring
Can easily be found
Inside our heart-garden.
Vajin Armstrong, of Christchurch Sri Chinmoy Centre, finished 8th in the Commonwealth 55Km trail race championship held in Llandudno, Wales. He finished the 55KM race in a time of 03:43:13.
Aged 31, Vajin works as a manager of a Gandharva Loka music store. But, in his spare time he is able to train for marathons and ultra distance races. Previously Vajin won his first 47 mile ultra race in a time of 5 hours 27 minutes. In 2010 he finished 1st in New Zealand’s Kepler Challenge (60km trail race) .
Vajin wrote of his experience racing in the Commonwealth ultra races.
“It has been a inspiring and uplifting experience, and a true demonstration of the power of sport to bring people together in a spirit of oneness and understanding. Spending time surrounded by fellow athletes who all share your love of the mountains and are all aspiring to transcend themselves was a wonderful experience.”
