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'When you perform for me, always choose devotional songs.'
This is one of the stories in our Story-Gems project, a collection of our experiences with our Guru, Sri Chinmoy. Project homepage »
Gunthita (seen here with guitar) is the leader of the Mountain Silence singing group, which has been performing Sri Chinmoy's music for over 30 years
When we performed in New York for Guru with Mountain-Silence, we played three songs as always. We liked these songs very much. After some other people performed, Guru called for me and talked to me.
He said, “Gunthita, not even one of the three songs performed were devotional. Please, please, in the future, when you perform for me, always choose devotional songs.”
Then he said, "When you give concerts and you play with devotion, then the people will receive." Guru said, "They will receive something from me." Guru meant from him and from our souls. He said that the only and most important thing is to play with devotion. The songs don't have to be slow or fast, but the devotion is the most important thing.
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Guru suggested, "Why don't you play Christ songs? They are always devotional."
A few days later at the Celebrations, Guru told me, "Gunthita, I am giving your group another chance. Tomorrow morning at 11, you can perform for me."
That morning, we were practising and practising. We prepared seven songs just in case there was more than one performance. We chose Christ songs and only songs which we knew from the translation were very devotional.
Mountain Silence perform 'Jishu Kristo' by Sri Chinmoy
Then we sat with no audience, just Guru. We performed just for Guru at the front of Aspiration-Ground. At that time, it was not yet the temple. It was just a small little house.
We played one song and another song and another song. Guru meditated and meditated. He said, "One more, one more." Exactly up to seven songs. And then Guru bowed.
Mountain-Silence perform 'Blessed are the pure in heart...' taken from the famous words of the Saviour Christ.
Later on in his house, Guru said that when we performed for him, "I was very moved, I was very moved."
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Sri Chinmoy talks about which kinds of music help us and hinder us in our spiritual life
We meditate on the Christ.
We repeat his name countless times.
Without the Christ-consciousness
Our life is totally lost.
Christ is for all.
He is our divinity’s Son
And humanity’s Father.
This is one of the stories in our Story-Gems project, a collection of our experiences with our Guru, Sri Chinmoy. Project homepage »
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This is another story that happened when we were in New York. We went to the Connecticut Centre, which was in a basement. Connecticut is not far from New York. We were having a meditation, and Guru was just in front of us. We could sit right in front of Guru. While I was looking at Guru, I saw the third eye very bright, bright, bright. I can't explain. It was whiter than white. It was like when you see some people in India that have a fork shape on their third eye. I asked the person beside me, “Can you see Guru? Look… he's got….” He said: “What are you talking about? I don't see anything.”
It was indescribable. The only visual I could see was like when a star vibrates and the light seems to just grow and grow. It was very striking and very awakening.
May my two human eyes
At every moment
Love and love and love
The celestial Beauty
Of my Lord’s Third Eye.
Sri Chinmoy's biography, written by one of the most famous Bengali authors
This is one of the stories in our Story-Gems project, a collection of our experiences with our Guru, Sri Chinmoy. Project homepage »
Sri Chinmoy with Mani Shankar Mukherjee
The story started long before I became a disciple. Anwarul Chowdhury was the deputy secretary general of the United Nations. He was at the UN for many years and he loved Guru, just loved Guru. He eventually became an ambassador, so Guru always called him Ambassador Chowdhury.
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Ambassador Chowdhury speaks at the launch of Sri Chinmoy's book The Jewels of Happiness
Ambassador Chowdhury is a very literary person and he knew one of the best writers, the most famous writers of Bengal. Not from Bangladesh, but actually from Calcutta. The writer's name is Mani Shankar Mukherjee, but people just call him Shankar. His books are so famous that they have been made into films by well-known filmmakers.
Shankar was very, very impressed to see that Guru, as a Bengali, came twice a week to the UN to give the peace meditation and also inspired his disciples to wear saris, which they did when they went to the UN.
A letter from Sri Chinmoy to Sankar congratulatinng him on his biography of Swami Vivekananda
Shankar is also a spiritual person. He loves Swami Vivekananda and has written many books on Swami Vivekananda. He was inspired to write a biography of Guru. This was in 1988 when he first met Guru.
Many years passed. Shankar came, I think, one more time. He also got to meet Guru in 2005. Guru sent him a lot of material, and he started writing his book. But just before Guru's passing something happened and somehow the book project stopped.
Later, I went to India and I heard there that Shankar's wife had passed. I sent him flowers and spoke to him. We talked about restarting the project. Eventually the book got finished. I invited Shankar to come to New York again to sign the book and present it to the disciples.
The Hindi version of
Sankar's biography
Shankar is a good writer. The book is beautiful and very well written. Bengalis in different parts of India have read the book, and some have come to the United States and made a trip to the Sri Chinmoy Centre Aspiration-Ground just to know who Guru is.
This book has also been translated into Hindi, the main language, the common language, of India. Vijay and his family from Nepal and other disciples, including Mahavir-ji, have also given copies of the book to many, many people in India.
God's biography,
Abridged and condensed,
Is the earthly life Of an Avatar.
This is one of the stories in our Story-Gems project, a collection of our experiences with our Guru, Sri Chinmoy. Project homepage »
Sri Chinmoy, 1969
The night before I met Guru for the first time, I had dreamt that I was at the Centre and there was a meditation happening. It was extremely powerful. Guru did not talk much. At the end of the meditation, Guru said, “The meeting is over, please go home.” Then he mentioned the names of five or six disciples and asked them to stay. All of them were the younger ones of the group at that time.
I tried to get up to leave but I could not. I was forcing myself to stand up and walk out, but I could not move. It was like I was glued to the chair. So I decided to stay a little longer until I could get up and walk.
I stayed and meditated and after some time, I opened my eyes and looked around. I saw that the meditation room was completely empty. There was nobody there. I started to get up to leave and a force came through my heart. It forced me to walk toward the entrance of the room where Guru was with the disciples he had asked to stay. Guru was lying down on the couch. I looked at Guru and told him, “For good or bad, I am your son.”
Guru replied, “If you are my son, cut your hair, shave your beard, and follow me. I shall lead you to the Golden Shore of the Eternal Beyond.”
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Then I woke up. I could not wait to go to meditation that Sunday morning. I just could not wait to see him.
So I went to the Centre. Guru started to meditate, and it was an extremely high and powerful meditation. I don’t recall if Guru said anything and I don’t know how long we were there either.
At some point, Guru said, “The meeting is over. Please go home. I will see you again when I come back in February.” This was in December of 1969.
I tried to get up and leave and I couldn’t get up. I tried again and still couldn’t get up. I placed my hands at the edge of the chair to push myself up, but I couldn’t get up. As much as I tries, I just couldn’t get up from the chair. I decided to stay and meditate until I could get up.
I started to meditate and was surrounded by this powerful love. I opened my eyes and looked around. I was all alone in the meditation room. I tried to get up and I was able to. The moment I got up, a force entered into my heart and took me right to the room where Guru was. Guru was lying on a divan and the disciples were on the floor in front of him.
Immediately Guru looked straight at me and asked, “What do you have to say?”
My mouth opened up and I said, “For good or bad, I am your son.”
He looked at me with the sweetest eyes and the sweetest face and said, “If you are my son, cut your hair, shave your beard, and follow me. I shall lead you to the Golden Shore of the Eternal Beyond.” Word for word as I had dreamt it. Everything was exactly the same.
But then he added, “I will see you in February and I will initiate you. In May, I will give you your soul’s name.” In those days we used to get our spiritual names very early on.
This experience stayed with me to this day. In fact, all of my experiences with Guru have stayed with me to this day.
Sri Chinmoy, May 1969
My Supreme, my Supreme, my Supreme!
May all my God-dreams blossom
In my aspiring heart-garden.
My Supreme, my Supreme, my Supreme!
This is one of the stories in our Story-Gems project, a collection of our experiences with our Guru, Sri Chinmoy. Project homepage »
I was 13 or I might have been 14. I was going to school, and my school was one hour away from where I lived. Every day I went on the bus to school. Very occasionally, I would get off the bus halfway through and catch the train the rest of the way. That was only if I was really late or something had happened.
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One day I decided I was going to catch the train. I was with my cousins who I lived with. They were persuading me to catch the bus because we could travel together. I said, "No, I'm going to catch the train today."
I came out of the train station and as soon as I did, Guru walked by. He was on a secret visit to London.
He would go back via India, from India to New York. We were lucky that he would stop by London. That particular time he was staying in London for three days, but to rest and totally secretly. Nobody was allowed to know that he was there.
Because I was young, I said, "Guru are you coming to the Centre? Can you come to the Centre?" He said, "Yes, tell everybody I will come."
Then I was late for school. I said, "Guru, I'm going to be late for school."
At that time, the school was very, very strict. Everybody that was late on that day was in serious trouble—except me—because the teacher just didn't notice me. I was the latest of all of them, but Guru protected me.
Sri Chinmoy in a relaxed mood
As long as we stay
Inside God’s Compassion-Heart
And at his Protection-Feet,
We shall be able to protect
Both the divine and the human
In our lives.
This is one of the stories in our Story-Gems project, a collection of our experiences with our Guru, Sri Chinmoy. Project homepage »
Bhavani and her two sons, Devashishu and Sahadeva, meditate with Sri Chinmoy. Bhavani passed away unexpectedly in December 2000.
We would ask Guru many questions about Bhavani—what she is doing in the soul’s world and if she wants to come back to Earth. Guru said: “A disciple like Bhavani wants to be in Heaven for when her Master passes. She wants to be there for the celebrations in Heaven.”
Guru said one time that Bhavani, in the soul's world, came to visit Guru on the Christmas trip. It was during the night and Guru was meditating on Mother Kali. As she approached Guru, she saw Guru facing this light and she was afraid of the light. She asked Guru, "What is it?" Guru said, "This is Mother Kali." Guru said Bhavani's soul was afraid, but from Guru's point of view, he said he found it very charming. Then Guru finished meditating with Mother Kali, and Bhavani came and sat in front of Guru.
Sri Chinmoy with images of Mother Kali in the background. Mother Kali was Sri Chinmoy's family deity when he was growing up.
As soon as she came, she got frightened to death when she saw me meditating, high, higher, highest, looking at the picture of Mother Kali. The picture frame has some bright lights inside it. Bhavani asked, “What is this? What is this?”
I said, “You cannot recognise yourself?” Bhavani is an aspect of Mother Durga and Mother Kali! The electric lights were dazzling her and her soul got frightened. This is what happens. If you have not realised God, then even if you are a soul, you are bound to be frightened by these dazzling lights.
Then Guru said: “We talked politics and world affairs.” Guru said she spoke just like she did when she was on Earth, very fast and lots of words. It was all about politics.
One of the things that Guru really showed us, me and my brother Devashishu and everybody, was that you never really die. One thing is you can just say: “Oh, that's the soul.” But when you actually start to have experiences through Guru of your mother still being alive, saying all these things, you really know and you really feel that the person is completely still alive.
Every year after Bhavani's passing, Sri Chinmoy would observe her birthday, along with her husband Kaivalya (right) and her sons Devashishu and Sahadeva
Bhavani came today only for her son Sahadeva’s birthday. These souls are just on the next floor. There is a big mirror in between, so they can see us.
Guru said, "You have to imagine like your mother is in New York and you are in London. She's in a different place. You cannot see her, but she is still alive."
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The Kingdom of Heaven
The Kingdom of Heaven
Is not for a darkened mind.
The Kingdom of Heaven
Is not for a trembling heart.
The Kingdom of Heaven
Is not for an unloving life.
The Kingdom of Heaven
Is only for the God-dreaming
And God-pleasing soul.
This is one of the stories in our Story-Gems project, a collection of our experiences with our Guru, Sri Chinmoy. Project homepage »
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I’m going to tell a cute story about Sarama, who taught my first meditation classes and who I helped in her manifestation projects.
Sarama had a cat called Inky. She told me that when she came home one night and opened the door, Inky was sitting on the floor waiting for her. As soon as Sarama came in, Inky died. The cat had waited for Sarama to come home and then died.
Guru found out about it, and told Sarama that he had contacted Inky’s soul. He said that he would give the cat a human incarnation in its next incarnation. But Inky’s soul said it had seen a picture of a cow, and wanted to come back as a cow.
Man’s human glory begins when his animal story ends.
His divine glory begins when his human story ends.
His supreme Glory has neither birth nor death.
