The Philosophy of Sri Chinmoy: Love and Transformation
Chinmoy Kumar Ghosh was born in 1931 in the village of Shakapura, in what was then East Bengal. He belonged to a prosperous Hindu family, benefitting from his father’s profession as a successful Chittagong banker. It was a time of political ferment occasioned by the Indian independence struggle. Ben...
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
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| Published: |
Univ.
2022
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| In: |
Nidān
Year: 2022, Volume: 7, Issue: 2, Pages: 85-87 |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (kostenfrei) |
| Summary: | Chinmoy Kumar Ghosh was born in 1931 in the village of Shakapura, in what was then East Bengal. He belonged to a prosperous Hindu family, benefitting from his father’s profession as a successful Chittagong banker. It was a time of political ferment occasioned by the Indian independence struggle. Bengal was also the epicentre of religious stirrings with reform and conservative Hindu movements vying for influence. Prominent among these were the Brahmo Samaj, the Arya Samaj and the Ramakrishna Mission. Eminent teachers such as Sri Ramakrishna, Swami Vivekananda and Sri Aurobindo had also left their marks. The latter would exert a significant influence on the life and thought of Sri Chinmoy. Hriday Rajan, Sri Chinmoy’s elder brother, became a disciple of Sri Aurobindo and took up residence at the Aurobindo Ashram in Pondicherry. The family became regular visitors and, after the deaths of their parents, all the children, six brothers and sisters, moved to reside at the Ashram. Here they spent the rest of their lives as celibate spiritual seekers. Sri Aurobindo’s teachings clearly exerted the most significant influence on Sri Chinmoy. He attended the Ashram school and engaged in religious practice. Here he began his career as a poet and athlete, interests that he sustained throughout his life. In 1962, at the age of 31, Sri Chinmoy moved to the United States. He found employment as a clerk in the Indian Consulate in New York, while delivering lectures and leading meditation sessions at the homes of interested seekers. As Sri Chinmoy became established as a teacher, centres were founded, and a monthly magazine, Aum, launched. New York became the centre from which his activities radiated around the world and his permanent home until he passed away in 2007 at the age of seventy-six. Sri Chinmoy’s legacy is impressive and multidimensional. It includes over 100,000 poems, 200,000 paintings, and 23,000 song compositions in Bengali and English. In addition, he led over 750 musical peace concerts around the world and conducted twice-weekly meditation sessions at the United Nations headquarters in New York. He was a dedicated runner, completing twenty-two marathons, and weightlifter. His work expanded in the field of business to include restaurants, health food stores, flower shops, printing presses, yoga studios and professional consultancies. |
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| ISSN: | 2414-8636 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Nidān
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.58125/nidan.2022.2 |