Sri Chinmoy grew up in India and at age of twelve joined the Sri Aurobindo Ashram (a yoga community) in Pondichery, in southern India. While in the ashram, he practised meditation for many hours daily. In 1964 he relocated to New York, USA, with the aim to teach meditation to Western students.
Sri Chinmoy has dedicated his life to the pursuit of world harmony and created many new initiatives to foster this ideal.
An accomplished philosopher, artist, musician, athlete, poet and a prolific writer, Sri Chinmoy has authored numerous books, stories, songs, paintings and plays.
For over 35 years, Sri Chinmoy held regular meditations at the United Nations Headquarters in New York for staff members and delegates from many countries.
His meditative paintings for world harmony continue to be exhibited at prestigious venues worldwide.
Under his direct guidance, many meditation centres have been formed around the world. Thousands of students worldwide follow Sri Chinmoy’s approach to meditation, leading a lifestyle of simplicity, harmony and dedicated service to the communities in which they leave.
It was Sri Chinmoy’s specific request that meditation classes and weekly practices be given free of charge to those interested.
For an introduction to the Yoga of Sri Chinmoy, please click here.
Sri Chinmoy in Geneva
During his lifetime Sri Chinmoy visited Geneva on numerous occasions. His last visit was in the fall of 1995 when he gave a peace concert dedicated to the 50th anniversary of the United Nations. Sri Chinmoy has also dedicated several sites, such as the Centre Sportif de Vessy and the Geneva International Airport, to world peace. Over 1,000 significant sites and landmarks, including the American Statue of Liberty, the Canadian Niagara Falls, the Swiss Matterhorn and the Russian Lake Baikal have been dedicated to the united aspiration towards true and lasting world harmony
During his visits to Geneva, Sri Chinmoy held public lectures at the University of Geneva on several occasions (click on the lecture titles below to open or download the transcript of the lecture in PDF format):
SPIRITUAL-PURITY, 28 June 1973
THE-ASPIRING-LIFE, 7 July 1974