Sri Chinmoy - Music
Sri Chinmoy is a prolific composer of music, since coming to the West in the 1960s he has composed over 18,000 songs mostly devotional in nature. Of these 18,000 the majority are in his native Bengali language. The remaining 6,000 are in English. For selections of Sri Chinmoy's prolific music you can visit Sri Chinmoy Songs.com
Sri Chinmoy teaches that spiritual music, soulful music can be very useful as an aid to meditation. As Sri Chinmoy states
" Music is the inner or universal language of God. I do not know French or German or Italian. But if music is played, immediately the heart of the music enters into my heart, or my heart enters into the music. At that time, we do not need outer communication; the inner communion of the heart is enough. My heart is communing with the heart of the music and in our communion we become inseparably one.
In the spiritual world, next to meditation is music, the breath of music. Meditation is silence, energising and fulfilling. Silence is the eloquent expression of the inexpressible. Aldous Huxley says: “After silence, that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music.”
- Sri Chinmoy
As well as composing many songs. Sri Chinmoy plays many different instruments. He has tried many different instruments from around the world. However his favourite is the Indian Esraj, which is a stringed instrument not entirely dissimilar to a Cello.
For examples of Sri Chinmoy playing his compositions there are various recordings at Radio Sri Chinmoy. Sri Chinmoy also travels around offering concerts of meditative music. Last September Sri Chinmoy gave a concert tour in Germany playing in 7 different German cities. I went to one in Munich, there were about 5,000 people there.
Sri Chinmoy has also given quite a few concerts in the UK. When I was a student at Oxford he came when I was in my first year. It was the first time I had come across Sri Chinmoy and was intrigued by the idea of a Peace concert. I wanted to go but a good friend persuaded me I would have a better time going to a pub. I became a disciple of Sri Chinmoy 4 years later in 1999.
- Richard 24/12/2005
