Meditations: Food for the Soul

In this recording, Sri Chinmoy recites from his first published book, Meditations: Food for the soul, a collection of meditative aphorisms for every day of the year. In between each aphorism, Sri Chinmoy chants the sacred mantra ‘Aum’.

On December 31 1968, at midnight, all of Sri Chinmoy’s students in their various homes around the world began the New Year by reading, “Three hundred and sixty-five opportunities to realize the Supreme, to reveal the Supreme and to fulfill the Supreme.”

This was the first meditation from the January issue of “Flame-Stars and Flame-Worlds“. For each day of 1969, Sri Chinmoy was inspired to write a few lines to guide his students along their inner path and to illumine specific problems encountered by the spiritual seeker. In 1970 the entire year’s meditations have been published under the title Meditations: Food for the soul; – it was the first book Sri Chinmoy published since he came to the West in 1964. The second edition was published by Harper and Row in 1971. The Third Edition was published by Perfection-Glory Press, Augsburg, Germany, 1996.

As Sri Chinmoy teaches, we all feed our bodies every day, but the soul also is in dire need of nourishment. If we do not feed the body, the body becomes weak; likewise, the soul will languish if we neglect it.

“Food for the body is necessary for everybody. We all know what it is. Meditation is food for the soul. Every day you can enter into your highest consciousness if you want to, just by meditating on this book of aphorisms. They are the food for your soul.”

– Sri Chinmoy (link)

January 10

I look upward. I earn time.
I look forward. I utilise time.
I look inward. I save time.
I look backward. I waste time.

– Sri Chinmoy, Meditations: food for the soul, Agni Press, 1970

From 1970 to 2014, over 1600 books of Sri Chinmoy have been published along with many compilations of poetry, short plays, aphorisms, illumining stories, and answers to the countless questions asked of him over the years.

In his philosophy, Sri Chinmoy has always stressed the importance of reading spiritual material in order to inspire the mind to follow the heart; his output certainly ensured there was no shortage of material available to his students or those he gave inspiration to.

Book Milestones

300 books (1976)

1st book – Meditations: food for the soul (1970)
100th book – The Golden Boat, part 4 (1974)
200th book – Two Devouring Brothers: Doubt and Ego (1974)
300th book – Aspiration-Tree (1976)
400th book – Four Hundred Gratitude-Flower-Hearts (1979)
500th book – I Am Ready (1982)
600th book – I Pray So That (1983)
700th book – My God-Hunger-Dreams (1986)
800th book – Concentration, Meditation, Contemplation (1991)
900th book – Love, Compassion, Forgiveness (1993)
1000th book – God’s Compassion-Eye … (1994)
1100th book – Sacred Rock Welcomes Sri Chinmoy (1995)
1200th book – Seventy-Seven Thousand Aspiration-Plants (part 248) (1998)
1300th book – The New Millennium (1999)
1400th book – Here and Now (2001)
1500th book – Seventy-Seven Thousand Service-Trees, part 41 (2004)
1600th book – Our Sweetest Oneness (2012)
1613th book – A Rainbow-Garland (April 2014)

Image on left: Celebrating, Sri Chinmoy stands garlanded with 200 flowers in front of his Vidya Bhavan of 200 books. (January 1975)

Image on right: Aspiration-Tree – Sri Chinmoy’s 300th book, consisting of questions and answers on aspiration published in December 1976.

On 5 February 1978 Sri Chinmoy presented these 300 books to the Harvard University. He also played esraj during for those present at reception. The presentation took place in the Hilles Library at Radcliffe College, Harvard University, where Sri Chinmoy’s Jhama-Kala paintings were on exhibit for three weeks.

Celebrating his 700th book, My God-Hunger-Dreams on August 27th 1986, that consist 55 aphorism/poems in the author’s own handwriting during 1st weightlifting anniversary.

Artist: Sri Chinmoy
Name: Meditations: Food for the Soul
Release year: 1970 (MC)
Duration: 0:21:10
Acknowledgements: Sri Chinmoy
Tracks uploaded: Ashish | Tejvan
Format: Advanced Audio Coding
Photos by Bhashwar, Sarama – title photo: Sri Chinmoy leading a public meditation during his Toronto visit in May 1973.

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