A selection of talks by Sri Chinmoy from the very beginning of his spiritual mission in the West. These talks were given in Puerto Rico, where the Master founded his first meditation centre in 1966.
From the Jacket inside this CD:
Is the West Unspiritual? (2017 CD)
Last modified January 30, 2022
Spiritual Master Sri Chinmoy inaugurated his first meditation Centre on July 22, 1966 while visiting the Caribbean island of Puerto Rico. He was invited to give talks to spiritual seekers there, and found immediate and abundant receptivity. He established his second Centre a few weeks later in Brooklyn, New York on August 12, 1966. An account written in July of 1965 of Sri Chinmoy’s meditation meetings stated, “Some new seekers helped by offering their homes on a rotating basis each week for the weekly talks. Chinmoy prepared a written talk, which he then memorised. He delivered it, and then we meditated. He then invited questions.” The groups were called “Aum Centres” until 1970, when the name was changed to “Sri Chinmoy Centre.” Today there are over 300 Sri Chinmoy Centres in 72 different countries.
Audio recordings of Sri Chinmoy’s earliest talks were usually made by his disciples, transcribed by them for publication, and then stored away. Recordings for public release were begun in 1968, and for the first several years consisted of Sri Chinmoy singing devotional songs and reciting his poetry. He occasionally recorded his own voice – composing poems or songs into a dictaphone, for example – or sending messages to disciples in distant locations when he was unable to visit. In 1969 Madhuri writes about Aum Centre meetings that she attended in December 1966, in the Life of Sri Chinmoy: “For the meetings during his absence, the Guru had prepared tape-recordings to be played for the assembled group.” The April 1967 edition of Sri Chinmoy’s monthly magazine, Aum: Spiritual Philosophy and Yoga describes the celebrations of the third anniversary of Sri Chinmoy’s arrival in the West at the two Aum Centres (Puerto Rico and New York): “Each Centre marked the event with a spiritual and cultural program. In Puerto Rico a tape-recorded message from the Guru was played, in which every disciple was individually greeted by Sri Chinmoy.” Later that year Sri Chinmoy sent a small tape recorder, together with a recorded message, to a disciple overseas who did not have such a machine to play the tape.
Although the sound quality of these old recordings may be limited, perfectly clear is the mighty roar of a great spiritual Master building the foundation of his worldwide mission, which he so succinctly describes in track 8 of this CD: “My mission is to help the sincere seekers to attain to their spiritual perfection.”
1. What is Religion? (fragment) July 17, 1966 at 7:30 pm
This is the first talk that Sri Chinmoy gave on his first visit to Puerto Rico. It was delivered during a meeting in a disciple’s home on Aldea Street in Santurce. Sri Chinmoy then speaks about the agenda of his nine-day visit. The beginning of the talk was not recorded. This talk was published in the October 1966 edition of Aum Magazine.
2. What is Yoga? and Bhakti Yoga. July 20, 1966 at 7:30 pm
These two talks were delivered at a disciple’s home on Calle 1 in Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico. Sri Chinmoy begins with a Sanskrit chant from the Upanishads, Asato ma sad gamaya and its English translation. After the first talk, he sings a song he composed from a Sanskrit passage from the Bhagavad Gita, Tvamadi deva purusha purana. Coqui frogs and other neighbourhood sounds distinguish this recording.
3. Selections from Man and God. Also delivered during the above meeting on July 20th. This talk was first published in May 1966 Aum Magazine. He then recites what became the motto of his Centre: “Man is Infinity’s Heart. Man is Eternity’s Breath. Man is Immortality’s Life,” which first appeared in the April 1966 edition of Aum Magazine. He has also composed a song with these three words.
We hope these talks by Sri Chinmoy inspire the sincere seekers to go deep within and grow in the Truth and Light that we all embody.
Artist: Sri Chinmoy
Name: Is the West Unspiritual? (2017 CD)
Composer: Sri Chinmoy
Release Year: 2017
Duration: 1 hour 18 minutes
Acknowledgements: Sri Chinmoy
Tracks uploaded and published: Kamalakanta Nieves and Tejvan Pettinger
Format: Advanced Audio Coding
