Sri Chinmoy -- Indian guru of peace voicing world harmony
Sri Chinmoy -- Indian guru of peace voicing world harmony
DENPASAR, Bali (JP): The 69-year old Indian master Sri Chinmoy
enchanted hundreds of viewers at the Bali Art Center's Ksirarnawa
auditorium with his enlightening music last week.
The performance was one of Chinmoy's series of global peace
concerts around the world. In front of the audience, Chinmoy
perfectly showed his superb talents of playing both traditional
and modern musical instruments.
Yet, it was his contemplative song compositions which captured
the hearts of the local audience who rarely watched such an
inspirational music concert.
"Music is able to transcend the boundaries of nations,
religions, and races. Through music, we can achieve the universal
sense of oneness in just a blink of an eye," Sri Chinmoy stated.
Born in East Bengal, India, on Aug. 27, 1931, Chinmoy has
composed some 15,000 musical compositions and songs; 10,000 are
in Bengali while the rest are in English, Sanskrit, and French.
His musical creations voice mostly his esthetic aspiration to
create a better world, where the human being is able to realize
the truth of God, Love, and Peace.
He has performed 600 Peace Concerts in various countries all
over the world, including performances in prestigious
venues, such as London's Royal Albert Hall, New York's
Carnegie Hall, Tokyo's Budokan Hall, Sydney's Opera House,
and at the UN's General Assembly Building.
His Bali's concert was held over two days at the Bali arts
center on Jan. 20 and Jan. 21. The second day of the concert
presented groups of female singers called The Mantric Music The
Sri Chinmoy Singers.
The singers are Chinmoy's female followers. Like their
teacher, the Sri Chinmoy Singers also gave excellent performances
with their enthusiastic and joyful spirit.
"These performances were really powerful. The compositions
were very beautiful, and the way they sung truly affected us in
such a way that we could actually sense and feel the messages of
peace, tranquility, and harmony that Sri Chinmoy has always tried to
spread about," one of the listeners Made Sudiana enthused.
Chinmoy is a multi-talented artist. He is also known as a
skillful and prolific painter with more than 200,000 acrylic and
watercolor paintings to his credit. Not to mention so many
paintings of birds, the symbol of peace. His literary career is
also promising. So far, he has published some 1,400 poems, and
many essays, short stories, and plays.
Claiming himself to be a messenger of peace, Chinmoy first
established The Sri Chinmoy Peace Center -- a success, now they
are established in 35 countries.
Members, who come from different faiths and beliefs, support
the centers. With various innovative programs the centers have
boosted the dissemination of the idea on peace and harmony among
the people around the globe.
In addition to giving musical performances, Chinmoy has also
been involved in a number of ceremonies in Bali. One of the
ceremonies took place at the Ngurah Rai International Airport in
Kuta which was dedicated as a Sri Chinmoy Peace-Blossom Airport.
On Jan. 24, he presided over another ceremony, held at the Putri
Bali Hotel in the Nusa Dua resort, which dedicated Indonesia as a
Peace-Blossom-Nation.
Up to the present, about 124 nations have dedicated themselves
to peace as Sri Chinmoy Peace-Blossom-Nations. (I Wayan Juniarta)