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)