Pilgram of Peace – Concerts – report from Bombay India 1986 Jul 23 - Historical Repository for Sri Chinmoy: The Peace Meditation at the United Nations

Pilgram of Peace – Concerts – report from Bombay India 1986 Jul 23

Mention of the Peace Meditation at the United Nations as part of inspiration for Peace Concerts around the world:

FREE PRESS BULLETIN Bombay, India July 23, 1986

Sri Chinmoy began his pilgrimage of peace 16 years ‘ago, in the United Nations. It has taken him to the far corners of the globe capturing the imagination of countless thousands.

By David Burke

The search for peace has inspired statesmen and saints alike from the beginning of recorded time. In our modern age, one of the most remarkable odysseys for peace is that being undertaken by the 54-year-old Bengali spiritual master, poet, artist and composer, Sri Chinmoy.

This pilgrimage of music and silence began 16 years ago. in the august halls of the United Nations. Over the years. it has taken him to the far corners of the globe. capturing the imagination of countless. thousands with its profound simplicity and sincerity. It’s a journey that will probably continue the rest of his life.

” Each one of us represents the world,” he says. “If we can invoke peace and then offer it to others, we will see how peace expands from one to two persons. and gradually to the world at large.”

Sri Chinmoy’ began working on this chain reaction in the spring of 1970, when he initiated his twice-weekly peace meditations at the United Nations for the delegates and staff members there.

Two years ago he inaugurated his peace meditations at the U.S. Congress in Washington, in a ceremony attended by about 100 Congressmen and visitors.

Shortly afterwards, he broadened his efforts with a global series of one -man peace concerts. The first concert, held in the spring of 1984, filled the huge Sportshalle in Cologne, Germany, to overflow capacity. Subsequent peace concerts were held in Paris, London, ‘Vienna, Berlin, New York, Los Angeles, Melbourne, Toronto, Tokyo and some 60 other locations. Many others are planned. .

Unusual

What’1 so unusual about these peace concerts, always offered without charge, is their peculiarly Indian flavor: The ambiance of prayerful silence and haunting, soulful music that would not be expected ‘to appeal to modern-day Westerners.

Typical was the concert held recently in Washington. The slender spiritual teacher, stood with folded hands, eyes in a meditative trance, a hush settled over the crowd. For several moments, the spacious hall in the middle of one of the world’s most sophisticated cities seemed transformed into • holy shrine on the banks of the Ganga.

The stage was filled with various instruments, symbolising the diversity of humankind. As Sri Chinmoy played his special music on them one by one, different segments of humanity seemed to speak through him, expressing their own yearning for peace, the cry for peace gradually built to a crescendo, reverberating through the concert hall,and far beyond.