Celebration of Life of Sri Chinmoy 1931-2007, Leader of Peace Meditations at UN

Filed under Significant events & meetings | Tributes and Expressions of appreciation

A Celebration of Life of Sri Chinmoy 1931-2007, Leader of Peace Meditations at United Nations

30 October 2007, Conference Room 4. United Nations, New York

(Includes the Complete Programme)

Leaders from six different religions—Buddhism, Christianity, Indigenous religious traditions, Hinduism, Islam and Judaism—offer the opening moment of silence
A few minutes of Sri Chinmoy’s music, performed on flute and on harmonium.
Ms. Catherine Vijaya Claxton, Programme Coordinator for Sri Chinmoy: The Peace Meditation at the United Nations, Welcome on behalf of the members of the Meditation Group and of our sponsors for this day.
H.E. Ambassador, Anwarul Chowdhury, Former Under-Secretary-General, and High Representative of the United Nations, delivers the keynote address
Ms. Ranjana Ghose, Curator of the Sri Chinmoy Jharna-Kala Art Foundation and Main NGO Representative of the Sri Chinmoy Centre, read a letter dated 12 October 2007 from:
- President Mikhail Gorbachev,
H.E. Ambassador, Hjálmar Hannesson, Permanent Representative of Iceland
H.E. Ambassador Ismat Jahan, Permanent Representative of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh
H.E. Ambassador, Crispin Grégoire, Permanent Representative of the Commonwealth of Dominica
H.E. Ambassador Milton Nathaniel Barnes, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Liberia.
Mr. Adhiratha Keefe, Programme Coordinator for the Meditation Group and UNFPA Staff Member, read a statement dated 27 October 2007 from:
- H.E. Ambassador Vladimir Petrovsky,Deputy Foreign Minister of the Soviet Union (1986-1991); UN Under-Secretary-General and Director-General of the UN Office at Geneva (1992-2002); and Chairman, Comprehensive Dialogue among Civilizations;
Ms. Nilima Silver, Programme Coordinator for the Meditation Group and UN Secretariat Staff Member, read a letter dated 27 October 2007 from
- President Pratibha Devisingh Patil, the President of the Republic of India.
Daw Aye Aye Thant, Daughter of Secretary-General U Thant; Founder and President of the U Thant Institute; and recipient of the U Thant Peace Award from Sri Chinmoy.
Congressman Benjamin Arthur Gilman, United States Representative from New York from 1973 to 2003; and Chairman of the U.S. Congressional House International Relations Committee, 1995-2000.
New York City Councilmen Mr. James Gennaro and Mr. David Weprin.
City Council Proclamation received by Ms. Ranjana Ghose on behalf of the Sri Chinmoy Centre, from New York City Councilmen James Gennaro and David Weprin.
Ms. Tegla Loroupe, UN Ambassador for Sport and Peace; President of the Tegla Loroupe Peace Foundation; and two-time marathon world record holder.
Mr. Lowell Flanders, Former President of the United Nations Staff Union and Assistant Director of the Division for Sustainable Development
Ms. Muriel Frohman. Former Chief of Protocol of the New York Road Runners Club, and Liaison with the UN for the International Friendship Run. His Excellency,
Mr. Vijay Nambiar, Under-Secretary-General and Chef de Cabinet of the United Nations.
Choir sang two songs composed by Sri Chinmoy.
- Tomare Rakhibo, and
- UN: Sun-Vision-Plan, dedicated to the United Nations.
A Student of Peace – the last poem — “I am an eternal journey.

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Separate post covers:

D. Selected tributes ……………………………………………………………………………. p. 24 – 45
E. Excerpts from Sri Chinmoy’s writings ………………………………………………….. P. 46 – 54

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A. Introduction ……………………………………………………………………….. page 2

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B. Sri Chinmoy’s meetings and correspondence with Secretaries-General of the UN

U Thant Secretary-General 1961–1971

Kurt Waldheim Secretary-General 1972–1981

JavierPérez de Cuéllar, Secretary-General 1982–1991

continued

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Boutros Boutros-Ghali – Secretary-General 1992–1996

Kofi Annan Secretary-General 1997–2006

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C. A Celebration of the Life of Sri Chinmoy, held at the United Nations……………………. p. 8 – 23

Leaders from six different religions—Buddhism, Christianity, Indigenous religious traditions, Hinduism, Islam and Judaism—offer the opening moment of silence at the Celebration of the Life of Sri Chinmoy.

Participants in the opening moment of silence, from left to right are: The Ven. Ashin Indaka, Chief Monk of the Mahasi Meditation Retreat Center Association; The Very Rev. James Parks Morton, Founder of the Interfaith Center of New York and Dean Emeritus of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine; Nana Boakyewa Yiadom I, Queen of Adamorobe, Aburi-Akuapem (Ghana); Swami Amarnathananda, Head Monk of the Bharat Sevashram Sangha of North America; Pir Zia Inayat-Khan, President of the Sufi Order International; and Maggid Yitzhak Buxbaum, Director, Jewish Spirit.

Following are excerpts taken from a Celebration of the Life of Sri Chinmoy, held at the United Nations on 30 October 2007, attended by over 700 members of the international community and friends and admirers of Sri Chinmoy.

As people filled the room, the programme began with a few minutes of Sri Chinmoy’s music, performed on flute by Mr. Premik Russell Tubbs, Musician/Producer, and on harmonium by Mr. Surashri Paradis, UN Secretariat Staff Member.

Ms. Catherine Vijaya Claxton, Programme Coordinator for Sri Chinmoy: The Peace Meditation at the United Nations,

On behalf of the members On behalf of the members of the Meditation Group and of our sponsors today—the Permanent Missions of Iceland, the Republic of Angola, the People’s Republic of Bangladesh, and the Commonwealth of Dominica, as well as the non-governmental organization, the Sri Chinmoy Centre—we welcome you sincerely and thank you for coming to share this very special day to celebrate the life of Sri Chinmoy ……..

His Excellency Ambassador, Anwarul Chowdhury, Former Under-Secretary-General, and High Representative of the United Nations, delivers the keynote address.

Ms. Ranjana Ghose, Curator of the Sri Chinmoy Jharna-Kala Art Foundation and Main NGO Representative of the Sri Chinmoy Centre, read a letter dated 12 October 2007 from:

President Mikhail Gorbachev,

His Excellency Ambassador, Hjálmar Hannesson, Permanent Representative of Iceland to the UN

Her Excellency Ambassador Ismat Jahan, Permanent Representative of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh to the UN

His Excellency Ambassador, Crispin Grégoire, Permanent Representative of the Commonwealth of Dominica to the UN
His Excellency Ambassador Milton Nathaniel Barnes, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Liberia to the UN

Mr. Adhiratha Keefe, Programme Coordinator for the Meditation Group and UNFPA Staff Member,read a statement dated 27 October 2007 from

H.E. Ambassador Vladimir Petrovsky,Deputy Foreign Minister of the Soviet Union (1986-1991); UN Under-Secretary-General and Director-General of the UN Office at Geneva (1992-2002); and Chairman, Comprehensive Dialogue among Civilizations;

Ms. Nilima Silver, Programme Coordinator for the Meditation Group and UN Secretariat Staff Member, read a letter dated 27 October 2007 from :
President Pratibha Devisingh Patil, the President of the Republic of India
Daw Aye Aye Thant, Daughter of Secretary-General U Thant; Founder and President of the U Thant Institute; and recipient of the U Thant Peace Award from Sri Chinmoy

Congressman Benjamin Arthur Gilman, United States Representative from New York from 1973 to 2003; and Chairman of the U.S. Congressional House International Relations Committee, 1995-2000.

New York City Councilmen Mr. James Gennaro and Mr. David Weprin

Ms. Ranjana Ghose receives a City Council Proclamation on behalf of the Sri Chinmoy Centre, from New York City Councilmen James Gennaro and David Weprin.

Ms. Tegla Loroupe, UN Ambassador for Sport and Peace; President of the Tegla Loroupe Peace Foundation; and two-time marathon world record holder

Mr. Lowell Flanders, Former President of the United Nations Staff Union and Assistant Director of the Division for Sustainable Development

Ms. Muriel Frohman. Former Chief of Protocol of the New York Road Runners Club, and Liaison with the UN for the International Friendship Run

His Excellency, Mr. Vijay Nambiar, Under-Secretary-General and Chef de Cabinet of the United Nations

The Meditation Group Choir sang two songs composed by Sri Chinmoy.
- Tomare Rakhibo Music score + English Translation
  
  one song in his native Bengali, Tomare Rakhibo, and

Un Sun Vision Plan – Music Score from 1980 Songbook Chandelier by Sri Chinmoy

one song in English, UN: Sun-Vision-Plan, dedicated to the United Nations.
(Listen to : UN The Lord’s Sun )

MS. CLAXTON: No matter what our individual personal beliefs are, today we share in common our collective loss. This loss is tempered with the joy we all share, the very personal joy of having known this remarkable man. We hope that each of you can find solace in the words of Sri Chinmoy himself.

The evening before he died, Sri Chinmoy said that he considered himself above all

a Student of Peace.

We honour him in carrying that legacy forward.

And the last poem, which has affected so many of us so clearly, published just before his passing, reads:

“My physical death is not the end of my life—
I am an eternal journey.”

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This post covers:

A. Introduction …………………………………………………………………………………………… p.2
B. Sri Chinmoy’s meetings and correspondence with the Secretaries-General of the UN . p.3 – 7
C. A Celebration of the Life of Sri Chinmoy, held at the United Nations……………………. p. 8 – 23

Separate post covers:

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For full text in pdf format file see:

A Celebration of the Life of Sri Chinmoy 1931-2007, Leader of Peace Meditations at the United Nations”

Sri Chinmoy:The Peace Meditation at the United Nations