Sitar Melodies at Radio Sri Chinmoy
These beautiful and uplifting Sitar Melodies are performed by Dr. Madan Shankar Mishra and his son Vijay. The music is composed by Sri Chinmoy.
I really enjoy listening to this track they play with an energizing and soulful dynamism. It is really infectious. Listen Now m4a Format.
"When we play soulful music, psychic music, then immediately we are transported to the highest realm of consciousness."
"There are people who say that spirituality is not meant for this world or this outer life. There are people who say that spirituality should be practised only in the evening of one’s life-that is to say, after having had all the experiences that the outer world can give, one should enter into the inner life. But these opinions are not true. Spirituality can and should be practised irrespective of place and time. Anybody on earth can practise spiritual life. Spiritual life can never be an artificial life. Spiritual life is something which is natural and spontaneous."
By: Sri Chinmoy
Read more on True Spirituality
Many spiritual seekers in the past have felt that suffering and spiritual progress are inexorably linked. There are numerous examples of great saints who went through tremendous physical suffering during their life. For example St Teresa of Avila, St Francis of Assisi and many others suffered with painful illnesses throughout their life. In the Mahabharata we come across Kunti, the mother of the Pandavas. She used to pray to Lord Krishna that she would always suffer so that she would be inclined to always think of him. When she was happy she said she would forget about Sri Krishna.
It seems a paradox that a God who embodies infinite love, and inner ecstasy should require a seeker to suffer in order to realise him.
However although some saints have made great progress despite physical suffering it would be wrong to think that suffering is necessary or even desirable. As Sri Chinmoy says:
?If suffering comes, we have to face it; we have to accept it as an experience on our way. But we do not have to add to our suffering in order to make further progress. We do not have to glorify suffering in order to make higher progress. I don’t have to cut off my arms or my nose in order to go to my Eternal Father. I don’t have to prove to Him how much I have suffered in order to reach Him. He is my all-loving Father and I have to approach Him with all my love. [1].
To get closer to God we need to raise our consciousness from our ordinary human consciousness to the divine consciousness. In the highest transcendental consciousness we aspire to there is no thought or emotion only a divinely fulfilling peace. If we are encumbered with negative thoughts and feel miserable because of an illness we will not be able to access this sublime consciousness. We should view suffering as an obstacle rather than something to be welcomed.
?We can easily do without it. If it comes, of course, we shall try to transform it with our inner light so that it can eventually be an added strength. But we shall not invoke it.? [2]
If suffering comes then it is the right approach to try to alleviate our suffering where possible. However although it is good to prayer for good health there is an even higher prayer, which is to accept our fate with equanimity. We shall pray for healing but if it is God?s will that we suffer then we should not be depressed by this experience. The great Saints were able to make progress because they were able to transform suffering into ecstasy. St John of the Cross recounts how even though he was suffering physical torture his divine experiences left him in an inner state of bliss. If we are able to identify with the soul rather than just the body we will be able to transcend our experiences of suffering. However when we are a beginner to the spiritual life this may be difficult. It is only advanced saints and mystics who are able to transform suffering into ecstasy.
When Sri Ramakrishna was suffering with throat cancer his disciples asked him,
?Why do you not pray to the Divine Mother for the cure of your illness??
Sri Ramakrishna replied:
?When I think of my Mother, the physical body vanishes, and I am entirely out of it. So it is impossible for me to pray for anything concerning the body…."
"The Mother has brought this illness on me in order to teach man how to think of the Spirit and how to live in God-consciousness, even when there is extreme pain in the body. When he body is suffering from excruciating pain and starvation, and when it is beyond all human power to give any relief, even then the Mother shows me that Spirit is the Master of the body.? [3]
However for aspiring seekers the most important thing to remember is that if we wish to experience realisation of our Source cherishing unhappiness and suffering will not help in any way. When we are unhappy we are far from a divine consciousness.
Footnotes
| [1] | `Is suffering necessary for spiritual progress? https://www.srichinmoylibrary.com/selfless-service-light/42.html>`__ |
| [2] | Is Suffering Necessary by Sri Chinmoy |
| [3] | Article on Sri Aurobindo and Ramakrishna |
Article by R.Pettinger
Can be reproduce if link back to Writespirit is maintained in article. It cannot be altered in any way.
Meditation Silence is a weekly podcast of meditation videos. They offer simple guidance about meditation with spiritual teacher Sri Chinmoy
This week is an exercise to try and control the mind. Meditation Silence 7 – The Heart Lotus
"Please try to imagine a lotus inside your heart. Then try to imagine that the lotus is not only inside your heart, but that your heart itself is a lotus. When you look at the lotus or imagine the lotus, try to be deeply absorbed in the beauty of the lotus. It is your own heart-lotus. Then your mind will have no time to roam. "
Watch Meditation video now uses Apple Quicktime
“God is proud of His Divinity in Sri Krishna.
Man is proud of his humanity in Sri Krishna.
Sri Krishna is the beloved Boatman who untiringly plies His Boat of Consciousness
between India’s unparalleled history and Her unrivalled spirituality.
The Gita is Sri Krishna’s Heart, His Vision-in-Fulfilment.
The Gita is humanity’s breath, its journey towards Immortality.
Sri Krishna’s Flute stirs the Universal Consciousness.
Sri Krishna’s Gita enchants the Transcendental Consciousness.
Sri Krishna plays on His Flute. We hear. We do something more.
We barter our body’s dust with His Soul’s Plenitude.
Sri Krishna is the shoreless ocean of Bliss.
But as soon as I sincerely dedicate myself to Him,
He presents me with His own Boat and takes me to the boundless Shore,
the Golden All.”
"Lord Krishna is the matchless hero who held the fate of the emperors in the palm of his hand but himself never desired a throne.
The great hero who was born in a prison and died in solitude in a forest.
He gave the world the Bhagavad- Gita.
He is the architect of Dharma who lives forever in the hearts of the people of India and the whole world."
(Author – Srimurthi )
To change the world around you.
Give the World
What you have
And Serve the world
With what you are.
By: Sri Chinmoy
Photo by Pavitrata Sri Chinmoy Centre Galleries
By: Sri Chinmoy
From: Here is the Place and
Sri Krishna
Here is a play recently performed for Sri Chinmoy and his students. Its aim is to illustrate how misunderstandings between religions are an ancient challenge for humanity, but as Sri Chinmoy teaches, there is hope for the oneness of all humanity, and that historical figures such as Sri Krishna, Mirabai and Akbar The Great can inspire us and show is the way.
View: Play of Mirabai and Akbar
Script by Sumangali Morhall
selected scenes
[Enter Mirabai and her statue of Krishna]
Narrator:
[Mirabai?s music starts]
[Enter Mother & Father. Mirabai still sings]
Father [furious]: