Our members
We come from all backgrounds and walks of life, brought together by our shared love of meditation, spirituality and world-service.
Contents of this page: | 1. Our inner life:
How we joined the Sri Chinmoy Centre • Our experiences of meditation and spirituality • Stories with our teacher, Sri Chinmoy |
2. What keeps us busy (besides meditation): |
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3. Writing and poetry by Sri Chinmoy's students |
More stories
Meditation experiences by Sri Chinmoy's students.
My 5 a.m. strategic meditations
Sanchita Fleming Ottawa, CanadaMeditation: Touching The Infinite
Jogyata Dallas Auckland, New ZealandMeditation Nights at the Sri Chinmoy Centre
Preetidutta Thorpe Auckland, New ZealandGetting through difficult times in your meditation
Banshidhar Medeiros San Juan, Puerto RicoExperiences of meditation
Preetidutta Thorpe Auckland, New ZealandSpirituality means speed
Patanga Cordeiro São Paulo, BrazilMy wife's soul comes to visit
Jogyata Dallas Auckland, New ZealandAn airport meditation experience
Jogyata Dallas Auckland, New ZealandAn intense, concentrated Fire
Toshala Elliott Auckland, New ZealandHow I became interested in meditation
Abhejali Bernardova Zlín, Czech RepublicSelf-transcendence in meditation
Kailash Beyer Zurich, SwitzerlandThe first time that I really understood that I had a soul
Jogyata Dallas Auckland, New ZealandMore stories
Sri Chinmoy's students recall some of their treasured memories.
My life with Sri Chinmoy
Namrata Moses New York, United StatesA 40-Year Blessing
Sarama Minoli New York, United StatesMy Life with Sri Chinmoy: a book
Tejvan Pettinger Oxford, United KingdomTime seemed to freeze
Brahmata Michael Ottawa, CanadaI know where you are
Kamalakanta Nieves New York, United StatesPresident Gorbachev: a special soul brought down for a special reason
Mridanga Spencer Ipswich, United KingdomThe Impact of a Yogi on My Life
Agni Casanova San Juan, Puerto RicoSri Chinmoy meets St. Peter
Paramita Jarvis Kingston, CanadaWhat drew me to Sri Chinmoy's path
Nikolaus Drekonja San Diego, United StatesWhen I met Sri Chinmoy for the first time
Baridhi Yonchev Sofia, BulgariaThe day I made a useless and ridiculous weightlifting machine for Guru
Devashishu Torpy London, United KingdomPeople see something in Guru and want to be part of it
Saraswati Martín San Juan, Puerto RicoSri Chinmoy meets an old friend
Pradhan Balter Chicago, United StatesBooks by members of the Sri Chinmoy Centre
Music
At Sri Chinmoy's request and encouragement, there are many musicians within the Centre who make arrangements of his meditative songs and perform them free of charge to the public. Here is a small selection of groups:
Some of our musical members
Eshana Gadjanski
Eshana is an accomplished pianist. She is the leader of the female music group Blue Flower, whose members come from the former Yugoslavian republics, and which offer concerts of Sri Chinmoy's music all over Europe.
- Stories »
- Audio »
Samalya Schafer
Samalya became a student of Sri Chinmoy when he was 19. A talented athlete, he holds a current Marathon PB of 2.28h
- Stories »
- Audio »
- Gallery »
Agnikana Senkyrova
Agnikana has been surrounded by music since her childhood and leads a group that plays spiritual music in concerts all over Europe. She is also a fast runner over short and long distances.
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More stories
Experiences of sport and self-transcendence.
Progress-Pilgrimage: A 1200km run from Vienna to Paris
Shamita Achenbach-König Vienna, AustriaHow Sri Chinmoy appreciated enthusiasm
Prachar Stegemann Canberra, Australia10-Day Race: Staring into the Infinite
Patanga Cordeiro São Paulo, BrazilRunning the world's longest race
Jayasalini Abramovskikh Moscow, RussiaListen to the inner voice
Vidura Groulx Montreal, CanadaMuhammad Ali: I was expecting a monster, but I found a lamb
Sevananda Padilla San Juan, Puerto RicoA few of our athletic members
Vajin Armstrong
Vajin is one of New Zealand's top distance runners, winning the prestigious Kepler Challenge in 2011 and the Swiss Alpine Marathon in 2016
Abhejali Bernardova
Abhejali is a talented athlete! She first swum the English Channel in 2011 and completed the 'Oceans Seven' of famous open water swims in 2019. She most recently completed a 'Channel Triathlon' - swimming, biking and running all the way from Dover to Prague.
Vasanti Niemz
Vasanti was the first of Sri Chinmoy's students to swim the English Channel in 1985, a feat she repeated 25 years later in 2012 as part of a triathlon - swimming, biking and running all the way to Aachen, Germany.
Working in a spiritual enterprise
Many of Sri Chinmoy's students work in restaurants and stores dedicated to offering Sri Chinmoy's meditative consciousness to the public. Pranlobha Kalajian who works in the Silence-Heart-Nest restaurant in Seattle, describes what her working day is like.
Members who work in enterprises
Smarana Puntigam
As well as managing a gift store on Vienna's busiest street, Smarana has also completed ultrarunning's toughest challenge - the 3100 Mile Race - seven times.
- Stories »
Aruna Pohland
Aruna is the proprietor of the Cosmos-Heart, a charming little café in the centre of Augsburg which serves coffee and cakes in a peaceful setting.
- Stories »
- Gallery »
Padmasini Guillet
Padmasini lives in the south of France, where she runs a delightful cafe called Tripti Kulai. She is also the official translator of Sri Chinmoy's writings and travels all over the world to give talks on meditation.
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Peace-runners
Bayarkhuu Batbayar
Bayarkhuu has travelled the world as part of the international Peace Run team, taking part in runs in Scandinavia, Australia, Japan and Korea
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Laufey Haraldsdottir
A talented musician, Laufey has organised Peace Runs in Iceland, Greenland and the Faroe Islands.
Apaguha Vesely
Apaguha travels all over the world as part of the Peace Run international team. An immensely talented photographer, he likes to offer public slideshows from his travels, combining stories with pictures of nature and people.
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Creativity
Sri Chinmoy encouraged us to use meditation to enhance our capacities in many fields - including writing, poetry, art and photography. Here is a selection of musings from our members...
The Swimming Relay
Toshala Elliott Auckland, New ZealandMy love of spiritual poetry
Manatita Hutchinson London, United KingdomThe Random Dog
Toshala Elliott Auckland, New ZealandSri Chinmoy's biography, written by one of the most famous Bengali authors
Mahatapa Palit New York, United StatesA Mountain Meditation
Jogyata Dallas Auckland, New ZealandBhutan, A Country Less Travelled...
Ambarish Keenan Dublin, IrelandArt and Photography
Ashish Zubaty
Ashish's specialities are cooking and photography. He also is an enthusiastic participant in the World Harmony Run, having joined the international team on runs through Australia, the USA and Ireland.
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Pranlobha Kalagian
Pranlobha is a very keen photographer, and has used that talent to great effect on her travels throughout the world with the Peace Run.
- Stories »
- Gallery »
Papaha Gosline
Papaha owns a gallery and art studio that focuses on showing spiritual contemporary art and producing commercial design. Inspired by the Sri Chinmoy's example, he lives a very athletic lifestyle teaching tennis part time, along with enjoying many other sports activities in sunny San Diego.
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