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, CanadaThe most beautiful and fulfilling of all possible experiences
Jogyata Dallas Auckland, New ZealandHow I became interested in meditation
Abhejali Bernardova Zlín, Czech RepublicMy wife's soul comes to visit
Jogyata Dallas Auckland, New ZealandGetting through difficult times in your meditation
Banshidhar Medeiros San Juan, Puerto RicoSelf-transcendence in meditation
Kailash Beyer Zurich, SwitzerlandSpirituality means speed
Patanga Cordeiro São Paulo, BrazilExperiences of meditation
Preetidutta Thorpe Auckland, New ZealandMeditation: Touching The Infinite
Jogyata Dallas Auckland, New ZealandThe first time that I really understood that I had a soul
Jogyata Dallas Auckland, New ZealandSeeing the God inside my son
Utsahi St-Armand Ottawa, CanadaAn intense, concentrated Fire
Toshala Elliott Auckland, New ZealandMore stories
Sri Chinmoy's students recall some of their treasured memories.
Celebrating birthdays at Guru's house
Devashishu Torpy London, United KingdomThe relationship between Guru and disciple
Baridhi Yonchev Sofia, BulgariaHow I learned from Sri Chinmoy
Pradhan Balter Chicago, United StatesA demonstration of the Master’s occult powers
Arpan De Angelo New York, United StatesNow you are in the boat
Kaushalya Casey Toronto, CanadaMeeting Sri Chinmoy for the first time
Janaka Spence Edinburgh, United KingdomGrowing up on Sri Chinmoy's path
Aruna Pohland Augsburg, GermanyPresident Gorbachev: a special soul brought down for a special reason
Mridanga Spencer Ipswich, United KingdomListen to the inner voice
Vidura Groulx Montreal, CanadaMy first experience with Sri Chinmoy
Nayak Polissar Seattle, United StatesRunning for Peace
Jogyata Dallas Auckland, New ZealandThe day I recieved my spiritual name
Banshidhar Medeiros San Juan, Puerto RicoSri Chinmoy meets an old friend
Pradhan Balter Chicago, United StatesMusic
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
Ghantika Hammerl
Ghantika and her whole family became students of Sri Chinmoy. Ghantika plays the saxophone in Bartika's Jazz Group, an all-female group that performs Sri Chinmoy‘s melodies in a combination of jazz, rock and pop styles.
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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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Sadanand Magee
Sadanand plays all kinds of percussion instruments, especially the Indian tablas. He travels to more than 15 countries a year to play meditative music, mainly as part of the Songs of the Soul concert series.
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More stories
Experiences of sport and self-transcendence.
Breaking Guinness records
Ashrita Furman New York, United StatesRunning and Me
Garga Chamberlain Bristol, United KingdomBelieve, take a step and proceed: a 6-day race experience
Susan Marshall ,How meditation helped me swim the English Channel
Abhejali Bernardova Zlín, Czech RepublicFailures are the pillars of success
Anugata Bach New York, United StatesWinning the Swiss Alpine Marathon
Vajin Armstrong Auckland, New ZealandA 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.
Boijayanti Gomez-Badillo
Boijayanti is a joint race director of a number of races organised by the Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team in the New York area, including the Self-Transcendece Swim-Run and the Flushing Meadows 5k race.
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
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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Shankara Smith
Shankara, along with her sister Dipika, manages the Run and Become athletic stores in the UK, which were founded by her father Ongkar with Sri Chinmoy's inspiration. She also leads the international women's music group Temple-Song-Hearts, which performs concerts of Sri Chinmoy's music all over the world.
- Stories »
- Audio »
- Gallery »
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 »
Peace-runners
Suhasini Septiarini
Suhasini has helped to organise many memorable Peace Run ceremonies in Bali, as well as travelling to many countries with the international team.
Nikolaus Drekonja
Nikolaus spends his time between the United States and Austria, where he has family in both countries. He loves to travel with our international Peace Run team as they visit schools and communities around the world.
Sweta Pradhan
An enthusiastic runner, Sweta helps to organise the Sri Chinmoy Oneness Home Peace Run in her native Nepal, and has been part of the international team for the North American leg on three occasions.
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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 KingdomA Mountain Meditation
Jogyata Dallas Auckland, New ZealandBhutan, A Country Less Travelled...
Ambarish Keenan Dublin, IrelandThe Random Dog
Toshala Elliott Auckland, New ZealandSri Chinmoy's biography, written by one of the most famous Bengali authors
Mahatapa Palit New York, United StatesArt and Photography
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.
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- 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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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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