
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.


Where the finite connects to the Infinite
Jogyata Dallas Auckland, New Zealand
Experiences of meditation
Preetidutta Thorpe Auckland, New Zealand
My 5 a.m. strategic meditations
Sanchita Fleming Ottawa, Canada
An intense, concentrated Fire
Toshala Elliott Auckland, New Zealand
How I became interested in meditation
Abhejali Bernardova Zlín, Czech Republic
An airport meditation experience
Jogyata Dallas Auckland, New Zealand
The first time that I really understood that I had a soul
Jogyata Dallas Auckland, New Zealand
Self-transcendence in meditation
Kailash Beyer Zurich, Switzerland
My wife's soul comes to visit
Jogyata Dallas Auckland, New Zealand
Getting through difficult times in your meditation
Banshidhar Medeiros San Juan, Puerto Rico
The most beautiful and fulfilling of all possible experiences
Jogyata Dallas Auckland, New Zealand
Meditation: Touching The Infinite
Jogyata Dallas Auckland, New ZealandMore stories
Sri Chinmoy's students recall some of their treasured memories.

Now you are in the boat
Kaushalya Casey Toronto, Canada
Meeting Sri Chinmoy for the first time
Janaka Spence Edinburgh, United Kingdom
Sri Chinmoy meets an old friend
Pradhan Balter Chicago, United States
A demonstration of the Master’s occult powers
Arpan De Angelo New York, United States
Akuti: a pioneer-jewel in our Centre
Akuti Eisamann Connecticut, United States
If a wish comes from the soul, it will be granted
Kamalakanta Nieves New York, United States
Having a Spiritual Teacher
Preetidutta Thorpe Auckland, New Zealand
What drew me to Sri Chinmoy's path
Nikolaus Drekonja San Diego, United States
Meditation functions with Sri Chinmoy
Kokila Chamberlain Bristol, United Kingdom
How Sri Chinmoy appreciated enthusiasm
Prachar Stegemann Canberra, Australia
My life with Sri Chinmoy
Namrata Moses New York, United States
Our Guru becomes the perfect disciple
Devashishu Torpy London, United Kingdom
Sri Chinmoy's inner guidance
Kailash Beyer Zurich, SwitzerlandBooks 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

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.
- Audio »

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 »

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.
- Audio »
More stories
Experiences of sport and self-transcendence.

Running and Me
Garga Chamberlain Bristol, United Kingdom
Listen to the inner voice
Vidura Groulx Montreal, Canada
Why we organise ultra-distance events
Subarnamala Riedel Zurich, Switzerland
The Ever-Transcending Goal
Preetidutta Thorpe Auckland, New Zealand
Winning the Swiss Alpine Marathon
Vajin Armstrong Auckland, New Zealand
All I needed was the Supreme, and I would always win
Pragati Pascale New York, United StatesA 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

Samunnati Lehonkova
Our best female marathon runner with a PB of 2:28, Samunnati competed in the 2016 Olympics for her native Ukraine

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

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 »

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 »

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.
- Gallery »
Peace-runners

Harita Davies
Harita is the US co-ordinator for the Sri Chinmoy Oneness-Home Peace Run. She is also a formidable runner, having run the world's longest race - the Self-Transcendence 3100 Mile race - three times.

Laufey Haraldsdottir
A talented musician, Laufey has organised Peace Runs in Iceland, Greenland and the Faroe Islands.

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.
- Stories »
- Video »
- Gallery »
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...

Sri Chinmoy's biography, written by one of the most famous Bengali authors
Mahatapa Palit New York, United States
Bhutan, A Country Less Travelled...
Ambarish Keenan Dublin, Ireland
The Random Dog
Toshala Elliott Auckland, New Zealand
The Swimming Relay
Toshala Elliott Auckland, New Zealand
A Mountain Meditation
Jogyata Dallas Auckland, New Zealand
My love of spiritual poetry
Manatita Hutchinson London, United KingdomArt 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.
- Gallery »

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.
- Gallery »