Sri Chinmoy - United Nations

United Nations

In April 1970, Sri Chinmoy was invited by UN Secretary-General U Thant to give twice-weekly meditations for UN delegates, staff and representatives of NGOs as the director of the meditation group called “Sri Chinmoy: Peace Meditations at the United Nations” in New York.

The ideas of the United Nations are universal peace and universal brotherhood, and the ideals of the United Nations are a oneness-world-family and a oneness-heart.

After directing the peace meditations, which had been attended by many UN employees and diplomats, for 37 years, more than 700 UN staff, ambassadors, members of the American Congress, and representatives of various religions, paid tributes to Sri Chinmoy following his death during a posthumous celebration at the UN headquarters in New York. During the ceremony at the UN, Daw Aye Aye Thant, the daughter of former UN Secretary-General U Thant, said in her speech:

In a letter to Sri Chinmoy in April 1972, my father wrote, 'You have indeed instilled in the minds of hundreds of people here the moral and spiritual values which both of us cherish very dearly. I shall always cherish the memorable occasion of our meetings at the United Nations." I feel fortunate to have known Sri Chinmoy and to have been in his presence many times, and to have known many members of the Group.