Chinmoy Kumar Ghose was born in Bangladesh in 1931, he came to New York City in 1964 and worked for two years as a clerk at the United Nations Indian Consulate - a connection that has been exaggerated by his followers at times. He claims to have lived in an ashram from the age of 12 and to have spent 11 hours a day in meditation.
He came to the attention of the media in the early 1970's when he attracted some famous guitarists, John McLaughlin and Carlos Santana (renamed mahavishnu and ??? ), as followers. His current followers include Narada Micheel Walden a successful musician and producer and and Roberta Flack a singer.
His followers which are organised around Sr Chinmoy Meditation Centres claim roughly 6,000 active members in 50 countries. The organisation has an active publicity section which promotes 'Peace' through staging sports contests, usually marathon running, the donation of monuments to Peace, Guiness Book of Records' stunts and Chinmoy's staggering output of poems, songs and music. Sri Chinmoy claims to have super-normal powers - including having written 843 poems in 24 hours, created 16,031 paintings in one day, and lifted 7000 pounds with one arm. Chinmoy says he has composed 6,000 songs, rewritten 800 books, some of which contain his 20,000 poems; and since 1974 produced 140,000 paintings, which represents about 20 a day.
One of his followers, Ashrita Furman, 34, of Queens, New York holds the record for the most individual world records, according to the Guinness Book of World Records. His followers engage in intensive chanting and meditative trances, adopt a distinctive dress, and avoid contact with non-members. Disciples address him as "The Supreme." Chinmoy says he has transcended the Hindu tradition and that his religion is "now the love of God." He believes meditation is the path to serenity and an awareness of God, that one must treat others with compassion and respect and that the most devoted truth-seekers should become vegetarians and practice celibacy.
He may be the most unorthodox and eccentric guru I have come across. His weight and people lifting, which has gained widespread media attention, strains credibility and prompted the Wall Street Journal to label Chinmoy "the stunt man of the spiritual world." Especially questionable are his claims for world record weight-lifting. Pictures show that he uses a form of leverage to lift extraordinary weights. As he's 5'8" tall and is not a paricularly large man then his weight lifting would be pretty impressive if it was not so obviously phony and his reported statements so disingenuous:
"I don't blame people who suspect my performance," Chinmoy said. "My own mind suspects it. How can I blame them?""I know I cannot do it," Chinmoy continued. "When I think of 7,000 pounds, can you imagine? I can't imagine someone can be so strong. Yet so many people have seen, and you can show it on the video."
His centres sponsor about 500 annual running, cycling and swimming events. The guru, a Chinmoy brochure declares, is unique among Eastern spiritual masters in emphasizing the importance of sports in the spiritual life. As a youth in India, he claims, he was a champion sprinter, won two decathlons, captained the soccer team and coached volleyball.
He has a zest for the spotlight. Chinmoy's press kit contains long lists of religious leaders, heads of state, government officials and celebrities he has met or written to. There are pictures of Chinmoy with Pope John Paul II, Pope Paul VI, Muhammad Ali and Mikhail Gorbachev among others. While most gurus since the 1960's have kept a low profile in the media, Chinmoy's followers go to great if not completely questionable lengths for any publicity.
The following quote used as an introduction to one of Chinmoy's musical performances highlights a normal technique employed by spiritual groups:
"The music is not for the mind but for the creative heart. Listening becomes meditation. Leave your mind issues behind for two hours. You can pick up your anxieties and tensions when you leave."