
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 wife's soul comes to visit
Jogyata Dallas Auckland, New Zealand
Where the finite connects to the Infinite
Jogyata Dallas Auckland, New Zealand
Self-transcendence in meditation
Kailash Beyer Zurich, Switzerland
The most beautiful and fulfilling of all possible experiences
Jogyata Dallas Auckland, New Zealand
How I became interested in meditation
Abhejali Bernardova Zlín, Czech Republic
An airport meditation experience
Jogyata Dallas Auckland, New Zealand
Seeing the God inside my son
Utsahi St-Armand Ottawa, Canada
An intense, concentrated Fire
Toshala Elliott Auckland, New Zealand
Experiences of meditation
Preetidutta Thorpe Auckland, New Zealand
Spirituality means speed
Patanga Cordeiro São Paulo, Brazil
Meditation Nights at the Sri Chinmoy Centre
Preetidutta Thorpe Auckland, New Zealand
Reflections on meditation
Janaka Spence Edinburgh, United KingdomMore stories
Sri Chinmoy's students recall some of their treasured memories.

When I met Sri Chinmoy for the first time
Baridhi Yonchev Sofia, Bulgaria
No prior experience needed
Samalya Schafer Berlin, Germany
My first experience with Sri Chinmoy
Nayak Polissar Seattle, United States
My evolving relationship with my spiritual Teacher
Pradeep Hoogakker The Hague, Netherlands
Sri Chinmoy's inner guidance
Kailash Beyer Zurich, Switzerland
Running for Peace
Jogyata Dallas Auckland, New Zealand
Siblings on a spiritual path
Pranlobha Kalagian Seattle, United States
It does not matter which spoon you use
Brahmacharini Rebidoux St. John's, Canada
The day I recieved my spiritual name
Banshidhar Medeiros San Juan, Puerto Rico
What drew me to Sri Chinmoy's path
Nikolaus Drekonja San Diego, United States
Your life's responsibilities compel you to develop inner strength
Pradhan Balter Chicago, United States
Now you are in the boat
Kaushalya Casey Toronto, Canada
'It was like I was seeing who Guru really was: this extraordinary, beautiful being inside a physical body'
Jogyata Dallas Auckland, New ZealandMusic
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

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
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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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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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More stories
Experiences of sport and self-transcendence.

Running a Six-Day Race
Ratuja Zub Minsk, Belarus
Muhammad Ali: I was expecting a monster, but I found a lamb
Sevananda Padilla San Juan, Puerto Rico
How meditation helped me swim the English Channel
Abhejali Bernardova Zlín, Czech Republic
Breaking the world record for the longest game of hopscotch
Pipasa Glass & Jamini Young Seattle, United States
Progress-Pilgrimage: A 1200km run from Vienna to Paris
Shamita Achenbach-König Vienna, Austria
Failures are the pillars of success
Anugata Bach New York, United StatesA few of our athletic members

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.

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

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.
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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.
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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.
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Peace-runners

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.

Sarankhuu Jargal
As well as helping to organise the Mongolian Peace Run, Sarankhuu always brings joy and enthusiasm to our international Peace Run team, participating in runs in the USA and Australia.
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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.
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...

My love of spiritual poetry
Manatita Hutchinson London, United Kingdom
Bhutan, A Country Less Travelled...
Ambarish Keenan Dublin, Ireland
The Random Dog
Toshala Elliott Auckland, New Zealand
Meditation: Touching The Infinite
Jogyata Dallas Auckland, New Zealand
The Swimming Relay
Toshala Elliott Auckland, New Zealand
Sri 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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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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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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