Sri Chinmoy on the nature and goals of contemplative practice

Abstract

Sri Chinmoy (1931–2007) has written extensively on the concrete details of contemplative practice as well as its purpose in the wider context of yoga as a system of spiritual disciplines leading to God-realization. The paper summarizes his teachings with an emphasis on how contemplative practice is done and how it works in attaining its goals. Sri Chinmoy distinguishes between concentration, meditation and contemplation (the last a term he reserves for highly advanced practice). While not offering a single “technique” but rather a toolbox of many techniques from which the practitioner can choose, he commends a particular basic approach or method while always recognizing the validity of other approaches. On the path of love, devotion and surrender, Sri Chinmoy emphasizes a focus on the heart and cultivation of aspiration, an inner cry for self-transcendence. In actual practice, this approach attenuates the ego and eventually brings illumination into a person’s entire consciousness. The paper explains how this process relates to samādhi, which is described, and the difference between samādhi and realization. The paper also touches on the relation between meditation and action and the further goal, beyond God-realization, of “God-manifestation” or integral transformation of the individual, human society and the evolving cosmos.