Last modified March 25, 2018
Sri Chinmoy started playing the esraj in 1976. The esraj is renowned for its haunting, reverberating tone and soon became Sri Chinmoy’s favourite instrument. This recording was published on audio tape in 1979 and includes five Bengali songs.
O esraj, I am all gratitude to you
For bringing to the fore
The divine musician in me.
–
O esraj, because of you
I claim myself to be an instrument
Of the Supreme Musician.
Sri Chinmoy, Seventy-Seven Thousand Service-Trees, Part 16, Agni Press, 1999
Question: What is the best way to become one with soulful music?
Sri Chinmoy: The best way to become one with soulful music is to have the firm inner conviction that while you are breathing in, the breath is immediately entering directly into your soul. And with the breath, you have to feel that the Universal Consciousness, divine Reality, divine Truth is also entering. Then, when you breathe out, try to feel that you are breathing out the ignorance that is covering your soul. Feel that the veils of ignorance are being lifted and discarded. If you can consciously imagine and feel this, it is the best way to become one with soulful music.
What do we mean by soulful music? If you say it is the music that embodies the soul, then I wish to say that you are mistaken. You have to feel that soulful music is the Light that wants to express itself in a divine way. Even as darkness wants to manifest its authority on earth, Light also wants to manifest its Reality and Divinity in a specific way. Light is the soul of everything. Light is the soul of music, Light is the soul of love, and Light is the soul of all art. When Light divinely manifests itself in the form of music, it is the music of the soul.
Sri Chinmoy, God the supreme Musician, Agni Press, 1976
On June 3th 1977, Sri Chinmoy performed in Damrosch Amphitheatre – an outdoor amphitheatre in the shape of bowl-like stage known as the Guggenheim Band Shell in Lincoln Center. It was the first of ten public events held during June, at which Sri Chinmoy performed on the esraj and sometimes delivered talks. His students’ instrumental, vocal and dramatic groups also participated.
Artist: Sri Chinmoy
Name: Sri Chinmoy Plays the Esraj 8
Release year: 1979 (MC)
Duration: 0:29:42
Acknowledgements: Sri Chinmoy
Page Created: Ashish / Tejvan
Format: MP3
Photos by Sarama
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