Photo: Bhashwar Hart
August Celebrations 2026, Part 2
Last modified September 8, 2026
Dear listeners, in this post we bring you Part 2 of our selected performances from our August 2026 Celebrations. We cover here from August 18 to August 22nd, 2026. This includes Dinesh Band, Blue Flower and Kanala and Sadanand.
Sadanand (tabla) and Kanala performing on the sitar
Here are some questions and answers by Sri Chinmoy on music and spirituality:
Question: How can I bring spirituality into my music?
Sri Chinmoy: As a sincere seeker you must know that your music has to please the Supreme who is our eternal Guru. You are quite young. You have to play music that brings inspiration to the heart and not excitement to the vital. You must not play types of music that will only arouse excitement in the vital. Play only music that inspires you, that comes from the very depth of your heart and illumines your consciousness. When you play any particular piece, you have to feel that it is the right music for your own spiritual progress and inner growth.You have to know that each seeker-musician has a golden opportunity to please the Supreme with his music. Whenever you play any music, you have to know whether or not that music is going to please the Supreme. If it pleases you and you feel it will please Him, then play it. If you feel it does not please Him, then never play it. Playing lower vital music to get appreciation from the public can never please the Supreme. If an ordinary person who has not launched into the spiritual path plays that kind of music, he is doing the right thing according to his own standard. But if a seeker plays that kind of music, he cannot make any progress.
A sincere seeker who has already accepted a path of his own, should play only spiritual music, psychic music, music that elevates his consciousness and the consciousness of others. When you play this kind of music, you will see that in each note God Himself is blossoming like a lotus, petal by petal. When you play His own music, please feel that God is unveiling his own inner music and fulfilling Himself in and through you.
Sri Chinmoy, God the Supreme Musician, Sri Chinmoy Lighthouse, New York, 1970
Question: Can you define soulful music?
Sri Chinmoy: Soulful music is the music that wants to eventually transform our consciousness. It carries us into the universal Consciousness and makes us feel that we are in tune with the highest, with the deepest, with the farthest. It also makes us feel that God Himself is the Supreme Musician. When we play soulful music we come to realise the actual truth that we are not the musician; we are just an instrument. We are like a piano, violin or guitar, and God is constantly playing on us. If we really play soulful music, we will see that we are just an instrument, that somebody else is singing in and through us, and that somebody is our Inner Pilot, the Supreme.
Sri Chinmoy, God the Supreme Musician, Sri Chinmoy Lighthouse, New York, 1970
Question: Do our souls sing when we sing most soulfully?
Sri Chinmoy: Yes, it is either a portion of the soul or the soul proper that sings when we sing most soulfully. One may think it is the voice of the soul, but it is not. The music of the soul is different from the voice of the soul, the language of the soul. The soul can adopt any voice it wants to. The voice of the soul, the language of the soul is light, not electric light, but the light that constantly illumines our inner and outer being, the entire world. We can hear singing that comes directly from the soul or from a portion of the soul, but the soul does not require the voice to sing. The soul can sing directly without the voice.How can we hear the soul singing? How can we be aware of the fact that the song is coming directly from the soul? We can know if it is coming from the soul just by observing our own consciousness. Sometimes we may catch a haunting tune, a very delicate, subtle tune, but it is immediately followed by earthly, undivine thoughts, as if it were being chased by a dog. If undivine thoughts, lower vital thoughts immediately enter, then the song is not coming directly from the soul. If it is coming directly from the soul, then not an iota of undivine thought can enter during the whole song. We will have our highest consciousness and deepest consciousness, right from the beginning to the end of the song. Very often when we sing most soulfully, even after the song is over we will hear a voice within ourselves as if somebody else were singing the same song. We may be talking to our friends or looking around, but we will be aware that somebody is singing; that somebody is our soul.
Sri Chinmoy, God the Supreme Musician, Sri Chinmoy Lighthouse, New York, 1970
We hope that these soulful offerings by Sri Chinmoy’s disciples ill bring you inner peace and joy, inspiring you in your inner journey of self-discovery and self-transcendence.
Artist: Sri Chinmoy Disciples
Name: August Celebrations 2026, Part 2
Release Year: 2026
Duration: 5 hours, 9 minutes
Acknowledgements: Sri Chinmoy
Tracks uploaded and published: Kamalakanta Nieves and Tejvan Pettinger
Format: Advanced Audio Coding
Name: August Celebrations 2026, Part 2
Release Year: 2026
Duration: 5 hours, 9 minutes
Acknowledgements: Sri Chinmoy
Tracks uploaded and published: Kamalakanta Nieves and Tejvan Pettinger
Format: Advanced Audio Coding
