Free meditation classes in New York City

....and other spiritual activities organised by the New York Sri Chinmoy Centre.

For 50 years, the Sri Chinmoy Centre has been offering free meditation classes to the New York public, benefiting tens of thousands of people. We offer 2-day meditation workshops in Manhattan 4 times a year, as well as week long meditation festivals throughout the year. We also offer classes in Queens, Manhattan, Brooklyn and Staten Island.

• Find out more about our classes in all 5 boroughs:
  Classes in Manhattan  •   Classes in Queens • Frequently asked questions »
• Interested in obtaining details about the next class? Call (917) 770-8584 or use our contact form »

What else do we do?
Sri Chinmoy's spiritual philosophy covers many areas! We also endeavour to serve the community through our concerts of meditative music, our running races, and the peaceful environment in our cafés and restaurants.

• Cafes and restaurants managed by Sri Chinmoy's students »
• Meditative concerts »      • Running races »

More about us

After spending his youth and early adulthood in a spiritual community in India, Sri Chinmoy came to New York City in 1964 at the age of 33, and the first Sri Chinmoy Centre in the USA was established two years later.

In 1968, Sri Chinmoy moved to Queens where he lived until he passed in October 2007. Several hundred of Sri Chinmoy's students live in the Queens, New York, Connecticut and New Jersey tri-state area and regularly meditate together in Queens in an all season inspiring garden setting.

In addition, hundreds of Sri Chinmoy's students visit from Canada, Central and South America, Europe, Asia and Africa every April, August and October for week-long meditations or longer spiritual retreats.

More:   Our Manhattan centre   •   Our Queens centre

Our local enterprises

One way to get a flavour of what the Sri Chinmoy Centre community is like is to stop by one of our local restaurants and cafes in Jamaica, Queens. As well as delicious food, we try to offer our visitors a moments peace in the midst of the bustle of New York City.

Annam Brahma
Indian and Vegetarian food - voted Queens's best Vegetarian restaurant!

Panorama of My Silence-Heart
Vegetarian Café

Smile of the Beyond
New York's oldest vegetarian breakfast diner; opened in 1972

 

We also have a health food store, barber shop, flower shop, gift and stationery store, clothing boutique and printing press - many of which have been serving the Jamaica community for nearly forty years.

Meditative and Spiritual Concerts

Sri Chinmoy fostered our musical talents, and encouraged us to put on concerts for the public. Our concert series in New York includes:

• Songs of the Soul: An ensemble of Sri Chinmoy's students from all over the world play his meditative music in ways that are both soulful and dynamic. Started in 2008, this concert series has taken place in 30 countries worldwide, and every year there are two concert performances in New York, in mid-April and late August. Details of next concert on songsofthesoul.com »
• Concert of Inner Peace: An audiovisual experience that seeks to capture the powerful meditative atmosphere of Sri Chinmoy's concerts. Combines large-screen footage of Sri Chinmoy playing on a variety of instruments, interspersed with live music performances from his students, just as they would have performed during Sri Chinoy's own concerts. These have generally taken place in October, close to the date of Sri Chinmoy's passing on October 11. For more details, get in touch using the phone number above or contact form.
• Concerts and cultural evenings: The Panorama of My Silence-Heart cafe plays host to varied concerts, photo exhibits and talks throughout the year. 

Races

Sri Chinmoy encouraged all of his students to be active in sports, and founded the Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team to put on athletic events to serve the running community.

We organise a number of events in the New York area for the general public (and especially for beginners), created with enjoyment and friendliness in mind. The links below will take you to the relevant page on the Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team website, with all the event details.

• Our two-mile Self-Transcendence race - every Saturday at 8.07pm in Jamaica, Queens. Race website »
• Short races: 5 and 10km races and half-marathons in Flushing Meadows Park throughout the year, as well as our Christmas 'Round the World' race, and a special October 2-mile race. We also have races in nearby Alley Pond Park and in Brooklyn.
• Sri Chinmoy Swim Run - a refreshing 10k swim/1k run in upstate NY. Race website » 
• Sri Chinmoy Marathon - a beautiful lakeside race in Rockland State Park in August. We also recently inaugurated a half marathon on the same course in September

In addition, the Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team in New York has grown over past 35 plus years to become one of the world's foremost organisers of ultra distance races. Sri Chinmoy advocated these events as a way for people to go beyond their mental ideas of impossibility.

• The Sri Chinmoy 6 and 10 day Race: Over 80 athletes from all around the world converge on Flushing Meadows park in late April for this unique test of stamina. Race website »
• The Sri Chinmoy Self-Transcendence 3,100 mile race: the longest certified road race in the world that takes place every year over 52 days between June and August. Go to race website...

Sri Chinmoy and New York

Sri Chinmoy lived the New York area for 43 years, and had great fondness for the city. For over four decades Sri Chinmoy offered numerous concerts throughout the five boroughs, met with several of New York City's mayors, and gave lectures at area universities.

New York's 24/7/365 dynamism was particularly appealing to Sri Chinmoy, and reflected his own firm belief in constant self-transcendence, reflected in the below well-known talk.

New York
by Sri Chinmoy

I admire New York. My eyes are enamoured of her soul's dynamic beauty. My New York is always astir and bustling. Also, she is marching in gigantic strides. Success emerges before her very eyes.

The dawn breaks each day feeling New York's heart consumed with new zeal. She hates to be absorbed in a fog of fruitless brooding and empty inactivity. Moreover, she wants to be free.

Never within her four corners will she tolerate the air of captivity. If it is part of her nature to express herself boldly, I cannot blame her. To me, first of all she deserves this acme of self-confidence. And secondly, God wants New York to be what she is.

My New York has courage. My New York has confidence. The problems of anxiety and uncertainty may cover the length and breadth of the world, but my New York is an exception. Her youthful certainty is my heart's delight.

When I think of my India, it seems that she has endless time. If she does not avail herself of an opportunity today, it will return to her tomorrow. But when I think of my New York, it seems that she is facing a unique opportunity at every moment. If she loses a golden opportunity today, it will never return. New York knows how to seize. She knows how to struggle. She knows how to push forward. She knows how to exert herself, consciously and dynamically. Old blunders fail to plague her. Empty of fear is her heart, which ever grows into the fulfilment of her promising future. Blessed is she.

My New York is not a challenge. She is not a competition. She is not a running race. She is not a victory. What then is she? She is a great Promise, wherein grows and flowers the Infinite Unknown.

taken from the book America in her depths