[7][8] Chinmoy was the youngest of seven children, born in Shakpura, Boalkjhali Upazila, in the Chittagong District of East Bengal, British India (now Bangladesh).

[15] According to Sri Chinmoy, in 1964 he was prompted to move to the United States in response to a "message from within" to be of service to people in the West searching for spiritual fulfillment.

[16] With the help of Sam Spanier, Eric Hughes, and other American sponsors connected with the Sri Aurobindo Ashram, he emigrated to New York City.

In the 1970s and 1980s he traveled around Europe, Asia, and Australia lecturing at universities, resulting in the publication of The Oneness of the Eastern Heart and the Western Mind.

[24][25] In 1973, the New York Times wrote that Sri Chinmoy was "revered in India as one of the few holy men to have reached Nirvikalpa Samadhi, the absolute highest level of consciousness".

[28] While in America in the 1970s, Sri Chinmoy attracted followers such as musicians Carlos Santana, John McLaughlin, Narada Michael Walden, Roberta Flack, Clarence Clemons, and Boris Grebenshchikov.

[29][30] Sri Chinmoy offered the musicians a disciplined spiritual path that forbade the use of recreational drugs including alcohol and encouraged music and poetry as expressions of thankfulness to the Divine.

[39] Sri Chinmoy advocated "self-transcendence" by expanding one's consciousness to conquer the mind's perceived limitations,[40] and this was applied to athletics.

In 2010 Ashrita Furman, who holds over 150 Guinness World Records, stated that "the meditation he learned from Sri Chinmoy helps him to perform beyond his expectations.

The organisation, which as of 2007 served 136 countries, began with members of the Sri Chinmoy Centre distributing humanitarian aid to needy children and adults worldwide.

During the ceremony, Mother Teresa said to Sri Chinmoy: "I am so pleased with all the good work you are doing for world peace and for people in so many countries.

[58][59] Chinmoy advocated brahmacharya – celibacy – for both married and unmarried devotees, and focusing on experiencing inner spiritual joy rather than pleasure.

[61] Unlike in some other older traditions, Chinmoy taught that a complete withdrawal from the world was not necessary for spiritual progress, but rather "a gradual and total Illumination of life".

[70][71][69] In 2009, Jayanti Tamm published an account of life as a Chinmoy disciple, Cartwheels in a Sari: A Memoir of Growing Up Cult.

[80] Chinmoy stated: "We are all seekers, and our goal is the same: to achieve inner peace, light and joy, to become inseparably one with our Source, and to lead lives full of true satisfaction.

[83] He asked his disciples to adopt a vegetarian diet, abstain from recreational drugs including alcohol,[84] and lead a pure and celibate lifestyle.

Prayer is a process of rising up to God and speaking to Him, and meditation is a practice of stilling the mind so that the God-presence can envelop us and commune with us.

[89] Sri Chinmoy regarded the benefits of running as keeping the body fit and clearing the mind; he felt it can also be a form of external meditation.

[90] In 1970, Sri Chinmoy began giving twice-weekly non-denominational peace meditations at the United Nations for UN delegates, staff, and NGO representatives.

"[92] After directing the peace meditations, which had been attended by many UN employees and diplomats, for 37 years, more than 700 UN officials, ambassadors, members of the U.S. Congress, and representatives of various religions, paid tributes to Chinmoy following his death during a posthumous celebration at the UN headquarters in New York.

[95]Sri Chinmoy's efforts to promote inter-faith harmony resulted in him being invited to open the Parliament of the World's Religions in Chicago (1993)[96] and Barcelona (2004)[97] with a silent meditation.

Sri Chinmoy used variety of sponges, brushes and colors to paint in a mystical style with vigour, strong movement and rhythm.

[103][104][105][106] According to his followers, Sri Chinmoy composed thousands of short musical compositions, written with lyrics primarily in Bengali and English.

[128][129][130][131][132] Its precursor was the 1976 Liberty Torch Run, a relay in which 33 runners marked America's bicentennial by covering 8,800 miles in 7 weeks through 50 states.

[134] The Peace Run is generally held every two years, and the first was launched in April 1987 at the World Trade Center in New York City.

Sri Chinmoy himself continued to enter races until his 60s when a knee injury hampered his ability to run; afterwards he turned his attention to tennis and weightlifting.

Introducing one of Chinmoy's weightlifting exhibitions in 1999, Bill Pearl wrote: "Today you are going to see some amazing feats of strength that I myself – and I have been in the industry for fifty-five years – would not even attempt to perform.

[142] In a program created in 1998 known as 'Lifting up the world with a Oneness Heart', Sri Chinmoy lifted well- known people while they stood on a platform overhead.

Sri Chinmoy stated: 'I lift them up to show my appreciation for their achievements,'[143] Among some of the 7000 people he lifted include: Nelson Mandela,[144] Desmond Tutu, Muhammad Ali, Sting, Eddie Murphy, Susan Sarandon, Roberta Flack, Yoko Ono, Jeff Goldblum, Richard Gere,[29] and Helen Hunt.

[146] Terry Todd, a professor of kinesiology at the University of Texas, concluded that Sri Chinmoy misrepresented the type and weight of some of the lifts he claimed to have completed.