During his lifetime (1931-2007), Sri Chinmoy traveled throughout the globe. In 1964, he moved to America. Tireless in his activities — these are just a snippet of events he engaged in while visiting different states in America, gathered here specifically in commemoration for the 250th anniversary of America.

Some of the key America projects organized by Sri Chinmoy and his students were:

  • Meditations and ‘learn to meditate’ classes
    • The primary and fundamental component of Sri Chinmoy’s activities is silent meditation. While this is difficult to quantify, it should be noted that in each of his activities — including lectures, concerts, composing songs, writing poetry or prose, artwork, and sports — Sri Chinmoy always rooted those activities in meditation and prayer.
    • Since the late 1960s through today, students of Sri Chinmoy have offered meditation classes. These classes are always offered free-of-charge and without obligation. The classes offer the simple ‘heart-forward’ techniques and philosophy of Sri Chinmoy — which, simplified, is that each one of us has a soul which is an unbreakable connection to our Source. Any difficulties and divisions that we have in our day-to-day life should be resolved by spending time connecting with our soul and our Source through prayer and meditation.
  • Lecture Series at Universities and other venues
    • Over 270 talks were given by Sri Chinmoy at over 124 American universities from the years 1968-2000 (https://www.srichinmoylibrary.com/oeh-384e3 : note this link includes other countries, scroll down to United States of America). Additionally, hundreds of other talks were given at venues other than Universities.
  • Question/Answers:
    • On May 21, 1976, Sri Chinmoy invited those attending the bi-weekly meditation at the United Nations headquarters to ask questions on America’s forthcoming Bicentennial anniversary. The short but illumining answers are published here.
  • Music and Peace Concerts
    • An avid musician and composer, Sri Chinmoy offered over 775 ‘Peace Concerts‘ throughout the globe — which included over 400 in America. These Peace Concerts were not intended as ‘entertainment’ but as a conscious invocation of peace, and were always offered absolutely free to the public. They would typically generally include:
      • leading the audience in a silent meditation to invoke peace;
      • Sri Chinmoy singing his devotional compositions and meditatively performing on musical instruments (the harmonium, flute, esraj — and often any other instrument he was inspired by at the time including cello, piano, and various unique stringed and wind instruments from around the world);
      • a capella choir performances from his students;
      • poetry he had written that day;
      • and —in the earlier days— often included a talk and even a Q&A session
    • Sri Chinmoy composed melodies for the names of each of the 50-states in America. While these one-word melodies are not counted among his nearly 23,000 lyrical compositions, they have a unique, mantric-like, special significance for those who may want to invoke the simpler but deeper quality of each state’s soul. (To explore a broader range and more typical compositions of Sri Chinmoy’s music, visit the SriChinmoySongs.com —or ‘Radio Sri Chinmoy’ )
  • Writings
    • Sri Chinmoy’s writings —both prose and poetry— is extensive. An online collection, the Sri Chinmoy Library is a good place to start exploring this huge body of work. On a different site, here is a small collection of excerpts from Sri Chinmoy’s writings on America.
  • Artwork
    • In his youth in India, Sri Chinmoy would often draw sketches and he continued to do so through his life. In 1974, when he was 43 years old and living in America, he took up painting and drawing with great enthusiasm and abundance. See here for more details about his artwork.
  • Sports
    • Sports always played an important part of Sri Chinmoy’s life and philosophy. He believed that, through ‘self-transcendence’, athletic activities could empower one’s own life — as well as bring communities and people together. See here for more details about his athletic endeavors. Some of the more encompassing multi-state events are:
      • Sri Chinmoy Oneness-Home Peace Run (aka World Harmony Run), a bi-annual (sometimes annual) event since 1987
      • 1976-today. An track athlete in his youth, Sri Chinmoy took up middle-, long-, and track- events again in his middle-age. The Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team (SCMT) was founded in 1976 and has offered thousands of local running events throughout the states and the globe.
      • Liberty Torch Relay, 1976. A non-stop, round-the-clock, relay run through all 50 states (8,800 miles). Taking the SCMT runners 46 days, summer of 1976.
      • June 21-27, 1979. Empire State Bicycle Relay. About 100 SCMT cyclists participated, pairing up in teams of two they rode 1,500 miles covering the length and breadth of New York State through more than 300 towns and cities across the state in 7-days.
      • October 1980. Salutations to America: A 13-State, 1,300 Mile Non-Stop Relay Run,  The relay, comprised of 15 runners from the SCMT, began in Concord, New Hampshire and continued through each of the 13 original states of the US and completed its journey seven days later in Atlanta, Georgia.
      • U.S.A. Bicycle Relay, 1980. Cyclists from the SCMT traversed 18 states in 22-days in a transcontinental bicycle relay (later entitled “America’s Oneness-Aspiration Bicycle Relay”) to honour their spiritual teacher’s contributions to sports in the U.S.A. After inaugurating their journey’s start in N.Y., Sri Chinmoy again met them in Washington, D.C. where the cyclists were joined by Sri Chinmoy on his bike and were led by police escorts to arrive at the West Steps of the Capitol for a 11 a.m. ceremony from many state representatives, led by Rep. Joseph P. Addabbo (N.Y.).
      • 1988-2004. “Lifting Up the World with a Oneness-Heart” — a unique programme during which an honoree would climb a flight of stairs, then standing on a platform they would be hoisted several inches by Sri Chinmoy in a weightlifting feat. Over 8,300 individuals were honored in this way—from ordinary citizens to others’ who had achieved great acclaim. The aim? Always trying new ways to be inspired and to inspire — and having spent over 3 decades interacting with others through traditional spiritual methods by offering hundreds of talks; hundreds of concerts; thousands of public meditations — Sri Chinmoy, then in his late 50s until his mid-70s, found weightlifting as a new and intriguing physical challenge. This interactive programme invited people to spend time being recognized for their acts of goodness or service. While he continued offering meditations and concerts to the public, at these ‘lifting’ events there was a direct-exchange between Sri Chinmoy and the liftee; and as he said, “We exchange our good qualities. That is called a ‘oneness-heart’.”
      • Sri Chinmoy Peace Ride in 2025. Two members of the SCMT rode from Seattle to New York briefly stopping along the way to engage with the people in the 11 states they traversed.

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Events organized by the 50 States:

**Note: This section is current in DRAFT form and in the process of research. My aim is to have a page for each of the 50 states, if the name of the state does not have a link, please check back :D.**

Alabama (AL)   /   Alaska (AK)
   /   Arizona (AZ)
   /   Arkansas (AR)   /   
California (CA)   /   
Colorado
 (CO)   /   
Connecticut (CT
)   /   Delaware (DE)   /   
Florida (FL)
   /   Georgia (GA)   /   
Hawaii (HI)   /   
Idaho (ID)
   /   Illinois (IL)
   /   Indiana (IN)   /   
Iowa (IA)   /   
Kansas (KS)
   /   Kentucky (KY)
   /   Louisiana (LA)   /   
Maine (ME)
   /   Maryland (MD)
   /   Massachusetts (MA)   /   
Michigan (MI)   /   
Minnesota (MN)   /   
Mississippi (MS)
   /   Missouri (MO)   /   
Montana (MT)
   /   Nebraska (NE)   /   
Nevada (NV)   /   
New Hampshire (NH)
   /   New Jersey (NJ)   /   
New Mexico (NM)
   /   New York (NY)
   /   North Carolina (NC)   /   
North Dakota (ND)
   /   Ohio (OH)
   /   Oklahoma (OK)   /   
Oregon (OR)
   /   Pennsylvania (PA)   /   
Rhode Island (RI)   /   
South Carolina (SC)
   /   South Dakota (SD)
   /   Tennessee (TN)
   /   Texas (TX)   /   
Utah (UT)
   /   Vermont (VT)
   /   Virginia (VA
)   /   Washington (WA)
   /   West Virginia (WV)
   /   Wisconsin (WI)
   /   Wyoming (WY)

Additionally: Washington, DC

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This page was initially setup with the 2026 Peace Run in mind: so the same links above are listed below in the order of the states that the Peace Run will go through:

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Go to the Peace Run page on devotionsongs.com or the Peace Run’s official page   //  //   Return to page about  the 50-state songs //  // Go to Devotionsongs.com home

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Among the many, many dedications and tributes to America, on 13 April 2007, Sri Chinmoy offered these words on the occasion of his 43rd Anniversary in America.

“America the Beautiful, I love you, I admire you, I adore you and I need you. O soul of America, I bow to your all-pervading fragrance. O heart of America, I bow to your all-thrilling beauty. America, my America, you have showered your choicest blessings, concern and encouragement upon my God-aspiring heart and man-dedicated service for long 43 years.

 

America, my America, my soul, my heart, my mind, my vital and my body shall remain sleeplessly and breathlessly grateful to you. I am offering fifty roses from my heart-garden lovingly, devotedly and self-givingly to the beauty, prosperity and divinity of each State.”

— Sri Chinmoy, 13 April 2007 at Aspiration-Ground, New York

 

 

Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas 
California 
Colorado
 Connecticut
 Delaware
 Florida
 Georgia
 Hawaii
 Idaho 
Illinois 
Indiana 
Iowa
 Kansas
 Kentucky
 Louisiana 
Maine
 Maryland
Massachusetts 
Michigan
 Minnesota
 Mississippi 
Missouri
 Montana
 Nebraska
 Nevada 
New Hampshire 
New Jersey
 New Mexico 
New York
 North Carolina
 North Dakota
 Ohio
 Oklahoma
Oregon 
Pennsylvania 
Rhode Island 
South Carolina 
South Dakota
 Tennessee 
Texas 
Utah 
Vermont 
Virginia 
Washington 
West Virginia 
Wisconsin 
Wyoming