Sri Chinmoy's Greatest Hits

It's a pertinent question: if a songwriter composes a multitude of songs, how can anyone choose the "best" or the "greatest"? The question has often been pondered by Sri Chinmoy's students, as they consider his ouevre of 13,000 Bengali and 7000 English songs. But then, even other highly prolific composers - from Rabindranath Tagore to Franz Schubert to Sir Paul McCartney - have their so-called "greatest hits", the songs most often cited by admirers and musical critics alike. Among 2,000 songs, Tagore has two National Anthems, India's "Jana Gana Mana" and Bangladesh's "Amar Sonaar Baanglaa". Schubert wrote 600 songs, but "Erlkönig", one of his early compositions, was a stand-out. McCartney excelled (and still excels) at writing light pop songs, but even within these limits, a handful of songs - "Yesterday", "Hey Jude" - seem to stand out for their beauty or poignancy.

But again, what of Sri Chinmoy? With most songwriters, it is said, their output is a collection of emotional highs and lows. (The inspiration of "Hey Jude" and the sadness of "Yesterday" are an example.) Sri Chinmoy says that his inspiration comes from a higher source, a source of inspiration, so it does not really fit this premise.

In 2004, a group of his students from Australia and New Zealand voted for the "spiritual top 40" - their favourite 40 songs by Sri Chinmoy. The top 10, as one would expect, was full of songs that are well-known to all his students, the ones that have somehow stood out even among his many songs - and which, in some cases, he asks his students to sing regularly as part of their meditation.

Four were English songs. Many of his English songs are catchy and upbeat, exhibiting spiritual truths in a joyous and celebratory way. Several of his Bengali songs, meanwhile, have a soulful, meditative quality. That is obvious in the top 10. The powerful "Borobodur", written about the famous Buddhist temple near Jogyakarta in Indonesia (and therefore, about the Lord Buddha himself), is haunting and seems to echo deep within, even if the singer is unfamiliar with the language. "Usha Bala Elo" is beautiful and utterly simple - so simple that it is often used in meditation classes as an easy-to-learn exercise in meditative music. "Rangiye De Ma" is also simple, and extremely sweet.

The number one song - Sri Chinmoy's own favourite - was "Jiban Debata", a song that, in four short lines, encompasses so much of his spiritual teaching. It is an invocation of the peace, power and enlightenment of meditation.