In 1991, during a visit to Malta, Sri Chinmoy began drawing a new series of drawings, he entitled ‘Dream-Freedom Peace-Birds’ or “Soul-Birds”
These simple, free-form drawings of birds encapsulate the freedom and aspiration of the soul.
Over the next 16 years, Sri Chinmoy drew millions of these Soul-Birds, reaching over 15 million.
In Sri Chinmoy’s own words:
“These birds represent unity in multiplicity. Here we have 70,000 birds. Each bird is different, but when you look at them, you feel unity. As soon as we think of the bird-consciousness, it is one. The bird-consciousness represents the consciousness of our soul’s inner freedom.”
– Sri Chinmoy SCA, 1224
“Each bird embodies a prayerful and soulful heartbeat of my earthly existence. May all the birds that I have offered to You fly in the Sky of Your ever-expanding Compassion for the progress of humanity.”
– Sri Chinmoy, SCA 1227
“For me, birds have a very special significance on a spiritual level. They fly in the sky, and the sky is all freedom. So when the birds fly in the sky, they remind me of the soul’s infinite freedom. The soul has come from Heaven. When we think of birds, we are also reminded of our Source, and this gives us enormous joy. I feel that if people come here to view these birds, their inner hunger to fly in the sky of infinite freedom will be fed.”
– Sri Chinmoy, SCA 58
“Each bird is singing the song of freedom. The universe is very vast; the universal sky is very vast. Each bird has a specific task: to fly and fly and, while flying, to bring down the message of Immortality.”
– Sri Chinmoy, EDEM 12
“We are more than human beings. We are carrying the message of the Lord Supreme. This message is the message of freedom, the message of peace, the message of oneness. Dream is the source. From dream we get freedom, from freedom we get peace and from freedom we fly in the sky like the birds, we fly in the firmament of peace and bliss. On the strength of our aspiration-wings, at every moment we must fly high, higher, highest in the firmament of oneness, peace and bliss”
Video of first one million Soul-Birds
Related
- Most recent soul-bird drawings at Daily Art blog