The Wings of Joy: Finding Your Path to Inner Peace

Great book for Great Source of Enlightenment! You wish you have read this book 20 years ago!

Sri Chinmoy is a living fountain of inspiration for the world. He writes from the heart in an elegant and lucid manner. His poetry communicates to our own hearts to stimulate the peace, harmony and love which are so simply already there. His rich Indian background and life accomplishments dramatically impower his messages.

It took me a long time to arrive at the place where I inevitably had to find this book. I find it to be the most succinct, beautiful, practical, and accurate work on the spiritual life that I have ever read. Long and bumpy is the path to arrive at this book, Wings of Joy. First I went through Catholicism; its rigid literalistic theology, though, leaves something missing for the thinking person. Then, Buddhism, with its deep meditation and striving for enlightenment. But there is something big missing there too: its rejection of the world is too non-intuitive, and does not make sense in trying to live a harmonious unified life. Then other independent religious thinkers, like Osho, whose books are wonderful and inspiring, but who demands that we tear down everything we have learnt from any institution (parents, church, state, etc.), in order to achieve the freedom that is our birthright. This may be the right way, but its radicalness can leave one feeling rudderless (in a bad way). It all leads to Sri Chinmoy, who, seemingly with direct access to God and the soul, has written a work that transcends them all. He does not reject religion, but says that they all contain truth: "each religion is right, absolutely right, in its own way, but when we cry for the highest truth, love of God becomes our only religion." Have you ever seen a more perfect statement. He does not reject the body or the world. He says the body needs the soul to illuminate it, and the soul needs the body to manifest the soul. So logical, so true, so inspired. Love is the answer, as it should be; not some detached enlightenment. There is not only one path, as too many religions demand. In short, this is the man, and this is the book. May you love it and each other

Every time I pick up this book I seem to read just what I need to read. It is an amazing collection of essays, poems, stories and wonderful thoughts for busy lives. It's size is perfect and it is one of those books which you can carry with you and read bite sized pieces. I think it is wonderful for all ages.

When I first came across this book, having read many others by Sri Chinmoy, I was expecting it to be mostly about the practise of meditation. But while Wings of Joy includes some wonderful (and beautifully simple) meditation techniques, it is more of a practical guide to using the light and strength one receives in meditation or prayer to deal with life's' problems and challenges.Wings of Joy is an incredibly positive and uplifting work. Each chapter leaves you with the feeling that none of the obstacles in your life, inner or outer, is unconquerable. Sri Chinmoy is obviously a man who has mastered the highest meditation, and who feels that the eternal peace and divinity inside each person is infinitely vaster and more powerful than the so-called problems we encounter in our journey through life. This positive message is central to Wings of Joy, as it is to many of Sri Chinmoys' other works (which number over 1200).I recommend this book not only to those who wish to learn to meditate, or explore spiritual philosophy, but also to anyone looking for inspiration to carry them forward in their life. It's simplicity and clarity make Wings of Joy extremely accessible - the perfect book to buy as a gift.