Sri Chinmoy completes writing 843 poems in 24 hours — from midnight October 31st to midnight November 1st — at his home in Jamaica, New York. The book of these poems, entitled Transcendence-Perfection, is published the next day by Agni Press.
Poem 1.
Eternity's Vision-Reality Song
Beloved Lord Supreme,
Do You approve of
My self-transcendence song?“My son, not only do I approve
But it is I who will
Sing in you,
Sing through you
My Eternity's Vision-Reality Song.”
Poem 843.
The Heart of My Gratitude-Sea
Lord Supreme, Absolute Supreme,
Father Supreme, Beloved Supreme,
With Your infinite Bounty I started
To compete with my previous achievements.I have far surpassed my previous achievements.
Now the golden fruit
I place at Your Feet.In me, through me, You have achieved
This humanly unbelievable achievement.
But divinely, it was not only possible but inevitable.This is not a miracle, O Lord,
This is just a reality-experience
Which inspires me to transcend
What I have
And what I eternally am.O Beloved Supreme,
In absolute Silence-Light
To You I offer
The heart of my gratitude-sea,
The breath of my oneness-sky.
Published in Transcendence-Perfection.
Transcendence-Perfection
The story of Sri Chinmoy’s remarkable achievement
From the stroke of midnight, Sri Chinmoy’s house is abuzz with activity.
Sri Chinmoy begins writing his first poem but he is not alone. Around him, are teams of local New York disciples, each with their assigned jobs. Everyone is racing against the clock because not only does Sri Chinmoy want to write as many poems as possible in one day, he wants the book published in the quickest possible time.
Hours before midnight, Sri Chinmoy was attacked by shoulder pain. And as the hours wear on fatigue is taking its toll. Sri Chinmoy employs anything he can to keep his physical going. He sings, plays the flute, stands on his head, Indian-style, and does leg exercises in that position. He walks upstairs and downstairs to check on the progress of the helpers.
He commented later, that when he wrote The Goal is Won he had lost several hours; on this occasion he had lost only forty minutes out of twenty four hours. So the next time he writes poetry in this way, he will not be able to gain working time but will have to increase his speed.
Nevertheless, Sri Chinmoy is not going to be defeated by time. At one point, he exclaims, “All right, baba! I can’t waste any more time. I am a busy man! I always compete with myself — what can I do?”
Sri Chinmoy had set himself an intermediate goal to go beyond 360 poems in 12 hours — his previous 24-hour poetry record was 360 poems for The Goal is Won, set on April 28th, 1974. To Sri Chinmoy’s great joy he passes 360 by 12 noon. He is now assured of setting a new personal record. Yet, as Sri Chinmoy later tells his helpers, “this is our achievement.”
As soon as Sri Chinmoy completes each batch of hand-written poems, they are checked and counted, and then scurried off to the Compugraphic, a few blocks away, for proofreading and typesetting. The galleys are then quickly taken over to Agni Press for the layout, plate making, printing, collating, binding, and trimming.
The teams of helpers soon find themselves hours behind Sri Chinmoy’s output. As Sri Chinmoy finishes writing at midnight, many of the team still have another day of work ahead of them.
Right until the very end, even the number count is still uncertain. But by the evening function the next day, the book Transcendence-Perfection is done! Two hundred thick volumes printed and bound. Page after page, all gracefully typed, containing the 843 poems, complete with a glossy cover featuring one of Sri Chinmoy’s Jharna-Kala artworks.
Only an idea two days ago, it is now a solid, tangible reality.
Adapted from a report in Chinmoy Family, Oct. 1975-Feb. 1976
Sri Chinmoy begins writing short, four-line, rhyming couplets in Jamaica, Queens, New York. The poems are later published as Silence Speaks, spanning nine volumes.
Poem no. 1
All I need
Is my soulful heart-access.
All God wants
Is my fruitful life-progress.
Here and Now
Nine prayers by Sri Chinmoy
at the Peace Concert in King’s College, Cambridge University, Cambridge, England
HERE and NOW
I must go forward,
Pleasing God
With every sure step.
HERE and NOW
I must silence
My ego-mind-boxer
And
My ego-vital-wrestler.
HERE and NOW
I must end the length and breadth
Of my
Ignorance-stupidity-capacities.
HERE and NOW
I want to be
A God-listening ear
And
A God-pleasing heart.
HERE and NOW
God tells me
That if I want to proclaim
His supreme Victory,
Then I must make my friendship
With patience solid.
HERE and NOW
I must start feeding myself
With God's
Compassion-Eye-Beauty
And with God's
Forgiveness-Heart-Fragrance.
HERE and NOW
No more
The mind-fantasy-world.
More, ever more,
The God-intimacy-world.
HERE and NOW
I have come to realise
That each divine thought
Is an earth-awakening
And a God-Victory-ringing bell.
HERE and NOW
I am enjoying two things —
Secret and sacred God-whispers
And
Open and unreserved God-cheers.
Published in Here and Now