Poems, on the Way to Pondicherry
by Sri Chinmoy
Sri Chinmoy writes ten poems (366-375) during a car ride from Madras to Pondicherry.
My heart is burdened with many things,
But one thing haunts me
At each hush-gap,
And that is the mountain-burden
Of world-sorrow.
My soul conceived perfection.
My heart has achieved perfection.
My life will offer sleepless perfection.
In Heaven and on earth
I have only one friend:
The same old God.Within and without
I have only one foe:
The same old Chinmoy.
What is new?
Nothing is new.
Indeed, this is a common answer.
But there is something new:
God is watching you
With His Infinity’s Compassion-Heart.
Don’t blame God.
He is sincerely trying
To help you out.Don’t blame yourself.
By blaming yourself
You cannot arrive
At the perfection-satisfaction-door.Just love God a little more;
Just think of yourself a little less.
Lo and behold,
All your untold problems are solved.
My life is fooling me.
Therefore
I am bitterly crying.My soul is ignoring me.
Therefore
I am bitterly crying.My Lord is not arriving.
Therefore
I am bitterly crying.
Human love
Is sickness.Divine love
Is completeness.God’s Love
Is selflessness.
Darkness deepens
When the doubting mind triumphs.
Light enlightens
When the aspiring heart
Unconditionally surrenders.
Do not be afraid of temptation.
Your introspection-mind,
Your meditation-heart,
Your vision-soul,
Your Benediction-God
Can and will cure you
Of your bad disease.
Self-conquest
And
God-quest
Love each other deeply
And live together happily.
O world, hear it
From me, a secret source.
Published in Ten Thousand Flower-Flames, part 4
Poems, in Pondicherry
by Sri Chinmoy
Sri Chinmoy writes twenty-five poems (376-400) on 29 and 30 October at the home of his family in Pondicherry.
376. Reveal your insecurity-life
Do not conceal,
But reveal
Your insecurity-life.
Lo,
God’s Compassion,
God’s Illumination,
God’s Perfection
Are eagerly waiting
To receive your insecurity-life.
377. Start doing this immediately
Have you reached your soul’s height?
If so, then start doing this immediately:
Fight against falling down.
378. Every time you love unconditionally
Every time you love unconditionally,
A winged angel flies down
And tells you:
“Sit down on my wing quickly.
The Lord Supreme is waiting for you.”
Be soulful, be careful!
Be fortified against
The entrance of ignorance-night.
Look, God has totally stopped
His Game of hide-and-seek.
Face your lower nature
Bravely.
Your higher nature
Is about to reach you
Happily
Plus proudly.
Who despairs because of failure?
Not you, the hero-prince.
Not you, the truth-server.
Not you, the God-lover.
No, no, no!
If you want to be known
As your heart’s oneness-responsibility,
God will make you known
By another name, too:
God’s Infinity.
No more
Act like a fool.
Start studying
At the God-realisation-school.
384. Your soul-victory's crown
Your soul-victory’s crown
Depends on how powerfully
You frown at the clown
Of ignorance-night.
Your old desire-cry
Must pass away
Long before your new aspiration-cry
Can bless you with its presence.
You know who God is.
He knows where God is hiding.
I know when God will appear.
387. Yours is great resolution
Yours is great resolution.
Yours is brave determination.
Lo, the total surrender of temptation!
388. Nothing else God wants from you
Arouse the body.
Cleanse the vital.
Correct the mind.
Open the heart.
Nothing else God wants from you.
389. Yours is a deplorable failure
Yours is a deplorable failure
Because
Your mind is not pure,
Your heart is not sure,
Your life is not willing to endure.
390. Not ready to learn from God
Easy to forgive
But
Not easy to forget.
Ready to teach God
But
Not ready to learn from God.
Every aspiration-day
Begins with new possibilities.Every aspiration-day
Ends with new achievements.
What you are within
Is perfection.
You will be mirrored accordingly.
Just pray and see.
Just meditate and see.
My past had its deplorable starts.
My present has its new starts.
My future will have its gold medals.
You are living a life
Of exalted purity.
Do you know why?
Because your impurity-life
Is completely exhausted.
Pardon world-pressures.
Abandon sense-pleasures.
Look who treasures
You: God Himself!
396. Before you start thinking
Before
You start thinking,
Look at others
Who are sinking.Before
You start doing,
Look at others
Who are enjoying.
397. I am sick of my aspiration
Dear Lord, I am really sick
Of my aspiration.
It has become a fountain
Of speedy exhaustion.
I shall not fail
Although
I am in my mind-jail.
I shall succeed.
So has my Lord decreed!
To God I have surrendered
My aspiration-choice.
To man I am offering
My ignorance-freed voice.
Yesterday
I was trying all the time
To correct human nature.
Therefore
I was having a very busy day.Today
I am trying to perfect
My own nature.
Therefore
I am again having a very busy day.But tomorrow
I shall be swimming in the sea
Of my Lord’s Compassion-Forgiveness.
I am sure tomorrow
I will have an easy day.
Published in Ten Thousand Flower-Flames, part 4
The Time is Coming
A story told by Sri Chinmoy
at Aspiration-Ground, Jamaica, New York
When I came to America, after only eight or nine months Lily was inspired to make shirts for me. She was a seamstress once upon a time. Afterwards she worked on a loom in the Ashram factory. It was run by a lady in the Ashram. So, Lily sent me four shirts with matching dhotis. The colours were gold, blue and gerua.
I said to her, “I cannot wear these. I cannot!”
She said, “You must and you must wear them!”
I said, “Why do I have to wear this kind of thing? In India I used to wear white. Why do I have to wear all kinds of colours? They will not look nice on me, and I will be embarrassed.”
She said, “No, you have to wear them. I have sent them. You must wear them.”
She had sent dhotis and Punjabi tops, which I call shirts. She made them herself.
Then she said, “Do you not remember that Swami-ji was always wearing gerua? His turban was gerua; everything was gerua.”
I said, “He gave lectures! I cannot give lectures.”
She said, “The time is coming for you also to give lectures, so you must wear all these things that I have sent for you. Dhotis and shirts you must wear, and colours you must wear.”
Her request is always a command — nothing short of a command! So I started wearing these colourful Indian garments because Lily was the one who first sent them to me from India. She was the one who sewed them. At her request, at her behest, I started wearing these coloured shirts and dhotis. Otherwise, I would have worn only white dhotis. Nowadays I have so many coloured garments! To fulfil her wish I did not wear only white.
Note: Sri Chinmoy and his family always referred to Swami Vivekananda as Swami-ji. Gerua is a saffron colour.
Published in Only One Power