The Dance of Life, part 7
Sri Chinmoy composes
50 poems in one day; they are published in the 7th volume of a 20-volume series containing 1,000 poems
301. His knowledge and his understanding
He knows everything.
He knows everything
And understands nothing.He understands everything.
He understands everything
And knows nothing.To be in the world of the soul
Is to know everything.
To be in the world of the mind
Is to understand nothing.To be in the world of the vital
Is to understand everything.
To be in the world of the body
Is to know nothing.
302. Nobody's business
Nobody’s business
Is everybody’s necessity.Nobody’s business
Is everybody’s duty.Nobody’s business
Is everybody’s depth of realisation.Nobody’s business
Is everybody’s sense of universal perfection.
303. Two different things
Love is one thing,
Possession is another.Possession is one thing,
Happiness is another.Happiness is one thing,
Accomplishment is another.Accomplishment is one thing,
Perfection is another.
304. I can't follow
I can’t follow God
Because
He wants, instead, to follow me most faithfully.I follow man
Because
He wants to lead me constantly.Staying behind,
God inspires me
To reach my sun-world.Staying ahead,
Man instigates me
To ignore my aspiration-world.
305. When I live
When I live in the vital world
I find it easier to break than to build.When I live in the physical world
I find it easier to sleep than to work.When I live in the mental world
I find it easier to doubt and suspect
Than to love and embrace.When I live in the psychic world
I find it easier to build than to break,
I find it easier to work than to sleep,
I find it easier to love and embrace
Than to doubt and suspect.Unlike in other worlds,
In my psychic world
I want what I need,
I get what I want.
306. When
When I smile,
I make everything out of nothing.
When I love,
I make everything out of nothing.
When I offer,
I make everything out of nothing.
But
When I hesitate to smile,
I make nothing out of everything.
When I delay in loving,
I make nothing out of everything.
When I calculate in my offering,
I make nothing out of everything.
307. God depends on you
God’s arrival-appearance
Entirely
Depends upon your divine audacity
And
Divine tenacity.
Claim Him as your unconditional slave;
He will be exceedingly pleased.
Stick to your realisation and assertion;
He will offer His Heart-Crown to you.
308. She and he count differently
She counts God’s Blessings.
Therefore
She is happy.He counts his failings.
Therefore
He is unhappy.She counts devotedly God’s divine approvals.
Therefore
She is happy.He counts greedily his achievements only.
Therefore
He is unhappy.
309. He is great
He is hopelessly great.
In the vital world
He pushes the door marked Pull,
In the mental world
He pulls the door marked Push.
In the psychic world
He neither pulls nor pushes
But waits for the hour to strike.
He knows that at the choice hour
God Himself will open
The door for him
Quietly,
Proudly,
Unconditionally.
310. Death and God
Only two persons
On earth and in Heaven
Do not contradict.These are Death and God.
Death-hush knows not
How to contradict.
God-Wisdom feels
It is not worthwhile to contradict.
311. She and he
She is very rich
Because
She always gives,
She always gives.He is very poor
Because
He always needs,
He always needs.She is always beautiful.
She is always beautiful
Because
Her surrender divine
Drinks the Beauty of God.He is always ugly.
He is always ugly
Because
His undivine autocracy devours
the freedom of man.
312. Do you need?
Do you need peace of mind?
Then think that the world does not need you.Do you need peace of mind?
Then feel that the world
Is not nearly as useless as you think.Do you need peace of mind?
Then see that you do not make
The same mistakes
That the world quite often makes.
313. When he is
When he is in the soul
He speaks nothing.
He quietly listens,
He cheerfully agrees.When he is in the heart
He speaks very little.
He tries to listen,
He tries to agree.When he is in the mind
He speaks constantly.
He never listens,
He totally disagrees.
314. When I
When I imitate God
To please Him,
He feels quite uneasy.When I love God
To please Him,
He feels quite uneasy.When I serve God
To please Him,
He feels quite uneasy.When I become another God
To please Him,
He feels divinely happy;
He feels supremely fulfilled.
315. My human confidence and my confidence divine
My
Human confidence
Is
The proud feeling
Of knowing everything,
Of understanding everything.My
Divine confidence
Is
To identify myself with the heart of everything,
See God and the world
With the soul of everything,
And
Become one with God the Aspiration-Light
And God the Realisation-Delight of everything.
316. Two conductors
Man the conductor
Sees the players
And
Sees not the audience.
His hunger for growing appreciation
Is
Half fed.God the conductor
Hears the aspiration-music of the cosmic gods
And
Becomes the appreciation-applause of the divine audience.
His hunger for the joy-distribution
Is
Sumptuously fed.
317. His doubt and his faith
His doubt dares to solve
All his problems
Save and except
The unemployment problem
For faith, which it so maliciously creates.His faith faithfully solves
All his problems
Created by his morning doubt-clouds
And
Nourished by his evening doubt-storms.
318. Machine and man
When a machine
Wants to think like a man,
God feels proud of His Dream-Boat.
He starts singing and dancing.When a man
Wants to think like a machine,
God feels sorry for man’s unevolving life.
He buries His Mind and Vital
In the soil of despair-night
And
He drowns His Heart and Soul
In the giant bosom of failure-sea.
319. Fear and doubt
Fear of truth grows on his hope tree
To weaken him.Doubt in God grows on his hope tree
To poison him.His self-doubt grows on his hope tree
To destroy him.
320. Before Columbus discovers you
Don’t sleep,
Get up at least.
Don’t stand still,
Walk a little at least.Before Columbus
Dares to discover you,
Fly your wings
Into the unknowable Beyond
Where
Your doubt-Columbus,
Your fear-Columbus
Shall have no access.There you can reign
Unseen,
Unchallenged,
Unfathomed,
Sovereign,
Absolute,
Supreme.
321. Transformation
“Everyone thinks of
Changing the world, but no one thinks of
Changing himself.”— Tolstoy
I tried to change myself;
I badly failed.I tried to change the world;
To my wide surprise,
The world had achieved
Its perfection-light long before
I made my surrendered attempt.I failed to change my life
Because
I mixed too much
With my Master, Ego,
With my Disciple, Doubt.
322. How do we use English?
Stephen Leacock said:
“Canadians use English for literature,
Scotch for sermons,
American for conversation.”I use English to betray my roaring stupidity.
I use English to ignore my doubtful capacity.
I use English to reveal my soulful divinity.
I use English to manifest God’s glowing Authenticity.
323. Expectation and attainment
Love is what we expect;
Hatred is what we get.Concern is what we expect;
Indifference is what we get.Union is what we expect;
Division is what we get.Triumph is what we expect;
Defeat is what we get.Transformation is what we expect;
Frustration is what we get.
324. Communication-problems
O Telephone,
You have solved
My communication-problems;
Between
North and South,
East and West.
Therefore
To you I bow and bow.
But
Alas, who will solve
The age-long communication-problems
Between
My doubting mind
And
My crying heart,
Between
My restless vital
And
My joyless body?
325. My family in action
My heart practises
The Truth,
My mind preaches
The Truth.My heart achieves
The Truth,
My vital distributes
The Truth.My heart treasures
The Truth,
My body discards
The Truth.My heart becomes
The Truth,
My soul is
The Truth.
326. Being American means
Mr.
Heinrich Böll, West Germany’s
1972 Nobel Laureate in literature, declared:
“Being American means the chance to be what you want.”I asked my God two small questions:
What is the meaning of chance?
What do Americans want to be?
“My son, you are a God-lover.
For a God-lover there is no such thing as chance.
My dictionary does not house that particular word.
What you and I call Grace, others call chance.“My son, here is My answer
To your second question:
Americans want to be perfect slaves to their freedom.”
Father, what do You mean?
I don’t understand Your answer.
Please be a little more explicit.“What I mean is this:
Americans are not profitably,
Consciously and unreservedly
Using their freedom-soul
To reach the acme of their Freedom-Goal.”
327. Back to my desk
Mr.
Boll said:
“I am travelling too much and I want to go
Back to my desk.”Since I have the same problem,
Although in an infinitesimal measure,
I sought my God’s advice.
God said: “My son, to Me your bed is your perfect desk.
To Me, your car is your perfect desk.
To Me, a jet plane is your perfect desk.“Inspiration
Is in your heart.
Aspiration
Is in your soul.
Revelation
Is in your eyes.
Manifestation
Is in your hands.”
328. I came, I saw, I conquered
Caesar thundered:
“I came,
I saw,
I conquered.”Satan thundered:
“I came,
I conquered,
I saw not.”I thundered:
“I came not,
I saw not,
I conquered not.”God thundered:
“I came,
I was seen,
I was conquered.”
329. When I drive
When I drive
I never feel
I own the car
Or
I own the road.I feel
God’s Protection
Owns the car
And
Man’s sympathy owns the road.
330. I studied
I studied in three schools
That do not believe in failure:
My first school was the school of
Aspiration,
My second school was the school of
Transformation,
My third school was the school of
Satisfaction.
331. Comedy and tragedy
In life’s comedy
False fear dies.In life’s tragedy
False hope dies.Through life’s comedy
God reveals His Grace.Through life’s tragedy
God perfects His Face.
332. God and I smile
God gave me a smile,
I gave Him a smile.
His smile made me feel
That I am not yet
Past correction.
My smile made Him feel
That I am still a lover of
Perfection.
333. When I am
When I am
In the hands of a doctor,
Fear and Death
Quietly think of me.When I am
In the hands of a lawyer,
Anxiety and deception
Bravely think of me.When I am
In the hands of a Spiritual Master,
Confidence and joy
Constantly think of me.
334. One sows and another reaps
The cook laboriously cooks;
The waitress gets the immediate appreciation.Nature and Fate cure;
The doctor demands the fee.God’s Grace illumines and fulfils mankind;
Man feels it is all due to his own personal effort.
335. Peace
God’s Grace
Wants to offer man the soul’s eternal Peace.
Man’s cry
Wants to acquire the heart’s immediate Peace.
The United Nations
Wants to offer the mind’s universal Peace.
Divorcing couples
Want to give birth to the vital’s demanding peace.
336. I am lucky and fortunate
I am lucky
In my outer life:
Success ascends
Before labour.I am fortunate
In my inner life:
Grace descends
Before success.
337. He is lucky
He is lucky,
He did not get what he deserved.
He is lucky,
He did not say what he intended.
He is lucky,
He does not find anything wrong with the world.
He is lucky,
He does not know when death will knock at his door.
338. I was a fool
I was a fool,
I depended on my personal efforts.
I was a fool,
I depended on man’s assistance.
I was a fool,
I depended on God’s Grace.But
Now I have become a wise man
Since I revised the order.
I now depend on God’s unconditional Grace first,
Ninety-eight and a half per cent.
And then I depend on my puny personal efforts,
One per cent.
Finally I depend on man’s conditional assistance,
One-half of one per cent.
339. Three examinations
I have
Three examinations to pass:
Death, Life and God.
I must say,
These are all most difficult examinations.I have
Two examinations to pass:
Life and God.
I feel I shall fare well.I have
One examination to pass:
God.
It seems I have already passed it.
340. They say
They say, “After middle age
The days go two at a time.”
I wholeheartedly
See eye to eye with them.
I just want to add
A few things:
After middle age
The mind-deer wants to run faster,
The vital-horse wants to run slower,
The body-bull wants to enjoy rest
341. Two teachers
As a dance-teacher,
God teaches me
How to dance soulfully
Before the cosmic gods.As an ignorance-teacher,
I teach God
How to cry pitifully
Before the human multitudes.
342. In my past, present and future
There was a time
When I lived to eat.
I ate and ate and ate.Now
I eat to live.
I regularly eat,
I devotedly eat.There shall come a time
When I shall eat
At God’s Will,
At God’s Hour;
From God’s Kitchen,
With God’s Smile.
343. Because
Because
I am unsuccessful,
My desire suffers.Because
I am unsuccessful,
My aspiration suffers.Because
I am unsuccessful,
My life suffers.Because
I am unsuccessful,
My goal suffers.Alas, there is someone
Who constantly suffers for me.
He is my God,
He is my Lord,
He is my All.
He suffers for me
Not because I am unsuccessful,
But because
I have deliberately kept myself
Out of employment.
344. Fortune or misfortune
Lord, a woman’s beauty:
Is it her fortune or misfortune?
Son, it is her fortune.
I gave her the beauty,
I am that beauty.Lord, a man’s duty:
Is it his fortune or misfortune?
Son, it is his fortune.
I gave him the duty,
I am that duty.Lord, a Yogi’s heart:
Is it his fortune or misfortune?
Son, it is his fortune.
I gave him the heart,
I am that heart.
345. I don't pray
I don’t pray.
Why?
Because God does not need my prayer.I don’t pray.
Why?
Because man does not understand my prayer.I don’t pray.
Why?
Because my enemies don’t believe in my prayer.Finally I have come to the conclusion that
I don’t have to pray.
Why?
Because my friends believe that I always pray.
346. The story of my failure
When I failed
In man’s examination,
God came to my immediate rescue.
He explained
Emphatically
Why I had failed:
Because the examination was very difficult.When I failed
In God’s examination,
Man deeply enjoyed my failure
And whisperingly said:
You rightly deserved it
Because
Your rich ignorance beggars description.
347. Three seekers
A beginner seeker
Is he who has started
The art of believing.An advanced seeker
Is he who has started
The art of believing, loving, serving.A realised seeker
Is he who has started
The art of surrendering:
Surrendering cheerfully to God’s Will,
Surrendering helplessly to man’s ignorance.
348. Experience, realisation and manifestation
Experience
Gives me no vacation.Realisation
Gives me no frustration.Revelation
Gives me no uncertainty.Manifestation
Gives me no futility.
349. Two advisers
God’s advice to Man:
“Don’t lie!”Man’s advice to God:
“Don’t sigh!”God’s advice to Man:
“Don’t hide!
Are you a thief?”Man’s advice to God:
“Don’t chide!
Am I a thief?”
350. Underestimation and overestimation
When I underestimated
My Power,
God placed me on His throne of Bliss.When I underestimated
My Light,
God offered me His Garland of Victory.When I overestimated
My Power,
Satan demanded and confiscated my passport.When I overestimated
My Light,
Death mocked my height
And
Deported me into the Land of Destruction-Night.
Published in The Dance of Life, part 7
Oneness-Reality and Perfection-Divinity
A lecture by Sri Chinmoy
8.00 p.m., at Buffalo State College, Buffalo, New York
Oneness-Reality and Perfection-Divinity are two paths to the Supreme. A seeker can accept either the way of Oneness-Reality or the way of Perfection-Divinity, or he can try both, for they both lead to the self-same Goal.
When the seeker wants to walk along the road of Oneness-Reality, he starts with simplicity. He tries to simplify his life. Then there comes a time when he feels that his simplicity is not enough. In spite of his simplicity he may make mistakes. He may commit Himalayan blunders, but he will still make progress. But if he is not sincere, then he will not be able to make progress; therefore, he has to become sincere. With his sincerity he makes considerable progress. He gets joy from both the inner world and the outer world.
Then there comes a time when the seeker sees and feels that even his sincerity is not enough. In spite of his sincerity he can still make mistakes. Then he may not have the necessary determination to rectify his mistakes, so what he needs is determination. With his determination he will always try to stop doing the wrong thing, to start doing the right thing and to continue doing the right thing. Determination is of paramount importance. Simplicity is not enough. Sincerity is not enough. What the seeker needs at this stage of evolving consciousness is determination.
The seeker makes satisfactory progress with his determination, but there comes a time when he sees that his determination is mainly in the vital plane. It is principally in the domain of the dynamic vital, if not the aggressive vital. Sometimes, with his determination he builds something; then in no time he breaks it. So the seeker feels that determination is not enough. Inside his determination something else has to loom large, and that thing is purity. If he has purity, then his heart will be able to receive the message from above. He will be able to act like a divine child. A child is a flower that is blossoming petal by petal in the heart of his parents. A childlike purity always obeys the inner voice, and if one obeys the inner voice, then he can be freed from committing mistakes. So determination is not enough; purity is of paramount importance. With his purity the seeker makes considerable progress. His heart is pure, his very existence is pure; therefore, he is able to make most satisfactory progress.
But at times purity is not used properly, divinely and supremely. At times we notice that a pure person is afraid of the world. He sees the animal creation all around, so he is frightened to death. He feels that these human animals will devour him; therefore, a pure person at times wants to enter into the Himalayan caves. He does not want to remain in society, for he fears that the society-tiger will devour him. Again, a pure person, unless and until he is perfect, may cherish a sense of superiority. He may look down upon those who are impure, and he may not be willing to be in the company of impure people. He wants to shun society as such in order to maintain his own purity. So here purity is not enough. He needs something more than purity. What does he need? Oneness.
Oneness can be limited or complete. If oneness is limited, then satisfaction is also limited. If oneness is partial, then naturally satisfaction will be partial. Oneness can be conditional. The seeker can establish his oneness with the Lord Supreme on the strength of their mutual give and take. He will give his aspiration-cry, the inner mounting flame, and while giving, he will be expecting something from above, from God, something infinitely more meaningful, fruitful and valuable — that is, God’s infinite Bounty, infinite Light and infinite Delight. When the seeker offers his conditional oneness, he cannot be truly happy. He can be truly happy only when he offers his unconditional oneness cheerfully, soulfully and unreservedly. Only when he establishes his oneness with the Inner Pilot soulfully, devotedly, unreservedly and unconditionally, does he become truly happy, and happiness is satisfaction. The road of unconditional oneness eventually leads the seeker to the world of Delight, boundless Delight, where the seeker-lover becomes inseparably one with the Beloved, the Source.
The other road is the road of Perfection-Divinity. When the seeker wants to walk along the road of Perfection-Divinity, he starts with imagination. He imagines God’s Reality. He imagines God with attributes and without attributes, God with form and God without form. Sometimes he becomes a prey to false mental fascination. He is assailed at times by doubts. He thinks that he is building castles in the air; therefore, he feels that his imagination is not enough. What he needs is inspiration. With his inspiration he will dive deep within. He will fly above. He will march and run forward. He is inspired to do something, to become something.
Now, in order to do something or become something divinely and supremely, the capacity of inspiration is not enough. It is very limited. One must needs have aspiration. Aspiration is the answer at this moment. When the seeker aspires, he feels that he has to climb up or reach a certain destination. Now he is at the starting point, and the goal is somewhere else. He sees that there is a yawning gulf between his present existence-reality and the ultimate Goal which he is aiming at. He is climbing up the aspiration-tree, the tree which is tall, taller, tallest. When the seeker aspires sincerely, soulfully and unconditionally, he reaches a lofty height.
But now his aspiration is not enough. He feels that he must have realisation. Once he realises the ultimate Truth, then there will be no starting point and no final Goal. It will be all one; therefore, he aims at realisation. He feels that realisation will be able to solve all his problems, because wherever realisation is, the Ultimate Truth is also there. They are inseparable. Realisation and the Ultimate Truth cannot be separated from each other or from the one who has realised the Truth. The realisation and the seeker who has realised are inseparably one; therefore, the seeker longs for realisation. He knows that he has to go through aspiration, but aspiration is not enough. Only realisation — his realisation of God, his self-discovery — will be able to solve his life’s problems, the problems that have caused so much suffering for him from time immemorial.
At last the seeker realises God. He is happy. His progress has been and is unimaginable. But there comes a time when he feels the insufficiency of his own realisation. As an individual he is one with God. But when he looks around, he sees that there are millions and billions of his fellow beings — brothers and sisters of his — who are not yet realised. He sees clearly that he is eating most delicious food while these others are starving. In the inner world they are poverty-stricken. His heart of oneness-realisation feels miserable. He wants to go one step farther. He wants to reveal to the hungry humanity the Truth that he now embodies, the Light that he embodies, the Delight that he embodies. This is not a desire for displaying his achievements, but a supreme necessity, an inner urge. His Inner Pilot compels him to bring forward what he has within in order to show the world, to show each individual, that like him, each individual is entitled to realise the Highest, to reveal the Highest. He does not want to eat the realisation-fruit alone. This realisation-fruit can be eaten by all those who sincerely long for it. So realisation is not enough. Revelation is also a supreme necessity.
The God-realised soul reveals what he has so that others can get inspiration, aspiration and realisation. He reveals without what he has within. While he is revealing his divinity, he feels that his divinity can be revealed on any plane — on a higher plane, on a lower plane, anywhere. But unless it has its proper roots, it cannot last for long; it cannot be the achievement of Mother Earth for Eternity. Therefore, his revelation is not enough. He needs manifestation. Once something is manifested here on earth, it becomes the permanent possession of Mother Earth. Once divinity, reality or any divine qualities are properly manifested, then they are permanent. They become part and parcel of Mother Earth. They become the possession of humanity’s aspiration. So the God-realised seeker tries to manifest. And when he manifests, he feels his complete oneness with the Absolute Pilot. He becomes the perfect instrument of divinity’s Perfection. Being a perfect instrument of his Beloved Supreme, the seeker tries to manifest the divinity which he has been entrusted with.
Here the Oneness-Reality becomes one with the Perfection-Divinity. When one becomes perfect, one automatically becomes one with the supreme Reality, the Source. When one has established one’s inseparable, unconditional oneness with the Source, then he is bound to become perfect. These are the two roads, the road of oneness and the road of perfection. Eventually they join, and with their oneness one reaches the highest Height and the deepest Depth, and becomes the perfect instrument of the Supreme Pilot here on earth and there in Heaven.
Published in AUM – Vol. 4, No. 5, 27 May 1977
Progress-Delight
A lecture by Sri Chinmoy
in Lady Mitchell Hall at the University of Cambridge, England
Asato ma sad gamaya
Tamaso ma jyotir gamaya
Mrityor ma amritam gamayaO lead me from the unreal to the Real.
Lead me from darkness to Light.
Lead me from death to Immortality.
Indeed, this is the prayer the Vedic Seers of the hoary past offered to humanity. It is at once a soulful prayer and a fruitful meditation. I am a seeker. If I can soulfully pray and fruitfully meditate, then I make progress. This prayer and meditation embodies my progress and delight.
Anandadd hy eva khalv imani bhutani jayante
anandena jatani jivanti
anandam prayantyabhisam visantiFrom Delight we came into existence.
In Delight we grow.
At the end of our journey’s close, into Delight we retire.
A seeker’s progress is his delight. Again, his delight is his progress. A seeker’s progress-delight is his self-transcendence. I am a seeker, a Truth-seeker. I am a lover, a God-lover. I transcend. What do I transcend? I transcend my inner capacity and my outer capacity. My inner capacity is my receptivity and my outer capacity is my speed. I must needs have a receptivity-heart larger than the largest. Something more, I must needs have an ever-expanding heart. I need speed. Faster than the fastest speed I need in my life. Something more, I need an ever-increasing speed, so that sooner than at once I can reach my goal. And again, I know perfectly well that each goal is the starting point of a further goal, a higher goal, a deeper goal.
My progress-delight is my Lord’s revealing Sound. My progress-delight is my Lord’s fulfilling Silence.
Thoughtful inspiration I need, soulful aspiration I need, fruitful meditation I need. My thoughtful inspiration will make me a great God-seeker, my soulful aspiration will make me a good God-server and my fruitful realisation will make me a perfect God-lover.
I cry and I smile. I cry in my heart and I smile with my soul. My heart’s cry reaches the perfection-sky. My soul’s smile transcends to the satisfaction-sun. I must ascend and transcend. My ascendance is my aspiration-cry and my transcendence is my satisfaction-smile.
There are human beings who think that life is a dream, an illusion, while others claim that life is a battlefield. Still others think that life is a divine play and each human being is a divine instrument. A seeker is he who has become a conscious instrument of his Beloved Supreme. Him to love, Him to serve and Him to manifest in His own Way is the aim, the sleepless aim, of the seeker.
Here we are all seekers. What we have is a mounting cry and what we are is a gratitude-flame. On the strength of our aspiration-cry and our gratitude-flame, we are bound to reach our Destined Goal: the Goal that is beckoning us, the Goal of God-satisfaction in God’s own Way at God’s choice Hour. There can be no better way to feel progress-delight and to feel our entire being flooded with light and delight than to please God in God’s own Way. How do we achieve this? We achieve this great realisation-height only when we value at every moment the real self within us and not the usual self within us. The real self within us is our constant inner cry. The usual self within us is our desire-cry, which at every moment wallows in the pleasures of ignorance.
Success-life is not our goal. Progress-life is our goal. We compete not with others. We compete with our teeming doubts, worries and anxieties. When we minimise our doubts, worries and anxieties, we make more satisfactory progress, and there comes a time when we free ourselves, liberate ourselves totally, from doubts, anxieties, worries, insecurities and so forth. That is the moment when we enjoy our progress-delight.
Soulfully let us pray, fruitfully let us meditate, and ours will be the Goal of goals: God-realisation in God’s own Way.
Published in The Oneness of the Eastern Heart and the Western Mind, part 1