Thirty Poems (101-130)
by Sri Chinmoy
during a train ride from Tokyo to Osaka, Japan
101. What has punctured your joy?
What has punctured your joy?
Not your volcano-anger,
Not your venom-doubt,
Not your mountain-pride,
But your insecurity-ant.
What has engulfed my rising horizon?
Temptation-deer?
No!
Destruction-tiger?
No!
Hesitation-lion?
Yes!
A wild depression
Has stolen away the hope
Which he claimed as his only friend
Here on earth.
Alas, who will now flash
A rainbow of hope
Across his heart
Sunk deep?
104. The Heart of my Lord Supreme
I agree with you
When you say
That God’s Face is at times
Not visible.
But I shall never agree with you
If you say
That God’s Heart, too, is at times
Not visible.
The Heart of my Lord Supreme
Can never remain invisible.
Hell’s orchestra
Always loses
To man’s confusion-mind
And
Destruction-life.
Always!
Persistence is extinction
In the greedy
Desire-world.Persistence is illumination
In the self-giving
Aspiration-world.
Helpless earth chokes its tears
When hopeless human beings
Cry not for transformation-dream
And satisfaction-reality.
108. My mind's inaccessible corner
Carefully and untiringly
My mind’s inaccessible corner
Is hiding
My perfection-life
And
Satisfaction-heart.
My hope’s resurrection declares
Earth’s transformation-promise,
Man’s perfection-dream,
God’s Satisfaction-Dance.
Incredible news:
God still loves me!Incredible news:
Man still hates me!Incredible news:
I am still alive!
Hope comes first,
Life follows.Life comes first,
Perfection follows.Perfection comes first,
Satisfaction follows.
The dangerous diseases of the mind:
Doubt and meanness.
The miracle-medicine to cure the mind:
Faith and oneness.
Indeed, an age of push!
Therefore I push myself upward
Forcefully
To touch God’s Compassion-Feet.Indeed, an age of pull!
Therefore I pull my Beloved Supreme down
To illumine my heart
Slowly, carefully and soulfully.
I am hanging.
God has deserted me.I am hanging.
Man has exploited me.I am hanging.
My life is not known to me.
If you are ignorant
You are doomed to be impotent.
If you are impotent
Who can make you important?
No, not even God
In His Compassion-Flood.
Something cries:
Ignorance-life.
Something dies:
Ignorance-imperfection.
Don’t retire,
Aspire!
Aspire to lead
Humanity’s cry
And feed
Humanity’s hope.
118. The chains of desire-night
The chains of desire-night
Never loosen.
The gains of aspiration-light
Never lessen.
Never!
When I cry for my own victory,
God gives the torch of success.
When I cry for God’s Victory,
God grants me
Not only a progress-sky
But also
A perfection-sun.
Heaven fails me.
Earth assails me.
Hope alone remains
With my mind,
In my heart
And for my life.
Living in You, Lord Supreme,
Is not a difficult task.Living for You, Lord Supreme,
Is not a difficult task.Living without being
Your perfect instrument
Is the most difficult task.
Nothing can defeat you.
Only do not sing
With ignorance-night.None can defeat you.
Only do not dance
With imperfection-prince.
Education never stops.
Here is a lesson
That I always enjoy:
Love gives,
Devotion feels,
Surrender becomes.
A good friend to love:
My heart.
A good place to begin:
My heart.
A good pioneer to trust:
My heart.
A good messenger of God’s Victory:
My heart.
Helpless earth
Cannot finish the Game.
Careless Heaven
Does not finish the Game.
Useless man
Ruins the Game.
Alas,
Earth has forgotten to aspire.
Alas,
Heaven has forgotten to inspire.
Alas,
Man has forgotten to unlearn.
Alas,
God has forgotten to arrive.
The power of a dream
Can make a man
Unquestionably happy.But the power of a reality
Can alone make a man
Unreservedly perfect.
Your old prayer may not change God.
But God can grant you
A new prayer,
And this new prayer
Will really make you happy.
What is your new prayer?
God-Satisfaction
In God’s own Way.
129. The heart of progress-oneness
The heart of progress-oneness
Satisfies both God and man.
The mind of success-prowess
Satisfies only man.
130. The vision of freedom-might
The vision of freedom-might
Man’s outer life
Desperately desires.The reality of oneness-delight
Man’s inner life
Eternally is.
Published in Ten Thousand Flower-Flames, part 2
My Lord, my Lord, my Lord,
My Lord!
If I love You just because
You love me,
Then I am eternally and infinitely
Worse than the worst.
But, my Lord, if I love You
Because I cannot breathe
Without loving You,
Then do allow me to enjoy
Prayerfully, sleeplessly
And breathlessly
The dust-beauty, the dust-fragrance
And the dust-delight
Of Your Nectar-Feet.
Note: Sri Chinmoy writes this prayer en route to Kingston, Ontario.
Published in My Sweet Father-Lord, Where Are You?
About this Prayer
by Sri Chinmoy
Question: In one of your prayers, you say, "If I love You just because You love me, then I am worse than the worst." I feel that if I love the Supreme, it is only because the Supreme has brought forward that capacity in me.
Sri Chinmoy: That is what you are saying now, but next moment are you going to say the same thing? When we are in a cheerful frame of mind, or when we have an iota of gratitude in our hearts, we say, “All our good qualities have come from God.” Then the next moment we say to God, “I have prayed and meditated for twenty years. You have given me some good qualities, but You could have given me much more.” Not only that, but we will say, “God, You have given me less than I deserve. I have prayed and meditated for so many years with no jealousy, no insecurity, no impurity. Now what have You given me in return?”
When we want to flatter God, we say in a tricky way, “You have given me everything.” But this is more of a mental philosophy than a psychic realisation. Do we really feel it or is it only that we have studied a few books on philosophy? Usually, what comes to us spontaneously is the feeling, “I have done so much for You, God. In return, You have not given me enough.”
If we really love God, we have to say, “I am doing everything for You unconditionally.” When the word ‘unconditional’ becomes part and parcel of our life, then whatever we say is sincere. But if that unconditional feeling is not in the picture, then we are all liars, and it is very difficult for us to separate our falsehood from truth.
Published in Sri Chinmoy Answers, part 32