Salutations to America4

The fairest child of freedom, the first to fight for this divine gift and win it for the New World. None perhaps has a keener perception of its worth. America! the whole freedom-loving world salutes you. The holy flame that burned in your heart when you were smarting under the injustices of Colonial domination is still alive in you. Your one single claim to Immortality is this Flame. You live not for yourself alone. You live for freedom and for those who share your love for it. The years 1914-1918, 1939-1945 are shining witnesses of your heaven-kissing Flame.

You may or may not know what you are doing. You have conquered Matter, but you have kept it at a distance from conquering you. That is why your fund of scientific knowledge and your bountiful wealth you freely place at the service of suffering humanity. Another thing you have done is to build up the material basis for the coming great Age of Spirituality. That the elite of your people are responding to the call of that Age and are convinced of the interdependence and even the oneness of Matter and Spirit can be seen in the possibilities which your mind, with its youth and freshness, promises of listening to the message of Sri Aurobindo, the Prophet of that New Age.

Brought up in the atmosphere of your freedom, you have self-confidence in all your undertakings. The benefits of your freedom have fostered in you the sense of responsibility in all matters of national and international interest.

Your progressive spirit striving towards perfection in everything is a divine blessing. But for your magnanimous participation in many branches of international activities, the world could not be knit together so closely as now, though you and the rest of the world have yet a long way to go to reach the destined Goal.

Victory in the War of Independence is the foundation stone of American nationality. Even the average American cannot conceive of the idea of a defeat anywhere. It goes ill with his national pride.

America is wealth. America is heart. America is sacrifice. Before long it may be hoped that in America will shine forth the world's collective soul.


AUM 352. This article was written by Sri Chinmoy on 25 November 1962, when he was still in India.