Body-strength lost in soul-power
— photo by Bhashwar.O my Pilot Beloved, I wish to be afraid of my ignorance-tiger, which is right in front of me, about to devour me. Before it devours me, I wish to run towards You for Your immediate Protection. If I am not afraid of my ferocious ignorance-tiger, then I shall not run towards You for Your ever-compassionate Protection. Therefore, I wish to be afraid of my all-devouring ignorance-tiger. Your Protection, I know, will not only save me from this ferocious tiger which is always ready to devour me, but also Your Protection and Compassion will one day give me the capacity to destroy entirely the very existence of my ignorance-tiger.
O my Pilot Beloved, I need You. Not because of my inability. Not because of my insincerity. Not because of my insecurity. Not because of my impurity. But because of the importance that You have given me in Your cosmic Vision and cosmic Manifestation.
O my Pilot Beloved, my friends consciously help me realise You. My enemies unconsciously help me transform my unlit human nature. Would You please tell me whether my friends are more important than my enemies, or my enemies are more important than my friends?
“My child, no comparison. Unconscious help is not worth much. Conscious help deserves appreciation and gratitude. But just because you do get help, even unconsciously, from your enemies, if you happen to see them as you walk along the path, then offer them a soulful smile. You do not have to go out of your way to look for your friends, either, anywhere in My creation. Just offer them in silence your gratitude-heart. Unconscious help does not deserve any appreciation, not to speak of gratitude. But if help is conscious, then it deserves not only appreciation but also gratitude. Therefore, only offer your gratitude to your true friends, who consciously help you.
Again, there is only one real Friend, and it is I who am that Friend, your Eternal Friend. It is I who help you to realise Me through your human friends. It is I who have been playing the role of friendship from time immemorial. In Me is your eternal oneness-life. It is from Me that everyone gets the things they need to transcend their unlit animal nature and realise Me. Since you do not see Me, since you cannot comprehend Me in the physical, it is advisable to be constantly grateful to your so-called friends. It is your friends who are constantly helping you to realise Me. Realisation is oneness, eternal oneness. He who helps you realise Me is your oneness-friend and My blessingful, fruitful chosen instrument.Mr. Nevile: I love every place. Where I am, I like that place, because there is good everywhere. If you want to find fault, you can find fault everywhere. It is your own attitude of mind, your own outlook, which determines your attitude toward a country.
Sri Chinmoy: I am so happy to hear that. That is the sign of a very noble soul, spiritual soul. Our own reflection we see in the world. If we lead a good life, moral life, religious life, spiritual life, then we try to see those very things inside others. But if we live a corrupted life, then we try to observe that very thing inside others.
Mr. Nevile: We see our own reflection in everything around us. So I take your leave. It is a great honour for me to be here with you today, and I certainly will try to come tonight.
The Consul and two of his aides attended the concert of Sri Chinmoy’s music that evening. Sri Chinmoy invited Mr. Nevile to meditate with him on the stage, and presented the Consul with a garland. The two leaders exchanged thanks in the following words.
Sri Chinmoy: My students and I are very grateful to you for your kind presence. This afternoon I had the opportunity to discover, when you visited our Centre, Mother India’s heart of simplicity, majesty and purity blossoming in you in a striking manner. My heart of gratitude I wish to offer to you most soulfully.
Mr. Nevile: Thank you very much. It has been a unique experience for me to be near such a great soul, who is carrying the message of my country to people far away from my homeland, who is an enlightened soul, and who is doing so much for mankind. My heart is really feeling something which I can’t express — some blissful moments for me. It is a unique experience for me to be in your presence.
Sri Chinmoy and Consul General Mr. Pran Nevile meditate at the University of Chicago.
At the Chicago Sri Chinmoy Centre on Saturday, 29 July 1978, Sri Chinmoy met with the Consul General of India in Chicago, Mr. Pran Nevile. They spoke together for fifteen or twenty minutes about their life's work and about mutual friends and acquaintances in the Indian consular service. At the end of their conversation the following soulful exchange took place.↩
Sri Chinmoy speaks with Mayor Koch in the Mayor’s office at City Hall.
— photo by Bhashwar
City of New York
Know ye by these presents that I
Edward I. Koch
Mayor of the City of New York
do hereby present this
Certificate of Appreciation
to
SRI CHINMOY
Whose contributions as spiritual leader, meditation teacher, musician, artist and poet have been an inspiration to thousands of New Yorkers and whose community activities in Jamaica Hill, Queens, have benefitted the entire City. I commend this fine humanitarian on behalf of all our citizens.
In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Seal of the City of New York to be affixed this
sixteenth day of August, 1978.Ed Koch
Proclamations were made in all 5 boroughs of New York City this year, making Sri Chinmoy’s 47th birthday the first city-wide Sri Chinmoy Day.
Sri Chinmoy and Councilman Povman after the proclamation has been read.
— photo by Bhashwar
Councilman Morton Povman: Ladies and gentlemen, I am here today to make a presentation in honour of your Guru. I was saying to the Guru just now that it seems almost a miracle that he has people, not highly trained in running, run 47 miles with only one person having to drop out. I know that this is because of the inspiration that Guru provided for the runners. Spiritual inspiration and aspiration is what keeps them going at a time when they should want to lie down flat.
It is an honour for me to represent Mr. Donald Manes, the Borough President of the Borough of Queens, to declare today, the 27th of August, the 47th birthday of the Guru, as Sri Chinmoy Day in Queens County. I would like to read the Proclamation.
Borough of Queens
City of New YorkDONALD R. MANES, PRESIDENT
Proclamation
Greeting:
WHEREAS, Sri Chinmoy of Jamaica is a renowned spiritual leader, poet, artist, musician and lecturer; and
WHEREAS, Sri Chinmoy has travelled and lectured extensively throughout the world and is Director of the United Nations Meditation Group; and
WHEREAS, Sri Chinmoy has been a leader in many beneficial community efforts and was instrumental in organizing the Liberty Torch program to help celebrate our Nation's Bicentennial; and
WHEREAS, August 27th is the birthday of Sri Chinmoy and he will be honored on this day,
NOW, THEREFORE, I, DONALD R. MANES, President of the Borough of Queens, the City of New York, do hereby proclaim Sunday, August 27th, 1978, as
SRI CHINMOY DAY
in Queens in recognition of the teachings, leadership and contributions of Sri Chinmoy.
Done at Borough Hall, Kew Gardens, in the City of New York, on this the twenty-fifth day of August, in the year one thousand nine hundred and seventy-eight.
DONALD R. MANES
PRESIDENT, BOROUGH OF QUEENS
Sri Chinmoy: Today, Councilman Povman, in you my disciples and I have felt a true member of our little spiritual family. You have been extremely kind to us for the last few years. You have granted us the opportunity to feel that we have done something real for the world at large. I wish to say that what we have done is really the result of pure Grace from above. It is the inspiration from above that has guided my students in this run, as well as my heart-felt sympathy with their struggles.
You have always been kind to me and my students. What we can offer you is our gratitude, and this gratitude blossoms in our hearts like a lotus, petal by petal, every day and every hour. Today, 300 students of mine have felt your heart, and I wish to say that you have conquered the very depths of their gratitude-hearts, for when someone shows me sympathy, love and oneness, my disciples’ gratitude-hearts enter into that person.
You are not only a councilman, but also a distinguished member of society and a true loving brother and friend in the heart of all my disciples. You are our loving, kind, sympathetic oneness-friend.
On behalf of all my students, I am offering you my gratitude-heart on this auspicious day, my birthday. You have been dedicated to the Supreme in us, in all of us. The oneness of my gratitude-heart, plus all my disciples’ gratitude-hearts I am offering to you this day.
Councilman Povman: You are the luckiest man in the world to have all these people who believe in you. [To the disciples] He is the richest man in this world. He has no material wealth, but he has the richness of the people who are here, and there is no greater wealth than this in the world. If the world would learn this lesson, it would be a much nicer place to live in.
Office of the President
of theBorough of Manhattan
City of New York
Proclamation
Whereas: The Borough of Manhattan is not only the center of this nation's culture, and commerce, but is also a home to religious and spiritual organizations, and
WHEREAS: Sri Chinmoy, renowned spiritual leader is an example of the diversity that our city cherishes, and
WHEREAS: Sri Chinmoy has contributed to the spiritual well-being of the Borough's 1.5 million residents, now
THEREFORE: By the power vested in me as President of the Borough of Manhattan, I, Andrew J. Stein, do hereby proclaim Sunday, August 27th, 1978 to be Sri Chinmoy Day in the Borough of Manhattan.
ANDREW J. STEIN
MANHATTAN BOROUGH PRESIDENT
Robert Abrams
President of the Borough ofThe Bronx
Presents this
Citation of Merit
to
SRI CHINMOY
In recognition of his enormous contributions in the spiritual, artistic, literary and musical fields.
Sri Chinmoy has served the public as an administrator at the Indian Consulate in New York and has devoted himself to spiritual, artistic and literary pursuits. He has discussed his spiritual philosophy with many world leaders and has lectured at major universities throughout the United States, the Far East, Europe and Australia.
A man of diverse talent, Sri Chinmoy has composed music that has been performed at such places as Lincoln Center, Carnegie and Town Halls, and his poetry has won international acclaim. He has also been awarded the "Contribution to the Arts" award by the Hew York School of Visual Arts in recognition of his many paintings which have been exhibited in various galleries and museums in the United States and Europe.
Today, August 27, 1978, in honor of his birthday, my fellow citizens in the Borough o£ The Bronx join me in saluting Sri Chinmoy for his great contributions to the spiritual, literary and artistic fields, and in wishing him many more years of joy and happiness which he has tirelessly endeavored to bring to countless others.
ROBERT ABRAMS
PRESIDENT, BOROUGH OF THE BRONX
Office of the President
of theBorough of Staten Island
City of New York
Proclamation
Whereas: the remarkable career of Sri Chinmoy, spiritual teacher, artist, composer and poet, continues with superlatives heralding the unselfish motivation of this New Yorker; and
WHEREAS: Sri Chinmoy's contribution to our spiritual and cultural life remains unrivaled, and has been noted by world leaders, educators, and, most significantly, by the thousands of persons he has touched with his good will and commitment; and
WHEREAS: through traditional and unique communicative techniques, Sri Chinmoy maintains a quieting empathy with multitudes of people dedicated to continuing understanding of all men and all beliefs.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, ANTHONY R. GAETA, President of the Borough of Staten Island by virtue of the power and authority vested in me by the laws of the City and State of New York do hereby proclaim Sunday, August 27, 1978 as
SRI CHINMOY DAY
in the Borough of Staten Island and urge our 352,000 residents to join with me in celebrating the unique achievements of this spiritual teacher on the occasion of his 47th birthday.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and affixed the seal of the Borough of Staten Island this twenty-fourth day of August in the year of our Lord one thousand nine hundred and seventy-eight.
Anthony R. Gaeta
OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT
BOROUGH OF BROOKLYNCITY OF NEW YORK
Proclamation
WHEREAS, SRI CHINMOY IS A NATIVE OF INDIA WHO CAME TO THE UNITED STATES IN 1964 AND HAS SINCE FOUNDED 60 CENTERS WHERE MEDITATION AND OTHER SPIRITUAL SKILLS ARE TAUGHT; AND
WHEREAS, SRI CHINMOY'S TEACHINGS, BOOKS, WATERCOLORS AND DRAWINGS, AND HIS MUSICAL PERFORMANCES HAVE PROVIDED THOUSANDS OF NEW YORKERS WITH SPIRITUAL GUIDANCE AND AESTHETIC ENJOYMENT; AND
WHEREAS, SRI CHINMOY HAS BEEN RECOGNIZED BY RELIGIOUS AND POLITICAL LEADERS IN MANY OF THE WORLD'S COUNTRIES; AND
WHEREAS, SRI CHINMOY'S MANY FOLLOWERS AND ADMIRERS WILL PARTICIPATE IN THE CELEBRATION OF HIS BIRTHDAY ON AUGUST 27TH, 1978;
NOW, THEREFORE, I, HOWARD GOLDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE BOROUGH OF BROOKLYN, DO HEREBY PROCLAIM SUNDAY, AUGUST 27TH, 1978, AS
SRI CHINMOY DAY
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I HAVE HEREUNTO SET MY HAND AND CAUSED THE SEAL OF THE BOROUGH OF BROOKLYN TO BE AFFIXED THIS 25TH DAY OF AUGUST, 1978.
HOWARD GOLDEN
PRESIDENT OF THE BOROUGH OF BROOKLYNWhen love suffers
It is surprisingly meaningful.When the lover suffers
It is singularly soulful.When the Beloved suffers
It is supremely powerful. ```An unbelievable blessing:
Obedience.An unimaginable blessing:
Faith.An incomparable blessing:
Gratitude.An unbelievable, unimaginable, incomparable, ever-illumining and ever-fulfilling blessing:
Complete and constant onenessWith the Will of our Beloved Supreme.
```When calamity comes
God becomes real.Until then
God seems to be seemingly real. ```Be prepared.
The Supreme will soon come and knock at your door.Be prepared.
He will then touch your heart.Be prepared.
Then He will examine your life.Be prepared.
Finally He will feed your aspiration-breath and help you don your dedication-uniform. ```God once secretly told you that He loves you.
Do you remember it?God once openly told you that He needs you.
Do you not remember it? ```Why doesn’t God stop wars?
BecauseThe animal in us enjoys war.
Why doesn’t God stop wars?
BecauseThe human in us is afraid of enjoying the company
Of its totally unfamiliar friend: peace.Such being the case,
Do we not deserve to beStrangled and slaughtered
By one another?Yes, we certainly do.
```When the answer does not seem to come,
Do not give up.Try to wait a little more.
When the answer does not come at all,Do not give up.
Start a new beginning.This time
Smite your heart with your throbbing cries,And
Break your face with your illumining smiles. ```In the inner world
Each victory is a help.Each defeat is a help, too.
But each surrender to God’s WillIs a victory unparalleled,
A victory invincible.
```To your sincerity I say:
I know God.To your purity I say:
I own God.To your divinity I say:
I am God.To your surrender-oneness I say:
You and I are Eternity’s God,Infinity’s Lord,
AndImmortality’s Pilot Supreme.
```My divine soul
WasBorn to proceed.
My human body
WasBorn to succeed.
```I live in a confusing world.
I am totally confused,Yet
Who can dare protest,Who can dare resist
My God-promise?My God-fulfilment?
```To see the Face of God
IsMy earth-responsibility.
To feel the heart of man
IsMy Heaven-responsibility.
```I love.
These two wordsEmbody
My passport to perfection-height.I love God.
These three wordsEmbody
My passport to satisfaction-light.I love God only.
These four wordsEmbody
My passport to God’s eternal Smile,Infinite Beauty,
Immortal Love.```
Our parade starts with tremendous purity and dignity with these two girls carrying the banner. Then the Centre flag comes. The music is also very dignified. So the parade first starts with spiritual purity and dignity and then everything else comes. The dignity and purity may lessen to some extent, but I see a kind of uniformity from the beginning to the end. True, there are some silly groups, absolutely silly groups. If you make a comparison between the best group and the worst group, there is such a difference! But even these silly groups fit in to some extent. And from the beginning to the end there is always a kind of childlike innocence. That is what I want. Otherwise, if the marching is too rigid or done all measured in a military way, then there will be no joy in it. That kind of marching is only for the military; we don’t want that.
What you are saying about the parade on Krishna’s birthday — it is the same in India, or sometimes it is worse. When I was a little boy, I used to walk in that procession. Right from the beginning, the stupid caste system starts causing problems. There are two or three long ropes to pull the chariots. They are like the ropes we use in tug-of-war. The Brahmins won’t allow the Kshatriyas to be near them and so forth. Gradually the Sudras are pushed to the back; God knows where they will be. Each group says: “How do you dare to stand with me? You go stand with your rank.” Fights start many times.
Sometimes the people who are mistreated get mad and go against the others. They bring another rope and attach it to the chariot. Then from behind the chariot they start pulling in the opposite direction. The owners and organisers get furious, because they have organised the procession and the chariot was built with their money. In spite of that, those people keep pulling in the other direction.
In that parade you have to draw the chariot from one place to another special place. When you reach the destination, the owners of the chariot will throw some sweets, just the way I sometimes throw extra candy or fruit after each disciple has received prasad from me individually. Then there will be real problems. Here our disciples don’t fight; they just try to catch the prasad with a family feeling, in a sweet, exuberant, very charming way. But in India I have seen many times actual, real fighting. The things that they get are so negligible, but to get them, the way they fight is too much, too much! They break each other’s heads, arms and limbs, just to get things they can buy for two cents. Is it their devotion that is carrying them? So, Krishna is observing and appreciating their achievements!
Sometimes it happens that when it is time to draw the chariot from one place to the other, some people won’t pull. They start dancing around the rope, and the people who are trying to pull the chariot forward can’t move because of the dancing. It is not two or three or four people who start dancing, but two hundred, three hundred, four hundred or even six hundred people. How are you going to control that?
So from the beginning to the end, everything goes wrong. The problem starts with the caste system and then leads to a terrible fight. You can’t remain safe no matter how innocent you are, because constant fighting is going on. Our family did not join the procession for the sake of fun. It was my mother’s wish, so that Sri Krishna would bless us. In a religious family, the members feel that it is compulsory to help draw the chariot. Otherwise, they believe that Krishna will not be pleased. So you go join in order to get Krishna’s blessing, but instead you get all the blessings from those hooligans.Now, when we see a black and white picture of a person, we immediately enter into simplicity. The source can be very complex, but we start with simplicity. The initial appearance seems very simple; then afterwards, we see that there are many more things involved. But when we see a colour picture, complexity appears right from the beginning. Then, when we enter into it, we may see that the source is very simple. The picture has all kinds of different colours and so forth, but gradually, as we go farther or deeper into the picture, it becomes all simplicity. Then it is not so difficult for us to identify with the picture. So, when a photograph is black and white, from simplicity we enter into complexity, whereas when a picture is in colour, from complexity we enter into simplicity. This is one consideration.
Another thing is that when a photograph is black and white, an occultist can more easily see the person’s soul, life-energy, aspiration and dedication than in a coloured picture. This is because the colour itself subtly tinges or dyes the vital qualities or mental qualities or psychic qualities. Psychic qualities are a little bit difficult to tinge, but the colour will immediately tinge the vital and mental qualities either in a positive or in a negative way. The colour enters into the mind or vital, or the vital and mind absorb the colour. When I look at a picture, sometimes immediately I see that the colour has entered into the vital, or that the mind has been tinged in a better way. So it is like a mixture. You will add something, and it may turn out to be a better representation or a worse one. But in a black and white picture, this does not happen. Immediately the whole image comes before us as it is: this is this, that is that. Here it is all simple, so there is no problem.
When a good occultist looks at a black and white photograph of a person to observe the aura, he will see the aura encircling the entire picture. In a black and white picture the aura can expand — large, larger, largest. It may even extend to the chest. If it is a picture of the person’s entire body, the subtle aura can encircle the whole figure. But if it is a colour picture, the aura will not even come to the heart. It is only around the face, or sometimes it does not even cover the full face. It only goes to the nose. If the occultist uses occult power to expand the aura, he can expand it. But it does not expand naturally.
A black and white picture is just like a child. A child is flexible; he can bend, stretch, run and jump. Similarly, in a black and white photograph, the aura, like a child, can become bigger or smaller. But a coloured picture is fixed, like a man who has reached maturity over the years. There the aura is stationary. You may think that because a child likes different colours, a coloured picture is more childlike. But no, that is not the case.This is very easy. But there is something else that is really difficult for most spiritual Masters to do, although I do it very easily. If I want to, I have the capacity to go and touch the God who existed long before time. Mentally you may ask when God was born. I came into the world on the 27th of August, 1931, so my existence and a particular date go together. This is logical, quite logical. This body was born at seven o’clock, let us say. If you ask, “What happened at seven o’clock?” I will say that this body was born. But in God’s case it is not like that. God created Himself. God’s Self-Creation, you will say, must have taken place at a particular time. But this is not the case. This creation did not have time as a factor. It is complicated. When God created Himself, He had nothing to do with time as such. Your mind will try to give a time, but God separated Himself from time. Time is a reality that exists only for the body-reality. God’s Body means the Creation, God’s own Creation. Another reality is God’s Spirit. When God started the Creation, when He took form, only then did He start using time: one hour, two hours and so on. But before that, when He was not in Creation, time did not touch Him, because time had not yet been born. God Himself existed as Spirit, but He was not in time. Time was born only when the Creation began. In Creation God bound Himself to time, or time bound Him. But before that, He was above and beyond time. Before the Creation He was another Reality, and that Reality is not bound or limited by time at all.
New York is one state and Vermont is another state. You can drive to the end of New York State, and then New York stops. In the same way, in the inner world you will see that time has a limit, like a geographical area. If you go beyond a certain point, time stops. So when we speak of going beyond time and space, it is not just like a poetical expression we are using. No, time has an actual limit. There is earth-bound time and Heaven-free time. In earth-bound time you are caught and bound tightly. Heaven-free time also has its own limit. In Heaven-free time you can go far and very fast. You have the freedom to go, to run from here to there. But you can’t say that you have gone the farthest, that you can’t go any farther. Earth-bound time stops at one place; in earth-bound time you can only go so far. In Heaven-free time you have the capacity to go much farther, but even there there are limits. My occult Vision or somebody else’s occult Vision can go much farther than Heaven-free time. Vision can go much farther than time.
In Heaven-free time you are always transcending yourself, but that is not the ultimate at all. Whatever point you have reached is just the beginning. Wherever it is, you can always go a little farther. But with Vision the spiritual Masters have the capacity to go beyond not only the earth-bound time but also the Heaven-free time, and touch the God who existed before time itself ever came into being, although mentally this is not conceivable.When I realised God for the first time, it was at the time of my Gorakshanath incarnation. Since then I have taken a few more incarnations. My Master was so pleased with me that in thirty-nine days he gave me God-realisation. Even then it did not end, but in the books it does not tell this. In only a matter of seven or seven and a half years I went beyond him. And when I went beyond him he was so moved and so proud.
If any disciple of mine surpasses me, I will be the proudest person. It is not because that person will be able to take more of my headaches, but because it is like that with one’s children. It is a great joy for a loving parent to see his child surpass him. If you truly like someone or love someone — I mean sincerely, not in a jealousy-bound or insecurity-bound way — then if that person does something really well, even better than you, at that time you will be the happiest person. When the very close, intimate disciples defeat me in something, such as running or bicycling, I tell you, I get much more joy than they themselves get, because in them is my success. My consciousness, my will-power, my concern have been successful in another body. This kind of success is so difficult to achieve. But because that person has been so receptive to me, that person has achieved something and surpassed me. So I am the happiest person.
To come back to your question, in the ashram I knew my previous incarnations and I also knew when I had received God-realisation. I am not bragging, but since you are my children I wish to tell you that I have taken the least number of incarnations in all of history to get realisation or, you can say, to receive the Supreme Grace. This is the permanent realisation. An impermanent realisation I got in the time of the Mahabharata. I had the vision of the Krishna-Consciousness or God-consciousness that is infinitely inferior to the realisation of the Supreme Consciousness, but it did not last. I had it; then it disappeared. But after many centuries it became permanent. That is the thing: you can get the highest experience once, but if you can’t maintain it, then you are lost again.
In Sri Aurobindo’s case, the Krishna-Consciousness used to come and disappear in the beginning. After he started aspiring seriously, it took twenty-eight years before he finally declared that the Krishna-Consciousness had descended into him permanently. Before that, it used to come and go. Other spiritual Masters have had similar experiences.
Permanent realisation takes a very, very long time. Again, one may not care if it is not permanent. After being with Krishna in the Mahabharata time, I took rest for many centuries. Later, for full manifestation, I took incarnation in Russia. Where is spirituality there? And in several incarnations I entered into politics. I was in the French revolution. Then in Russia I was very nicely put to the guillotine. Shame, shame! The guillotine experience was very “nice.” Now you are horrified, but it really happened. I was in the battlefield in many places. That is why the heroic spirit still exists in me. I was always a fighter, right from the beginning.
Once upon a time I was absolutely the greatest Mogul emperor. Even now, while reading history books, when I see some pictures drawn one or two hundred years ago, the consciousness is exactly the same. Can you imagine? There is so much there inside the consciousness. It is not just a fancy, as everybody likes to identify himself with a hero. In history when you read that somebody was very great, immediately you say, “Oh, I was that person.” All the girls think that they were Joan of Arc, and all the boys think they were Alexander the Great or Socrates. But in my case it is not like that. When I was in Chittagong, I thought it was my sweet imagination. But when I came to Pondicherry, I saw it was absolutely true that I was a Mogul emperor.
So, once realisation becomes permanent and solid on the highest and deepest level, in what we call the Universal Consciousness or Transcendental Consciousness, then it can’t disappear anymore. At that time even when I cut jokes it remains. At that time there is no difference between my joking consciousness and my highest consciousness. When I am in my highest consciousness, it can be all joking. Sometimes in the church you see me in my absolutely most sublime, topmost, highest consciousness, but what am I doing at that time? I can be cutting jokes in the inner world with Krishna or Buddha or somebody else, and they are also cutting jokes. Pure joking is going on — absolutely silly jokes. On the earth-plane I am giving you people far, far beyond your capacity, necessity and receptivity, but then in another plane I am doing another thing. You can see and feel that I am giving you in infinite measure the things that you need, more than you deserve. But in another world, which you don’t see, there I am joking.
And when I am joking with you people outwardly, something very serious, very sublime, may be taking place in the inner world. Many, many things — millions and billions of things — remain unrevealed and unmanifested. That is true of all the spiritual Masters. In my case I may have done a little more or much more than some of the others. But I tell you, most of the great spiritual Masters have done many things which are not recorded. Either they did not get the time to reveal these things, or they did not get the right people to whom they could reveal these things. Only in a small group, where everyone is one hundred percent for the Master, does the Master open his heart. If one person is not fully receptive or does not have one hundred percent faith, then the Master inwardly gets all kinds of needles and pebbles. That is why I can’t tell intimate or most secret things in front of all the disciples. It is simply impossible. As soon as you open your mouth, before you say something properly, an attack comes. If persons who are listening don’t believe me, then inwardly they attack me with their doubt-arrows. Who wants to fight with them?
If you see a great difference between my highest consciousness and my joking or barking consciousness, then you are making a mistake. My consciousness is like a bridge. The highest is not separate from the lowest, and the lowest is not separate from the highest. They are the obverse and reverse of the same coin. If you cannot appreciate the highest because it is too sublime, then think of what you call the lowest, which is not the lowest but only the other side of the coin. If you get joy from my barking, then think of it and immediately get the greatest joy. But if you prefer my most sublime consciousness, then think of that and get joy. Whichever pleases you, immediately think of that aspect of me. But do not say that this one is infinitely lower and that one is infinitely higher. For some it is not easy to appreciate the highest aspect, because for that you have to reach a certain height. But to see my scolding or barking consciousness, you don’t have to reach any height; you just have to do something wrong.
Four or five years ago when I was meditating in the meditation room, my transcendental picture was on the wall. I don’t remember whether it was my coloured transcendental or my black and white transcendental. For the first time the consciousness in that picture fell down and touched my feet while I was meditating and said, “Why, why, why do you look at me?” Pictures were not taken on that day. Afterwards, also, many, many hundreds of times my consciousness has gone much higher than the consciousness in my transcendental picture, but those times were unfortunately not recorded. The photographers don’t take pictures at the right time; that is the trouble. I have to tell them first.
Somebody in the ashram who considers himself my worst enemy saw my transcendental picture and said, “Oh, after seeing this picture, I am ready to touch his feet.” Look at the power of this picture! Even my worst enemy can’t quarrel, can’t fight, can’t criticise. Only he is ready to touch my feet. Again, as a photograph, nobody appreciated the transcendental picture at first. But now hundreds and thousands of copies are made of it.Question: That means that when you give us over 100% for something we do, we have transcended our present capacity?
Sri Chinmoy: Right. It is not that you are absolutely the world’s best singer, for instance, or that the cosmic gods are singing in and through you.
Question: Occultly does the number just all of a sudden appear to you? When you give grades you are so clear about it.
Sri Chinmoy: In my vision it is written down. Immediately it appears, like on a computer. The figure also changes immediately. Sometimes, before you start singing, the mark is already recorded. It is not that I am prejudiced, but in the inner world my inner beings have already measured the performance. Many times, many times during this celebration, the marks were already recorded before the song was sung. My inner beings have measured; they have heard your capacity. My inner beings know of that particular song. How beautifully or how badly you will sing it is already recorded. So my inner beings have observed it and brought it. The mark appears here, right on the forehead, and I just watch. Sometimes the mark changes many times before the song is sung. That’s why after I write it down I may change the mark, because it has changed here. The marks come very quickly.In the inner world the souls of the disciples play with my inner beings. When their souls come, I play or my inner beings play with them. Like children mixing together the souls and the inner beings do play. But because they are divine inner beings, they always watch who are the people for whom I care more. When they see that I am paying attention to someone, they immediately give up everything and come to pay attention to that individual or those individuals.
But unlike human beings, they have no preference of their own. If I say this is the best disciple or these are my excellent disciples, immediately my inner beings will agree with me. They will not say, “No, I don’t care for him.” With ordinary human beings, if Madhuri says, “This is my best friend,” Vidhu will immediately say, “You may consider her your best friend, but I like somebody else.” But my inner beings won’t do that. If I say that this is the best, my inner beings will immediately agree. They may go and play with some of the souls who are not my best disciples, but once it is clear to them, they will never come and argue with me. They will never say that you may consider this your best disciple or these your excellent disciples, but we think those others are much better. Many times my inner beings and the souls play all kinds of cute games. Many times the souls that really like my inner beings don’t want to go back to their bodies. In so many ways they delay.
Question: That’s why we can’t get up in the morning.
Sri Chinmoy: Because your souls are away playing with my inner beings, that’s why you can’t get up in the morning? Far from it! You have so many layers of ignorance, like a very heavy coat you have put on the soul, so the soul can’t breathe. The soul has to struggle in order to wake you up, because layer after layer of ignorance you have put on during sleep. The little soul is covered by a coat, a blanket, a carpet and everything, so it finds it difficult to breathe. So if it finds it difficult even to breathe, then how will it have the strength to get you up? As soon as you remove the blanket you will be able to get up.A good thought is a deepening aspiration.
A good thought is an increasing satisfaction.
A good thought is another name for a new creation.
A good thought of mine is God’s perfect Satisfaction.
A good thought encourages God to have more faith in me, convinces mankind to have more faith in me, and strengthens me to have more faith in myself.
A good thought is the sunlit path to God-realisation.I love goodness.
I champion the right cause.
I listen to a pure heart.
I frighten the animal in me.
I enlighten the human in me.
I strengthen the divine in me.The vital needs encouragement.
The mind needs inspiration.
The heart needs aspiration.
The soul needs confidence.
God needs a gratitude-heart.
I need an unconditionally self-giving life.Today I am happy because I bravely live my own life.
Tomorrow I shall be happy because I shall unconditionally listen to and fulfil my Beloved Supreme.
From now on I will have no happiness unless I champion the right to be entirely and constantly God’s, God’s alone.
Here is the secret of my happiness: I keep the mouth of my little self closed and the heart of my big Self open.
O strength of mine, you have made me happy by saying that I have the capacity to move forward to the farthest destination.
O weakness of mine, you have made me happy by saying that I have the opportunity to improve and become the most perfect instrument of my Beloved Supreme. I am happy, genuinely happy, not because God is mine but because I am God’s and God’s alone.An immortal observer: indeed, this is my heavenly name.
I travel.
I travel under the silence-sky.I travel inside the soundless sound.
The divine in me gets joy when I travel.
The human in me gets joy when I arrive.The Supreme in me gets joy when I constantly proceed.
I travel with a sleepless heart.
I travel with a breathless surprise.When I travel, my mind is all query and my heart is all discovery.
To travel all over the world is to be aware of the universal frailties and foibles of human nature and, at the same time, to get tremendous opportunity to become more patient, more understanding and more forgiving.
My heart travels and marvels at Nature, God the Mother, prayerfully and unreservedly.Therefore I do not appreciate.
Nothing is really beautiful.
Therefore I do not admire.Nothing is really meaningful.
Therefore I do not learn.Nothing is really permanent.
Therefore I do not keep anything.Nothing really pleases me.
Therefore I feel that my Beloved Lord Supreme is fast approaching me.Nothing is really going to be perfect.
Therefore I do not waste my time in the imaginary perfection-world.Nothing really increases my love of God.
Therefore I do not look around. I just dive deep within and try to depend on my Beloved Lord’s unconditional Compassion to increase my love for Him.The vital unscrupulously multiplies aggression.
The mind cleverly multiplies doubt.
The heart fearfully multiplies insecurity.
The soul soulfully multiplies hope.
God unconditionally multiplies Compassion.
The true seeker sincerely multiplies gratitude.Two daring friends: doubt and destruction.
Two little friends: insecurity and futility.
Two inseparable friends: love and oneness.
Two illumining friends: a pure heart and a sure life.
Two fulfilling friends: progress and satisfaction.
Two eternal friends: man the evolving God and God the manifesting man.Seed
The human cry is the seed. The divine Smile is the tree.Consciousness
Consciousness infinitely expanded in today’s blindness, man becomes tomorrow’s all-illumining vision-sun.Eye
The eyes of the seeker may not know where God is, but the heart of the seeker not only knows where God is but also pulls God’s Compassion-Presence into the seeker’s existence-cry like a magnet.Divine
The animal in me says that it can easily destroy the world. The human in me says that it can easily create a new world. The divine in me says that it can soulfully cry and fruitfully smile.Pride
Human pride declares: “I am above all.” Divine pride whispers: “I am for all.”Alms-giving
I have no faith in alms-giving, but I have all faith in self-giving, for self-giving completes all human insufficiencies.Punishment
Not to dare to do the right thing, the divine thing, the supreme thing, in order to please the Inner Pilot, is undoubtedly the worst possible punishment.Vision
According to the inner vision, each human being is a divine prince. According to the outer vision, each human being is a slave of bondage-day and ignorance-night.Slave
If one cannot become the lord of his lower self, then he cannot become a perfect slave of his higher self: God.Concentration
Concentration is another name for power. Meditation is another name for peace. Contemplation is another name for bliss.Initiation
The supreme initiation is when the Master says to the disciple, “Take what I have,” and the disciple says to the Master, “Take me as I am.”Fragrance
A soulfully grateful heart has always the best fragrance in God’s entire creation.The Divine Teacher
The human teacher says to the student, “Work with me and I shall give you everything.” The divine Teacher says to his disciple, “I have kept God waiting for you. Don’t delay; come with me to see Him.”
[To be continued]
But there is also another game, and that game is the will-power-game. We have inherited that game from our Father, the Lord Supreme. When we play that game we transform our thought-world into the will-power-world.
Where do we get this will-power? We get this will-power from our heart’s calmness-sea. From where do we acquire this calmness-sea? We acquire it from our soul’s freedom-sun and oneness-sky.
A man of will-power braves all the storms and tempests of life. He knows that he is not the earth-bound body but the Heaven-free soul. His body is not earth-bound; his life is not earth-bound. He also knows that he is not his nature’s slave, but a supremely chosen instrument of his Inner Pilot, his Beloved Supreme. What he truly has and what he truly is, is aspiration-flame, and this aspiration-flame makes him feel that he is always Heaven-free. He is in the world, true; but he is not of the world. At the same time, he knows that he is for the world, for the world’s transformation and for God’s manifestation in and through the world. He is always for this world.
Let us try to empty the mind. In our mind’s emptiness will loom large Infinity’s Peace, Eternity’s Light and Immortality’s Delight. Let us try to empty the mind.
SUNY at Stony Brook, 20 March 1978↩
Lord, my Lord, I know. I know that my nature’s transformation is the answer to the world’s transformation.
Lord, my Lord, I know. I know that my heart’s purity and my life’s humility comprise my soul’s magnanimity.
Lord, my Lord, I know. I know that my love of You is my journey. I know that my surrender to You is my destination.
Lord, my Lord, I know. I know that in my desire-world I am the abyss of nothingness. I know that in my aspiration-world I am the sea of fulness.
Yesterday, my Lord, I came to You proudly and haughtily. Today, my Lord, I have come to You devotedly and unreservedly. Tomorrow, my Lord, I shall come to You soulfully and unconditionally.
Lord, my Lord, when I speak to the world about You, it is not my personal opinion. It is the revelation of my sweet oneness-relation with You.
Lord, my Lord, do make me see and feel that my heart’s perfection-cry has to be continued and transcended.
Lord, my Lord, do make me see and feel that my life’s satisfaction-smile has to be renewed daily and pursued.
Lord, my Lord.
SUNY at Farmingdale, 21 March 1978↩
Why do we change? We change precisely because even after the fulfilment of the desire-world we are not satisfied. Even an iota of satisfaction has not dawned on our mental horizon, vital horizon and physical horizon. But in the aspiration-world we do not need anything to satisfy us; we do not need any accomplishment to satisfy our inner urge. The moment we cry deep within, we feel a sense of satisfaction. We do not have to wait for any result. While crying we get a sense of satisfaction. The result, the most satisfactory result, is the cry itself.
How do we change? We change for the better from the desire-world to the aspiration-world, from the chasm of death to the Sea of Immortality. We change on the strength of our inspiration and aspiration. Inspiration is the divine reality which always carries us forward far, farther, farthest. Aspiration is the divine reality which lifts us up high, higher, highest. Inspiration for the forward movement, aspiration for the upward movement.
When do we change? We change when God’s Hour strikes. What is God’s Hour? It is the chosen hour when everything is done in us sooner than at once. It is not done by human beings, but by God the Eternal Pilot, in and through human beings. God does not expect anything in return. At God’s Hour His Justice-Light is replaced by His Compassion-Height. At that time God makes the individual consciously feel that he is of infinite Light, and he is for immortal Delight. At God’s choice Hour man becomes a constant burning flame of gratitude. This flame of gratitude eventually grows into the sun. Inside that sun humanity’s aspiration looms large, and eventually there comes a time when divinity finds humanity to be its perfect instrument to please the Absolute Supreme in His own way.
Time changes. This is our old lesson. We change, too. This is our new lesson. When time changes, quite often we feel that we are helpless, hopeless and useless. Time does not wait for us. At every moment we are forced to act like true beggars, for we have not been able to accomplish what we wanted to accomplish. But when we learn the new lesson — that we change, too — we feel that at every moment we are making progress. At every moment we are listening to an inner call. At every moment we are preparing ourselves to fulfil an inner need. At every moment we are preparing ourselves to learn the art of self-giving, for in self-giving the Supreme message of God-becoming thrives. Our Goal is not only to see the Face of the Golden All, but also to grow eventually into the Golden All.
We change. We change always for the better, for we are seekers of the ultimate Truth. In us is the message of God-Perfection and God-Satisfaction.
We change. We change always for the better, precisely because in us is the eternal hunger, the perennial hunger, to become one with the universal Truth and the transcendental Reality.
Hofstra University, 5 April 1978↩
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Chicago, Chicago, Chicago,Your crying heart, your soaring soul
Announced Swamiji’s giant role.Chicago, Chicago, Chicago,
Your life treasured his Vedanta-glow.In you began the world’s oneness-flow.
```/Madhurata jetanai/
/Aminai tatha aminai//Madhur sadhana/
/Madhur aradhana//Japi madhur nam madhumoy/
/Tai madhumoy niyata amai//Madhu dhyane kare tanmoy/
Where sweetness is lacking
I am not there, I am not there.Sweetness-discipline and sweetness-worship,
Sweetness-invocation,I always do.
Therefore,I am in self-trance,
In sweet ambrosial meditation.```
From:Sri Chinmoy,AUM — Vol.II-5, No. 7,8, July-August 1978, Vishma Press, 1978
Sourced from https://srichinmoylibrary.com/aum_133
