The Golden Boat, part 5

1. Do the gods feel sorry?

```

Do the gods feel sorry?

Yes, they do.

Why?

Because men surpass them.

Does God feel sorry?

Yes, He does.

Why?

Because most men

Do not dare to play with Him,

Let alone compete with

Or surpass

Him. ```

2. Motion and rest

```

Motion and rest

Complete God’s Game.

Motion and rest

Are two brothers.

Rest prepares;

Motion distributes.

Rest dives deep within;

Motion flies far without.

In rest God dreams

His Reality-life.

In motion God becomes

One and inseparable

With His Dream-fulfilled Boat.

```

3. What is it?

```

Wisdom, what is it?

Peace.

Peace, what is it?

Satisfaction.

Satisfaction, what is it?

Perfection.

Perfection, what is it?

Light,

More Light,

Abundant Light,

Light infinite.

```

4. After the long inner struggle

```

There was a time

When he was far removed from Truth.

But

Now he measures

Not only

His life

But also

The immensity of God’s Depth

And

The infinity of God’s Height.

After the long inner struggle

He sees the meaning of life,

He feels the meaning of light.

```

5. Contradictions

```

Human birth

And

Life-freedom

Are contradictory.

Human life

And

Love-perfection

Are contradictory.

Human goal

And

God-Smile

Are contradictory. ```

6. No sin, no virtue

```

When sin plagues him

He cries aloud.

When virtue plagues him

He cries aloud.

His Lord today tells him:

“No sin, no virtue, My son.

Only think that

I experience the life-breath

Of every moment

In a different way,

That’s all.”

```

7. When I confide

```

When I confide my secrets

To my mind,

My mind betrays me

In a jungle of confusion.

When I confide my secrets

To my vital,

My vital throws me

Into a tornado of destruction.

When I confide my secrets

To my heart,

My heart takes me

To my soul

For special guidance.

And when I confide my secrets

To my soul,

My God-Goal immediately

Runs towards me. ```

8. Words

```

A man of strength

Is a man of few words.

A man of silence

Speaks no words.

A man of divinity

Uses words

To please God,

To bring down God,

To manifest God the Dream on earth

And

To fulfil God the Dreamer in Heaven.

```

9. Of you, for you

```

You have seen

What was never kept concealed.

You have found

What was never kept hidden.

You have found your God,

Who has always been

In the heart of your love-light.

No matter how sincere you are,

No matter how hard you work

To disqualify yourself for God-realisation,

You shall sadly fail.

For God’s Transcendental Dream is of you,

And God’s Universal Reality is for you.

```

10. Expectations

```

I expect nothing from earth,

I expect nothing from Heaven.

My Supreme expects

In and through me

From earth’s life.

My Supreme expects

In and through me

From Heaven’s soul.

Earth has fulfilled our expectation:

Service-Might.

Heaven has fulfilled our expectation:

Light-Delight. ```

11. Two wicked sinners, two loving friends

```

Doubt and jealousy are

Two wicked sinners.

Faith and hope are

Two loving friends.

Courage and sacrifice are

Two noble souls.

Beauty and Purity are

The seeker’s heart.

Truth and God are

Reality’s eyes. ```

12. One with extinction's sigh

```

He avoided humanity

Because humanity was sick and weak.

He avoided Divinity

Because Divinity was strong

and indifferent.

He stayed inside his fearful cave

and tearful heart

Until he become one with extinction’s sigh.

```

13. Three messages

```

He had only three messages to give:

One to Heaven,

One to earth,

One to hell.

“Dear Heaven,

Be careful of your indifference-power.

Dear earth,

Be careful of your ignorance-length.

Dear hell,

Be careful of Satan’s autocracy.” ```

14. To receive

```

To receive humanity

I need an abundance of space.

To receive divinity

I need an abundance of grace.

To receive God

I need an abundance of surrender.

To receive my own lower being

I need an abundance of power. ```

15. Are you not inseparable?

```

O truth-lover, O man-saver,

Are you not inseparable?

O love-giver, O oneness-seer,

Are you not inseparable?

O illumination-distributor,

O duty-fulfiller,

Are you not inseparable?

O landlord-man, O Tenant-God,

Are you not inseparable? ```

16. God-realisation demands

```

Austere concentration is not needed

To realise God.

Extensive meditation is not needed

To realise God.

God-realisation demands

Conscious surrender

Of the puny “I”

And expansion-perfection

Of the earthbound life.

```

17. No one ventures

```

No one ventures

To explain

God-Truth.

No one ventures

To serve God

With surrender-light.

No one ventures

To distribute

God-vision.

No one ventures

To know the power

Of God-Invention.

No one ventures

To realise the power

Of aspiration-vision.

```

18. You are special, you are divine

```

You are gifted.

Therefore

The world appreciates you.

You are special.

Therefore

The world admires you.

You are divine.

Therefore

Both God and the world

Love you

and

Love you,

Forever

and

Forever.

```

19. The distance between

```

The distance

Between

Hope and despair

Is no distance.

The distance

Between

Love and hate

Is no distance.

The distance

Between

Doubt and faith

Is no distance.

But

The distance

Between

Your lower life

And

Your higher life

Is incredibly long,

Arduous and dangerous.

```

20. Together they go

```

The hour of grace

And

The shower of glory

Together shine.

The hour of victory

And

The power of surrender

Together strike.

The Hour of God

And

The flower of gratitude

Together blossom. ```

21. No completion

```

No purity,

No sanity.

No sanity,

No realisation.

No realisation,

No perfection.

No perfection,

No completion. ```

22. Nowhere to be found

```

The hermitage of peace

Can easily be found.

The home of light

Can easily be found.

The nest of silence

Can easily be found.

But

The room of perfection

Is nowhere to be found.

```

23. To become

```

To enjoy is

To obey.

To obey is

To shine.

To shine is

To become.

To become is

To transform

The animal in us,

To elevate

The human in us,

To fulfil

The divine in us.

```

24. Darker, purer, surer

```

Darker than night

Is my mental doubt.

Purer than dawn

Is my weeping heart.

Stronger than a giant

Is my blossomed faith. ```

25. He wants both

```

He wants both

Humanity and Divinity:

Humanity to wash his feet,

Divinity to breathe its love.

He wants both

God and man:

God to pull him towards God,

Man to push him towards God. ```

26. Unless

```

Unless the child cries,

The mother brings him no milk.

Unless the disciple cries,

The Master brings him no nectar.

Unless man tries,

God gives him nothing.

Unless God forces,

Man does nothing. ```

27. Only to offer

```

Only to rise,

He stumbled.

Only to succeed,

He failed.

Only to create,

He stopped.

Only to become,

He shunned.

Only to offer,

He is. ```

28. Perfect, imperfect

```

Doubt-pride

Is in itself imperfect.

Faith-glow

Is in itself perfect.

Fear-insecurity

Is in itself imperfect.

Love-flow

Is in itself perfect.

Satan-night

Is itself imperfect.

God-day

Is itself perfect. ```

29. Your sadness immeasurable

```

“Lord, Your sadness

Immeasurable,

How can I relieve?”

Think that I suffer,

Feel that I suffer,

Love humanity as I do.

Lo, half of My suffering-night

Has captured your oneness-love

With its Reality-Height.

```

30. O immaculate Beauty

```

O immaculate Beauty,

God needs you.

O immaculate Purity,

God utilises you.

O immaculate Lustre,

God perfects you.

O immaculate Consciousness,

God expands Himself

In you,

With you. ```

31. The aim

```

The aim of all seeing

Is serving.

The aim of all serving

Is loving.

The aim of all loving

Is identifying.

The aim of all identifying

Is oneness-becoming.

In oneness-becoming

We mark the journey’s close. ```

32. Why do I suffer

```

Why do I suffer,

My Lord Supreme?

Is it because

I am not careful?

Is it because

I enter into ignorance?

“No, nothing of the sort.

Your big heart

Cannot live

Without housing others’ pain

As your very own.”

```

33. Thought-world

```

The activity of a thought-wave

Fascinates me.

The reality of a thought-sea

Transforms me.

The divinity of a thought-world

Immortalises me. ```

34. Now I shine

```

I died in thought.

Now

I fly with Will.

I died in time.

Now

I dance with Eternity.

I died in imperfection.

Now

I shine with God-Perfection.

```

35. Now we are satisfied

```

I spoke;

I was badly misunderstood.

I remained silent;

I was properly understood.

I loved;

I was suspected.

I served;

I was appreciated.

I saw;

Neither God nor I was satisfied.

I became;

Now

Both God and I are totally satisfied.

```

36. Without Thee

```

To think without Thee

Is to cry.

To see without Thee

Is to sigh.

To work without Thee

Is to fail.

To rest without Thee

Is to die.

I know, I know,

Yet

I fail to practise.

```

37. His immortal self

```

He greets mortal breath

With his immortal grace.

He illumines mortal confusion

With his immortal face.

He transforms mortal pangs

With his immortal heart.

He consoles mortal failure

With his immortal progress. ```

38. He ascends and descends

```

God’s Hour helps him

Ascend and descend.

He ascends to pluck

The fruits of Nectar-light.

He descends to distribute

The fruits with Beauty’s heart. ```

39. You will be caught

```

Don’t pretend

Without the truth;

You will be caught.

Don’t expand

Without the light;

You will be caught.

Don’t preach

Without the silence;

You will be caught.

Don’t argue

With your inner effulgent light,

With your outer flickering candle;

You will be caught. ```

40. Nothing else to think about

```

Lord, I think of You

Not because You are

Kind to me,

But because I have

Nothing else to think about.

“Son, I think of you

Not because I have

Nothing else to think about,

But because when

I think of you

I get the joy of a child,

The strength of a youth

And the wisdom of an old man.”

Lord, from now on

I shall think of You

And not remain indebted to You.

```

41. The due price

```

Lord, when people misunderstand me,

What shall I do?

“Forgive them.”

I do that.

But again and again they misunderstand me.

“My son, do not allow

All and sundry

To have free access to you.

Don’t make your spirituality cheap.

All must pay the due price.” ```

42. Take me to stay with you

```

A beggar stood

Before

God, man and Satan.

To God he said:

“Lord, take me to stay with You

In Your Boat.”

“Your desire is granted, My son.”

To man he said:

“Brother, take me to stay with you

In your boat.”

“Sorry, my boat is too small.”

To Satan he said:

“Esteemed Friend, take me to stay with you

In your boat.”

“Certainly, you will not only stay,

But be the boatman

And thus relieve me

Of my long and endless task.”

```

43. To say the least

```

“Good-bye, Father,

I shall see You tomorrow.”

Good-bye, son,

I shall see you in a minute.

“Why and how, Father?

I am leaving, Father.

I am tired, really tired,

To say the least.”

I am proud of you,

I am one with you.

I share your glory’s light

Equally and unmistakably,

To say the least.

```

44. Don't tell a lie!

```

Who has not stumbled?

You?

Don’t tell a lie!

Who has not failed?

You?

Don’t tell a lie!

Who has not seen

The Face of God?

You?

Don’t tell a lie!

Who will not

Become God?

You?

Don’t tell a lie! ```

45. Eternal surrender

```

Lord Supreme,

Eternal surrender:

Does it exist or will it ever exist?

“My son, from time immemorial

Eternal surrender

Has walked the soil of earth.

My transcendental Silence

And

My universal Sound

To each other have offered

Their capacity-height

In the form of surrender-light.

The surrender of My Silence

To My Life of Sound

Makes earth grow

Towards the highest height.

The surrender of My Sound

To My Life of Silence

Makes Heaven descend

To feel the bleeding heartbeat

Of Mother Earth.”

```

46. He is important

```

He is serene.

Therefore

God’s Mind caresses his mind.

He is brilliant.

Therefore

God’s Vital welcomes his vital.

He is important.

Therefore

God’s Heart

With Fondness-light

Houses him,

His dream-boat,

His dream-river,

His dream-shore. ```

47. Many and few

```

Many seeds, few crops.

Many blossoms, few fruits.

Many seekers, few realised souls.

Many Masters, one God.

The self-same God

Sails His Dream-Boat

And becomes His Reality-Shore.

```

48. To get up, to meditate

```

To get up early in the morning

Is one thing;

To meditate soulfully

Is something else.

If I fail to get up early

In the morning,

How can I meditate?

Again, if I get up

And do not meditate well,

I just torture my poor body.

O my body,

From now on I shall use you

Only for God’s sake.

O my soul,

From now on I shall use you

Only for God’s sake. ```

49. You have to share my fate

```

My Lord, is it my business

To perfect the world?

“Son, who else’s business is it?

If you dare to call yourself My son

You have to share

Equally My fate.

Love Me, I am yours.

Serve Me, you are Mine,

Mine alone.”

```

50. Perfect strangers

```

Lord, Lord,

Save me, save me.

I am in terrible danger.

I am fighting against time

To prove to my spiritual children

That I am a poet of high magnitude.

Father, do save me, save me.

“Son, don’t insult Me.

You and I are perfect strangers

To the birth and life of defeat.”

```

Editor's preface to the first edition

This book of 50 poems is part of a four-part series written by Sri Chinmoy in the 22-hour period between 12:01 a.m. and 10:01 p.m. on 2 February 1974. It was also printed on the same day by the group pictured in the photograph above the preface.

From:Sri Chinmoy,The Golden Boat, part 5, Agni Press, 1974
Sourced from https://srichinmoylibrary.com/gb_5