Matter and spirit

1.

```

What is the difference

Between matter and Spirit?

Matter says:

"I have."

Spirit says:

"I am." ```

2.

```

Matter

Cries for success-sky.

Spirit

Longs for progress-sun. ```

3.

```

Matter challenges death

Only to lose.

Spirit ignores death

Only to conquer. ```

4.

```

Matter

Is

Imagination-thought.

Spirit

Is

Aspiration-will.

```

5.

```

Matter says to me:

"Look what I have."

Spirit says to me:

"Just feel what I am." ```

6.

```

Matter

Is

Humanity's noise.

Spirit

Is

Divinity's Poise.

```

7.

```

Matter serves

The divine in me.

Spirit feeds

The human in me. ```

8.

```

Matter

Is

Ignorance-monster.

Spirit

Is

Wisdom-mountain.

```

9.

```

Man entertains

Matter.

Man ascertains

Spirit. ```

10.

```

Matter

Is

Evolution-joy.

Spirit

Is

Involution-peace.

```

11.

```

With matter

I grow.

With Spirit

I glow. ```

12.

```

Matter

Is

Dormant strength solid.

Spirit

Is

The all-awakening Clarion-Call.

```

13.

```

Matter

Is

Capacity unexpressed.

Spirit

Is

Quality revealed.

```

14.

```

Matter

Is

A giant house.

Spirit

Is

A fruitful home.

```

15.

```

Matter

Is

A very slow walker.

Spirit

Is

The fastest sprinter.

```

16.

```

Matter

Needs ambition-push.

Spirit

Needs satisfaction-pull. ```

17.

```

Matter

Dampens and flattens

My enthusiasm.

Spirit

Quickens and enlightens

My enthusiasm.

```

18.

```

Matter says:

"I can,

But

I don't want to!"

Spirit says:

"I can.

Look!

I have already done." ```

19.

```

When I live in matter,

I at once become

My own funeral and burial.

When I live in Spirit,

I at once become

My journey's start

And

My journey's goal.

```

20.

```

Matter

Is

Sleeping beauty.

Spirit

Is

Daring responsibility.

```

21.

```

Matter tells me:

"Go back.

You have walked

Farther than you needed."

Spirit tells me:

"Go forward,

Go forward.

Indeed, you are meant

For the Call of the Beyond."

```

22.

```

Matter

Is

Eternity's patience-exercise.

Spirit

Is

Infinity's radiance-distribution.

```

23.

```

Every day

I am forced to listen

To matter's self-doubt-stories.

Every day

I enter into life's battlefield

To watch Spirit's

Self-conquest-power. ```

24.

```

Matter and desire-life

Are inseparable.

Spirit and aspiration-breath

Are inseparable. ```

25.

```

May my God-prayers

Envelop my matter-desire-life.

May my God-meditations

Satisfy the Spirit

In my aspiration-breath.

```

26.

```

Matter is not cognisant

Of fear.

Spirit is cognisant

Of wisdom,

Birthless and deathless.

```

27.

```

Matter and frustration

Like to live together.

Spirit and illumination

Love to live together. ```

28.

```

Matter and I

Are good talkers.

Spirit and I

Are sleepless doers. ```

29.

```

Matter

Is

My energy-stealer.

Spirit

Is

My energy-multiplier.

```

30.

```

Matter

Is

My mind's sealed room.

Spirit

Is

My heart's wide-open door.

```

31.

```

I am ashamed

Of my matter-life.

I am proud

Of my Spirit-breath. ```

32.

```

Matter

Is stubborn.

Spirit

Is ever-born. ```

33.

```

I implore matter

To care for me.

I implore Spirit

To share with me. ```

34.

```

Matter's hobby:

Evolution-stories.

Spirit's hobby:

Involution-songs. ```

35.

```

Matter needs

God-concentration

For matter's fastest progress.

Spirit needs

God-manifestation

For Spirit's fastest progress.

```

36.

```

Greatness is sufficient

For matter's satisfaction.

Greatness is not sufficient,

Even goodness

Is not sufficient;

Beyond greatness and goodness,

Only oneness —

Absolute self-transcendence-oneness —

Is sufficient

For Spirit's satisfaction. ```

37.

```

Matter

Has tremendous admiration

For the dignity of the mind.

Spirit

Has tremendous love

For the purity of the heart.

```

38.

```

Matter's giant body

I admire.

Spirit's immortal heart-breath

I implore. ```

39.

```

As I do not listen

To matter's continuous demands,

Even so, alas,

I do not listen

To Spirit's precious requests.

```

40.

```

The moment I think

Of matter,

I see my mind's sky overcast.

The moment I think

Of Spirit,

I see rainbow-smiles

Within and without. ```

41.

```

Matter

Is

Self-confinement.

Spirit

Is

Self-enlargement.

```

42.

```

When I am matter-bound,

I feel that I am

An anxiety-thorn.

When I am Spirit-free,

I feel that I am

The flower-fragrance.

```

43.

```

When I am matter-bound,

I feel that I am

A doubt-wolf.

When I am Spirit-free,

I feel that I am

A confidence-lion.

```

44.

```

When I am matter-bound,

My world within is chaotic

And

My world without is chaotic.

When I am Spirit-free,

My world within

Is harmony-song

And

My world without

Is harmony-dance. ```

45.

```

When matter moves

It really moves.

When Spirit moves

It moves,

yet

It moves not. ```

46.

```

Matter is not conscious

Of the existence-reality

Of Eternity's Silence

Or Infinity's Sound.

Eternity's Silence

And

Infinity's Sound

Spirit consciously embodies,

Reveals and manifests.

```

47.

```

Matter

Is

Self-unawareness.

Spirit

Is

Self-quest and self-conquest.

```

48.

```

Matter

Is

Self-doubt-confusion.

Spirit

Is

Self-faith-illumination.

```

49.

```

Matter

Is my mind's

Trouble-preserver.

Spirit

Is my mind's

Trouble-shooter.

```

50.

```

Matter

Is

Quantity's giant pride.

Spirit

Is

Quality's loftiest height.

```

From:Sri Chinmoy,Matter and spirit, Agni Press, 1993
Sourced from https://srichinmoylibrary.com/mts