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My heart's garland of poems for Desmond Tutu: the world-compassion-heart-nest

1.

Some are chosen for a fleeting moment,
While others are chosen temporarily,
Still others permanently, by the Lord.
Among the permanent ones,
Archbishop Desmond Tutu tops the list.

2.

In us,
God-Satisfaction slumbers.
    In Desmond Tutu,
God-Satisfaction is fully blossomed.

3.

A sleepless God-obedience
    And
A breathless God-surrender
Have founded a very firm footing
In Desmond Tutu’s life.

4.

Every day
The Lord Supreme pilots His Boat
Between Desmond Tutu’s
    Humility-mind
    And
    Cheerfulness-heart.

5.

Purity’s fragrance-delight
    Is
His God-gratitude-heart.

6.

The source of his selfless action
    Is his constant
God-devotion-heart-service.

7.

Desmond Tutu,
The entire world bows
To your soul and to your life,
For you are abundantly rich
In perfect Light-distribution.

8.

Your pioneering illumination-mind
Urges the unrest-world
To singularly strive
For Harmony, Peace and Bliss.

9.

To humankind,
Your soul has one very special message:
    “Lose no time
In starting to please God.”

10.

As God’s Heart specialises
    In forgiving the world,
Even so, your life specialises
    In awakening the world.

11.

Your heart
Secretly treasures
The earth-tears.

12.

Your soul
Sacredly cherishes
The Heaven-Smiles.

13.

What you sleeplessly and breathlessly
    Try to do
For the betterment of the world
At times amazes even God’s Eye!

14.

God has blessingfully, cheerfully
    And proudly advised you
To use His own secret Staircase
To arrive and sit at the foot
Of His Transcendental Throne.

15.

Surprisingly,
You love and serve the interests
Of both God the Creator
And God the creation.

16.

Your eyes promise
And your hands act
Simultaneously.

17.

Prayerfully, soulfully
And self-givingly
You tender your heart-garden.

18.

In your blessingful presence,
We all become
The dancing flames of delight.

19.

Your voice is at once
The Direction-Whisper
    And
The Clarion-Call of God.

20.

No God-lover
And no Truth-seeker
Can ever abide
Beyond your compassion-heart-nest.

21.

God-readiness
    Is
Your mind-sky.

22.

God-fulness
    Is
Your heart-sun.

23.

Your heart pined
To be a doctor
In the outer life.

24.

God’s Heart pined
For you to be an inner doctor,
To dispel the darkness-clouds
Of man's inner sky.

25.

The world has another name
    For you:
“Compassion-flooded Justice.”

26.

Every moment
Of your life
Blooms lovingly.

27.

Every hour
Of your life
Blossoms forgivingly.

28.

You do not care for world acclaim.
But the world acclaim loves to be
    With you,
    In you
    And for you.

29.

When evil strikes hard,
Your goodness-heart
Consoles the victims
Fast, very fast.

30.

In your heart-land,
God’s Satisfaction-Rainbow-Sun
Always shines.

31.

Each drop of your body
Is made of courage —
Fear nowhere!

32.

We see the world
With our suspicion-mind.

33.

You see the world
With your concern-heart.

34.

You pray to God the Heavenly Father
To transform the world-devouring tigers
Into His supremely chosen lambs.

35.

You want each and every human being
To be an ignorance-challenging
And ignorance-conquering lion-roar.

36.

From you we learn
That without God’s Forgiveness,
We are truly helpless.

37.

From you we learn
That without God’s Satisfaction,
We are utterly useless.

38.

From you we learn
That ego-supremacy
Is dangerous, plus hurtful.

39.

You want us to be hungry
Not only for God’s Compassion-Height.
But also for God’s Justice-Light.

40.

The celestial fragrance
    Of divine Truth
Permeates your two worlds,
    Inner and outer.

41.

Your streaming sincerity-tears
    Are always found
In the heart-breaking-suffering-world.

42.

The world is bent
On self-destruction.

43.

You are bent
On world-illumination.

44.

You inspire us not to condone
Darkness-ignorance-injustice-nights
But to challenge them
And illumine them.

45.

Your heart and life
Never run out of
Tolerance, patience
    And compassion.

46.

You sleeplessly teach the world
How to grow into
God’s Joy and Pride.

47.

The supremacy-hungry mind
    Of the world
Is a perfect stranger
To your oneness-dream-world-orchestra.

48.

God has made you
His right hand-representative-servant
To awaken the sleeping world
To receive God’s Light, Peace and Bliss
    In boundless measure.

49.

You ask the question of questions:
“How can we have
The happiest life,
If we do not have the holiest heart?”

50.

To have a glimpse
Of your sleepless and breathless
    World-service-life
Is to be unreservedly blessed
    By the Almighty God.

Desmond Tutu: a rainbow-vision-eye

Photograph

1.

I do not know if God takes your side all the time. But I do know that you all the time take God’s side unmistakably.

2.

You remind us that God is sleeplessly eager to manifest His Golden Dreams in and through His sweetest children. Just as we need God’s Heart to keep us alive on earth, so too God needs our hands to build His Heaven on earth.

3.

To our greatest joy and pride, you yourself were the dauntless Hope-Lighthouse for all your South African children. Now you have become the peerless Promise-Sun for the entire humanity.

4.

God has made each human being unique to express Himself in a unique way. Uniqueness is a most powerful connection with the Source. Therefore, each individual justifiably feels that he is the only one whom God loves and cares for. This is in no way his mental hallucination. In His divine Uniqueness-Play, God makes each one feel that he alone is chosen and nobody else.

5.

Human life is a constant battle between yes and no. We strive for a faltering foothold on perilous ground. But God is manifesting His Confidence-flooded divine Life in and through you. Therefore, you tell all His suffering children, “Yes! Yes! Arise! Awake! With our faith-filled hearts, God’s Victory has already been won!”

6.

This is God’s world. He is the Doer. We are mere instruments. Therefore, He acts in and through us and shares with us the results. While He is acting, He Himself is having the experiences and giving us the experiences at the same time. We receive from Him according to our heart’s receptivity.

7.

O Self-Transcendence-Hero supreme, the whole world marvels at your amazing self-transcendence-achievements. You have sung the song of self-transcendence many times in your life.

You conquered your unfortunate beginning in life by dint of your inner strength and by invoking God’s Grace from Above.

Your beloved country suffered far beyond the imagination of the rest of the world. While bringing Light into the suffering South Africa, you transcended yourself. Each time you gave something new to your country, God immediately helped you and you transcended yourself. Self-giving is another name for self-transcendence. Self-transcendence is another name for self-giving.

8.

Once upon a time, the blacks were the victims. They were tortured ruthlessly by the whites. Then God chose you to be His supremely choice instrument — among not only the blacks, but also the whites — to make the so-called superiors discover that they had forgotten their own supreme Reality. If they had known who they truly were, they would not have tortured the blacks, for a oneness-heart can never torture. You lovingly and blessingfully reminded them of their own divinity, their oneness-heart, which they had completely forgotten.

9.

Like a most beautiful bird, you fly here, there and all-where, spreading the message of God’s Love and Benevolence. Your own self-giving compassion for humanity is the paragon of God’s Blessing-Gifts.

10.

This immortal message of yours shall echo and re-echo throughout the centuries with its power of hope and upliftment. Young people from all countries should be required to memorise this mantric utterance, so that in times of utter desperation, it will spontaneously rise up from within to ferry them safely to the Golden Shore.

Reflections on the immortal utterances of Desmond Tutu

Photograph

Archbishop Desmond Tutu and his daughter, Mpho Tutu, are all smiles following the sacred ceremony in which he ordained Mpho as an Anglican priest on 17 January 2004 in Christ Church, an historic Episcopal church near Washington, D.C.

1.

The whole world admires your heroism, grace.
Champion of the poor and oppressed
You were, you are and you forever shall be,
In the heart of mankind.

2.

You work tirelessly
To bring about
Your God-given
World-transformation-vision.

3.

You bring to the world
The message of oneness.
You tell each and everyone
That we are members of one family —
God’s family.

4.

Indomitably you voice forth:
“Not even the most powerful nation
Can be completely self-sufficient.”

5.

Luminosity-flooded
Your prophetic vision of the world order:
“Together, together!”
   you implore.
“We shall be free only together...
We shall survive only together...
We shall be human only together.”

6.

Faith in goodness you uphold.
Even in the face of ceaseless misdeeds —
Nay, atrocities —
Your faith-based optimism
Most powerfully and most gloriously shines
“...Each of us has the capacity
To become a saint, even the worst dictator.”

7.

Forgiveness is of paramount importance.
Forgiveness is the harbinger of a new life,
New hope and new promise.
Your message sublime runs:
“Ultimately there is no future without forgiveness.”

My treasured meeting with Archbishop Desmond Tutu at his residence in Cape Town, 20 December 1995

“Thank you for taking the time to come out here and spread your message of love and harmony and peace. It is just wonderful timing that you have come now, because I have just recently been appointed to chair the Truth and Reconciliation Commission which we all hope is going to assist our country in the process of healing all the trauma that was caused by apartheid and the injustices of the past. We hope that you will uphold us in your prayers as we set out on this momentous journey in our country.”

Archbishop Desmond Tutu
20 December 1995
Residence of the Archbishop
Cape Town, South Africa

Photograph — Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Sri Chinmoy

Photograph — Archbishop Desmond Tutu

Photograph — Sri Chinmoy

Photographs

Photograph

U Thant Peace Award

It is a great privilege for me and for the members of Sri Chinmoy: The Peace Meditation at the United Nations to be in the presence of a revered messenger of peace, Archbishop Desmond Tutu. Father Tutu, your life of unswerving faith represents the enduring love of the Divine for your cherished country — a land richly blessed by the Creator yet, for so long, torn by the strife of separation. Throughout long decades of struggles, yours was the eloquent voice of unity, of reconciliation, of tolerance, of patience, of forgiveness, of conviction. At the same time, it was a compelling call to action. Finally, your voice proclaimed the destined Victory of justice, peace and oneness.

Father Tutu, according to me, you are a soul-diamond, a heart-diamond. We know that diamonds are formed by intense pressure. During the many years of your ministry, you experienced and expressed all the excruciating sufferings of the black children of South Africa. At the same time, as a chosen instrument of God, you courageously, devotedly and tirelessly fought against the appalling ignorance of apartheid, while praying for the transformation of its perpetrators. Placed by the Hand of God between the unstoppable freedom-surge of the oppressed and the fearful aggression-retaliation of the oppressor, you emerged as the brilliant diamond of unity, reflecting the Oneness-Light of the Creator. In you, all the rainbow-colours of God’s children find their true home.

Father Tutu, you perfectly embody both contemplation and action, and thus you serve as a radiant example for God-lovers and peace-seekers everywhere in today’s world. In your compelling words: “The most important, the most cardinal, fact about our life is the spiritual — that encounter with God in prayer, in worship, in meditation.” Again, far from providing an escape, religion for you sounds a clarion call to the service of truth. Once again, in your words: “There is nothing the government can do to me that will stop me from being involved in what I believe is what God wants me to do.”

Father Tutu, your illumined wisdom proclaims that separation is the greatest suffering and the root of conflict, whereas oneness is the greatest joy and the wellspring of peace. Your heart of faith, your life of humility towards God and man — which is nothing but oneness itself — your towering intellect surrendered to the service of God, and your eloquent voice of all-embracing love make you a shining harbinger of tomorrow’s peace-flooded oneness-world. Today, therefore, we wish to present to you our U Thant Peace Award.

The U Thant Peace Award

The U Thant Peace Award is presented to Archbishop Desmond Tutu, devoted messenger of the divine unity of the Creator’s rainbow-children, eloquent voice of humanity’s suffering and Divinity’s Compassion, harbinger of the spirituality of transformation, sowing the seeds of Heaven’s Oneness-Love in earth’s division-mind, offering the flower-victory at the Feet of the Supreme Father.

With our deepest appreciation, admiration and gratitude,
Sri Chinmoy:
The Peace Meditation at the United Nations

Photograph

Photograph

Photograph

Desmond Tutu's blessing-light-messages to a fellow God-server

//Sri Chinmoy has selected a few blessingful letters and messages from the World-Compassion-Heart-Nest: Desmond Tutu.//

Peace Run

“I am happy to support your Peace Run for Justice, Peace and Reconciliation. The world must know God wants us to live amicably as brothers and sisters, members of one family, the human family, God’s family.”

April 1987 Message

July 1996 Message

14 April 1997 Message

Letter

25 February 1998

Sri Chinmoy

Dear Esteemed Friend

God has used you powerfully to be an inspiration to many. How wonderful that you have reached your goal of 27,000 Aspiration-Plants.

God be praised.

The Most Revd D M Tutu
Archbishop Emeritus

Letter

My dear Friend

Heartiest congratulations on your 72nd Birthday.

We all dream of a world of where peace will emerge victorious over strife. You have given your life to work for these dreams of peace and reconciliation to come true. You strive for the oneness of all peoples, especially by reaching out to the youth. Your international centres, and your music, art, writings and athletics all dedicated to peace — are offering hope and encouragement to so many people on our planet.

As I have travelled and taught throughout the world, I see clearly that by joining together with our common quest for a better world, we the children of God can indeed create that world. I am so happy that you also have this same approach — working one person, one heart, one child at a time for humanity’s progress.

I specially offer you my sincere appreciation for the large amounts of humanitarian aid which you and your Centres have been sending to so many parts of the world, including to South Africa. This is yet another wonderful expression of God’s love and concern for all his children!

May God bless you to continue with your wonderful service for many, many more years to come.

Desmond M Tutu Archbishop Emeritus

My soulful song-offerings

Archbishop Desmond Tutu: a soul-diamond, a heart-diamond

Archbishop Desmond Tutu: a soul-diamond, a heart-diamond

Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Desmond!
A soul-diamond, a heart-diamond.
Archbishop, Peace-Dreamer, Archbishop!
Your code of life: Stop violence, stop!
O wisdom-fountain, justice-mountain,
In you, with you no ignorance-chain.
Africa’s life-story, heart-poem, soul-song
The whole world hears from your vision-gong.

You are the rainbow people of God

You are the rainbow people of God.

If God is on our side

If God is on our side, who can be against us?

Our God hears

Be nice to the whites

Be nice to the whites; they need you to rediscover their humanity.

Human life

Human life is impossible without faith.

God takes sides

God takes sides;
He is not a neutral God.

When will we learn?

When will we learn that an escalating arms race merely escalates global insecurity?

Our freedom

Our freedom does not come from any human being, our freedom comes from God.

Until we are all free

Until we are all free, none is going to be free.

God loves you

God loves you not because you are lovable, but you are lovable precisely because God loves you.

I come from a beautiful land

I come from a beautiful land, richly endowed by God.

God bless Africa

God bless Africa, guard her children, guide her rulers and give her peace.