Compassion¹

Compassion is God's Blessing-Light. Compassion is God's Concern-Height. Compassion is God's Oneness-Delight.

The searching mind will eventually receive God's Blessing-Light. The aspiring heart spontaneously feels God's Concern-Height. The self-giving life sleeplessly enjoys God's Oneness-Delight.

Compassion is God's Love-Intensity for a God­-seeker. Compassion is God's Fondness-Immensity for a God-seeker.

Compassion is wisdom. Wisdom embodies peace, birthless and deathless. He who has peace has everything, both here on earth and there in Heaven.

Compassion is kindness unfathomable. Once, a son of the great philosopher William James went to visit his uncle, the great writer Henry James. The uncle gave his nephew three pieces of advice that he felt would be of tremendous help to him: the first important thing in life is kindness; the second important thing in life is kindness; and the third important thing in life is kindness.

Compassion is at once the seed and fruit of self­-education. And it is from self-education that we can offer our wisdom-light to mankind. Wisdom­-light is a self-giving flame that slowly, steadily and unerringly grows into a God-becoming sun.

Self-education is founded upon a disciplined life. A young man once wrote a letter to the great philosopher Thomas Carlyle asking him for advice on how he could be successful in teaching. Carlyle immediately replied that he should first be what he would like his pupils to be, and that all other teaching is sheer deception.

On the strength of my self-education, if I can offer my sacred love to God the creation, if I can offer my secret devotion to God the Creator and if I can offer my unconditional surrender to God, my Beloved Supreme, then and then alone my entire earthly existence will be flooded with Light and Delight.

Before I speak, I must see. Before I see, I must feel. Before I feel, I must believe. What must I believe? I must believe that if I can show compassion to humanity, then Delight will be my reward. I shall experience the same Delight which God Himself has been experiencing from time immemorial, since the very birth of His creation.

If l can offer compassion to humanity, then I will get the golden opportunity to become soulfully receptive. If I become soulfully receptive, then the yet unmanifested God will be able to manifest Himself powerfully and satisfactorily in and through me. If cheerfully and unconditionally I can offer an iota of compassion to humanity, then God will immediately grant me His Vision-Crown and His Reality-Throne.

A man of compassion is a pure saint in his inner life and a sure hero in his outer life. His heart is an ever-blossoming perfection-flower inside the Satisfaction-Tower of his Beloved Supreme. God showers constantly His choicest Blessings upon him, upon his devoted mind and his surrendered heart.

God has many, many magnets, but His Compassion-Magnet is by far the best. It is unparalleled, without a second, and it shall remain unparalleled throughout Eternity. God's Compassion-Magnet pulls humanity, with all its excruciating pangs, towards God's transcendental Height.

God's unconditional Compassion grants humanity hope and grants divinity promise. Because of God's unconditional Compassion, humanity's hope and divinity's promise can together live a compassion­-life in oneness-delight.

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Jasmine-heart

Confidence

Before God-realisation it is almost an impossible task to have supreme confidence in one's aspiration-­life.

Only a self-giving devotee can have ecstatic confidence in the depths of his heart.

If we can earnestly and soulfully meditate, then we can easily have cheerful confidence.

Perfect confidence is not in earth-possession but in self-illumination.

To acquire victory's crown one must cultivate confidence in his spiritual life.

If a seeker is not continuously blessed with purity-breath, then he is bound to betray arrogant confidence, at least occasionally.

Success in the outer plane does not remain a far cry after the mind has been flooded with divine confidence.

Devilish confidence and destruction are immediate neighbours.

To have complacent confidence is to invite the beginning of fast-approaching perdition in one's inner life.

If you are a good seeker, then you will try to cultivate confidence in the depths of your aspiring heart, and not enjoy unfounded confidence with your obscure and impure vital.

A disciplined life can unmistakably create confidence in the searching mind.

If you allow your clever mind to undermine your spiritual confidence in your life, then you are doomed to disappointment.

Confidence in my mind wavers. Confidence in my heart soars. Confidence in my soul prevails.

Relaxation is confidence in full operation.

Thought

Since I am dismayed by the fact that I am not the person I thought I was, then let me immediately cry for my nature's transformation.

O undivine thoughts, I have the capacity to stand aside, to observe and discard you.

Attention, attention! I am not going to pay any more attention to embarrassing and discouraging thoughts. I know soon they will not only be embarrassed and discouraged, but also will depart.

Obedient

An obedient disciple is a permanent student at the Master's heart-university.

Only an obedient disciple who is a permanent student of his spiritual Teacher has a free access to his Master's heart of infinite Peace and to his Master's soul of infinite Bliss.

An obedient seeker-disciple is the Master's incomparable promise in the inner world. An obedient seeker-disciple is the Master's invaluable possession in the outer world.

He is unconditionally obedient to God. Therefore he knows God's cosmic plans for each life.

Obedience means a new birth.

Questions and answers

Question: I would like to know how one can control self-destructive behaviour which gets in the way of meditation and a healthy life.

Sri Chinmoy: We have to be aware that if we cherish self-destructive behaviour, we are committing a Himalayan blunder. What each individual really wants and needs is satisfaction. Satisfaction we all want from life, in life, through life.

Some people want satisfaction desperately. If we desperately want satisfaction, then we will do the needful in order to get it. We will not try to destroy ourselves; we will only try to build a new life — a better, more illumining, more fulfilling life -­ through prayer and meditation. Others also want satisfaction, but they are not willing to pay the price for it. If we need satisfaction desperately, then we are bound to discipline our life. If we are really pinched with hunger, then we will definitely go and look for something to eat. But if we are not very hungry, then we may not want to take the trouble to go to the kitchen and eat. In the spiritual life our soul needs nourishment. Our soul's nourishment is peace, joy, love, the feeling of oneness and satisfaction.

Right now we are living the life of desire. But even when our desires are fulfilled, we are usually not satisfied at all. We want something desperately in the desire-life, but when we get that very thing, immediately we are dissatisfied. It has happened in our lives many, many times. While we are crying for some particular thing, we never care that somebody else already has it. But when we get what we wanted, we look around and see thousands of other people also have it, and perhaps they have more of it than we do. They have the same thing in abundant measure, whereas we have only a limited amount. So we are dissatisfied. No matter how much we eat of something in the desire-life, it is never enough for us.

The fulfilment of desire is not the answer. What we have to do is try to minimise our desires and totally enter into the life of aspiration. If we can minimise our desires, then along with our desires our destructive thoughts and tendencies also will decrease. Aspiration is a flame. This flame illumines and purifies everything that is uncomely and undivine within us, so that real satisfaction can be ours.

If we aspire regularly, soulfully and sincerely, then self-destructive thoughts will not assail our mind, and self-destructive actions will not embrace our life. We have to walk along the positive path of aspiration which will carry us high, higher, highest. The higher we go, the more aspiration-flames we will see in our obscure life, and our obscure, impure, destructive thoughts and ideas will be illumined. A room can remain dark for days, months and years, but as soon as we turn on the light switch, the room is all illumined. Then it is easy for us to clean and purify the room. Similarly, if we do not aspire, if we do not pray and meditate, then our heart-room remains dark and dusty. But the moment we aspire, the moment we turn on the light with our inner cry, it becomes easy for us to transform our life completely.

Question: How can one open the heart when one feels it is closed?

Sri Chinmoy: There are two simple ways. One way is to cry inwardly with utmost intensity, like a child crying for a doll. Inside your heart is your real Reality, the Beloved Supreme. If you can cry for your Beloved Supreme the way a child cries for a doll, then you are bound to open your heart's door. This is one way.

The other way is to be cheerful in every aspect of your life. If you can be cheerful no matter what happens, no matter what circumstances you are in, then you will be able to open your heart's door. A lack of cheerfulness immediately closes your heart's door. If you are sincerely cheerful, then your heart's door will remain wide open.

Question: How can we overcome the fear of death?

Sri Chinmoy: In the outer world when somebody dies, you observe that his life-energy has departed. You see him and you are frightened. But if you enter into the inner world and observe people who are not aspiring, you will see that they are already dead. There are millions of individuals on earth who are not praying and meditating, and who have no aspiration to do anything worthwhile on earth. Their spiritual energy has already expired, and in God's Eye, they are all dead.

Right now you are afraid of death because you think of yourself as your body, your mind, your senses. But a day will come when, on the strength of your aspiration, prayer and meditation, you will think of yourself not as the body but as the soul. You will think of yourself as a conscious instrument of God. Since God is omnipresent, and He is utilising you to manifest Himself, how can He ever abandon you to death?

Conquering the fear of death depends on how much love you have for God, and how sincerely you need Him. If you need someone, immediately you establish a kind of inner access to that person. If your need for God is soulful, devoted and constant, then in the inner world you establish a free access to God's Love, God's Compassion, God's Concern. And if you can always feel God's Love, Compassion and Concern, then how can you have the feeling of death? The moment you feel that you need God and He needs you, the moment you feel God inside you, before you and around you, then death no longer exists for you. When God is away from your mind, when God is not to be found inside your heart, when you feel that God is nowhere near you, at that time death exists for you. Otherwise, where is death? This physical body may leave the earth, but the soul, which is a conscious portion of God, will remain consciously in God and for God throughout Eternity.

It is up to you to think of yourself as the body or as the soul. If you think of yourself as the body, and do not aspire, then in the spiritual life you are already dead. But if you think of yourself as the soul, that means you have already developed an inner connection with God. If you know that the soul is your real Reality, you will not have any fear of death.

Question: It is difficult for me to work at my job because my colleagues are not spiritual. What do you recommend?

Sri Chinmoy: It is very, very difficult to work with people who are not aspiring if you are not strong enough to inject inspiration and aspiration into these people. They are in the majority. One person will be a seeker, but there will be ten or twelve others around him who are wallowing in the pleasures of ignorance. If you want to be spiritual, you should try to mix and live with spiritual people. Otherwise, it is like having to face a few extra hurdles or obstacles on your path.

Unfortunately, a spiritual seeker meets with obstacles every day. Even other seekers who are on the same path are not always in a perfect consciousness. They have insecurities, they have jealousies, they have fears and doubts. But at least they are consciously aware of their limitations, and they know that these shortcomings or weaknesses are things that they want to conquer and that they eventually will conquer. But if your colleagues are not even aware of their shortcomings, and they are not at all ready to perfect themselves, then it is very, very difficult for you to synthesise your outer life and your inner life. It is very difficult to have a bridge of harmony between your daily work and your inner life, between your social life and your spiritual life.

My advice is to find a new job where you can be with people who are aspiring. They don't have to be on the same path, but if they have a higher goal in life, then it is really better to be around them than to be around unaspiring people. There are so many jobs in God's creation. If a particular job is not giving you satisfaction, if it is standing in your way, then you have every right to look for a new job. If your heart's cry is sincere, then God is more than willing to give you another opportunity. Your own knowledge-light will guide you to the right place to get a better job.

Question: I have meditated on the pictures of many Masters, but I did not get any strong feeling for any of them. I was wondering if that means I am not ready for a teacher.

Sri Chinmoy: It may be that your Master has not come, or perhaps your receptivity was not strong enough for you to feel anything at that time. There are many Masters of different degrees; perhaps you have not yet seen your Master. Or while you were meditating, perhaps you did not meditate in a very receptive consciousness. Perhaps you are meditating with only mental inquisitiveness or curiosity. If you have more sincerity or intensity, then you may get the answer from within.

Please have patience. It is only a matter of time until you discover the right one. In the meantime, since you are not sure, please continue meditating on the different Masters. Meditate one day on one Master and the next day on some other. If you feel that one particular Master is giving you more joy than the rest, then meditate only on him. But even this may not be your Master. You can be certain of your Master only if you get intense joy and a spontaneous feeling of oneness with his will. So do not make the final choice until you are fully satisfied.

You want to buy something, so you have entered into a shop. But if what you see does not satisfy you fully, then you need not buy it. Just because one item in the shop is satisfying you more than the rest, you need not feel that you must buy that particular thing. You can wait and go into another shop. There also, if you do not get complete joy, then please wait. You may finally get this joy from one of the Masters whom you have meditated on previously or whom you will meditate on at some time in the near future. If you have patience, and if you meditate soulfully on the Masters, then one day your inner receptivity will come forward, and you will get intense joy from one of them. But if the right one has not yet arrived, then you have to wait.

Question: I play the guitar, but sometimes I don't know how to be spontaneous. I would like to know how to be more spontaneous in my music.

Sri Chinmoy: First learn to be spontaneous in your inner life; then you can be spontaneous in your music. Meditate for fifteen minutes with the feeling that you are only three years old. A three­ year-old child does everything spontaneously. He does not have a developed mind. Whatever he does is done because of a spontaneous inner feeling. If you meditate, you can feel that you are a child in the Lap of the Beloved Supreme.

A child is spontaneous; he is innocent. For him there is only the heart; there is no mind. Your mind doubts your capacities all the time. It finds fault with others and with yourself. But the heart is all simplicity, spontaneity and oneness. So if you can turn yourself into a little child while meditating, you will be able to incorporate the same result into your music. You have to feel that you are a divine child. Then, while playing music, you will see that your music is all a spontaneous expression of what you yourself have become. You have to have a childlike feeling before you begin to play your music.

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Poems

Because I strive

Because I strive,
My dear Supreme tolerates me.
Because I fail,
My sweet Supreme forgives me.
But there shall come a time
When I shall proceed in the inner world
And succeed in the outer world.
And then and then alone
My Beloved Supreme will bless me
During the day,
And crown me
During the night.

I owe God everything

True, I owe God everything.
But there is one thing
I owe Him most,
And that is my gratitude-heart
For my life's blossoming surrender-flower.

You will be happy

Ignore the pains of your body,
Ignore!
You will be unmistakably happy.

Silence the demands of your vital,
Silence!
You will be unbelievably happy.

Destroy the doubts of your mind,
Destroy!
You will be unimaginably happy.

Remember the purity of your heart,
Remember!
You will be unceasingly happy.

Remember God's Pride in you,
Remember!
God will be unreservedly happy with you.

The fountain of immortal life

An aspiration-heart
Is the fountain of immortal Life.
It can easily turn away
From the stark snare of death.

Give what you never want to give

Give what you truly
Never want to give:
Your heart's secret and sacred joy.

Keep what you truly
Never want to keep:
Your heart's tiny innocent gratitude-plant.

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My Lord's Fond Secrets

1.

"On my arrival at the summit of the reasoning mind, I expected to see a speedy satisfaction-deer. Alas, alas, I met with a devouring frustration­tiger. O my Lord Supreme, what shall I do now?"

"My hungry child, a reasoning mind will never, never be able to satisfy you. Only a self-giving heart and a God-becoming life can and will satisfy you."

2.

"My Lord Supreme, we are all bubbles of song-waves. Is there any difference between a song and a wave?"

"Yes, My child, there is a difference between a song and a wave. A song is a soul; a wave is a body. When the soul enters into a body, I dream of My Manifestation-Light. When the body enters into the soul, I dream of My Satisfaction-Delight."

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3.

"My Supreme Lord, from today on I would like to please You and fulfil You until I breathe my last. Please tell me how many things and which are the things I have to do in order to please You and fulfil You."

"My child, you have to do only three things, and I am telling you what these are. You have to love Me sleeplessly. You have to give Me what you have and what you are soulfully. You must never, never, never surrender to the ignorance of the world even unconsciously."

4.

"My Supreme Lord, do You really think that someday You will be able to change my earth­bound nature totally?"

"My child, I am absolutely certain that I shall be able to change your nature totally."

"How, my Lord Supreme, how?"

"I am telling you, My child, My supreme Secret. Listen to Me carefully. I shall start changing your nature with My Forgiveness-Ocean. If I see that I am not succeeding, then I shall use My Compassion­Flood. And if I see that still I am not succeeding, then I shall use My Thunder-Roars. One of the three — My Forgiveness-Ocean, My Compassion-Flood or My Thunder-Roars — will unmistakably change your nature totally."

5.

"O my Beloved Supreme, I wish to be perfect. I wish to become an absolutely perfect instrument of Yours. My Lord, my Beloved Lord, in order to achieve absolute Perfection, in how many ways do I have to realise You?"

"My Eternity's sweetest, dearest and fondest child, you have to realise Me in only two ways, since I embody only two Realities: My transcendental Smile and My universal Cry. From now on always remember that there are only two ways for you to realise Me: the vertical way and the horizontal way. The vertical way of realisation will lead you to My transcendental Smile. The horizontal way of realisation will lead you to My universal Cry. My transcendental Smile and My universal Cry are your eternal birthright."

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6.

Yesterday I told my Lord Supreme, "My Lord, I do not have time to meditate." Today I am telling my Lord Supreme, "My Lord, I do not feel like meditating." Tomorrow I shall tell my Lord Supreme, "My Lord, as long as I know that You love me, I do not have to meditate."

My Lord Supreme is telling me, "My child, your grandiose discoveries are nothing but self-mockeries. There is nobody on earth who can sincerely say that he has no time to meditate. There is no soulful seeker who can truthfully say that he does not feel like meditating. There is no real seeker who can dare to say that as long as I love him, he does not have to meditate.

"No, My child. You have to meditate regularly, for I have given you ample time. You have to meditate soulfully, for I have given you a oneness­heart. You have to meditate unconditionally for your self-mastery, which is nothing short of your discovery of My transcendental Height and My immeasurable Depth."

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7.

"My sweet Lord, how can I be constantly, divinely and supremely happy in this world?"

"My child, you can be constantly, divinely and supremely happy in this world if you can remember only three things every day. The first thing that you have to remember every day is this: you are in this world to do something really good. The second thing that you have to remember every day is this: you are in this world, but you are not of this world of darkness and confusion. The third and last thing that you have to remember every day is this: you are for the complete transformation of this world. You are in this world to do something really good. You are not of this world of darkness and confusion. You are for the total transformation of this world. If you can remember these three momentous things every day, then you can and will be constantly, divinely and supremely happy."

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Songs

Ai ai ai chandra taraka

/Ai ai ai chandra taraka/
/Nil nabha rabi ai/
/Parane bajiche amarar banshi/
/Jiban ajike asimer hasi/
/Nai hetha nai dainya timir/
/Jyoti nirjhar bishal e nir/
/Ai ai ai antara pakhi/
/Ajike sabare chai/
/Ai ore ai chandra taraka/
/Nil nabha rabi ai/

Come, come, come, O moon, O stars,
O sun of the blue-vast sky.
Come to hear the flute of Immortality in my heart,
to watch the smile of Infinity in my life.
Here there is no human poverty,
no darkness-life.
Here in this heart-nest of mine
there is only an endless fountain-light.
Come, come, come.
Today the bird of my heart desire everyone.
Come, come, come, O moon, O stars,
O sun of the blue-vast sky.