The Golden Boat, part 13

1. My examiners

My heart of sincerity
Has examined my previous years.

My mind of clarity
Examines my present years.

My life of dedication
Shall examine my earthbound years.

My goal of realisation
Shall examine my Heaven-free years.

2. They are beyond

Her soul is beyond
Silence-Light.

Her heart is beyond
Beauty’s life.

Her mind is beyond
Intuition-flight.

Her vital is beyond
Purity’s goal.

Her body is beyond
Humanity’s soul.

3. How can it be otherwise?

Nothing to complain,
Nothing to criticise.
God’s world is nice;
How can it be otherwise?

Nothing to suffer,
Nothing to compromise.
God’s world is another paradise;
How can it be otherwise?

4. I love the feet of morning

I love the feet of morning
Because of their supernal purity.

I love the feet of noon
Because of their habitual surety.

I love the feet of evening
Because of their perpetual duty.

I love the feet of night
Because of their eternal beauty.

5. Your soul's splendour

Your soul’s ancient splendour
Of God-revelation
Has sunk.
Yet you are quite cheerful.

Your body’s modern splendour
Of ignorance-manifestation
Has arisen.
Yet you are not doleful.

6. In my dreams

In my old dream
I saw the face of beauty.

In my new dream
I feel the arms of duty.

In my forthcoming dream
I shall achieve the pride of Divinity.

7. Look at them!

Two greedy eyes
Want to devour
God’s infinite Love.
Look at their stupid audacity!

Two speedy feet
Want to reach
God’s endless Goal.
Look at their deplorable stupidity!

One needy heart
Wants to feel God’s
Compassion-flood.
Look at its miserable incapacity!

8. We have failed

You have tried to break
Death’s control.
Alas, you have badly failed.

He has tried to fathom
A love-sea.
Alas, he has sadly failed.

I have tried to build
A gratitude-cottage.
Alas, I have hopelessly failed.

9. Yesterday, today, tomorrow

O greedy yesterday,
Do not follow me, please.
It is not nice to follow someone
Without his permission.

O speedy today,
Do not be a deer, please.
Please be a tortoise.
Have you forgotten the unforgettable maxim:
“Slow and steady wins the race”?

O my tardy tomorrow,
How long do you want me to wait for you?
“Time and tide wait for no man”.
Hasten your arrival, please,
If your compassion-breath at all
cares for my life.

10. God and His daughter

My sincerity speaks:
God, I need You.
God’s sincerity speaks:
“Daughter, I need you
More than you need Me.”
Father, why?
Why do You need me
More than I need You?
“Daughter,
My daughter,
I need you more than you need Me
Because I know what you really are:
On earth you are My only hope,
In Heaven you are My only promise.”

11. Come, my friends

Faith, my quiet friend,
Come, let me feel your flower-heart.

Courage, my secret friend,
Come, let me see your determination.

Love, my sacred friend,
Come, let me see your perfection-goal.

12. What God can make of me

I saw what I could be:
God-heights.

I see what I cannot be:
World-nights.

I shall see what God can make of me:
A deserted soul
Or
A perfected God.

13. Three questions

Answer me three questions.

This is a cruel question:
How is it that you are not
Another God?

This is a friendly question:
How have you pleased God
So quickly and so completely?

This is an unanswerable question,
But I wish you to try:
Did God tell you
When He is going to make me
The first perfect man and
Another perfect God?

14. Nobody needs him

He is in a vast desert;
Nobody needs him.

He is in a dense forest;
Nobody needs him.

He is in a shoreless sea;
Nobody needs him.

He is in high Heaven;
Ah, everybody needs him
Or
At least wants him.

15. I shall maintain my love

With humanity’s cry
I shall maintain
My inseparable love.

With divinity’s smile
I shall maintain
My undivided love.

With God’s Dream
I shall maintain
My constant love.

16. No peace

My
Earth has no peace
Because
I am restless.

My
Heaven has no peace
Because
I am listless.

My
God has no peace
Because
I am faithless.

17. Yes, I have one

Yes, I have a soul,
But right now
It is all shattered.

Yes, I have a heart,
But right now
It is all battered.

Yes, I have a life,
But right now
It is worse than a sheep.

Yes, I have a God,
But right now
He is fast asleep.

19. God has descended

God the Compassion
Has descended
To rescue my soul-flow.

God the illumination
Has descended
To rescue my heart-river.

God the Perfection
Has descended
To rescue my life-boat.

20. A brief oblivion

My earth-life:
A brief oblivion.

My Heaven-life:
A brief oblivion, too.

My earth-oblivion
Prevents me from seeing
The Face of God.

My Heaven-oblivion
Prevents me from touching
The Feet of God.

21. No ordinary human being

You are no ordinary
Human being.
In you I see
A star of illumination blue.

He is no ordinary
Human being.
In him I see
A moon of compassion green.

And

I am no ordinary
Human being.
In myself I see
A sun of perfection gold.

22. We were not prepared

You were not prepared
To meet life’s shoreless sea.

He was not prepared
To meet the boat without the pilot.

And

I was not prepared
To touch the goalless shore.

23. False and true

False!
What is false?
A power-hungry life.

False!
Who is false?
A love-demanding man.

True!
What is true?
A self-giving life.

True!
Who is true?
A God-becoming man.

24. Inseparable

Madness and fearlessness
Are inseparable
In the physical world.

Goodness and selflessness
Are inseparable
In the inner world.

Oneness in many-ness,
Perfection in all-ness
Are inseparable
In God’s highest world.

25. One day

Your thunder-pride,
God will one day break.

Your jealousy-tree,
God will one day fell.

Your doubt-sky,
God will one day rend.

Your insecurity-sea,
God will one day devour.

26. They long to follow you

O tears and beggars,
Where are you going?
My heart-life
And
My love-soul
Long to follow you.

O joys and kings,
Where are you going?
My earth-renunciation
And
My Heaven-determination
Long to follow you.

27. How can I love Him?

I have always
Longed to love.
But
Whom to love?
Man?
Not worth loving!
God?
Where is He?
How can I love Him
If He denies me
His Presence supreme?

28. Perhaps my old friend can

I have always
Longed to live.
But where?
On earth?
It is not worth living there!
In Heaven?
Where is it?
Does it really exist?
Who can tell me
Where Heaven is?
Perhaps
My old friend,
Hope-flame,
Can.

29. Captured

My earth-life
Is captured
By the ugly anger of the world
And
By the wild hunger of the world.

My Heaven-dream
Is captured
By the bitter frustration of the world
And
By the dire destruction of the world.

30. Remove me

Lord, that I may near You,
Remove me from my fears.

Lord, that I may love You,
Remove me from my tears.

Lord, that I may please You,
Remove me from my desire-life.

Lord, that I may manifest You,
Remove me from my self-love.

31. They need silence

Soothing silence
My body needs.

Striving silence
My vital needs.

Searching silence
My mind needs.

Illumining silence
My heart needs.

Fulfilling silence
My soul needs.

32. Light and faith

Darkness has vanished
But
Where is light?
O where is light?
Light is in self-giving.

Doubt has vanished
But
Where is faith?
O where is faith?
Faith is in love-becoming.

33. When he hurled defiance

When he hurled defiance
At ignorance,
Ignorance refused to surrender.

When he hurled defiance
At darkness,
Darkness hesitated to surrender.

When he hurled defiance
At falsehood,
Falsehood ran away.

When he hurled defiance
At death,
Death immediately surrendered.

34. I need

Lord, I need
The Infinity of Thy Love.
I need
To feed my hungry heart.

Lord, I need
The Eternity of Thy Silence.
I need
To quench my thirsty mind.

Lord, I need
The Immortality of Thy Life.
I need
To free my world from ignorance-dream.

35. Flower-songs of morning

Flower-songs of morning
Make my life pure.

Fire-songs of noon
Make my life sure.

Rainbow-songs of evening
Make my life leap.

Star-songs of night
Make my life fly.

36. I Love my servant

I love my silence-servant.
Devotedly he feeds my mind.

I love my sound-servant.
Dauntlessly he feeds my vital.

I love my Heaven-servant.
Carefully he feeds my heart.

I love my earth-servant.
Unconditionally he feeds my body.

37. God's birthless Song

My life started
With God’s birthless Song.
My life shall end
With God’s endless Dance.

In God’s Song
I saw man the future God.
In God’s Dance
I saw God the eternal man.

38. I long to be silence

Great is truth;
Therefore
I long to be truth.

Good is love;
Therefore
I long to be love.

Divine is sound;
Therefore
I long to be sound.

Supreme is silence;
Therefore
I long to be silence.

39. The beginning of earth-emancipation

Your inner life
Is the island of light.
Your outer life
Is the sunshine of smile.
Your God-life
Is the beginning
Of earth-emancipation
And
Earth-perfection.

40. A king of perfection-love

You were a king
Of aspiration-flames;
Therefore,
You were a king
Of renunciation-life;
Therefore,
You were great.
BUT
Now you have become a king
Of Perfection-love;
Therefore,
You are good.

41. Your flatterers

Earth-mirror
Flatters you, your body.

Heaven-dream
Flatters you, your vital.

Life-responsibility
Flatters you, your mind.

Death-insincerity
Flatters you, your heart.

God-necessity
Flatters you, your soul.

42. How they differ

The difference
Between
My heart and my mind:
My heart is creation-light;
My mind is confusion-night.

The difference
Between
My vital and my body:
My vital wants to roar;
My body wants to snore.

The difference
Between
My God and my soul:
My God wanders;
My soul wonders.

43. A real surprise

His earth-life
Is a real surprise.
He has made himself
Smaller than atom-life.

His Heaven-life
Is a real surprise.
He has become
The best God-dreamer.

His God-life
Is a real surprise.
He and God
Sit on the same throne;
He and God
Complement each other.

44. They have found themselves

Beauty has found herself
In love.

Love has found herself
In duty.

Duty has found herself
In necessity.

Necessity has found herself
In reality.

Reality has found herself
In perfection.

Perfection has found herself
In satisfaction.

Satisfaction has found herself
In aspiration.

45. Morning and evening

In the morning
I am an undying hope.
In the evening
I am a broken heart.

In the morning,
Short is my road.
In the evening,
Endless is my road.

In the morning
God is within my vision’s range.
In the evening
God is nowhere to be found.
Indeed,
I am in the flow
Of contradiction-confusion sea.

46. O tears of earth

O tears of earth,
I am for you,
Always for you.

O smiles of Heaven,
I think of you,
Always think of you.

O hate of man,
I am not with you,
And shall never be with you.

O love of God,
I am of you,
Always of you.

47. Never and ever

God has chosen me.
I shall not fail Him.
Never!

Man has chosen me.
I shall love him.
Ever!

Heaven has chosen me.
I shall never speak ill of Heaven.
Never!

Earth has chosen me.
I shall carry earth’s burden.
Ever!

48. In his outer life

In his outer life
He is a useless abundance.
In his inner life
He is a careless abundance.

In his earth-life
He is a soulless sound.
In his Heaven-life
He is a goalless silence.

49. I need the shore

Body, what do you need?
I need the shore of inspiration.

Vital, what do you need?
I need the shore of determination.

Mind, what do you need?
I need the shore of illumination.

Heart, what do you need?
I need the shore of liberation.

Soul, what do you need?
I need the shore of perfect perfection.

50. God alone knows

The joy of faith,
God alone knows.
The faith of joy,
Man tries to learn.

The beauty of spirit,
God alone knows.
The spirit of beauty,
Man tries to learn.

The Sri Chinmoy Library