The Golden Boat, part 4

1. The future of a man

The future of a simple man:
    Success.

The future of a sincere man:
    Progress.

The future of a humble man:
    Glory.

The future of a pure man:
    Enlightenment serene.

The future of a concentrative, meditative
    and contemplative man:
    Perfection supreme.

2. O bearer

O my mind,
O bearer of my human searching,
    Gracious is your life.

O my heart,
O bearer of my human longing,
    Precious is your life.

O my soul,
O bearer of my human receiving and achieving,
    Magnanimous is your goal.

3. His desire to please God

His desire to please God
    Ultimately failed.

His ambition to please God
    Ultimately failed.

His aspiration to please God
    Ultimately failed.

    Finally
His surrender-heart pleased God
    Openly,
    Lovingly
    And
    Supremely.

4. She and the world

She plays merrily,
    Therefore
The world likes her.

She speaks sweetly,
    Therefore
The world loves her.

She sings melodiously,
    Therefore
The world adores her.

She blesses divinely,
    Therefore
The world constantly needs her.

5. Life is velocity

Life is velocity.
    Therefore
I want to run fast, very fast.

Love is necessity.
    Therefore
I want to love more, ever more.

Truth is reality.
    Therefore
I want to achieve, only achieve.

6. When will you arrive?

Hope, my hope,
When will you arrive
    At your goal?

    Faith, my faith,
Have you not arrived
    At your goal?

    Love, my love,
When did you arrive
    At your goal?

    Light, my light,
You need the expansion
    Of your goal.

7. My best days

My best days
    In hell:
When I smash the pride of Satan.

My best days
    In Heaven:
When I cry for God-realisation.

My best days
    On earth:
When I cry for God-manifestation.

8. Violations

You violated
Your inner dignity.
    Therefore
    Reckless irresponsibility
    Embraced you.

    You violated
The secret teachings
    Of the cosmic law.
    Therefore
    Even God did not near you
    To save your life
    Of untold deception.

9. The seed of perfection

Slowly grows
The seed of love.

    Steadily grows
The seed of faith.

    Unerringly grows
The seed of life.

    Supremely grows
The seed of perfection.

10. What is it?

Speed, what is it?
Beauty’s light.

Love, what is it?
Duty’s pride.

Delight, what is it?
Necessity’s height.

11. A very special prayer

Lamentation-force
Is a very special prayer.
    Silence-force
Is a very special concentration.
    Delight-force
Is a very special meditation.
    Perfection-force
Is a very special contemplation.

12. Thee I adore

O Protector of poor souls,
    Thee I adore.

O Saviour of wicked souls,
    Thee I adore.

O Liberator of earthbound souls,
    Thee I adore.

O Transformer of fallen souls,
    Thee I adore.

O Fulfiller of aspiring souls,
    Thee I adore,
    Thee I love,
    Thee I invoke.

13. Heavy and light

Heavy
    Is the weight of failure.
Heavier
    Is the weight of success.
    Heaviest
    Is the weight of progress.

    Light
    Is the weight of hope.
Lighter
    Is the weight of faith.
    Lightest
    Is the weight of love.

14. I am not alone

My progress is permanently
    Protected by my Father’s Will.

My faith is permanently
    Protected by my Mother’s Love.

I am not alone.
I am with my Father’s
    Dream-boat Reality.

I am not alone.
I am with my Mother’s
Reality-fulfilled Dream.

15. Devotion-power and surrender-power

Insecurity’s length
And
Timidity’s breadth
Comprised his little world.

Then, suddenly, devotion-power
Became the light-giver
To his ignorance vast,
And
Surrender-power
Made him one
With the Transcendence-goal
Of the ever-transcending Beyond.

16. Your life

That was your life:
You deliberately forgot to aspire.
    This is your life:
You spontaneously remember to aspire.

    That was your life:
Hard you endeavoured to surpass God.
    This is your life:
Hard you try to please God,
    Even for a fleeting moment.

17. Like it or not

Whether you like it
    Or not,
God will tell you many things.

Whether he likes it
    Or not,
God has no time to talk to him at all.

Whether I like it
    Or not,
God wants to embarrass me
    By placing me on
    His Transcendental Throne.

18. This is not my birthday

This is not my birthday.
My birthday was yesterday,
When God and I sang and played.

This is not my birthday.
O earth-pilgrims,
Why do you torture me
With earthly gifts?

I need only one Heavenly gift,
    Love:
    Love from God,
    Love from God alone.

19. In the eyes of the Saviours

In the eyes of the Saviour Christ,
The world was an ignorance-night.

In the eyes of the Saviour Krishna,
The world was an ignorance-sea.

In the eyes of the Saviour Buddha,
The world was an ignorance-sky.

    O ignorance-night,
    Your futility hurts me.

    O ignorance-sea,
    Your insensibility hurts me.

    O ignorance-sky,
    Your indifference hurts me.

20. The opening

Faith is the opening
Of the wisdom-eye.

Love is the opening
Of the oneness-heart.

Service is the opening
Of the immortality-life.

21. Shun his company

His vital is a mixture
Of impure vanity
And
Dark superstition.
Therefore,
Shun his company.
If you mix with him
You are bound
To welcome
Your inner death.
Alas, what a troublesome world
His earth-life represents!

22. Fear, doubt and faith

To me,
Fear is a pardonable defect
    Because it dies;
Doubt is an unpardonable defect
    Because it always survives;
Faith is a radiant smile
    Because it overrules
All blind human opinion.

23. Silence and sound

When the desire
To escape captured him,
He entered
Into a Himalayan cave.
Alas, peace and joy
Cared not for him.
He came back
To the sound-life
And discovered:
Silence is embodied perfection,
Sound is revealed manifestation.

24. Journey of Light and Delight

There was a time
When I endured
The indifference of ignorance-night.
But now ignorance
Endures my indifference-light.

There was a time
When I endured
The tortures of human boundaries.
But now they
Are no more.
They have disappeared
In my upward and inward journey
Of Light and Delight.

25. O builder

O builder of my soul,
Where are You?

O builder of my Goal,
How far are You?

O builder of my heart,
How kind are You?

O builder of my mind,
How fantastic are You?

26. I am coming

O abyss of oblivion,
I am coming to you
With my information-mind.
Please wait.

O palace of illumination,
I am coming to you
With my aspiration-heart.
Please wait.

27. Forgetfulness-monarch

O stormy vital emotion,
From now on my name shall be
Forgetfulness-Prince.

O sombre mental frustration,
From now on my name shall be
Forgetfulness-King.

O foolish psychic destruction,
From now on my name shall be
Forgetfulness-Emperor.

    Yet
I shall run,
But with a vital new,
    with a mind new,
    with a heart new,
Beyond the length
Of extremity’s song.

28. Sky of Perfection-Dawn

From his tongue
Comes every possible
    Absurdity.

    From his eyes
Comes every possible
    Futility.

Yet his ecstatic
    Love-adoration for God
    Saves him and lifts his life
Into the sky of Perfection-Dawn.

29. Every message

Every secret message
Is a Thought of God.

Every sacred message
Is a Will of God.

Every divine message
Is a Consciousness-Sun of God.

Every supreme message
Is a Perfection-
    Manifestation-
    Reality
    Of God.

30. His body's shallow strength

When he thinks,
He thinks from his mind’s
    Pygmy height.

    When he speaks,
He speaks from his vital’s
    Unmeasured length.

    When he acts,
He acts from his body’s
    Shallow strength.

31. Silence-sky, sound-sea

My weeping heart
    Teaches me
God is an indifferent King.

My singing soul
    Teaches me
God is a jovial Friend.

My loving Goal
    Teaches me
God gives two gifts —
    Morning’s silence-sky,
    Evening’s sound-sea.

32. Conclusions

Human life is a dream.
    Indeed,
This is your philosopher’s conclusion.

Human life is a game.
    Indeed,
This is your lover’s conclusion.

Human life is a Reality.
    Indeed,
This is your seeker’s conclusion.

33. Secrets

Top secrets
Everybody knows:
    God is man’s Light,
    Man is God’s night.

Open secrets
Nobody knows:
    Man is another golden God,
    Man is another black animal.

34. When I look at him

When I look at him
    I see an aura of fear
    Behind his head.
When I look at him
    I see an aura of death
    Around his face.
A mere mortal
    He can never be.
An inner pain
    Gnaws at him
    Constantly.
His is a life of
    Ill-fortune
    And
    Hermit-existence.

35. They learn more

Children learn more
When they are loved.

Parents learn more
When they are ignored.

Humanity learns more
When it is appreciated.

Divinity learns more
When it is rejected.

36. Our commitment

Life is our commitment
    To equality.
Love is our commitment
    To reality.
Peace is our commitment
    To liberty.
Power is our commitment
    To divinity.
God is our commitment
    To Immortality.

37. His hunger for God

His body’s hunger for God
Was a stupid curiosity.

His vital’s hunger for God
Was a dauntless curiosity.

His mind’s hunger for God
Was a cautious curiosity.

His heart’s hunger for God
Was an illumined curiosity.

38. You are your will

Always control yourself.
A moment of impatience
Is a movement of self-destruction.
You are your own adamantine will.
In you and for you
Is your transcendental Goal.

39. A perfect fool

A perfect fool he is.
He began his life-journey
    Badly and stupidly,
    And it went on worse,
    Strikingly worse.
Yet he fails to surrender
    To reality’s light
    And divinity’s height.

40. Luminous, precious, gracious

Luminous was she
    Within her heart.
Precious was she
    In the heart of her life.
Gracious was she
    In the soul of her Goal.

41. You have a passion

You have a passion for Truth.
    Therefore
Truth is within you.

You have a passion for Light.
    Therefore
Light enlightens you.

You have a passion for Love.
    Therefore
Love immortalises you.

42. A great competition

God and I
Entered into a great competition.
He pitted His Love
Against my teeming doubts.
Alas, He won.
I pitted my ingratitude
Against His flowing Compassion.
Alas, this time too, He won.

God, since twice I have lost to You,
I shall muster no more
Courage-light
To challenge Your superiority.

43. A complete innocence, a complete perfection

A complete innocence
Signifies an awakened life.
A complete perfection
Signifies an unconditional surrender-light
    And transcendence-height
    In the heart-nest
    Of the seeker.

44. He became what he was

With bubbling enthusiasm
He launched into the path of yoga.
    With doubting uncertainty
He walked along the path.
    With his destructive impatience,
    With his devouring personality,
He left the path,
Only to become once again
What he was before:
    A monkey with a
    Sesquipedalian tail.

45. Divinity's Smile and Immortality's Dawn

Doubt ends
    When separativity ends.
Faith begins
    When consciousness ascends
    And reaches the free heights
    Of divinity’s Smile
    And
    Immortality’s Dawn.

47. Smile and go away

Short are the hours of pleasure-life,
Yet man wants it.
Long are the hours of happiness-life,
Yet man wants it not.

Smile and go away
From the hours of pleasure-life.
Cry and stay within
The hours of happiness-life.

48. Three voices

A deep warning voice solemnly commanded:
    “Don’t speak to doubt.
    Doubt is poison.”

A deep loving voice smilingly whispered:
    “Mix with faith.
    Faith is reality’s all.”

A deep illumining voice soulfully revealed:
    “Drink the fragrance of love.
    Love is all.”

49. The dawn

Silence
Is the dawn of time.

    Sound
Is the dawn of will.

    Man-success
Is the dawn of aspiration.

    God-progress
Is the dawn of Perfection.

50. The golden ones

The golden Boat
Is beauty’s speed.

The golden Shore
Is divinity’s crown.

The golden Dream,
Reality dreams.

The golden Pilot,
Eternity claims.

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 printed by the group pictured in the photograph above the the preface.

The Sri Chinmoy Library