Selected Poetry

By Sri Chinmoy

One does not expect a life that is immersed in the Divine to yield literary classics. That the one who envisions the Infinite should also undertake to impart his realisations to others would seem in itself to be an overwhelming task. And yet, in age after age, seers and mystics have created sublime works, capable of elevating aspiring souls and conveying a glimpse of the Beyond.

This selection of Sri Chinmoy’s poetry spans the years from his youth in India to his mature poems written in the West, and continues up until his passing in 2007. In all, the efflorescence of more than half a century is represented here.

Sri Chinmoy’s vast body of poetry is an endless contemplation of God and of man’s journey towards Him. In reading these pristine stanzas, we discover before us a map of the human soul— whence it has come and whither it is returning.

A hallmark of Sri Chinmoy’s poetry is its gracefulness and dignity. In his early poems, this was reflected in more traditional poetic forms. Over the years, he moved towards an increasingly aphoristic style, wherein the major theme of the poem was condensed into the compass of no more than one or two stanzas.

As part of this distillation of the English language, Sri Chinmoy spontaneously gathered key words together to form compound nouns. These innovative expressions not only provide the poems with a luminous core of meaning but also with a new language of the interior life.

Alongside his poems, we find Sri Chinmoy’s renderings into English of many of his Bengali songs. Even in translation, these lyrics would seem to have something of the pure, musical note still clinging to them. We feel the immediacy of the speaker’s emotions as he responds with pain to God’s absence or is filled with the joy of God’s presence. In their delicate and subtle emotional shadings, these lyrics reveal a rare, personal aspect of the poet.

Finally, this selection includes various other literary forms, such as prayers, conversations and aphorisms. All Sri Chinmoy’s writings are intrinsically poetic. It was, quite simply, the way he envisioned the world.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Sri Chinmoy
• Release date: Mar 15, 2014
• ISBN: 9781938599590

Sri Chinmoy

Sri Chinmoy was born in the small village of Shakpura in East Bengal, India (now Bangladesh) in 1931. He was the youngest of seven children in a devout family. In 1944, after the passing of both of his parents, he joined his brothers and sisters at the Sri Aurobindo Ashram, a spiritual community near Pondicherry in South India. He prayed and meditated for several hours a day, having many deep inner experiences. It was here that he first began writing poetry to convey his widening mystical vision. He also took an active part in Ashram life and was an athletic champion for many years. Heeding an inner command, Sri Chinmoy came to the United States in 1964 to be of service to spiritual aspirants in the Western world. During the 43 years that he lived in the West, he opened more than 100 meditation Centres worldwide and served as spiritual guide to thousands of students. Sri Chinmoy’s boundless creativity found expression not only in poetry and other forms of literature, but also in musical composition and performance, art and sport. In each sphere he sought to convey the diverse experiences that comprise the spiritual journey: the search for truth and beauty, the struggle to transcend limitations, and the supremely fulfilling communion of the human soul with the Divine. As a self-described student of peace who combined Eastern spirituality and Western dynamism in a remarkable way, Sri Chinmoy garnered international renown. In 1970, at the request of U Thant, third Secretary-General of the United Nations, he began the twice-weekly peace meditations for delegates and staff members at UN headquarters that continue to this day. He offered hundreds of peace concerts, always free of charge, in the U.S. and many other countries. He founded the World Harmony Run, a biennial Olympic-style relay in which runners pass a flaming peace torch from hand to hand as they travel around the globe bearing the message of universal oneness. And he established the Oneness-Heart-Tears and Smiles humanitarian organization, which serves the less fortunate members of the world family by supplying food, medical and educational equipment and other urgent support. On 11 October 2007, Sri Chinmoy passed behind the curtain of Eternity. His creative, peace-loving and humanitarian endeavours are carried on worldwide by his students, who practise meditation and strive to serve the world in accordance with his timeless teachings.

Book preview

Sri Chinmoy: Selected Poems

Selected Poems

by Sri Chinmoy

AUM PUBLICATIONS • NEW YORK

Copyright © 2011 Sri Chinmoy Centre

Copyright © 2013 Sri Chinmoy Centre (ebook)

ISBN: 978-1-938599-59-0

All rights reserved. No portion of this book

may be reproduced without express

written permission of the publisher.

Published by

Aum Publications

8610 Parsons Blvd.

Jamaica, NY 11432

SMASHWORDS EDITION

Table of Contents

Introduction

Poems

Lyrics

Aphorisms

Prayers

Poetic Conversations

The Poet on Poetry

List of Sources

Biographical Note

INTRODUCTION

One does not expect a life that is immersed in the Divine to yield literary classics. That the one who envisions the Infinite should also undertake to impart his realisations to others would seem in itself to be an overwhelming task. And yet, in age after age, seers and mystics have created sublime works, capable of elevating aspiring souls and conveying a glimpse of the Beyond.

This selection of Sri Chinmoy’s poetry spans the years from his youth in India to his mature poems written in the West, and continues up until his passing in 2007. In all, the efflorescence of more than half a century is represented here.

Sri Chinmoy’s vast poetic oeuvre is an endless contemplation of God and of man’s journey towards Him. In reading these pristine stanzas, we discover before us a map of the human soul—whence it has come and whither it is returning.

A hallmark of Sri Chinmoy’s poetry is its gracefulness and dignity. In his early poems, this was reflected in more traditional poetic forms. Over the years, he moved towards an increasingly aphoristic style, wherein the major theme of the poem was condensed into the compass of no more than one or two stanzas.

As part of this distillation of the English language, Sri Chinmoy spontaneously gathered key words together to form compound nouns. These innovative expressions not only provide the poems with a luminous core of meaning but also with a new language of the interior life.

Alongside his poems, we find Sri Chinmoy’s renderings into English of many of his Bengali songs. Even in translation, these lyrics would seem to have something of the pure, musical note still clinging to them. We feel the immediacy of the speaker’s emotions as he responds with pain to God’s absence or is filled with the joy of God’s presence. In their delicate and subtle emotional shadings, these lyrics reveal a rare, personal aspect of the poet.

Finally, this selection includes various other literary forms, such as prayers, conversations and aphorisms. All Sri Chinmoy’s writings are intrinsically poetic. It was, quite simply, the way he envisioned the world. As he writes in one exquisite poem:

Let my vision dive deep within

So that I can see the world

With the beauty of a poet’s heart.

— Dr. Vidagdha Bennett

Perth, 2011

Poems

From

Flame-Waves

(India, 1955)

THE GOLDEN FLUTE

A sea of Peace and Joy and Light

Beyond my reach I know.

In me the storm-tossed weeping night

Finds room to rage and flow.

I cry aloud, but all in vain;

I helpless, the earth unkind!

What soul of might can share my pain?

Death-dart alone I find.

A raft am I on the sea of time;

My oars are washed away.

How can I hope to reach the clime

Of God’s eternal Day?

But hark! I hear Thy golden Flute,

Its notes bring the Summit down.

Now safe am I, O Absolute!

Gone death, gone night’s stark frown!

REVELATION

No more my heart shall sob or grieve.

My days and nights dissolve in God’s own Light.

Above the toil of life my soul

Is a bird of fire winging the Infinite.

I have known the One and His secret Play

And passed beyond the sea of ignorance-dream.

In tune with Him, I sport and sing;

I own the golden Eye of the Supreme.

Drunk deep of Immortality,

I am the root and boughs of a teeming vast.

My Form I have known and realised.

The Supreme and I are one; all we outlast.

THE ABSOLUTE

No mind, no form, I only exist;

Now ceased all will and thought.

The final end of Nature’s dance;

I am It whom I have sought.

A realm of bliss, bare, ultimate,

Beyond both knower and known.

A rest immense I enjoy at last;

I face the One alone.

I have crossed the secret ways of life;

I have become the Goal.

The Truth immutable is revealed;

I am the way, the God-soul.

My spirit aware of all the heights,

I am mute in the core of the Sun.

I barter nothing with time and deeds;

My cosmic play is done.

APOCALYPSE

Within, without the cosmos wide am I;

In joyful sweep I loose forth and draw back all.

A birthless, deathless Spirit that moves and is still

Ever abides within to hear my call.

I who create on earth my joys and doles

To fulfil my matchless quest in all my play,

I veil my face of truth with golden hues

And see the serpent-night and python-day.

A consciousness-bliss I feel in each breath;

I am the self-amorous child of the Sun.

At will I break and build my symbol sheath

And freely enjoy the world’s unshadowed fun.

IMMORTALITY

I feel in all my limbs His boundless Grace;

Within my heart the Truth of life shines white.

The secret heights of God my soul now climbs;

No dole, no sombre pang, no death in my sight.

No mortal days and nights can shake my calm;

A Light above sustains my secret soul.

All doubts with grief are banished from my deeps,

My eyes of light perceive my cherished Goal.

Though in the world, I am above its woe;

I dwell in an ocean of supreme release.

My mind, a core of the One’s unmeasured Thoughts;

The star-vast welkin hugs my Spirit’s peace.

My eternal days are found in speeding time;

I play upon His Flute of rhapsody.

Impossible deeds no more impossible seem;

In birth-chains now shines Immortality.

A