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Although it is extremely difficult
To tame the wild mind,
We must succeed.
– Sri Chinmoy, Seventy-Seven Thousand Service-Trees, part 26, Agni Press, 2002
There is only one way
To arrive at the destination:
Begin.
All that you need
May not be before you
Or around you,
But all that you need
Is definitely within you.
If we can illumine the mind,
By virtue of our prayers
And meditations,
Its capacities will be unimaginable.
Love is something
That never cared to learn
How to judge anybody.
If you can create harmony
In your own life,
This harmony will enter
Into the vast world.
It is better
To make mistakes
Than to lie idle.
Enrich the lives of others.
Lo, your heart has become
Infinitely rich.
A happy life is the clear indication
Of a tamed mind
And disciplined thoughts.
When you become
Your heart's soulfulness
The whole world will love you
Far beyond your imagination.
Humanity has given me
Heavy burdens,
But God has given me
Two strong shoulders.
Our adamantine determination-power
Can easily tame
All our stray and unwilling thoughts.
O seeker,
Do not be doomed
To disappointment.
Behold,
The sunny sky of your soul
Is beckoning you.
Optimism, optimism!
Keep a profound optimism.
Bow to your future Goal.
Your Goal will not fail you,
And you will not fail your Goal.
The soul comes to the fore
And tells the darkness-mind
"Come home, come home!
For such a long time
I have been waiting for you."
It is not easy,
But we must tame and train
Our old, unwilling thoughts
For a higher life
And richer achievement
In the inner world.
Seize every moment
To transform the undivine into the divine,
And the divine into the perfect.
I believe in
The magic transformation
Of life:
We can establish universal oneness
Through our prayer and meditation.
Do you want to be happy?
Then force your mind to be
Inside the breath of your heart.
This is the only way
To keep yourself happy.
I am determined
To smash the pride
Of all the negative qualities
That torture me day in and day out.
Do you want to be happy,
Really happy?
Then just think
Of your outer life less,
A little less,
And live more,
A little more,
In your inner life.
Believe me, O seeker!
When you smile,
All your negativity-poison disappears
In the twinkling of an eye.
Finally, I have joined God
To see and feel everything
With love.
We shall definitely be successful in life,
If we take each outer difficulty
As an opportunity.
The sun shines
Everywhere,
Yet the human mind
Remains unlit.
The human life
In me
Has to learn
Many things divine.
There is no way
To achieve goodness
Without offering it first.
Our mind-windows
Have to be cleaned every day
If we want to see truth through them.
The experience of God-ecstacy
Costs nothing.
It only needs the effort.
By constantly analysing
Yourself,
You are only paralising
Your mind.
Leave behind
Not your words
But your deeds for mankind.
We all live
A life of imperfection.
Therefore our life
Is in need of
Constant repair.
To better oneself
Means to be
A good citizen of the world.
What the mind has
Is nothing more
Than a flickering lamp
Of reason.
To be a good citizen of the world
Means I am not only for myself;
I am also for the rest of the world.
If I do not accept myself
As imperfect,
How am I going to transcend
My limitations?
We forget to remember God.
Therefore our life on earth
Remains uninspired, unillumined
And unfulfilled.
To help others go
In the right direction,
We must go in that direction
First.
Life is void
Because we do not dare
To look deep within.
Life has no limits.
It is the mind that creates
Life's so-called limits.
Alas, we are begging our unhappy mind
To make us happy.
Let us knock at our heart-door
The right door,
Which can and shall make us happy.
When we appreciate the good qualities
In the height and depth of a country,
Its soul gets the inner strength
To awaken again
The members of its own family:
Its countrymen.
My achievements I treasure
Only when
They make others prosper.
The outer capacity
Comes from the awareness
Of the inner necessity.
If we can all become good citizens
Of the world,
Then the face and fate of the world
Will change overnight.
Bring to the fore your hidden capacities,
Not only to do something great,
But also to become someone good.
If your concentrated will-power
Is focused on your destination,
You will definitely reach the goal.
Concentrate! Concentrate!
Discouraging, destructive
And uncomely thoughts
Will not be able to capture you.
Every second
Either you are going to miss
Or you are going to avail yourself of
A golden opportunity.
If you are wise,
You will try your utmost to seize
Each God-given opportunity.
Why do we play sports?
To develop fellow feeling;
To serve humanity.
Why do we watch sports?
To receive inspiration, enthusiasm,
Joy and courage.
Each religion
Is a different branch
Of the same life-tree.
My prayer and meditation
Have made me realise
That love of God
Is the only religion.
If we truly love God,
We will cherish all religions
In the depths of our heart.
The world is indeed one family -
Sisters and brothers
With the same Father:
God.
The world is indeed one family -
Different names and faces,
But all are children of God.
We are all leaves, flowers and fruits
On the different religion-branches
Of the birthless and deathless life-tree.
Let us care about loving God
And not worry about
Which religion is the best.
If I truly love God,
I go beyond the boundaries
Of religion
And feel oneness
With all God's children.
If the world is going to change,
First we will have to change
In our hearts.
After many, many years of centuries,
Humanity will come to realise
That without light
There can be no true satisfaction.
How long can the world deny the light?
The day will come when the world
Will be sick of its darkness.
If we offer others concern
And compassion,
Their good will can only expedite
Our own progress.
These poems excerpts are from the series of aphorisms by Sri Chinmoy titled: Seventy-Seven Thousand Service-Trees
Seventy-Seven Thousand Service-Trees at Sri Chinmoy Poetry.
Seventy-Seven Thousand Service-Trees part 1 at Sri Chinmoy Library.