Part VI — Questions and answers: St. Joseph's College

Question: In one of your poems you wrote, "Above the toil of life, my soul is a bird of fire winging the Infinite." I wish you would explain that to me.

Sri Chinmoy: I am very happy that you have read my poem. This poem describes an experience I had when I was fourteen years old. My soul was flying in the sky of Infinity, Eternity and Immortality.

There comes a time in the life of each seeker when he has a new awakening, a higher awakening. At that time, he sees and feels higher Truth in a different way. When our consciousness is awakened to a higher realm of reality, we sense that the things that once seemed impossible or out of reach are not only possible and practicable, but also inevitable.

Right now we are all encaged. Right now, when we think of ourselves, we think of the body. Inside the body are the vital, the mind, the heart and so forth. But the body-consciousness generally dominates us, whereas the soul-reality seems like something foreign and strange. But when we regularly pray and meditate, we feed the aspiring soul. Then one day we smash asunder the tiny cage where we have been trapped for millennia, and once we come out, our body-consciousness disappears. At that time we grow into and become the soul-reality. And the soul-reality is the song of Infinity, Eternity and Immortality. At that time, we become the soul itself. Inside our aspiring heart we see a universal consciousness, and inside that universal consciousness we see our own soul, which is our eternal Reality. It is flying, offering its hidden treasure to those who need it, who want it and who claim it as their very own.

From:Sri Chinmoy,Fifty Freedom-Boats to one Golden Shore, part 2, Sri Chinmoy Centre, New York, 1974
Sourced from https://srichinmoylibrary.com/ffb_2