My prayer-life. My meditation-heart

Part I

1.¹

I pray
That I can teach my mind
Every day.

PLM 1-17. The first 17 prayers in this book were written on 17 September 1981 in New York.↩

2.

I pray
That I can think
Infinitely more
Of my aspiring friend,
My heart,
Than of my unaspiring
And disappointing enemies:
My lethargic body,
My aggressive vital
And my doubting mind.

3.

I pray
That my life's deaf days
And blind nights
Have ended.

4.

I pray
That I shall never question
My inner captain:
My soul.

5.

I pray
That I may receive
Only God's Love,
Which the entire world
Can neither give me
Nor take away from me.

6.

I pray
That I do not forget
What I have
In my aspiration-world:
Peace.

7.

I pray
That I do not forget
What I am
In my realisation-world:
Love.

8.

I pray
That I remember
Only one thing:
God's Forgiveness
Every day saves me.

9.

I pray
That God's Compassion-Sun
Never hides inside
My mental clouds.

10.

I pray
That I do not overestimate
My love of God.

11.

I pray
That I do not underestimate
God's Love for me.

12.

I pray
That my pride
Will never exploit
God's Compassion-Sea.

13.

I pray
That my impurity
Will never exploit
God's Forgiveness-Sky.

14.

I pray
That I may study
The art of unlearning
Every day
Consciously
And devotedly.

15.

I pray
That I can take off
Every day
Thirty-one minutes
From my mind-factory
To play with
My Beloved Supreme.

16.

I pray
That I do not disappoint
My Beloved Supreme
At the end
Of my journey's close.

17.

I pray
That I make a complete
And unconditional surrender
To my Beloved Supreme
At the very start
Of my Heavenly journey's dawn.

Part II

18.²

My meditation
Is my soul's
Soundless sound-conversation
With my Inner Pilot.

PLM 18-50. These 33 poems on meditation were written on 11 March 1989 in New York.↩

19.

My meditation
Is my soul's
Most beautiful and most powerful
God-manifestation-dream
On earth.

20.

My meditation
Is my heart's
God-remembrance-silence-joy.

21.

My meditation
Is my heart's
God-Perfection-Satisfaction-song.

22.

My meditation
Is my mind's
Immediate doubt-departure.

23.

My meditation
Is my mind's
Instant ignorance-illumination
And
Bondage-liberation.

24.

My meditation
Is the Everest-summit-
Ascent-expedition
Of my vital.

25.

My meditation
Is the very first
And never, never the last
God-Protection-Shelter
Of my vital.

26.

My meditation
Is the sunrise-smile
Of my body.

27.

My meditation
Is the power-flooded fort
Of my body.

28.

My meditation
Is my life's
Intensity-profundity-
Experience-delight.

29.

My meditation
Is my life's sleepless
Willingness-surrender-gratitude
To my Beloved Supreme.

30.

I meditate and meditate
And meditate
So that I can swim fast,
Very fast,
Against my mind's
Desire-current.

31.

I meditate to fulfil
My blue-gold soul-bird's
God-manifestation-dream
Here on earth.

32.

I meditate to soulfully offer
My purity-heart's
Devotion-tears
And my spontaneity-life's
Dedication-smiles
To my Pilot Supreme.

33.

I meditate so that
I can directly learn
Hundreds of soulful
Heart-offering-songs
From God the Supreme Singer.

34.

I meditate to be
In the loving company
Of my heart's mounting
Aspiration-flames
And my life's spreading
Dedication-fragrance.

35.

During my meditation,
I watch the dangerous fight
Between my mind's
Teeming doubts
And my heart's
Blossoming faith.
To my extreme joy,
My heart always wins.

36.

During my deep meditation,
My soul cuts off
The worthless insecurity-branches
Of my aspiration-life-tree.

37.

My Lord Supreme
Has repeatedly told me
That He will not be able
To treasure my meditation
As long as I have
A complexity-mind,
An insecurity-heart,
A hostility-vital
And
An impurity-body.

38.

My Lord Supreme
Has time and again warned me
That my meditations will be
Complete failures
If I am vehemently strict
With others' imperfections
And extremely indulgent
With my own imperfections.

39.

My soul is telling me
That only during
My soulful meditation
Can it forcefully stop
My wild vital from travelling
On dangerous desire-highways.

40.

My meditation reaches
Its acme of perfection
Only when it sees
God's Compassion-Eye,
God's Forgiveness-Heart
And
God's Protection-Feet.

41.

In the small hours of the morning,
With my heart-purity's
Soulfulness-steps,
I embark on my meditation-journey.

42.

When I unconditionally meditate,
God proudly drives me
In His Concern, Affection, Love
And Fondness-Limousine.

43.

When I unconditionally meditate,
God makes me
His ever-transcending
Dream-Reality's perfection-partner.

44.

When I unconditionally meditate,
God asks me to stand beside Him
While He is watching
His universal creation
From His transcendental
Vision-Balcony.

45.

When I extol myself to the skies,
Because of my stupendous
Success-life,
My meditation-friend-commander
Commands my volcano-pride
To fall dead
At my sweet Lord's
Forgiveness-Feet.

46.

My high meditation says
To my heart,
"Who tells you, my dear friend,
That you are always
Pitifully encaged?
Not true, not true."

47.

My good meditation says
To my mind,
"Who tells you, my dear friend,
That you are always at the mercy
Of venomous doubts?
Not true, not true."

48.

My deep meditation says
To my vital,
"Who tells you, my dear friend,
That you are always wildly enraged?
Not true, not true."

49.

My silent meditation says
To my body,
"Who tells you, my dear friend,
That you are always a victim
To worthless and useless lethargy?
Not true, not true."

50.

When I have
A most illumining meditation,
My Lord Supreme smilingly,
Compassionately and blessingfully
Tells me,
"My child, take anything you want
Free of charge
From My Infinity's Treasure-Shop."

Part III

51.³

My prayer says:
"God is great."
My meditation says:
"God is good."

PLM 51-59. These nine poems on prayer and meditation were written on 17 November 1991 in San Francisco.↩

52.

My prayer and God
Cry together.
My meditation and God
Smile at each other.

53.

My prayer is my faith
In God.
My meditation is God's faith
In me.

54.

My prayer says,
"God, where are You?"
My meditation says,
"God, where are You not?"

55.

My prayer tells me
That the road to God
Is sincerity.
My meditation tells me
That the road to God
Is God Himself.

56.

My prayer is God's Concern
For me.
My meditation is my concern
For God.

57.

My prayer is my mind's
Future smile.
My meditation is God's
Present Smile.

58.

When I pray, God asks me
To keep my mouth shut
And open my heart.
When I meditate, God sees
That my heart's door
Is wide open.

59.

My prayer
Is my God-Destination-cry.
My meditation
Is my God-Arrival-smile.

The Sri Chinmoy Library