1970

Sri Chinmoy's farewell talk to the Puerto Rican Centre, after having spent a month there¹

It is our last meeting here. Both Alo and I feel that we have accomplished much here in this month of February. Now you must know that our accomplishment is founded on your aspiration, dedication and surrender. In various ways you have served the Supreme in us; that is why we have been able to accomplish so much in a short span of time, in one fleeting month. What we want from you now, is once more, the same sense of dedication as before.

Sudha is the leader here and we wish all of you to listen to her without the least possible hesitation. Whenever she tells you to do something, do it immediately. Help her in every way. Cooperate with her in every way.

This Centre happens to be our Mother Centre and it is from here that we got the hope, encouragement and inspiration to enter into the wider world. It was her invitation, Sudha’s invitation, that brought us to you, to this island. So when I think of this island, I think of the one who brought both Alo and me to the very breath of Puerto Rico. It may sound like an old cliché from us, or something redundant, that we always appreciate Sudha. But it comes from the very bottom of our heart. To tell you the truth, even now we are not satisfied with our own appreciation. That is to say, our appreciation, no matter how sincere and how true and how profound, is still not enough. She deserves much more, infinitely more appreciation from us, and also admiration, genuine admiration, for what she has done, what she is now doing and what she will be doing in the future.

So dearest ones, here is the opportunity to cooperate with her in every possible way, to help her and to listen to her without the least possible hesitation. In her I see a true leader. That is why we feel that you all can have absolute faith in her. You can be fully confident when she is in charge of the activities here.

Now about the seekers who have come here and have recently become disciples: to all of you, I offer my true joy, concern and pride. Most of you were taking drugs. Now again, most of you, except for one or two, have given up your old life. And this we say with our deepest sense of pride, divine pride. Those one or two: we do hope that they will give up drugs, or will be kind enough to leave us. If not, when we come back next time, it will be a very sad situation. I do not want to be rude to anyone, but necessity knows no law. Again and again we have been telling you that our heart’s door is open to anybody who can give up the past life of wrong activities.

Now I have spoken to you about Sudha’s dedicated service of every kind. Here I wish to say how you, our other disciples, are also (some of you… not all) helping us concretely, serving the Supreme in us. Today Agni read out some portions of his articles. He has transcribed, not just one or two pages from my talks, but hundreds and hundreds of pages for us. These he has given us. It is a great service. This service you will see growing as the days pass. It has no end. Agni’s service is entering into the world as a gift to the whole world. We shall see this one day.²

Now for Ananta — he is the head of our Selfless Service Activities in San Juan. Right from the beginning, how he has been serving us! Always service is in his mind! How many times, in disseminating our programmes and activities, he has been rebuffed. How many times he has been insulted by people who don’t understand our philosophy. How many times he has been misunderstood by others, badly misunderstood. Poor Ananta… he goes on, goes on, goes on. He knows he is working for his Master, so he simply continues. He is still doing it. They insult him, the disciples sometimes scold him, but Ananta, the hero, goes on ploughing the field because he has been asked by his Master to plough.

Here I wish to say that there are many disciples who have been serving us and, if I don’t mention your names, please do not think that I am not appreciating you. For example, I am seeing Venu (Robert Daubenspeck) right in front of me. How hard he is trying to get something into the San Juan Star!

Everyone is trying in his own way. Gauri is now trying to take me to Colombia, South America. So is she not doing her part? Everybody is trying, some outwardly, some inwardly, some in both ways: both outwardly and inwardly. If anybody’s name has been missed, please do not misunderstand me and feel that I don’t like you, or anything like that. You have to feel that we deeply appreciate your service the moment you do anything for us. Even when you come here for only one day a week for your Selfless Service evening, we are most grateful. This month, I know you have worked very, very hard many times!

Now Uma, how many pages of my transcripts has she typed this month? Her work is faultless. So beautifully she has typed this material. So this is another kind of selfless service. What else is selfless service, if not Uma’s? And there are a few others who also worked very hard. But I want this selfless service to be done regularly, faithfully and devotedly by all of you. There are only a few disciples who are working devotedly and faithfully in our absence. The others are coming to the regular meditations, but if they want to be totally dedicated to the Supreme, then I feel, we feel, the necessity of your selfless service also. Through your selfless service, you can be the real jewels and pride of this Centre. Now each one has the capacity to serve. Your true, dedicated service enters into us and with deep appreciation, and often with deep admiration, we receive your offering.

All of you should feel that you are only a child of one year. You were born only one year ago. Your real life, your real birth, took place not even one year ago. The past is dust. The past was your human life. But now your real spiritual life has begun. So all of you should have the feeling that you are a one-year-old child. The child grows up and then he becomes a real hero. So all those who used to take drugs and have just now stopped, please feel that the day you stopped, from that day, your real life started. The other life that you had is past and the past is dust. Now you have to feel that you are all divine children. Do not look backward. If you look backward, ignorance will eat you up.

Some disciples are running very fast. They do not want to walk, like others who first start walking, then start marching, then finally run. No, they start with a run. The moment they are able to stand on their feet, they start running.

One more thing I wish to say: both Alo and I decided that at the end of each meeting here, you should sing the Spanish version of the Supreme most devotedly and soulfully. And we wish all of you to learn the song. On that day, you will not sing in the original English. Here is the Spanish translation by Sudha, a very beautiful, wonderful translation. And today I wish you to hear that soulful translation by her. She and Alo will sing the Supreme in Spanish today. You will hear it for the first time, and then every month, at the end of the month, all of you here will stand up and sing. You will learn it from Sudha.

[When we asked the Puerto Rican disciples to translate The Invocation into Spanish, several of them did their own individual versions, including Sudha. She submitted all the translations to a Professor of Spanish Literature and Poetry at the University of Puerto Rico, requesting him to choose the one which best conveyed and reflected Sri Chinmoy’s original English version:]

Supreme, Supreme, Supreme, Supreme!
I bow to Thee, I bow.
My life Thy golden plough;
My journey’s Goal Thy soulful Dream.
Supreme, Supreme, Supreme, Supreme!
I bow to Thee, I bow.

Supreme, I am Thy glowing Grace.
My world Thy Feet of Light,
My breath Thy Vision’s kite.
Thou art one Truth, one Life, one Face.
Supreme, Supreme, Supreme, Supreme!
I bow to Thee, I bow.

[Sudha submitted everything anonymously and impartially to the professor, using no names. She typed all the translations on the same kind of paper, with no identification as to the writer, and then sent them to him. The professor studied all the versions carefully and, without knowing it was hers, chose Sudha’s own translation as the one which he felt captured the spiritual beauty of Sri Chinmoy’s original poem, while remaining as faithful as possible to his wording and expression.]

Sudha’s translation is as follows:

Supremo, Supremo, Supremo, Supremo! Me inclino a Ti, me inclino.
Mi vida Tu Yugo dorado,
Mi meta final, Tu Sueño divino.
Supremo, Supremo, Supremo, Supremo!
Me inclino a Ti, me inclino.

Señor, Tu lumnisciente Gracia soy.
Tus Pies de Luz mi reino.
Mi anelo, Ensueño eterno.
Una Faz, Vida, Verdad Tu eres.
Supremo, Supremo, Supremo, Supremo!
Me inclino a Ti, me inclino.

[We gave a very sincere and heartfelt Special Prize to Agni for his translation, which was also very soulful and lovely:]

Supremo, Supremo, Supremo, Supremo!
Adorate, adorate.
Mi vida es Tu Arado real;
Llegar a Ti, de mi jornada el Fin.
Supremo, Supremo, Supremo, Supremo!
Adorate, adorate.

Supremo, Tu Gracia real soy yo.
Mi mundo Tus Pies de Luz;
Mi aliento el Sol de Tu Visión. Eres Verdad, Vida y Amor.

Supremo, Supremo, Supremo, Supremo!
Adorate, adorate.