No matter who houses a bad thought —
A desire-man or an aspiration-man —
A bad thought is a dire challenge
To humanity’s progress-life.
Sri Chinmoy, Twenty-Seven Thousand Aspiration-Plants, part 24, Agni Press, 1984
To all of my brothers and sisters at the University of Victoria, I thank you from the very depths of my heart. Here you have two most significant mottoes: "Let there be Light," and "A Multitude of the Wise is the Health of the World." When this world shall be inundated with the infinite Wisdom-Light of our Father Lord, then boundless peace and happiness shall dawn upon our devoted hearts and lives.
The mind is a creativity. So also is a thought.
The mind says to a thought, "I have you."
The thought says to the mind, "You I am."
The heart is a creativity. So also is love.
The heart says to love, "I have you."
Love says to the heart, "You I am."
The soul is a creativity. So also is life.
The soul says to life, "I have you."
Life says to the soul, "You I am."
The learning of the mind is a creativity, an expanding creativity.
The feeling of the heart is a creativity, a deepening creativity.
The becoming of life is a creativity, a manifesting creativity.
Art is Eternity's cry.
Art is Infinity's smile.
Art is Immortality's delight.
Music is not the mind's creativity-noise.
Music is the heart's creativity-voice.
Poetry is not an earthly chimera's mist-creativity.
Poetry is a Heavenly beauty-dawn-creativity.
Art and God sleeplessly talk together.
Music and God breathlessly feel each other.
Poetry and God unceasingly look at each other.
My life is God's creation.
My blossoming smiles are my soul-creations.
My streaming tears are my heart-creations.
The inner creation is the source.
The outer creation is the course.
The inner creation is indispensable.
The outer creation is irresistible.
My aspiration-heart's inner creation is God-exploration-delight.
My dedication-life's outer creation is God-manifestation-light.
Creativity is in learning. Creativity is in unlearning as well. Creativity is in action-manifestation. Creativity is in inaction-rest as well-only we have to know the proper order for the fulfilment of our life.
My life cries ditto to the wise Chinese saying, "Be the first in the field, the last to the couch."
My creativity-boat plies between my desire-earth-tears and my aspiration-Heaven-smiles.
On a lighter note, only an English conductor perhaps can dare to declare: "The English may not like music, but they absolutely love the noise it makes!"
Being an Indian, I feel I have the legitimate audacity to declare: the Indian music of yore touches, illumines and fulfils my very earth-existence. The modern-with an ultra-modern touch- Indian music chases me into the land of nowhere!
From the spiritual point of view, creativity is the beauty of God-revelation and the fragrance of God-manifestation.
Creativity is multiplicity's bloom in unity's blossom.
In the outer world, creativity is the light of individuality.
In the inner world, creativity is the delight of universality.
No matter how sublime the creativity is, the creator of it is not indispensable. If he comes to realise that, only then will he have peace of mind and abiding satisfaction.
Finally, I wish to invoke the most celebrated of the ancient Greek mathematicians-Archimedes. "Eureka! I have found it," was his discovery-cry.
O aspiring world, Him I have found, my Lord Supreme, in the aspiration-beauty and dedication-fragrance of my art, music and poetry.
*June 3rd, 1998*
University of Victoria, Canada
After receiving the Student of Peace Award from the University of Victoria