Video: Sri Chinmoy meditates in front of the Daibutsu Buddha
Our meditation teacher, Sri Chinmoy, visited Japan 16 times, and had a special love for this beautiful country. Here are some of Sri Chinmoy’s messages, poetry and comments on Japan
Japan is the land of infinite beauty, and this beauty is expressed through inner peace. Man has seen many things. Of the many things that man has seen, peace is new; and Japan is offering this new thing to the world. Kyoto, January 7, 1986
Salutation to Japan
Japan is the land of beauty. This beauty is not something that man has created. It is something that God Himself is, and that God Himself has. What God Himself is, and what God Himself has, in one form is beauty. This beauty is revealing itself through the body, vital, mind, heart and soul of Japan.
When we think of Japan, when we pray for Japan, when we meditate on Japan, we see a very, very special quality of our Lord Supreme. This unique quality is His self-expression and revelation of His own Infinity in and through His finite, little self. God is infinite. He is vaster than the vastest. Far beyond our imagination is His vastness. But again, He can reveal Himself through the finite, smaller than the smallest. This unique quality and capacity of His can be found only in Japan. It is not nature’s beauty in Japan-though that has its own value-but it is the inner beauty, inner softness, sweetness, tenderness, purity and humility of Japan that have pleased God the Creator most powerfully.Inner beauty is your birthright. This inner beauty God, our Beloved Supreme, cherishes. He is fond of your inner beauty and proud of your outer beauty. Your inner beauty is your heart’s sleepless cry for God. Your outer beauty is your willingness and eagerness to serve God the creation.
In the East, the sun rises in Japan. The inner sun will also rise here sooner than the soonest to illumine the East, to illumine the West and to illumine the whole world. 27 September 1987, Kyoto.
Mu Magazine: Finally, if you have any message for the people of Japan, could you share it with us?
Sri Chinmoy: Japan is a country filled with infinite beauty. It has an image of a beautiful flower garden. This beauty is expressed through inner peace. Man has seen many things, but of these things peace is new. Japan is offering this new treasure to the world.
Japan has some other very special capacities to offer. Japan produces such small, beautiful things. God is infinite and finite-larger than the largest and smaller than the smallest. He is both the ocean and the drop. He is inside me as a human being and, again, He is inside the vast sky and ocean. In Japan I see God the Creator in His small aspect, but at the same time, so beautiful and powerful. Here I see the finite expressing the Beauty and Divinity of God in such a powerful way, and I am deeply impressed. It is like the difference between seeing a child do something and a grown-up do it. When the child does it, I get much more joy. In Japan’s case, the child is Japan’s childlike flower-consciousness-a beautiful flower is reaching the highest in terms of beauty and purity. As soon as I think of Japan, my mind feels beauty, my heart feels purity and my life feels humility. I could write hundreds and hundreds of poems about Japan. In fact, I have already written them in the depths of my gratitude-heart.
During this trip I feel that I received more than I offered. I tried to give a little peace to the hearts of my Japanese brothers and sisters, and they gave me their love-which is so deep and profound. I am grateful to you for asking me such wonderful and important questions today.
Tokyo’s inner goal
by Sri Chinmoy
瞑想のためのアフォリズム集
Tokyo hardly ever cries.
Tokyo rarely smiles.
Tokyo soulfully tames her outer life.
Tokyo manfully braves her inner knife.
Tokyo’s outer goal
Is everywhere in the heart of nowhere.
Tokyo’s inner goal
Is nowhere near frustration,
humiliation or consolation.
Tokyo’s inner goal
Is in her mind’s perfected
Silence-Light.
The texts above are taken from the following books, which are all available to read on Sri Chinmoy Library
- My Salutation To Japan, Agni Press, 1973
- Japan, my life bows to your heart, Agni Press, 1984
- Japan: soul-beauty’s heart-garden, Agni Press, 1993