Despite being known for such important guides to wellbeing as The Wings of Joy and The Jewels of Happiness, Sri Chinmoy infinitely preferred writing poems and aphorisms to prose. In 1983 Sri Chinmoy began the second of his three large epic collections of aphorisms, Twenty-Seven Thousand Aspiration Plants. The series was completed 15 years later, in 1998.
Each of the poems in the series are notable for their simplicity and directness. They are meant for reading in silence, allowing each poem to resonate inside the heart. Sri Chinmoy actually recommended reading each poem twice in this way to create a beautiful mantric effect. The following aphorisms on happiness were compiled by Kakali Atkin. The bird drawing above is one of 16 million that Sri Chinmoy drew between 1991 and 2007, a bird in flight being a beautiful metaphor for the joy and freedom of the human soul.
223.
Not to renounce
And not to enjoy.
Not to be an ascetic
And, again, not to be
The world’s greatest epicurean.
This is the path
To true happiness.
784.
Your own sincere search
For yourself
Will become a synonym
For perfection happiness.
2055.
What are you doing?
Can you not hear
That your soul
Is summoning you?
Can you not see
That real happiness-petals
Are blossoming within you?
4691.
If you do the right thing,
Even if you become the target
Of wild criticism,
Your inner happiness
Will eventually prove to you
That God has always
Been pleased with you.
5604.
In this world we kill ourselves
All for outer success.
But there is another world
Where our happiness
Does not depend on outer results.
5623.
Let at least one member
Of your inner family
Listen all the time to the soul.
Its progress, happiness and satisfaction
Will immediately inspire
The other members to follow.
5981.
You do not belong
To your unfortunate failure-past.
You completely belong
To the happiness of tomorrow’s
Vision-reality.
5988.
Each negative thought
Has the capacity
To destroy immediately
Your life’s happiness-core.
6439.
Where
Is my happiness?
It is inside my peace
And nowhere else.
6463.
When each man longs to live
In his happiness-house,
God grants him
His Immortality’s Oneness-Home.
8291.
Come out of your mind.
Let your heart love you
And claim you.
You will then feel
What true happiness is.
8300.
You follow
Your heart’s love.
Your life’s happiness
Will follow you.
9027.
Slowly and steadily
But unmistakably
Your happiness can blot out
Your life’s age-old depression.
9698.
You are your mind’s
Twenty-four-hour wishful thinking,
Yet you have no happiness.
If you can grow into
Your heart’s self-giving,
That will give you joy beyond measure.
9729.
Train your mind
To obey you.
Train your life
To surrender to your heart.
Happiness will be
Your permanent property.
9995.
God does not want you to repay Him.
He just wants you to remain
A happiness-prince on earth.
10,874.
Happiness in cheerful self-giving
Is beyond compare.
It is the highest delight
That God has created for humanity.
10,903.
A life of happiness
Does not cost anything.
Just give and give
And do not expect.
Lo, the universal happiness
Is all yours.
11,028.
No happiness can be seen,
No happiness can be felt,
Without the heart’s
Peace-smile.
12,459.
No fame can buy
Any lasting happiness.
True happiness is in
Sleepless self-giving.
12,649.
Every morning shake hands first
With your happiness-satisfaction-friend
Long before you enter into
Your daily life-activities.
13,242.
Happiness comes from the feeling
That this world needs
Absolutely nothing from me.
13,271.
You must never forget
That greatness
Does not guarantee happiness,
But goodness always does.
13,996.
If you want to choose happiness in life,
Then choose willingness first;
Happiness will automatically follow.
15,043.
How can you survive
If there is no happiness
In your heart?
How can you survive
If there is no cheerfulness
In your mind?
How can you survive
If there is no eagerness
In your physical existence?
15,172.
O my mind,
Do not doubt your heart.
Your heart is your real friend.
Give your heart a chance
To erase your failure-fear.
It will succeed,
And real happiness
Will fast approach you.
16,571.
A little smile
Is a solid step
Towards an abiding
Happiness-heart.
16,801.
The heart needs happiness
At every moment
So it can move forward,
Dive inward
And fly upward.
16,832.
Every day
You can inspire others
Through your sincere concern
For humanity’s happiness and progress.
16,973.
Each aspiring heart
Is destined to be flooded
With sweetness-happiness-fragrance.
19,370.
The more we walk towards happiness
For our personal gain,
The farther away we go
From true happiness-shore.
19,597.
Whenever I am in the company
of my mind,
It gives me a very hard time.
Whenever I am in the company
of my heart,
We mutually give each other
Blossoming happiness.
Alas, I do not know why and how
I still spend so much time with my mind.
23,891.
Happiness, happiness, happiness –
Only happiness within
And happiness without
Can free the bondage-chained life
Of humanity.
24,299.
If happiness exists on earth,
Then it will be found
Only in one divine virtue:
Forgiveness.
24,697.
Happiness
Is our heart’s perpetual journey,
And not a remote destination.
26,045.
Only the day the mind believes
In the heart’s messages
Will the mind have happiness.