Epilogue: Ode to Gratitude

To wake up during the night,
And hear the loons
Offer their centuries-old melody
To the mountains and the stars,
This is my Gratitude!

To get up in the morning,
And look at the hummingbirds
Beautiful and humble,
Flying graciously,
Invoking the Divine,
This is my Gratitude!

In the morning mist,
To listen in awe
To the secrets of silence,
To welcome this unique concert
That our Creator,
Every day
Kindly offers His creation,
This is my Gratitude!

To realise that
I can still walk, smile
And simply be,
After decades of daily miracles,
This is my Gratitude!

To light up incense,
To feel and smell in its fragrances
The beauties and splendours of the Himalayas,
This is my Gratitude!

For the hundredth time or more
To feel uncontrollable tears
Coming from my soul,
Purifying my heart and eyes,
This is my Gratitude!

To cry in silence,
To breathe devotion,
And, with folded hands,
After 76 years of smiles,
To invoke His name!

To welcome another day
And be blessed
With all these Divine treasures…
This is my Gratitude,
Today and every day.

Nérée Utsahi St-Amand
(my spiritual name is Utsahi)
La Chanterelle (my little place in the Gatineau) June 4-5-6th 2021
76 years on earth, yet at heart a 7 year old child

One year after Guru’s passing in 2007, a small book entitled The Supreme Notebook was offered as prasad in New York. This tiny book made quite an impression on me. It contains only one word, ‘Supreme’, written 27 times on each page, by Guru. I then found out that our dearest Guru had been writing the word ‘Supreme’ 27 times per day, for years. This book presented part of the last major notebook dedicated to this devotional ritual.

Upon seeing this, I was inspired to start the same ritual and to write, every day, the word Supreme. Shortly after, I started this project and have not stopped since. While doing this, I feel in union with Guru, who did this for years.

Sometimes I wonder: What did he have in mind when writing ‘Supreme’? What was his meditation like? How was the Supreme reacting to this purest form of meditation? Could this possibly be the simplest form of meditation: simply chanting or writing the name ‘Supreme’, over and over?

If you want a mantra,
Then “Supreme”
Is by far the best mantra.

If you want a special meditation,
Then to invoke the Presence
Of the Supreme
Is by far the best type of meditation.

Sri Chinmoy 1

Thanks to Guru, thousands of doors, closed for millennia, have opened wide. The doors might not be around us, they might be above us, as in the dream I related earlier in this book. We might need a little lift at times, when we feel that the task is too difficult or simply seems impossible.

Sri Chinmoy's mantra “Never give up" is quite a simple motto; those who have adopted it are living proof that the impossible becomes possible, through our persistence and God’s Grace. With faith and enthusiasm, we can change our way of seeing ourselves, and we can even change the world. But to think that we can do it on our own is simply an illusion. By surrendering to higher forces, and following our Guru’s teachings, miracles happen.

In my opinion, Sri Chinmoy is the prophet of a new era. His vision for the world, his vision for individuals and his vision for the future of humanity is altogether simple, optimistic, and holistic. He sees us all as one: East or West, North or South, people of different creeds and colours, languages or beliefs. To each and every person, he basically offers the same message: work for a oneness-world and aim to transcend human barriers. The invitation is there: he wants us to achieve God-realization. He reminds us of our journey’s goal: God wants each and every one of us to become another God, as he reminds us in one of his 23,000+ songs:

God has come down
To become another man.
Man has gone up
To become another God.

Sri Chinmoy 2

How can this planet that we inhabit become sacred? Only if each and every one of us becomes a mirror of transcendence, a true reflection of God. For each and every one walking, running or flying on the path of Infinity, Sri Chinmoy has a simple message:

We are the Pilgrims of the Lord Supreme
On the Path of Infinity.
At this time we have broken asunder
Obstruction's door.
We have broken asunder the night
Of tenebrous darkness, inconscience
And the eternal, indomitable fear of death.
The Boat of the supernal Light's Dawn
Is beckoning us,
And the World-Pilot
Of the hallowed bond of Love Divine
Is beckoning us.
The Liberator's Hands are drawing us
To the Ocean of the great Unknown.
Having conquered the life-breath
Of the Land of Immortality,
And carrying aloft the Banner
Of the Lord Supreme,
We shall return:
We, the drops and flames
Of Transformation-Light.

Sri Chinmoy 3

• 1. Sri Chinmoy, Seventy-Seven Thousand Service-Trees, part 14, Agni Press, 1999
• 2. September 13, 1996, Unpublished
• 3. ri Chinmoy, My Flute, Agni Press, 1972