Panorama

We are very proud to announce that the April 2004 edition of Panorama is now published - a selection of 56 poems from an edition that was published during the American National Poetry Month of that year. Here is a poem from this latest edition which highlights one of the greatest poets in American literature, Emily Dickinson.

[Emily Dickinson's] unique, gemlike lyrics are distillations of profound feeling and original intellect, and they stand outside the mainstream of American literary tradition. “ PoetSeers.org

Ode to Emily Dickinson

Oh to be like Emily
Retreat from the world
Into the second floor of self,
Sending messages by a tether,
The thinnest possible line of contact,
Invisible, withdrawn into silence,
Close by the fragrant core of being,
The place of knowing,
The emptiness that can pour abundance
Onto the blank page.
Oh to read
Her luminous strings of words,
Like dew-dropped webs
Delicately stretched
Across the morning sun “
To see in them
The nearly forgotten
Rainbowed-reflections
Of our own sequestered selves!

“ Atmatyagi Kutt.

——-

Drawn from the April 2004 edition of Panorama.

Return to the Top

Golden One

My Guru sits engulfed
in warm golden light
the curtains, the yellow blanket
covering his chair, his jacket -
all this night are golden.
He has taken a chill, and sneezed.
To warm up, he has tugged on
a white hat (looking like a chick
emerging from its egg),
and golden gloves,
leaving his arms uncovered.

He emanates golden Light
from the heart of the Golden Boat.
All, all is full of the supernal Light
of this precious moment on earth -
where even the prasad is a golden orb.
The oneness-affection-height
of this Thanksgiving night
is all pervading.

- Hashi Roberts.
——-

Drawn from the April 2007 edition of Panorama.

Return to the Top

We are very happy that Panorama has reached the halfway point in it’s evolution as a website. There have been fourteen editions of Panorama produced since 1999 and selections from seven of these are now published on this site.

We look forward to bringing you more poems from the minds, hearts and lives of Sri Chinmoy’s students and invite you to explore Panorama for poetry that offers you some joy or insight, or simply a moment of reflection. “Poetry,” Kahlil Gibran once said, “is a deal of joy and pain and wonder, with a dash of the dictionary.” Yet, it is more. Poetry can be the revelation of the hidden divine that secrets itself behind the mask of everyday human events. For, like music, poetry offers us an opportunity to express deeper ideas and feelings that usher forth from that misty region between silence and speech.

“He who draws noble delights from sentiments of poetry is a true poet, though he has never written a line in all his life.” George Sand.

Most people who choose to express themselves through poetry and prose have stumbled into the dark pits of writers block from time to time - that dreaded state where mind and paper remain perfectly blank. And it’s not just the territory of the amateur scribe either. History teaches us that even the likes of William Shakespeare suffered esprit en blanc occasionally - it’s a condition that has brought many great writers to the soup kitchens of the world!

(more…)

A Tribute Edition To Sri Chinmoy
To all of the members of the Sri Chinmoy Centres around the world who would like to contribute the next edition of Panorama (the hard copy version), the editors would like it known that the April 2008 edition of Panorama will take the form of a tribute to Sri Chinmoy and your experiences as his students. They welcome your contributions (preferably as digital documents) by mid-March at the latest please. These should be sent directly to Prabhakar and Abichal via the normal channels. Thank you – we eagerly look forward to this very special edition of Panorama…

Sri Chinmoy was always one for encouraging people to develop themselves on all levels. Indeed, his lifetime of service to humanity, especially since coming to the west in 1964, was a mighty effort in all fields of human endeavour that will serve to inspire humanity for centuries to come.

And for his students, Sri Chinmoy was a wonderful role model who’s example and encouragement gave us the intrepidity and determination to explore new avenues of expression and experience. He always encouraged us to do things that enhanced our spirituality and the knowledge of who we truly are. For some of his students, it was in sports; for some, the arts; for some the field of public service. For many it was all of the above and much more…
(more…)

A Popular Notion

There is a popular notion
Concerning mankind’s creativity
That considers it living proof
Of our inherent divinity.
Though this may be true,
Before pride makes us deranged
Bear in mind that God creates,
Human beings just rearrange.

– Kalatit Baker.

——-

Drawn from the April 1999 edition of Panorama.

Return to the Top