"New Sincerity" – Kamalakanta Nieves

This arrangement combines two songs by Sri Chinmoy. The first one, Khama Karo, is widely known and has been performed many, many times by both Sri Chinmoy and his students. The meaning of the text (unofficial) is as follows:

“Forgive me, forgive me.
This is the last time, forgive me.
I shall offer to You at your Feet
the garland of Victory.
I am the silent compassion of Your Infinity.
You are the Ocean, I am the tiniest drop.
This is my only identification.”
-Sri Chinmoy

In reading this beautiful prayer/poem, we notice two different things: On the one hand, the seeker is begging for forgiveness, and making a promise to achieve God’s Victory. The last two lines of the poem, though, offer a glimpse into a different state of consciousness: the seeker is claiming God as his very won. “You are the Ocean, I am the tiniest drop.” This is what will take the seeker to the goal: the recognition of his true, divine nature. As long as the seeker feels a yawning gulf between himself and God, it is very difficult to make progress. But if the seeker can claim God as his very own, as his own highest, then progress is assured. How long can you stay in the house of a stranger? But in your own family’s house you can stay indefinitely, because it is also your own. A child claims his father’s house as his own. Similarly, if we can claim God’s consciousness as our own, then we will try to live by its dictates; we will try to have oneness with it, and manifest it in our daily life.

The second song in this arrangement (flute melody), Churna Kare, is asking God to purify our human nature. Here is the translation (unofficial):

“Break asunder hundreds of little desires
of my vital.
O jewel of my eye, make Your Love intense.
I come into the world and depart
only for You.
The infinity of Your Light
is my sole achievement.”
-Sri Chinmoy

Again, in this second song the seeker starts by asking God for something: purity. The second line, “O jewel of my eye, make Your love intense” is most significant. A jewel is something precious, something to be treasured. The seeker affirms that God is his life’s treasure. “O jewel of my eye”. And the second part of this line, “make You love intense”, is also most significant. Here the seeker realises that God’s Love is also his love for God; that his devotion itself is a gift from God, a capacity given by God Himself. Without God’s Grace, we cannot make any progress at all. Our own spiritual awakening is an act of God’s Grace. We think that we are the ones who aspire, but in reality it is God inside us who aspires to be realised, revealed and manifested here on Earth. The last two sentences of this song, “I come into the world and depart only for You. The infinity of your Light is my sole achievement” express a singleness of purpose, a determination to live only for the Highest.

I am grateful to Sri Chinmoy for inspiring so many people around the world through his music and poetry.

Kamalakanta Nieves
December 2006

Artist: Kamalakanta Nieves
Release year: 2006
Duration: 6:18
Acknowledgements: Sri Chinmoy
Format: Advanced Audio Coding
Image: Kedar Misani