Page 195
These worlds of poetry that Sri Chinmoy was able to bring forth with such boundless inspiration can only be comprehended in terms of the soul's response to the call of God. Tagore, for example, viewed art as a surplus of the communion of the soul with the real:
The voice that is just enough can speak and cry to the extent needed for everyday use, but that which is abundant sings, and in it we find our joy. Art reveals man's wealth of life.[13]
Sri Chinmoy adds to this conception with his statement: "The soul itself is an artist and its capacity is boundless. "[14] As one becomes aware of this soul-force in Sri Chinmoy's works, one can feel him drawing on its immense power and fecundity Eliot's perception of the extinction of personality in art is given a far greater dimension in this context for, in the extinction of the smaller self, we come to be aware of the vastness of the soul or larger Self. In one song Sri Chinmoy intimates that even his praise of God in the poems may be understood as the self-praise of God who is both Doer and Enjoyer with the poet acting as the vehicle of this enjoyment:
You are nothing but beauty, eternal beauty,
Wherever I turn my eyes.
Do You always drink the nectar of Your
self-form
Residing in my eyes?
The waves of tune and sweet and melodious
songs
That create heart-elevating resonance,
0 Beloved, do You hear them
By using my ears?[15]

