Chapter Two: My Self-Transcendence-Song
"I pass beyond Time and life on measureless wings." [3]
— Sri Aurobindo
On May 26th, Sri Chinmoy unexpectedly offered his students a glimpse of his latest creation. Rather shyly, he gestured towards a large sheet of art work that was casually draped on his couch. We approached, riveted by the profusion of bird-shapes that lay exposed to our searching eyes.
After witnessing the formation of two million bird drawings, we no doubt had some kind of fixed idea as to the markings and shapes the artist favoured. However, our mental preconceptions could not have been further from the visual panorama of this latest work.
Before us flowed rivers of colour—blues, green, purple, pink and red. Like a child, Sri Chinmoy touched his finger to one and then another, directing our attention to the birds that these colour swatches represented. As we followed his guiding hand across the vast expanse, the closely patterned drawing began to unravel. The dominant birds stood out, as if in relief, while the background birds seemed to recede, making the drawing seem truly three-dimensional.
So it was that a large purple bird, like the Garuda of Indian mythology, appeared sailing across the top of the page, carrying countless passengers in its wings, which resembled inlays in a stained glass window.
Underneath it, a thin blue parrot stretched its long neck upwards to peer at its violet neighbour; to the far right of the drawing, a bright red bird perched on the crook of a branch; while in the very middle of the drawing, a blue elephant joyously waved its trunk. Each part of the drawing conveyed its own distinct imaginative experience.
"In beauty, I feel that this one surpasses my previous drawings,"
the artist said softly. He went on to tell us that the work had taken him two weeks to complete, although during that period there had been some days where he had only been able to devote fifteen minutes to it and other days where he had not touched it at all.
Within hours, counting began on this newest achievement[4]. We had come to realise that counting Sri Chinmoy's birds was a most special way of recreating the drawing. It enabled us to accompany his pen on its arcs and trajectories as he translated his vision onto paper. Counting also underscored the painstaking effort that was involved in the creation of such dense bird-scapes.
The final count of 81,447 birds for this one drawing made it the second highest total in his collection, next to a work of 96,588 birds that he had completed on December llth, 1993. It brought the grand total for this third million series to more than 380,000 birds.
Sri Chinmoy gave the drawing the title: "My Self-Transcendence-Song." It was reproduced photographically and became the first in a series of three majestic prints to be released from this million. The artist immediately thought of sending this print to Raisa Maximovna Gorbachev in Moscow. She would later respond: "Birds in flight—blue sky, mounting aspiration, freedom! Triumph of life! But it is also a dream blazing the future. And Dream is the soul of life. I am sending you my congratulations for being a person who is carrying hope, faith and optimism to mankind." [5]
