“I try, I try,
I always try
To love and please
My inner cry.”

– Sri Chinmoy

This simple, humble aphorism carries the most profound truth and secret of the spiritual life. If we are trying always to love and please our inner cry, then our inner cry is effectively our lord, our obsession, our darling, our primary focus – as it must needs be, for our continuous progress.

Our inner cry is the engine that invokes inspiration, engages our aspiration, activates our hidden capacities and qualities, gives voice to our deepest yearnings, disciplines our vital energies, clarifies and focuses our mind, continually expands our heart, and drives us ever onward to self-discovery and fulfillment.

As the only indispensable necessity in our spiritual life, maintaining, nourishing and intensifying the inner cry itself, becomes our foremost goal, our primary cry. The effort to find, nurture, love and please our inner cry, is like the role of a spark plug in a motor vehicle: first the spark must itself be produced, which in turn ignites the fuel that powers the engine of our progress. Once the engine of our inner cry is engaged, all else that is needed, follows and flows naturally.

When we are focused on loving and pleasing someone, we have no time or inclination to think of ourselves, our own desires. So, when we are only trying to love and please our inner cry, there is no room in our consciousness for petty thoughts and emotions, for doubt, fear, jealousy, insecurity, anger and pride. Every weakness, limitation and problem, with all negativity is swept away by the momentum-torrent of our quest.

First and forever more, let this most precious mantra resound:

“I try, I try,
I always try
To love and please
My inner cry.”

– Sri Chinmoy