Ten Thousand Flower-Flames, part 16

1501. To change my inner conditions

```

To change my inner conditions

What I need is a blossoming faith.

To change my outer conditions

What I need is a daring smile. ```

1502. The presence of faith

```

The absence of faith in my heart

Demonstrates my inner poverty

Blatantly.

The presence of faith in my heart

Makes me co-holder of God’s entire Property

Immediately.

```

1503. To have faith in oneself

```

To lose faith

In oneself

Is nothing short of

An inner treachery.

To have soulfully implicit faith

In oneself

Is to enjoy a ceaseless oneness-friendship

With God. ```

1504. Two errors of Eternity

```

Two errors of Eternity:

The finite man cannot grow

Into Infinity;

Earth-night is denied

The face of the immortal Dawn.

```

1505. In the morning when I pray

```

In the morning when I pray,

I try to see the subtle movements

Of the visible God.

In the evening when I meditate,

I try to see the visible signs

Of the invisible God.

```

1506. My Lord's Satisfaction-Lion

```

When my heart-dove

Became my soul-phoenix,

My Lord Supreme

Immediately transformed me

Into His own Satisfaction-Lion.

```

1507. A God-dreamer and a God-lover

```

The difference between

A God-dreamer and a God-lover

Is this:

A God-dreamer wants to live

In God’s birthless and deathless Infinity.

A God-lover longs to live

In God’s Heart-Cave.

```

1508. My nights are fractured

```

My nights are fractured

Because I do not

Sleeplessly pray and meditate

The entire night.

My days are fractured

Because I do not

See the beauty of man

And

The Duty of God

The entire day. ```

1509. My days and nights

```

When I feel the excruciating pangs

Of my insecurity-heart,

My days are followed by my nights.

When I see my God’s

Beauty-Face,

My nights are followed by my days.

```

1510. Man's soul is a smile

```

Man’s heart is a cry

For a fulfilling desire.

Man’s soul is a smile

Satisfactorily descended

From a fulfilled God.

```

1511. Now I am grateful

```

There was a time

When I was grateful

To those who took my side,

Although I was quite often wrong.

But now I am grateful

Only to those who take God’s side,

No matter how feeble they are,

No matter how idle they are. ```

1512. Only if you change

```

You can be proud

Of yourself

Only if you change

Your present way of thinking.

You can be grateful

To yourself

Only if you change

Your present way of loving. ```

1513. The only real danger

```

We must all shield ourselves

Against the only real danger:

Our cherished friendship

With ignorance-night. ```

1514. The competition

```

His heart regularly competes

With high Heaven’s beauty.

Believe it or not,

His heart always wins.

Go, you can ask God.

God always comes

To watch the competition.

```

1515. Only one favour

```

My Lord,

I have been praying to You

For only one favour:

Please me today, only today,

In my own way.

Tomorrow and forever

I shall please You

In Your own Way. ```

1516. The idea-flames

```

Everything started,

Starts

And will start

With the idea-flames

For life-perfection

And self-transcendence. ```

1517. Many ways

```

No way

To influence God.

No way

To deceive God.

But many ways

Not only to realise God

But also to become God.

```

1518. To tie me to God

```

To tie me to God

God has His

Compassion-Sun

And I have my

Gratitude-flames.

```

1519. God's Promises

```

God’s Promises

God always keeps.

Lo, He has given me

A simplicity-mind,

A purity-heart

And

A satisfaction-life.

```

1520. Divorce

```

Finally your mind

Has gotten a divorce

From its usual haughtiness,

And your vital

Has gotten a divorce

From its usual meanness. ```

1521. His confused heart

```

His doubting mind

Has left his heart

In utter confusion.

His confused heart

Has totally forgotten

God’s Compassion-Blessings

And His Affection-Smile. ```

1522. Slowly and quickly

```

Slowly we seek

And

Quickly we knock.

Bravely we accomplish

And

Gladly we achieve.

Soulfully we ascend

And

Unreservedly we transcend.

```

1523. God's Satisfaction-Eye

```

Cry,

You will be able to feel

God’s Forgiveness-Heart.

Smile,

You will be able to see

God’s Satisfaction-Eye.

```

1524. No preparation is required

```

No preparation is required

If you soulfully love

Man in God.

No preparation is required

If you long to serve

God in man.

```

1525. Immediate help from God

```

Immediate help from God

Can save your shadowless heart,

But not your faithless mind.

```

1526. Suddenly and perfectly

```

Suddenly and perfectly

He became

His heart’s aspiration-cry

And

His soul’s satisfaction-smile.

```

1527. When faith ends

```

When blossoming faith

Slowly ends,

Destroying doubt

Quickly begins. ```

1528. When I proceed

```

When I proceed

My heart grows.

When I succeed

My mind swells. ```

1529. Adversity and prosperity

```

Adversity awakens me,

My heart.

Prosperity frightens me,

My eyes. ```

1530. Tiredness and readiness

```

Tiredness is

Another name for laziness.

Readiness is

Another name for fulness. ```

1531. When quality-satisfaction begins

```

When the voracious quantity-demander

Finally stops,

The precious quality-satisfaction

Amazingly begins. ```

1532. Sickness and medicine

```

Jealousy-bite

Is a sickness.

Its perfect and guaranteed medicine

Is oneness bold. ```

1533. Experience and realisation

```

Experience helps us

Possess

The earthly reality-flames.

Realisation helps us

Claim

Our Heavenly vision-sun.

```

1534. The wealth of experience

```

The wealth of experience

Is sound-perfection.

The wealth of realisation

Is silence-satisfaction. ```

1535. Three processes

```

Involution is

A forgotten process.

Evolution is

A slow process.

Revolution is

A striking process. ```

1536. For all others

```

Each mind favours sincerity

For all other minds.

Each heart favours purity

For all other hearts.

Each life favours perfection

For all other lives. ```

1537. Two hearts

```

The Christ-Heart

Has taught me

How to claim and proclaim God.

The Christian heart

Has taught me

How to blame and defame man.

```

1538. I need, I have, I am

```

What I need is

A sleepless heart

To love my Lord Supreme.

What I have is

A self-important heart.

What I am is

An impoverished heart. ```

1539. A tempted heart

```

You are, indeed,

A tempted heart.

No, never

A guilty heart. ```

1540. A chained heart

```

A chained heart

Within,

An ambitious heart

Without:

This is what he unmistakably is.

```

1541. A praying heart

```

A praying heart

Can never be

An abandoned heart.

A loving heart

Can never be

An insecure heart.

```

1542. A faithful heart

```

A faithful heart

Can never be

A forgotten heart.

A meditative heart

Can never be

A broken heart.

```

1543. No difference

```

No difference between

A doubtful heart

And a disappointed heart.

No difference between

A complex heart

And an unscrupulous heart.

No difference between

A missionary heart

And an untiring heart.

```

1544. A smiling and dancing world-heart

```

Before I started my aspiration-life

I was a lonely heart.

But now I am

A smiling and dancing world-heart. ```

1545. My clever prayer

```

When I pray,

I cleverly ask God

To run errands for me.

When I meditate,

God wisely asks me

To run errands for Him.

```

1546. My devoted prayer

```

When I pray,

I kneel down

Devotedly and secretly.

When I meditate,

I lift up my heart

Soulfully and perfectly.

```

1547. My needs

```

What my prayer needs

Is a patience-tree.

What my meditation needs

Is a gratitude-flower. ```

1548. When I pray

```

When I pray,

I pray for the right thing:

Peace.

When I meditate,

I meditate on the right Person:

God.

```

1549. My five-cent prayer

```

My five-cent prayer

Expects

A five-thousand-dollar answer.

Alas, alas!

My ten-thousand-dollar meditation

Expects nothing,

Not even a fleeting smile from God.

For me, meditation in itself

Is all achievement.

```

1550. O my aspiration-life

```

O my aspiration-life,

You have left me.

How can I go on alone?

How can I cope with my inner life,

The real life,

Alone?

Alas, I am forced to face

The changes that the desire-life

Has ruthlessly brought me

Once again. ```

1551. A series of astonishments

```

This body’s very birth

Whispered into my wee ears:

“The human life is nothing

But a series of

Perfect astonishments.”

```

1552. Rest comes not

```

Rest comes not

Here on earth.

Transformation blossoms not

There in Heaven. ```

1553. My expectation-load

```

O my Lord Supreme,

Do show me the way to unload

My load of constant expectations.

Absolutely unbearable

Is my expectation-load!

```

1554. When God first told me

```

I remember

With my heart’s gratitude-tears

When God first told me:

“My son,

You are My Oneness-Reality,

My Satisfaction-Dream.” ```

1555. Nourish learning

```

Nourish learning,

Cherish unlearning.

Lo, your perfection-cry

And your satisfaction-smile

Are flourishing.

```

1556. Scoffers and defamers

```

Scoffers and defamers

Have, indeed, human bodies

Like us.

But, unlike us,

They are forced to live

For the animal kingdom. ```

1557. Three songs

```

Three songs of mine

Remain unsung:

Perfection-body,

Satisfaction-heart,

Gratitude-life.

```

1558. Happiness-givers

```

Yesterday

Possession-feast

Gave me happiness.

Today

Renunciation-hunger

Is giving me happiness.

Tomorrow

God-satisfaction

In God’s own Way

Will give me happiness. ```

1559. Tears unshed

```

Tears unshed

Break God’s Heart

Into a thousand pieces,

And unimaginably expedite

Man’s forward journey.

```

1560. Nurse no extravagant hope

```

Nurse no extravagant hope.

Your heart will be supremely happy.

Feed no malignant doubt.

Your mind will be immediately happy. ```

1561. To brave silence

```

To brave silence

My sound-life is worse

Than useless.

To brave sound

Everything that I have

Can easily prove to be useful.

```

1562. The art of unthinking silence

```

If you can learn

The art of unthinking silence,

God will, without fail,

Grant you the supreme pride

Of His unsinking Sound.

```

1563. A hopelessly drowsy death

```

When I think that I am

Not of God,

When I feel that I am

Not for God,

My life becomes

A hopelessly drowsy death. ```

1564. On good terms

```

My body’s continuous pain

And

My life’s monotonous chain:

These are always

On supremely good terms.

```

1565. The eyes of my aspiration-heart

```

As the mouth of my desire-life

Frightens me,

Even so,

The eyes of my aspiration-heart

Strengthen me.

```

1566. My heart's constant guest

```

My heart’s constant guest:

God the Many.

My life’s constant host:

God the One. ```

1567. Each thought, each life

```

Each thought is either

A rising star

A sinking star.

Each life is either

A destruction-blow

A perfection-flow. ```

1568. Death desires me

```

Death desires me,

My expectation-tree.

But God is granting me

His own Satisfaction-Fruit. ```

1569. Beyond the sun-smile

```

There was a time

When I sailed beyond the sun-smile.

I was all delight.

And now I am sailing

Beyond the sunset-cry.

Believe it or not,

I am all delight

Once more. ```

1570. My heart-bridge

```

My heart-bridge is not the goal.

Then what is it?

It is the most perfect beginning

To reach my mind-illumining

And life-fulfilling goal.

```

1571. The possession of another mind

```

The possession of another mind

Is bondage-night.

The renunciation of another mind

Is liberation-delight. ```

1572. Marvellous rumour

```

Three items of marvellous rumour:

I have totally failed.

God has at last renounced

His creation.

The animal in man has dethroned

The Supreme in man. ```

1573. The longest journey

```

The longest journey:

From teeming doubt

To blossoming faith.

The shortest journey:

From soulful devotion

To fruitful surrender. ```

1574. Translunar music

```

Translunar music,

You alone can feed

My heart,

You alone can build

My life,

You alone can transport

My vision-light

Into the translucent skies. ```

1575. Your tear-floods are subsiding

```

Your tear-floods are subsiding

Because you have now become

A perfect stranger to expectation:

Expectation-temptation

And

Expectation-frustration. ```

1576. The glory that shines

```

The glory that shines

In streaming tears

Is the glory that makes friends

With ever-transcending cheers. ```

1577. To disarm death

```

To disarm death

The human heart must pray

To God’s Compassion

Sleeplessly,

And the human life must surrender

To God’s Light

Unconditionally.

```

1578. You need eternal rest

```

Rest, brother doubt, rest.

Rest, sister insecurity, rest.

Both of you need eternal rest

In the Heart of God’s

Universal Nest.

```

1579. The wish of my soul

```

The wish of my soul:

My body will become

A perfect instrument of God.

The wish of my body:

My soul will be

My body’s ever-leading

And ever-forgiving captain. ```

1580. Two aimless eyes

```

What you have are

Two aimless eyes.

What you are is

A soulless heart.

And soon you will become

A totally godless life. ```

1581. Silence and sound

```

Silence cheerfully and unreservedly

Purifies sound.

Sound soulfully and breathlessly

Treasures silence. ```

1582. Thus runs my dream

```

Countless temptation-stars,

A frustration-sky,

An illumination-sun:

Thus runs my dream. ```

1583. A high opinion

```

What he is

Is nothing but

A high opinion

Of his own stone-blind obstinacy. ```

1584. I wish to be led

```

My dear Lord,

I wish to be led

Every day.

My sweet Lord,

I wish to be led

In every way.

My beloved Lord,

I wish to be led

All the way.

```

1585. One minute a day

```

At least,

Only one minute a day,

I must from ignorance

Stay away! ```

1586. He has departed

```

He has departed

From his earthly pain,

Not by leaving the body,

But by becoming inseparably one

With his soul-sea’s

Ecstasy-waves. ```

1587. The best thing

```

What is, by far, the best thing

That each seeker-soul

Must accomplish?

He has to laugh and laugh

At life’s streaming tears.

```

1588. Seasons

```

My heart lives

In the season of giving.

My mind lives

In the season of receiving.

And I live

In the season of watching and admiring

My generosity-heart

And

My receptivity-mind.

```

1589. If you can multiply

```

In the inner world,

Sleeplessly

If you can multiply

Peace-light,

Then in the outer world,

Unconditionally

You can multiply

Love-delight. ```

1590. Morning is the time

```

Morning is the time

To accept God’s Love-Light.

Noon is the time

To become God’s Love-Height.

Evening is the time

To radiate God’s Love-Delight. ```

1591. I think of God first

```

I think of God first

Before I think of myself.

Why?

Because only God can be

My inspiration-thought.

I love God first

Before I love myself.

Why?

Because only God can be

My satisfaction-love.

```

1592. Greatness gives me

```

What does greatness give me?

Greatness gives me

The confidence of a lion.

What does goodness give me?

Goodness gives me

The satisfaction of a lamb.

```

1593. Relax your body

```

Relax your body.

Fecundity becomes your life.

Still your mind.

Tranquillity becomes your heart. ```

1594. What is joy?

```

What is joy?

It is a bird that we all want

To catch.

It is the same bird that we all love

To see flying.

```

1595. I shall flood myself

```

Today I shall make myself

Supremely happy.

Like the morning sun,

I shall flood my body

With compassion,

I shall flood my vital

With concern,

I shall flood my mind

With simplicity,

And I shall flood my heart

With purity.

```

1596. Each time I pray

```

Each time I pray

I unburden my life

Smilingly.

Each time I meditate

I choose God-Life alone

Unconditionally.

```

1597. At least for one day

```

How I wish to be happy today.

O my vital,

At least for one day

Do not discourage others.

O my mind,

At least for one day

Do not criticise others.

O my heart,

At least for one day

Do not emphasise the negative forces

In others.

```

1598. I measured my success

```

Yesterday

I measured my success

By competing with others.

Today

I measure my success

By competing with myself.

Tomorrow

I shall measure my success

By expanding my heart

To encompass others. ```

1599. You are inseparable

```

O my mind,

You and cloud-clusters

Are inseparable.

O my heart,

You and moon-lustre

Are inseparable.

O my soul,

You and sun-rapture

Are inseparable.

```

1600. Two things I must never forget

```

Two things I must never forget:

My meditation-appointment with God

In the small hours of the morning,

And God’s Satisfaction-appointment

with me

In the late hours of the night. ```

Editor's introduction to the first edition

This is the sixteenth volume in a series of ten thousand “flaming flower-poems” which Sri Chinmoy is placing devotedly, unreservedly and unconditionally at the Compassion-Feet of God, our Beloved Supreme. They stand as a supreme offering from the unfolding beauty of his flower-heart and the flaming heights of his realisation-sun. Indeed, a treasure-tower which will at once be claimed by humanity’s self-ascending cry and Divinity’s God-descending Smile.

Editor's note to cover photo

United Nations Secretary-General U Thant met Sri Chinmoy for the first time on 29 February 1972. In the ensuing years, the two world figures became deep friends and met together several times. In a book he wrote about the U.N. leader following his death, entitled U Thant: Divinity’s Smile, Humanity’s Cry, Sri Chinmoy declared, “Simplicity was U Thant’s life. Sincerity was U Thant’s mind. Purity was U Thant’s heart. His was the approach of serene and illumined dignity.”

Editor's note

Some poems in this first edition were later selected by the author for a special collection of 207 Flower-Flames (FFP). The author also chose to revise some of his original poems for this anthology: FF-1517: FFP 75 (revised version).

From:Sri Chinmoy,Ten Thousand Flower-Flames, part 16, Agni Press, 1981
Sourced from https://srichinmoylibrary.com/ff_16