Ten Thousand Flower-Flames, part 26

2501. Explore new heights

```

Explore new heights,

Pursue new goals!

Now your heart

Is waving victory-banners,

Your mind

Is blowing victory-bugles,

Your eye

Is singing victory-songs. ```

2502. A different promise

```

What your mind needs

Is a different viewpoint.

What your heart needs

Is a different ideal.

What your life needs

Is a different goal.

And what you yourself need

Is a different promise. ```

2503. You have lost to Truth

```

You have lost to Truth.

That means God has

Finally and permanently

Won the victory

In you and for you.

```

2504. Your willingness to receive

```

You may not be ready to receive

God the Power

At this very moment.

But your willingness to receive Him

Is more than enough

For God the Love to come to you

And unveil God the Power within you.

```

2505. He who sleeps

```

He who enjoys an outer sleep

Sees not the beauty of life.

He who enjoys an inner sleep

Feels not the Love of God. ```

2506. God's higher worlds

```

Your inner world will remain

A tempting hope,

Your outer world will remain

A frustrating reality,

Unless God’s higher worlds

Come to your rescue

By illumining your inner world

And feeding your outer world. ```

2507. My absolutely normal life

```

A desire-life

Is my strange life.

An aspiration-life

Is my hard-earned life.

A realisation-life

Shall be my absolutely normal life. ```

2508. If you want to be happy

```

If you want to be happy,

Then in the morning think

That you know something.

If you want to remain happy until noon,

Then feel

That you know everything.

If you want to remain happy until evening,

Then realise that there will always remain

More things on earth

Than you will ever know. ```

2509. If your life is awake

```

If your mind is alert,

God will come to you.

If your heart is aware,

God will come to you

And smile at you.

If your life is awake,

God will come to you,

Smile at you

And embrace you. ```

2510. A life-illumining sea

```

What is the difference

Between a nightmare

And a charming dream?

A nightmare is

A life-destroying flood.

A charming dream is

A life-illumining sea.

```

2511. The part that loves God

```

There is only one part in you

That has to be strengthened

Consciously and constantly,

And that part is the part

That wants to love God alone

And wants to be loved by God alone. ```

2512. Near the border of your mind

```

Not very far,

But very near

The border of your doubting mind,

There is a world

That has the beauty

of God’s Eye,

The purity

of God’s Heart

And the luminosity

of God’s Soul. ```

2513. Your realisations shall transcend

```

Your desires are great.

Your aspirations are good.

Your realisations shall transcend

The power of greatness

And

The power of goodness.

When greatness is transcended

You will become

An ever-running flow.

When goodness is transcended

You will become

An ever-climbing glow. ```

2514. This is called self-knowledge

```

First see

That you are wrong,

Then think

That you can correct yourself,

And finally feel

That this is what God

Has all along been asking you to do.

Indeed, this is called

Self-knowledge.

```

2515. Do you know?

```

Do you know that your world

Is not God’s entire world?

Do you know that God’s entire world

Can house your world?

Do you know that your world

Can claim anything from God’s world

As its very own?

```

2516. Self-newness is beautiful

```

Self-newness

Is beautiful.

Life-oneness

Is soulful.

God-permanence

Is fruitful.

Everything else on earth

Is hurtful. ```

2517. A new nourishment

```

If you think that you are walking

Along a wrong path,

That means you are already

On the verge of entering

Onto a new path

Which will create a new hunger within you

And supply you with a new nourishment.

```

2518. For a progress-life

```

For a success-life,

I went away

From my house.

For a progress-life,

I am desperately trying

To return home.

```

2519. Let us realise

```

Let us criticise

The childish vital

In us.

Let us patronise

The child-like heart

In us.

Let us realise

The God-like divinity

In us.

```

2520. Freedom-satisfaction

```

Freedom-satisfaction

Knocked at my door

The day I realised

That the world does not need me

And I need only God.

```

2521. A pure life

```

A pure life does two things

All at once:

It reveals God’s Beauty on earth

And unseals man’s gratitude-box. ```

2522. Two questions

```

There are

And there can be

Only two questions:

Where is God?

Who am I?

There are also only two answers

That satisfy me

And will always satisfy me:

I do not know;

I have yet to know.

```

2523. A self-unfoldment

```

What is success?

An outer building.

What is progress?

An inner awakening.

What is destination?

A self-unfoldment. ```

2524. Only one thing is perfect

```

To him,

Earth is not perfect.

To him,

Even Heaven is not perfect.

To him,

What then is perfect?

To him,

Only one thing is perfect:

His own Eternity’s hunger-cry.

```

2525. Entitled to criticise

```

I may not have the capacity

To make any decisions,

But that does not mean

That I am not entitled to criticise others

When their decisions

Are far from perfect. ```

2526. Obscurity is not profundity

```

Obscurity is not

Profundity,

As some people think.

Impurity is not

An unavoidable possession,

As some people think.

```

2527. How many can transform?

```

Everybody can declare

That imperfection is not perfection.

But how many can transform

The face of imperfection

Into the heart of perfection?

```

2528. The source

```

The strangling vital

Is the equal of

The doubting mind,

Although each one

Claims to be the source.

```

2529. Self-perfection we are

```

Self-control

We can see.

Self-deception

We can feel.

Self-perfection

In the inner world

We eternally are.

```

2530. Self-glory

```

Self-glory

Begins only to end.

Self-discovery

Begins only to continue

Forever.

```

2531. Do the most difficult thing first

```

Do the most difficult thing first:

Save yourself.

If you do this,

God Himself will do

Everything else for you.

```

2532. You can simplify truth

```

You cannot change truth.

You cannot rectify truth.

You cannot magnify truth.

You cannot vilify truth.

But one thing you can do with truth

Most satisfactorily:

You can simplify truth.

```

2533. Philosophy embodies

```

Philosophy embodies God-information.

Religion embodies God-aspiration.

Spirituality embodies God-Satisfaction.

```

2534. Peace is a twelve-letter word

```

Love is a five-letter word,

And I will tell you how to spell it:

P-E-A-C-E.

Peace is a twelve-letter word,

And I will tell you how to spell it:

S-A-T-I-S-F-A-C-T-I-O-N.

```

2535. Great mind, good heart

```

The difference between

Your great mind and your good heart

Is this:

Your great mind has the capacity

To inspire you.

Your good heart has the capacity

To aspire for you.

```

2536. The fire-pure change

```

I have only one thing to see,

I have only one thing to feel

And I have only one thing to become:

The fire-pure change of my desire-life. ```

2537. Your only credential

```

If you want your life

To proceed only towards God,

And if you want only God

To succeed in you,

Then you need no other credentials,

For God Himself will always be ready

To be your credential.

```

2538. The question of death

```

The frightening question of death

Arises only in those

Who cannot take death

As a return home. ```

2539. An honest thought

```

An honest thought has

An unshakable mind,

An invincible heart

And

A proud God.

```

2540. In constant repair

```

Three things

Must be in constant repair:

A purity-mind,

A oneness-heart,

A perfection-life.

```

2541. Independent of fate

```

If you want to be

Independent of fate,

Then your sacred life

Must live all the time

In your secret thoughts.

```

2542. Only an invincible cry

```

Only an invincible cry

Will someday be able

To manifest and celebrate

The peaceful beauty

Of God’s Victory-Light

Here on earth. ```

2543. Most powerfully pleased

```

This morning I offered God

A renewed mind, divinely tall.

Therefore, God was most powerfully

Pleased with me.

This evening I offered God

A renewed heart, supremely deep.

Therefore, God was most powerfully

Pleased with me. ```

2544. A breathtaking surprise

```

To me it was a breathtaking surprise

When I came to realise

That my acceptance of the spiritual life

Was not the extinction

Of my inner turmoil.

```

2545. We double our joy

```

O my heart,

Each time you and I

Share our struggles,

We double our joy

In each other.

```

2546. I trust my soul

```

I trust my mind

To make my mind happy.

I trust my heart

To make myself happy.

I trust my soul

To know what happiness is. ```

2547. God is all for you

```

Because of your beautiful heart,

God lives inside you.

Because of your peaceful life,

God is all for you. ```

2548. Your mind-tree bears no fruits

```

Your mind-tree bears no fruits.

Your heart-tree bears no flowers.

Do you know why?

Because your life-plant has become a victim

To the disease of impurity.

```

2549. Only three questions

```

My Lord,

I have only three questions,

And if You answer them in the affirmative,

My heart will be all gratitude to You.

Do You love me

When I am asleep?

Will You think of me more

Tomorrow?

Have You forgotten

My past? ```

2550. When you think of me

```

My mind,

When you think of me,

My lack of alertness

Saddens you.

When I think of you,

Your lack of willingness

Saddens me.

And when our Lord thinks of us,

Our lack of soulful oneness

Saddens Him.

```

2551. Explore the secrets

```

Explore the secrets

Of the outer world.

Implore the secrets

Of the inner world.

Lo, the realities of the outer world

Will at once be at your disposal,

And the realities of the inner world

Will extol you to the skies. ```

2552. I know that you care for me

```

Mine is the mind

That is bewildered.

Mine is the heart

That is broken.

Mine is the vital

That is bruised.

Mine is the soul

That is aching.

My Lord,

Yet I feel

That You love me,

Yet I know

That You care for me.

```

2553. My ambitious plans are exploded

```

My ambitious plans are exploded.

Therefore,

My mind is completely lost.

My precious dreams are smashed.

Therefore,

My heart is totally broken.

What I now have

Is a staggering mind.

What I now have

Is a shattered heart. ```

2554. The absence of my outer happiness

```

The absence of my outer happiness

Does not mean the inner absence

Of my Lord Supreme.

One has nothing

To do with the other.

```

2555. Introductions

```

My Lord, my Lord,

Please liberate me

From my monologue-prayer.

Please feed the hunger

Of my prayer today.

Do come down

And let me introduce You

As my very dearest and fondest Friend

To my dear friends:

The weak heart,

The blind mind,

The lame vital,

The sleeping body.

```

2556. Two powerful enemies

```

I have two powerful

And shameless enemies:

Anxiety and impurity.

To anxiety I say:

“I shall not think of you

Any more.”

To impurity I say:

“I shall not allow you

To think of me

Any more.” ```

2557. Mutual prayer

```

My heart and I

Pray to each other.

I pray to my heart

To bless me with its oneness.

My heart prays to me

To bless it with my alertness. ```

2558. One long prayer

```

Yesterday I discovered

What I needed

Was one long joy

To please myself.

Today I have discovered

What I need

Is one long prayer

To please my Lord Supreme. ```

2559. I do not want to include

```

As I do not want to include

Irritations and frustrations

In my material success,

Even so,

I do not want to include

Disagreements and differences

In my spiritual progress.

```

2560. A suspicious mind

```

A suspicious mind

Is its own punishment.

An auspicious heart

Is its own reward.

A strangling vital

Is its own punishment.

A serving body

Is its own reward. ```

2561. Can you not care?

```

O my mind,

Imagine how I think of you

All the time,

How I care for you

All the time.

Do I ever care for the other

Four billion people in this world?

No, never!

I think only of you,

I care only for your perfection.

Can you not,

Once in a blue moon,

Care for my satisfaction?

```

2562. Go beyond yourself

```

Go beyond yourself.

Once you go beyond yourself

You will see

That the world around you

Is a playground

And two players are constantly playing:

Beauty and purity.

```

2563. Cultivate self-insight

```

If you want to

Take everything seriously,

Then cultivate the capacity

For self-insight. ```

2564. No difference

```

There is no difference

Between contradictions and frustrations.

There is no difference

Between confusion and humiliation. ```

2565. Only one thing to do

```

God asks us to do

Only one thing sleeplessly:

“My children, give up,

Give up the things that make you

Deplorably and helplessly unhappy.”

```

2566. Divine capacities

```

Sincerity has the capacity

To simplify everything.

Purity is the capacity

To enjoy everything. ```

2567. My mind tells me

```

In the morning

My mind tells me:

“Young man,

You are supremely useful.”

In the evening

My mind tells me:

“Old man,

You are absolutely useless.” ```

2568. I can win everything

```

I can win everything.

When?

Only when my new need

Has transcended my old desire. ```

2569. Guidance has just arrived

```

I shall accept defeat

No more, no more.

No, no more!

Why?

Lo, guidance from Above

Has just arrived. ```

2570. Conviction is an awakening

```

Perception,

Wrong or right,

Is an outer power.

Conviction,

Wrong or right,

Is an inner awakening.

```

2571. God's magic Wand

```

Although you yourself

Have written your life-story,

You are now dying to forget

Quite a few chapters.

You need some help.

Lo, God’s Forgiveness-magic Wand

Is poised right over your head.

```

2572. Nothing changes

```

Nothing changes,

Nobody changes.

But only you can,

Only you will.

Therefore, start immediately,

My dear friend, mind. ```

2573. The touch of sincerity

```

An insincere life

Will always find fault

With another insincere life.

It will never find fault

With a sincere life,

For the very touch of sincerity

In silence

Melts the heart of insincerity. ```

2574. Satisfaction abides in him

```

Constant satisfaction abides in him.

Do you know why?

Because he has totally liberated himself

From his strange love

For dissatisfaction.

```

2575. An awakened soul

```

The difference between

An awakened soul and an unawakened soul

Is this:

An unawakened soul thinks

There can be nothing

Equal to it or above it.

An awakened soul knows

There is nothing

Below or above it,

Only with it. ```

2576. Choose self-discovery

```

O my mind,

For aeons self-glory

Has been feeding you.

Do you not think

That it is high time

For you to develop a new hunger

And be satisfied in an infinitely

More fruitful way?

If you think I am telling you

The right thing,

Then choose

And welcome self-discovery

To feed you

From today on. ```

2577. Try to save yourself

```

If your sincerity

Has a short breath,

Then try to save the world.

If your sincerity

Has a long and sleepless breath,

Then try to save yourself first.

```

2578. You were an angel

```

Yesterday you were an angel.

Do you know why?

Because you did not exploit

Your purity-heart.

Today you are a demon.

Do you know why?

Because you have invited

Wild dissatisfaction

To dine with your purity-heart.

```

2579. Self-deception's body

```

Self-deception’s body

Is smaller than the smallest,

But its unconscious and hidden power

Can at any moment equal

The power of an atomic explosion.

```

2580. An abiding sincerity

```

An insincere person thinks

That all sincere people

Are insincere in nature,

But are only donning

The robe of sincerity.

A sincere person thinks

That an insincere person

Is not aware

Of the capacity of his insincerity —

That his insincerity can

At any moment

Transform itself into

An abiding sincerity. ```

2581. A false path

```

You call it a false path.

If you have the courage

To call it a false path,

Do you not think

That it is your bounden duty

To change its face?

If you do not have the capacity

To change the path,

Then you should have at least

The sincere capacity to doubt

Your own proud assessment

That the path is false. ```

2582. Self-deception and self-perfection

```

The difference between

Self-deception and self-perfection

Is this:

Self-deception says,

“I am already another God.”

Self-perfection says,

“Someday, without fail,

I shall grow into another God.” ```

2583. Only one thing is not ready

```

The food is ready.

The waiter is ready.

The table is ready.

The eater is ready.

Only one thing is not ready:

The hunger, the real hunger,

The inner hunger

In the eater. ```

2584. You are ready to be crowned

```

Are you tired

Of what you have said?

Are you tired

Of what you have known?

Are you tired

Of what you are now?

Then you are more than ready

To be crowned with

A simplicity-life,

A purity-heart

And

An Immortality-God. ```

2585. The dissatisfaction-tiger

```

Here on earth I feel

Everything is wrong,

Everything is imperfect,

Everything is undivine

If it is not totally to my liking.

Such being the case,

How do I dare

To think that Heaven

Will be to my liking?

The dissatisfaction-tiger in me, alas,

Is infinitely more powerful

Than the perfection-power

That poor Heaven embodies.

```

2586. Contradiction-power

```

Your unsure life

Contradicts your wisdom-soul

Precisely because

Your impure mind

Continuously contradicts your pure heart.

You have inherited

This contradiction-power

From your blind mind. ```

2587. A first-class opportunist

```

How can I expect

Anything great or good

From my mind?

It is a first-class opportunist.

It glorifies other minds

Only to borrow

An information-ocean.

```

2588. Falsehood needs everything

```

Truth needs no explanation.

Falsehood needs everything on earth

To explain its authenticity

And to win its case.

But alas, finally,

Useless explanation and deathless frustration

Start dancing together.

```

2589. The observer doubts

```

Nothing in this world is perfect

And nothing can ever be perfect,

For the observer himself

In secret

Doubts his own vision-eye.

```

2590. A subtle fear of the world

```

A subtle fear of the world

Everybody has,

But nobody is brave enough

To admit it,

Even to his own outer mind.

```

2591. We all pretend

```

You pretend

That you do not know anything.

He pretends

That he knows everything.

I pretend

That I know only the good things.

Are we not sailing

In one and the same

Self-destruction-boat?

```

2592. Twice you are absolutely right

```

Twice you are absolutely right:

Once when you doubt the existence

Of your inner peace,

And once when you doubt the existence

Of your outer restlessness.

```

2593. Conscience

```

Conscience is not

The self-interest of an opportunist.

Conscience is

The seeker’s aspiration-interest in God

And God’s Compassion-Interest in him.

```

2594. Know one thing well

```

Many people may not know

Many things well.

But each and every man seems to know

One thing well,

And that is how to call ignorance-night

By a new and convincing name:

Wisdom-light.

```

2595. The carelessness-hearts of others

```

Like impurity,

Carelessness also reigns supreme.

As you do not trust your own

Impurity-mind,

Even so, do not trust

The carelessness-hearts of others. ```

2596. God wants to see you

```

You want others to see you

The way you see yourself.

Others see you

The way they want to see you.

God wants to see you

The way He sees Himself:

As His Eternity’s Perfection-Blossom.

```

2597. Just by claiming

```

As you cannot make an incorrect thing correct

Just by saying that it is correct,

Similarly,

You cannot make yourself a sincere seeker

Just by claiming to be one.

```

2598. Without praying for an escape

```

Without praying for an escape,

If you feel that you have

Already escaped,

Then rest assured

That you yourself are blocking tightly

Your own escape. ```

2599. Oneness-understanding-power

```

There is only one way to reduce

Our boldness-criticising-power,

And that way is to develop

Consciously and constantly

Our oneness-understanding-power.

```

2600. All gratitude to You

```

My Lord Supreme,

I am all gratitude to You

Because You have given my heart

The readiness to accept You.

My Lord Supreme,

I am all gratitude to You

Because You have given my mind

The willingness to wait for You. ```

Editor's introduction to the first edition

This is the twenty-sixth 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

On 11 October 1979 Sri Chinmoy and members of the Meditation Group at the United Nations met privately with India’s Foreign Minister, S.N. Mishra, who was visiting the United Nations at the time. Towards the end of their meeting, the Foreign Minister said to Sri Chinmoy, “You have been good enough to come and give me such bliss inside.”

From:Sri Chinmoy,Ten Thousand Flower-Flames, part 26, Agni Press, 1982
Sourced from https://srichinmoylibrary.com/ff_26