Yesterday I was clever.
That is whyI wanted to change the world.
Today I am wise.
That is whyI am changing myself.
```You have all along
Been an expertAt concealing yourself from yourself.
From now onCan you not be an expert
At revealing yourself to yourself? ```Behold the miracle-reward
Of conscience-light:It receives love long before it gives;
It becomes even before it achieves. ```An imaginary happiness
And a struggling lifeAre perfect strangers.
These two strangersMust become two close friends
If they want to seeThe face of light
And becomeThe heart of delight.
```You want to change your life,
But you do not want to changeThe process of your thinking.
```If you do not sow
The seed of perfection,How can you expect to reap
The fruit of satisfaction? ```An insincere mind can be made
To look like a sincere mind,But an insincere mind can never be made
To feel like a sincere mind. ```Heavenly inspiration
Descends.Earthly aspiration
Ascends.Divinely perfect realisation
Neither descends nor ascends.It just spreads its infinite fragrance
Over the length and breadth of the world. ```No, not even one outer problem
Can ever be solved permanently,If the inner problem remains unsolved.
And what is that inner problem?My lack of God-hunger.
```If you want concern from God,
Then give Him what you have:Love.
If you want love from God,Then give Him what you are supposed to be:
A gratitude-heart. ```Many are the ways
To use simplicity, sincerity,Purity and humility.
But there are only very few waysTo increase them
In our lifelong journey towards God. ```The human mind is willing to
Profess a perfection-lifeAs long as it does not have to
Practise it. ```There is only one examination
That cannot and will not stop,And that is the examination
Of self-improvement. ```The only time
An insincere seeker tells the truthIs when he calls certain other seekers
A flood of insincerityOr
A sea of impurity. ```You do not love God.
Therefore, how can you have any advantageOver those who
Cannot love God? ```My longing for God knows that
To see God’s Face is really important.But what is more important
Is to have always a burning cryDeep within my heart
To see His Face. ```The body will continue
To remain idle and impureAs long as the vital
Is anxious and eager to teach it howAnd supply it with reasons why.
```O my life,
Since my mind does not want youTo examine it,
Why do you allow itTo examine you?
Allow yourself to be examinedOnly when you are allowed
To examine first. ```My Lord,
Is there no wayTo ask my vital
To stop keeping up appearances?My Lord,
Is there no wayTo ask my mind
To keep down expenses?I am dragged down
Either by appearance-powerOr by expense-power.
My Lord, save me from both! ```A generous mind
And an ungenerous heart:Is this ever possible?
Never!A perfect life
And an imperfect soul:Is this ever possible?
Never! ```There are ideas
That are not trueYet are responsible for manufacturing
A train of insecurities and anxieties.Here are two perfect examples:
God does not want me;God has no faith in me.
```Any sacred book
Is ready to stand againstYour reasoning mind.
But your own feeble faith in yourselfWill not allow you to have faith
In a sacred bookTo make your heart soulful
And your life fruitful. ```Easy to begin
But almost impossible to stopThe blows of the impurity-mind
AndThe flow of the insecurity-life.
```I am happy twice:
Once when my saviour-heartBecomes the interpreter for
My stupid mind,Once when my saviour-vision-eye
Stops me from looking atMy imperfection-vital.
```There is no way
To see perfection in the mindExcept by making it perfect.
To achieve that,What one needs
Is a heart of enthusiasmIn one’s inner life
And an eye of indifferenceTo one’s outer life.
```Nobody can see God
On his own terms.Nobody can achieve world-transcendence
On his own terms. ```Between the suspicious mind
And the inauspicious vital,Choose neither.
Between the loving heart
And the serving life,Choose both.
```The son of time
Is theAspiration-mountain.
The daughter of time
Is theDedication-sea.
```O forgiveness-light from Above,
Now that you have enteredMy crying and bleeding heart,
Do never leave me alone and lost. ```Each sweet breath
Of a soulful songIs a radiant ray
Of fruitful peace. ```Your power of self-control
Is the tree of eternal freedom.The host of life’s difficulties, helpless,
In silence surrendersTo your freedom-light.
```Each soulful hope
Embodies the moon’s silver feet.Each fruitful promise
Embodies the sun’s golden eye. ```What my mind has
Is an endless and goalless seeking.What my heart is
Is a touch of undying sadness. ```The dreaming eyes of time
Have given me two beautiful things:A divinity-heart
AndA prosperity-life.
```I have seen the beautiful
Face of God.I have touched the powerful
Feet of God.I have breathed the merciful
Heart of God.I can broadcast
These vision-realities of mineOnly to God-tuned souls.
```When the silence-night surrounds me,
I hear Heaven’s splendour-voiceAnd earth’s perfection-cry.
```How can you be happy
When what you haveIs only a sense of self-importance?
How can you be happy
When what you areIs only two flaw-seeking eyes?
```I am not happy.
Do you know why?Precisely because I am
The hyphen betweenAn indifferent eye
AndA non-committal eye.
```O my mind,
Are you not ashamed of the factThat you have allowed vast uncertainties
To surround you?Do you not realise
That you will remain foreverBeyond the reach of delight?
```If you have the courage
To free your mindFrom teeming doubts,
The light that never failsShall befriend you
Before long. ```I think it is always good
That my doubting mind and my loving heartDo not remain, even for a minute,
On speaking terms.For my mind may contaminate my heart,
And my heart may lose itsPrecious purity
If they are ever on speaking terms. ```You can have
The firsthand experience of GodWhen your gratitude-heart
And your purity-breathTogether live
Inseparably. ```Our soulful tears
Have strength unimaginable,Even inside the heart
Of our untold and imperishable weaknesses. ```Impossibility, like everything else,
Can be brought under controlIf one has a brightness-heart
And a quietness-mind. ```You are indeed a victor
If you have conquered the human life.You are indeed a greater victor
If you have conquered the human mind.You are indeed the greatest victor
If you have conquered the human heart. ```Like each necessary thought,
Each unnecessary thoughtAlso has tremendous power.
Therefore, at every moment,Endeavour to empty your mind
Of unnecessary thoughts. ```Vanity calls it
Wisdom.Arrogance calls it
Wisdom.Jealousy calls it
Wisdom.But I call it
Perfect nonsense.And what is it?
My unwillingness to surrenderTo the Reality-Light.
```The miracle of miracles is this:
You can and you willConquer your enemies
Sooner than the soonest.But you who have been
Your own true enemyWill take thousands and thousands of years
To achieve the perfection needed. ```Don’t pretend that you
Know the truthOr insist that you
Embody the truth.For, alas, truth does not want
To ride with youIn the express falsehood-train.
```To save myself in the outer world
What I need isConscious and constant attention.
To save myself in the inner world
What I need isSleepless and faultless self-examination.
```Change your inner attitude.
Collect all the gratitude-flowersOf your heart.
A new world will open up before youTo help you face tomorrow’s night
And change the abysmal fateOf the day after tomorrow.
```Implore God’s Grace.
You will be happy.Explore your heart’s silence-breath.
You will unmistakably discoverThe blue soul-bird within you.
```You do not have to prove to the world
What you are.God will do that for you.
Just tell yourself thatYou are of God’s Compassion
AndYou are for God’s Satisfaction.
```Self-centredness or self-awareness:
Make up your mind and choose!Self-centredness can be taught
Even by a speck of dust.Self-awareness can be taught
Only by God Himself. ```When you do not wake up,
You live in the heartOf the dream-land.
When you do wake up,
You live insideThe life-transcendence-sky.
```Self-observation is the beginning
Of self-perfection.Self-perfection is the beginning
Of God-Satisfaction.God-Satisfaction is the beginning
Of God’s new Dream. ```You can easily avoid
Half the lengthOf your trouble-world
By not tellingThe rest of the world
What your heart wantsAnd what your mind does not want.
```You tell me openly
That you have the capacityTo build a faith-tower.
I tell you secretlyThat you can also fix
The destruction-hourOf all your teeming doubts.
```If your heart lives
In the dream-land,Someday, without fail,
Your eyes will reachThe perfection-reality-shore.
```Be careful of the compromise-world.
Unconsciously, if not consciously,It wants to destroy
Your originality-cryAnd
Your immortality-smile. ```God gave you
What He wanted to give:His Compassion-Heart.
You can give God
One of two things:Either your ingratitude-heart
Or your perfection-life. ```Your mind’s purity,
Your heart’s beautyAnd your life’s immortality
Sail in the same boatTowards God’s Satisfaction-Shore.
```Do you want to increase
The perfection of your life?If so, then increase
The perfection of your mind.Do you want to increase
The perfection of your mind?If so, then increase
The perfection of your heart.Do you want to increase
The perfection of your heart?If so, then increase
Your God-hungerAnd multiply
Your love, devotion and surrender-worlds. ```Every atom will find
A peaceful restAnd a fruitful life.
For God has already plannedTo unveil Himself
In the beauty ofAnd through the duty of
Every atom. ```You do not have to be afraid
Of the animal-world around you.The zoo that you are living in
Is enough for your total self-destruction. ```If you are absolutely sure
That your mind has the extraordinary capacityTo injure others,
Then why are you reluctant to believeThat your heart has the unique capacity
To cure others? ```The fear of a jungle-mind
Always tries to preventThe courage of a garden-heart
From believing that there isA beauty-satisfaction-world.
```If your mind is really
Looking for God,Then someday definitely
You will be blessedWith a real teacher
Who will not deceive you.Do you know who
That real teacher will be?That real teacher will be
Your own God-oneness-heart. ```Your mind does
Only one thing:Every day it writes
Gratification-letters to itself.Your heart does
Only one thing:Every day it writes
A gratitude-letter to God. ```Do you know
What you will eventually see?You will see
The invisible power of love.Something more:
You will seeInside the invisible power of love
The Hour of GodWhich unites earth’s crying heart
And Heaven’s smiling soul. ```The world of imagination
Is always beautiful.The world of inspiration
Is always powerful.The world of realisation
Is always bountiful. ```Think of the past,
Think of the present,Think of the future.
Alas,The thing that you are looking for
Is hiding.You are looking for
The satisfaction-sun,But this satisfaction-sun
Comes only afterThe self-giving aspiration-dawn.
```You want to change the world
To satisfy yourself.What you want
Is nothing but satisfaction.Such being the case,
Why don’t you change yourself?Your own transformation,
I assure you,Will never give you
A lesser satisfaction.On the contrary,
Your transformation will give youNot only the satisfaction
That you deserveBut also the infinite Satisfaction
That God eternally is. ```This morning I was happy
Because my love-powerDefeated my ego-power.
This afternoon I was happy
Because my service-powerDefeated my ego-power.
This evening I was happy
Because my oneness-powerDefeated my ego-power.
```Truth-tellers are
The only onesWho are not great actors.
Truth-lovers are
The only onesWho are not idle dreamers.
```God is never angry
With my deplorable weaknesses.It is my deplorable weaknesses
That are always angry with God. ```I am ready to accept defeats
In all spheres of life.But one defeat I shall never,
Never accept,And that is the defeat
Of my silver heart’s golden dream. ```If your searching mind can achieve
The daring concentration-power,Then your heart can easily enjoy
The spreading peace of silence-sky. ```O pro-peace humanity,
O anti-war humanity,My morning prayer
And my evening prayerI dedicate to you,
And I beg of GodTo grant you every day
His special Favour. ```If you have developed
A sense of astonishing immediacyIn your God-hunger,
Then God’s amazing intimacyCannot remain a far cry.
```Even the possessors of great minds,
Let alone the common run,Are forced to wear
The thorn-crown of wild depression. ```In the morning
A silence-dawnInvites me.
In the evening
A shoreless shoreInvites me.
At night
The waves of light and delightFrom the ever-transcending Beyond
Invite me. ```His heart’s hopes
AndHis mind’s promises
Are sleeplessly alive.Therefore, his is the life
That will never be forced to tasteThe tasteless loaf
Of blind and dark idleness. ```A traitor’s arms
Are exceptionally powerful,But they sadly fail to equal
An ingratitude-heart. ```Each temple
Is a special world of God’s.Every day
In the morning,At noon and in the evening
It broadcasts all the news,But only about God.
```A new thought
Has saved his mind.A new faith
Has saved his heart.A new love
Has saved his life.A new God
Has saved his soul. ```Do not hope to escape,
For do you not know?We are all living,
With no exception,In an age of
Maddening self-doubts. ```They say
Taste the world and then renounce it.I say
You cannot do that.Your taste of the world
Will never end,And your renunciation of the world
Will never begin. ```Each selfish thought
Is a wild elephant.Each pure thought
Is a trumpeting elephantAnnouncing the victory
Of your perfection-life. ```Each undivine thought
Is a heavy burdenFor the entire day.
Each divine thought
Is a speedy runTowards a perfection-goal.
```I thought I was perfect,
O my soul.But now that I am following you
I clearly see that I wasMillions of miles away from perfection.
Now a hope-dawn you have granted meTo reach the perfection-day,
For I am following youSleeplessly and unconditionally.
```You know that your heart
Is fixed on things fleeting.How can you expect and
How do you expectTo gain the Smile of the Life
Ever-lasting and ever-transcending? ```If you want to live on earth
As a wise man,Then keep with you
The keys of knowledge-light.If you want to live on earth
As a perfect man,Then keep with you
The keys of wisdom-delight. ```What I need from you
Is your heart’s amazing faith.What I don’t need from you
Is your mind’s arid philosophy. ```Ignorance-mire is
The universal sickness of humanity.When our heart starts singing
A new song,The song of aspiration-cry,
Then the universal sicknessWill be transformed into
The transcendental cure. ```If you pray to lose yourself
In aspiration-reality,Which is your only true self,
Then each thought of yoursWill paint a new
And bright world for you. ```My definition of joy is this:
Darkness and its friend impurityAre nowhere to be found
In eitherMy world of aspiration-cry
OrMy world of dedication-smile.
```Sincerity is pure
When we share.Humility is bright
When we share.Purity is perfect
When we share. ```Even when hope is totally gone,
Don’t give upMounting on the wings of prayer.
For the Grace from AboveMay grant you a new chance
Wherein will abideA new assurance.
```The path of the mind
And the path of the heartAre two contradictory paths.
The path of the heartAnd the path of the soul
Are two complementary paths.But I tell you one thing:
If you want to runAlways the fastest,
Then run alongThe path of the soul,
For the soul is always of GodAnd always for God,
For God alone. ```From:Sri Chinmoy,Ten Thousand Flower-Flames, part 28, Agni Press, 1982
Sourced from https://srichinmoylibrary.com/ff_28