Ten Thousand Flower-Flames, part 34

3301. Real joy

```

Real joy you get

Not when you have something,

Not even when you become something,

But when you come to learn

That you have the capacity

To please God all the time. ```

3302. Prosperity-palace, purity-cave

```

The real joy

Is not to be found

In your outer

Prosperity-palace,

But

In your inner

Purity-cave.

```

3303. A powerful comforter

```

A tender and blessingful thought

From an illumined soul

Is a powerful comforter

For man’s sorrowful life. ```

3304. Any eager and intense attempt

```

Any eager and intense attempt

Will carry the God-lover

Far beyond the domain

Of his own persistent demands. ```

3305. If your heart can dream of purity

```

If your aspiration-heart

Can dream of perfect purity,

Then your doubting mind

And craving vital

Will become easily surmountable obstacles.

```

3306. A sound and happy co-operation

```

Now that many sincere hearts

And many dedicated lives

Are easily available,

The perfect atmosphere

For a sound and happy co-operation

Is within our easy reach. ```

3307. Human nature's daily food

```

Human nature’s daily food

Is teeming doubts,

Increasing fears

And shameless ingratitude. ```

3308. I need intense concentration

```

To sit at the Feet of God

I need sleepless concentration.

To feel the Heart of God

I need devout concentration.

To see the Face of God

I need intense concentration. ```

3309. I shall liberate my mind

```

My mind,

What you have

Is fearful confusion,

What you are

Is deepening confusion.

But I shall liberate you,

For I unmistakably know

That all your confusion

Is changeable and ephemeral.

```

3310. God's perfection-experience

```

The dance of a cosmic god

Inside my aspiration-heart

Is not an incident,

Not an accident,

But God’s sleepless and shadowless

Perfection-experience. ```

3311. My inexorable fate

```

Not to think of God

Is my tragic fate.

Not to pray to God

Is my hostile fate.

Not to meditate on God

Is my unthinkable fate.

Not to love God

Is my unforgivable fate.

But to become eventually another God

Is my inexorable fate. ```

3312. My earth-pilgrimage

```

I simply do not want to remember

My earth-pilgrimage.

Do you want to know why?

Because during my earth-pilgrimage

I completely ruined my own beautiful body.

```

3313. My Heaven-pilgrimage

```

I simply do not want to remember

My Heaven-pilgrimage.

Do you want to know why?

Because during my Heaven-pilgrimage

I completely squandered my God’s

Unconditional Compassion-Boon. ```

3314. Master, where is light?

```

Master, where is light, where?

“My son, certainly not inside

Your million desire-cries.”

Master, I know that.

But where is it?

“My son, right inside

Your God-claiming delight.”

```

3315. Master, where is delight?

```

Master, where is delight, where?

“My son, certainly not inside

Your countless possession-properties.”

Master, I know that.

But where is it?

“My son, right inside

Your self-giving heart.”

```

3316. The divine in us enters

```

Slowly and steadily

The human in us

Enters into flames divine.

Speedily and smilingly

The divine in us

Enters into the Sun-God.

```

3317. My heart is God's Choice

```

My heart is God’s Choice.

My life is God’s Voice.

And I am God’s Love-manifesting

Perfection-poise. ```

3318. Because your heart is detached

```

Because your vital is unfettered,

Because your mind is uncluttered,

Because your heart is detached,

Your life has become

A God-revealing and Truth-revealed

Vision-reality. ```

3319. You will be happy

```

Your vital wants to tear down the earth.

I tell you, even if you succeed,

You will not be happy.

Your mind wants to pierce the sun.

I tell you, even if you succeed,

You will not be happy.

You will be happy only when you feel

Earth’s snow-white love

And Heaven’s blue-gold blessings.

```

3320. You must learn

```

O my body, you must learn

How to behave.

O my vital, you must learn

How not to crave.

O my mind, you must learn

How to brave.

O my heart, you must learn

How to pave.

O my soul, you must learn

How to save. ```

3321. Man has yet to build

```

Man can build and break

Many, many things,

But he has yet to build

His wisdom-tower

And destroy his ignorance-sovereign.

```

3322. Where construction ends

```

Because of the turbulence

In the vital world,

It is difficult to know

Where construction ends

And destruction begins.

```

3323. My morning and evening questions

```

In the morning I ask myself:

Why am I so far away from God?

In the evening I ask myself:

Why is God so far away from me?

At night I ask myself:

Are my morning and evening

Questions correct?

```

3324. A supreme secret

```

I am telling you

A supreme secret:

Anything that harms you

Can never illumine others. ```

3325. You do your own duty

```

You do your own duty:

Discover yourself.

God will do His Duty:

He will prove to the world at large

That you are His choice instrument.

```

3326. Love has tremendous power

```

Although love has tremendous power

And is itself tremendous power,

It can never frighten the world.

It knows how to awaken

And it does awaken the world.

```

3327. Their shameless ignorance-smile

```

Those who say that spiritual power

Does not exist,

Or even if it exists,

It is almost always ineffective,

Are only bringing to the fore

The height of their shameless

Ignorance-smile.

```

3328. A fruitful solution

```

A fruitful solution

Will never be found

In the thick confusion-forest

Of the desire-mind. ```

3329. God gives you a new heart

```

When you bravely enter

Into ignorance-night,

God gives you a new heart

To enjoy His Satisfaction-Delight. ```

3330. You want to change the world

```

You want to change the world.

The world wants to change you.

You and the world

Should stop thinking of changing each other.

Just allow a third Person

To do the needful.

You know who I mean:

God the only Doer. ```

3331. You are taking God's job

```

You want to change the world.

Do you not realise

That you are taking away God’s job?

What has He done

To deserve this kind of punishment from you?

```

3332. Nothing that God will not do

```

If you have a sincerity-heart

And a purity-life,

Then there is nothing

That God will not cheerfully and proudly do

In you and through you.

```

3333. God's Satisfaction-Sun

```

The inner soulfulness

And

The outer willingness

Will always win

God’s Satisfaction-Sun.

```

3334. Your vital and mind

```

Your vital and mind

Are always afraid

That their division-lives

Will sooner or later

Become an open book

To Eternity’s aspiration-heart. ```

3335. Your own life's dedication-promise

```

You do not have to believe

Anything else other than

Your own heart’s aspiration-cry,

And your own life’s dedication-promise. ```

3336. Learn what you need to know

```

Just ask yourself

Whether you need to know

What you want to know.

If so, delay not.

Learn the thing immediately.

```

3337. The fountain of immortal life

```

An aspiration-heart

Is the fountain of immortal Life.

It can easily turn away

From the stark snare of death. ```

3338. You have transformed your life

```

Do you know how

You have transformed your life

Amazingly and completely?

You have done so precisely because

You have now learnt the unparalleled art

Of spontaneous living. ```

3339. I owe God everything

```

True, I owe God everything.

But there is one thing

I owe Him most,

And that is my gratitude-heart

For my life’s blossoming surrender-flower.

```

3340. Your life's inner emptiness

```

Your life’s outer emptiness

Can at most sadden you,

But your life’s inner emptiness

Can and will eventually destroy you. ```

3341. At times you need outer emptiness

```

At times you need outer emptiness

So that you can totally and unreservedly

Long for the splendid fruitfulness

Of the inner world. ```

3342. The fulness of your inner life

```

Unless and until you have discovered

The emptiness of your outer life,

How will you and why should you

Care for the fulness of your inner life? ```

3343. He alone lives

```

He alone lives who lives to see

The perfection of man

And the Satisfaction of God.

He who does not do that

Is definitely more dead than alive.

```

3344. Changes in our aspiration-life

```

Changes in our aspiration-life

Have to be accepted as soulfully and cheerfully

As the inspiring and absorbing changes

In the seasons. ```

3345. A self-fulfilled man

```

Just because you have

A self-sufficient mind

And

A self-contained life,

You cannot claim to be

A self-fulfilled man. ```

3346. Because I strive

```

Because I strive,

My dear Supreme tolerates me.

Because I fail,

My sweet Supreme forgives me.

But there shall come a time

When I shall proceed in the inner world

And succeed in the outer world.

Then and then alone

My Beloved Supreme will bless me

During the day,

And crown me

During the night. ```

3347. As the years advance upon me

```

As the years advance upon me, I see

Not only greatness but goodness,

Not only possibility but inevitability

In every little happening in the cosmos. ```

3348. The worst possible traitor

```

Now you are your mind’s best lover.

Tell me, will you continue

To love your mind

Even when it proves to be

The worst possible traitor

In the long run? ```

3349. The past is the foundation

```

The past is the foundation.

The future is the destination.

The present is the opportunity

To become perfection. ```

3350. A liberated man

```

An aspiring God

Is man the blossoming soul.

A liberated man

Is God the fulfilled body. ```

3351. Conquest of the mind

```

Conquest of the mind

Is the transformation of man

Leading towards the achievement

Of God-Perfection. ```

3352. Newness precedes soulfulness

```

Newness precedes soulfulness.

Soulfulness precedes oneness.

Oneness precedes fulness.

```

3353. My heart's contribution

```

My heart’s contribution

Has to be unconditional.

My mind’s claim

Has to be impartial. ```

3354. I came from the unknowable

```

I came from the unknowable

To the unknown,

And I shall not only go

To the known

But also become one and inseparable

With the knowable. ```

3355. To ascend and transcend

```

My Lord, do grant me

Your Immortality’s Fountain-Vision

To ascend to and then transcend

All dimensions of Heaven-free Time. ```

3356. Selfishness-cat

```

Selfishness-cat opens its eyes

In the narrow mind-room

And closes its eyes

In the shallow vital-lake.

Selflessness-lamb opens its eyes

In the heart’s beauty-room

And keeps them open

In life’s duty-palace. ```

3357. A strange but peaceful smile

```

What is life?

A weak and sick smile.

What is death?

A strange but peaceful smile. ```

3358. Yours are the blessingful Hands

```

My Lord Supreme,

Yours are the blessingful Hands;

Mine are the waiting life

And hungry heart. ```

3359. One question worth asking

```

There is only one question

Worth asking:

“What is it that so often carries me away

From the Compassion-Heart

Of my Beloved Supreme?”

```

3360. God's Forgiveness-Eye

```

God’s Forgiveness-Eye

Will definitely be victorious

Over all your excruciating sufferings.

Just wait prayerfully and soulfully

For God’s choice Hour.

```

3361. The world's good opinion

```

If you lend your ears,

The world will love you

And announce that you are perfect.

For the sake of the world’s good opinion,

Would it not be wise

To lend your ears

And restrain your powerful tongue?

```

3362. Desperation ends

```

Desperation ends

Either in frustration

Or in illumination.

Why can’t you and I

Transform our hurtful desperation

Into a powerful illumination? ```

3363. You try to exploit God

```

You are stupid.

Therefore others exploit you.

You are useless.

Therefore you exploit yourself.

You are unthinkable.

Therefore you try to exploit God. ```

3364. Unless your heart has wisdom

```

Unless your heart has abundant wisdom-light,

Don’t try to associate with those

Who are in the depression-frustration-world,

For you will be mercilessly caught

And entirely devoured

By their depression-frustration-dragon. ```

3365. They are deeply interested

```

They are deeply interested in you,

Not because you are great,

Not because you are good,

But because they can fool you,

Exploit you and finally reach

The acme of their satisfaction. ```

3366. Your God-given sincerity

```

Your God-given sincerity alone

Can tell you how many times

And in how many ways

You have exploited

Your childlike innocence-heart.

```

3367. Who is on your side?

```

Who is on your side

Early in the morning?

God’s Oneness-Life.

Who is on your side

During the entire day?

God’s Compassion-Eye.

Who is on your side

During the entire night?

God’s Forgiveness-Heart.

```

3368. Do not be a fool!

```

Do not be a fool!

Do not mistake ignorance-silence

For wisdom-poise.

Ignorance-silence is what the world has.

Wisdom-poise is what the world

Desperately and constantly needs. ```

3369. You have to rebel

```

In the morning

You have to rebel against

Your teeming doubts.

In the evening

You have to rebel against

Your struggling frustrations.

Then only your outer life will be

The life of success-sword,

And your inner life will be

The life of progress-crown. ```

3370. Eternally fruitful

```

Ignorance-night

Is absolutely useless.

Knowledge-light

Is spontaneously beautiful.

Wisdom-delight

Is eternally fruitful. ```

3371. What you actually want

```

Make sure you know

What you actually want.

Do you want to possess the world

Or do you want to free yourself

From the world?

```

3372. Your useless mind

```

Your useless mind is the fault

Of your spiritual poverty.

But your soulful heart is the embodiment

Of your perfection-light. ```

3373. An absurd expectation

```

If you cannot enjoy

Your own company,

How do you expect

The rest of the world

To enjoy your company?

Is it not an absurd expectation? ```

3374. Two things are always real

```

Many things you have,

But only two things are always real,

And these two things are

Your oneness-life

And your satisfaction-heart.

```

3375. Is there anything you cannot accomplish?

```

If you have the inner soulfulness

And the outer willingness,

Then on earth is there anything

That you cannot accomplish?

No!

A definite no!

An unmistakable no!

```

3376. The meaning of sacrifice

```

Do not use the word sacrifice

At every moment.

Do you know its actual meaning?

I am sure you will say you do not.

The actual meaning of sacrifice is

An eternally vast oneness-heart. ```

3377. Never use the word gratitude

```

Never use the word gratitude

Unless you know how to live it

Inside the world of your aspiring heart.

```

3378. The song of innocence

```

The dance of pretence

Never ends.

The song of innocence

Never begins. ```

3379. By far the best

```

To be within ourselves

Is good.

To be above ourselves

Is better.

To be only for God

Is by far the best. ```

3380. God-dreamers and God-lovers

```

Anyone who devotedly supports God’s Will

Should be unreservedly helped

By those who claim to be

God-dreamers and God-lovers. ```

3381. The divinity of the unknowable

```

We like the sincerity

Of the known.

We love the purity

Of the unknown.

We adore the divinity

Of the unknowable. ```

3382. God is everything

```

Our desire-life knows

That God has everything.

Our aspiration-life knows

That God is everything.

Our realisation-life knows

That God has, God is

And God does everything.

```

3383. God will protect you

```

God will protect you

From your destructive doubts,

If you protect your sincerity-flower

From your insincerity-thoughts. ```

3384. My life needs intensity

```

What my mind needs

Is quality.

What my heart needs

Is quantity.

And what my life needs

Is intensity. ```

3385. To change your life

```

To change your outer life

What you need

Is determination-strength.

To change your inner life

What you need

Is patience-length.

```

3386. Perfect strangers

```

Wild excitement

And calm contentment

Are perfect strangers

To each other. ```

3387. Inseparable friends

```

The purity of your seeking mind

And the beauty of your aspiring heart

Shall always remain

Inseparable friends. ```

3388. I know what God has for me

```

I do not know who God is.

I do not know where God is.

But I do know and feel

That God has for me

His Eternity’s Love

And

His Immortality’s Concern.

```

3389. The outer and inner teachers

```

The outer teacher tells me,

“Run, you will reach the goal.”

The inner teacher tells me,

“Dive, you will not only see the goal,

But also become the goal itself.”

```

3390. Conquer yourself

```

Conquer yourself.

You will be so happy, pleased and proud

That you have not desired

To conquer others. ```

3391. If you want God's Goodness

```

If you want God’s Greatness,

God will definitely give you

His Greatness.

If you want God’s Goodness,

He will give you not only

His Goodness,

But also two more things:

His Oneness and His Fulness.

```

3392. Only the unaspiring qualities

```

Only the unaspiring qualities will fight,

And not the aspiring qualities.

Fear and doubt are two unaspiring qualities.

Courage and faith are two aspiring qualities.

The weak darkness and the strong darkness

Constantly fight;

But not the iota of light

And the effulgence of light. ```

3393. Man crawls towards God

```

The difference between man and God

Is this:

Man unknowingly crawls towards God;

God compassionately runs towards man. ```

3394. Man thinks that he has God

```

The difference between man and God

Is this:

Man thinks that he has God;

God knows that man is God. ```

3395. Your heart will be all right

```

If your mind is confused,

Do not worry.

Your mind will be all right

Long before you can ever imagine.

If your heart is burdened,

Do not feel sorry.

Your heart will be all right

Long before you can ever imagine. ```

3396. Our aspiration-cry can do that

```

No amusement park,

No distraction-game

Can ever take away

Our heart’s pain.

Only our aspiration-cry

Can do that

And will do that.

```

3397. The fruit of a transformation-life

```

How can you have the fruit

Of a transformation-life

Unless you have the flower

Of a perfection-mind? ```

3398. Man is perfect

```

Man is perfect

When he is

His Eternity’s cry.

Man is perfect

When he is

His Immortality’s smile.

```

3399. What your heart is

```

Suppressed anger:

This is what your mind has.

Inner calmness:

This is what your heart is. ```

3400. Ignore the pains of your body

```

Ignore the pains of your body,

Ignore!

You will be unmistakably happy.

Silence the demands of your vital,

Silence!

You will be unbelievably happy.

Destroy the doubts of your mind,

Destroy!

You will be unimaginably happy.

Remember the purity of your heart,

Remember!

You will be unceasingly happy.

Remember God’s Pride in you,

Remember!

God will be unreservedly happy with you.

```

Editor's introduction to the first edition

This is the thirty-fourth 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

Sri Chinmoy discussed Vedic poetry and Sanskrit etymology with Dr Kristjan Eldjarn, President of Iceland, during a meeting in Reykjavik in the summer of 1974. “The esoteric meaning of the Vedas,” Sri Chinmoy said, “can only be understood by prayer and meditation.” Later, commenting on Iceland, Sri Chinmoy said, “In Iceland I see 75 per cent Indian peace, 20 per cent European clarity and 5 per cent American dynamism.”

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-3393: and 3394 FFP 125

From:Sri Chinmoy,Ten Thousand Flower-Flames, part 34, Agni Press, 1982
Sourced from https://srichinmoylibrary.com/ff_34