Ten Thousand Flower-Flames, part 36

3501. Three are the easy steps

```

Three are the easy steps

To enter into the real spiritual life:

Do not try to fight the world,

Do not expect anything from the world,

Do not forget to surrender to the illumining dictates

Of your God-representative here on earth:

Your soul.

```

3502. Do you want to enjoy your self?

```

Do you want to enjoy your self

Or do you want to enjoy the world?

You can enjoy one of the two,

But not both.

Therefore, make the perfect choice

If you really want abiding satisfaction

In your life.

```

3503. He shows interest in you

```

He shows interest in you

Not because he thinks

That you are great

But because he feels

That you have the capacity

To make him great. ```

3504. Don't blame your confusion-mind

```

Don’t blame your confusion-mind,

For it is you who are to blame.

How is it that you have not offered

Your heart’s oneness-light

To your confusion-mind?

```

3505. You can never spare a moment

```

You are always free

To speak to others,

But you can never spare a moment

Either to speak to your inner self

Or to hear your inner self speak to you.

How do you then expect to make progress

In achieving perfection and satisfaction?

```

3506. Dependence-division-boat

```

Dependence-division-boat

Will always carry you

To a goalless shore.

Independence in inseparable oneness

Will always lead you

To the Golden Shore. ```

3507. What confession actually needs

```

What confession actually needs

Is the transcendental Illumination

And not the universal Compassion.

```

3508. God's perfect faith in you

```

Be not afraid

Of your teeming worries and anxieties.

God’s perfect faith in you perfectly knows

What it has to do with them

And what it has to do about them.

```

3509. A real difference

```

It makes no difference

Whether you love the world

Or the world loves you.

It makes a real difference

Only when you love the Supreme

In the world

And the world loves the Supreme

In you. ```

3510. You are obliged

```

You are in no way obliged

To perfect the world.

You are in no way obliged

To see perfection in the world.

But you are definitely obliged

To perfect yourself. ```

3511. To know more

```

To know more,

You have to love more.

To love more,

You have to discover more.

To discover more,

You have to not only surrender more,

But also surrender constantly

To the Will of God. ```

3512. Do not be afraid of shadows

```

Do not be afraid of shadows.

Someday you are bound to reach

The permanent sunshine.

Therefore, be not afraid

Of the shadows

That follow you. ```

3513. The human in you deceives him

```

The human in you deceives him,

Not because you are clever

But because you are weak.

The divine in you loves him,

Not because he is great

But because he is good.

```

3514. A perfectly adaptable instrument

```

Nothing is practical,

Nothing is practicable,

Unless and until you become

A perfectly adaptable instrument. ```

3515. Become the song of oneness

```

Fear imprisons your vital.

Doubt imprisons your mind.

Be careful!

Insecurity can at any moment

Imprison your heart.

Therefore, immediately become the song

Of all-fulfilling and all-fulfilled oneness.

```

3516. Illumination is imperative

```

You may suppress something for some time,

But you cannot avoid it forever.

Therefore, suppression of anything

Is not and cannot be the answer.

The illumination of that very thing

Is imperative. ```

3517. If you are a true seeker

```

If you are a true seeker,

Your heart will always remain

A prayerful rose.

If you are a true seeker,

Your life will always remain

A beautiful dawn. ```

3518. Think only of accepting

```

If you are a true seeker,

Then do not think of negating anything.

If you are true seeker,

Then do not think of renouncing anything.

If you are a true seeker,

Then do not think of possessing anything.

If you are a true seeker,

Then think only of accepting everything

In accordance with God’s express Will.

```

3519. I can easily protect myself

```

I prayed to God to protect me.

He said to me

For that I do not need His help.

I can easily protect myself

By repeating to Him,

“Let Thy Will alone be done.” ```

3520. If you have a searching mind

```

If you have a searching mind,

That means you have a mind

That deserves not only a perfection-life

But also a satisfaction-heart. ```

3521. God tells me what to do

```

God tells me what to do,

How to do it

And

Why to do it,

Out of His infinite Compassion.

I tell God what I am going to do,

How I am going to do it

And

Why I am going to do it,

Out of sheer delusion.

```

3522. Outer and inner conquest

```

The difference between

The outer conquest and the inner conquest

Is this:

The inner conquest

Cannot be lost,

For it is the Satisfaction

Of God in man.

The outer conquest

Can easily be lost,

For it is the satisfaction of man

In the animal kingdom.

```

3523. Yesterday my mind frightened me

```

Yesterday my mind frightened me

By telling me that God is extremely severe

In all His aspects.

Today my heart is illumining me

By telling me that my Lord’s Forgiveness

And my salvation

Are immediate neighbours. ```

3524. God likes your powerful mind

```

God likes your powerful mind.

God loves your soulful heart.

God needs your prayerful life.

```

3525. Two pieces of advice

```

You want to know

What you should do with your mind?

I have two pieces of advice for you.

The first piece of advice is this:

Give your mind a long vacation.

It should not be allowed to work

For a long time.

The second piece of advice is this:

Give your heart no leave,

Give your heart no holiday,

Not even for a fleeting day.

```

3526. What do you want?

```

What do you want?

Wisdom?

Then go beyond your mind.

What do you want?

Joy?

Then stay inside your heart.

What do you want?

Peace?

Then stay neither with your old self

Nor with your new self,

But with your soul,

Inside its cosmic nest. ```

3527. Before you think of realising God

```

Before you think of realising God,

You must pray for His Forgiveness.

Before you pray for His Forgiveness,

You must care for your

Inseparable mutual oneness.

Before you care for your inseparable oneness,

You must in silence repeat:

“God for God’s sake,

Not for my own sake;

God for God’s own Transcendental Victory,

Not for my desire-bound,

Ignorance-fond life.” ```

3528. I love my inner life

```

I love my outer life.

Do you know why?

I love my outer life

Because it longs for the inner life.

I love my inner life.

Do you know why?

I love my inner life

Because it always tries

To discipline my outer life

And beckon my outer life. ```

3529. I brave the powerful blows

```

I brave the powerful blows

Of stark disappointments.

I also brave the powerful Smile

Of God’s God-Hour. ```

3530. A fruitful life

```

God has unconditionally given you

A beautiful heart.

Can you not give Him in return

A fruitful life?

Try, you can!

You are bound to succeed! ```

3531. God does not mind

```

God does not mind

Your impure vital.

God does not mind

Your timid heart.

God does mind

Your unwilling, unaspiring

And unyielding mind.

```

3532. Someone is waiting

```

Someone infinitely wiser than you

Is waiting at your mind’s door.

Someone infinitely purer than you

Is waiting at your heart’s door.

Someone infinitely more self-giving than you

Is waiting at your life’s door.

Welcome Him.

Give Him the opportunity

To do everything through you.

Needless to say,

He will do everything for you

With utmost joy. ```

3533. To sit at the Feet of God

```

To see the Face of God

You must pray and pray.

To feel the Heart of God

You must meditate and meditate.

To sit at the Feet of God

You must surrender and surrender. ```

3534. I am a fool

```

I am a fool,

Not because I do not notice

What is happening in my inner life.

I am a fool,

Not because I do not know

What is going to happen in my outer life.

I am a fool

Because I do not dare to imagine

That God is unconditionally

All Love for me. ```

3535. My God-strength

```

My outer strength

Wants to break the world.

My inner strength

Wants to build the world anew.

My Lord’s God-Strength in me and for me

Transcends my sound-life

And

Befriends my silence-life. ```

3536. My Lord is happy

```

I am happy

Only when I worship

My Lord’s Thunder-Feet.

My Lord is happy

Only when I love

His Vision-Eye.

```

3537. Golden is Eternity's Road

```

Golden is Eternity’s Road.

Golden is Infinity’s Shore.

Golden is Immortality’s Cry.

```

3538. My mind is afraid

```

My mind is afraid

Of God’s infinite Power.

My heart is afraid

Of God’s immortal Love.

I am afraid

Of my life’s imperfection-night. ```

3539. Only one thing satisfies me

```

God’s infinite Power

Does not satisfy my vital.

God’s infinite Peace

Does not satisfy my mind.

God’s infinite Love

Does not satisfy my heart.

There is only one thing that satisfies me —

My vital, my mind and my heart:

That God all-where eternally is.

```

3540. Your wee life-boat

```

Your tiny, wee life-boat

Plies between the unknown fear-shore

And an unadmitted hostility-shore.

How then can you ever expect your mind

To be flooded with peace-light?

```

3541. You do not deserve

```

O my intellectual mind,

Do you want to stay alone?

Then stay alone.

You do not deserve

Oneness-beauty and fulness-satisfaction.

```

3542. End the inner war

```

If you really want peace,

Then end immediately

The inner war,

Which undoubtedly is

A doubtful mind.

```

3543. What a strange attitude!

```

What a strange attitude!

You treat your vital with utmost contempt,

And yet you expect your vital

To offer you its unalloyed respect. ```

3544. Why do you forget?

```

Why don’t you want to stay with yourself?

Why?

You are not ugly, not in the least.

You are not weak, not in the least.

You are not poor, not in the least.

Why do you forget

You are God’s choice instrument,

An especially God-manifested Vision? ```

3545. You can surmount all obstacles

```

You can surmount all obstacles

Within and without

Like a magician

If you soulfully study every day

The art of heart-offering

To the volition of your perfection-soul. ```

3546. If you want to learn more

```

If you want to learn more,

Then think more carefully,

Love more soulfully

And become more,

Immediately.

```

3547. Start to think of a new life

```

Start to think of a new life.

Your sincere mind

Will teach you how to start.

Your pure heart

Will continue for you.

Just start to think of a new life. ```

3548. When my dream-tower collapses

```

When my dream-tower collapses

And is totally ruined,

I do not suffer,

For I know that it was, after all,

Only a dream-tower,

And it had nothing to do

With my soul’s vision-reality.

My dream-tower is always made

Of my wishful thinking.

I do not need it.

I shall not need it.

It is an unnecessary thing

From my very remote past.

```

3549. For sweet progress

```

For swift success in your outer life

What you need is a stoic life.

For sweet progress in your inner life

What you need is a prayerful heart. ```

3550. If you dare to know who you are

```

If you dare to know who you are

And what you are,

Then God will share with you

Who He eternally is

And

What He sleeplessly and unconditionally does. ```

3551. Why do you have to feel helpless?

```

Why do you have to feel helpless?

Why do you have to feel hopeless?

Why do you have to feel useless?

Why?

Why?

Is God’s Compassion others’ monopoly?

Is God’s Satisfaction others’ monopoly?

Is God’s Oneness-Love others’ monopoly?

No, never!

If others claim God as their own,

Even so, you can claim God as your own,

Absolutely your own. ```

3552. If you think you are practical

```

If you think that you are practical,

Then you must see that God is extra-practical.

If you work for your own perfection,

Then you must see that

God works not only for His own Satisfaction

But also for your perfection,

For He knows that your perfection

And His Satisfaction

Will have to go together

To meet your mutual needs. ```

3553. Confusion-night cannot last

```

Confusion-night cannot and will not last.

Separation-night cannot and will not last.

Imperfection-night cannot and will not last.

What can and will last?

Only the Satisfaction

Of our heart’s eternal God. ```

3554. Three false realisations

```

You are the possessor of three false realisations:

The world needs you desperately,

You can live perfectly without the world,

You know what you are doing. ```

3555. Believe in the higher visions

```

Do you want to understand

The inner meaning of life?

If so, believe in the higher visions

Of your aspiration-life;

Believe in the deeper realities

Of your dedication-life. ```

3556. Your Himalayan self-transformation

```

Be not afraid

Of your rocky, hilly self-examinations

If you want to enjoy the beauty and the majesty

Of your Himalayan self-transformation. ```

3557. A sure surety-life

```

If you want to enjoy

A sure surety-life,

Then you must needs live

In your pure purity-heart

And renounce your possessive

Possession-life. ```

3558. Death ennobles

```

Death levels.

What does it level?

It levels the imperative mind.

Death ennobles.

What does it ennoble?

It ennobles the receptive heart.

```

3559. He will succeed

```

He does not want.

He does not want to resign himself to dotage.

He wants.

He wants to carry his life’s

Prayerful morning

Throughout his life’s powerful day.

He will succeed.

```

3560. I do not know them

```

Despair:

My heart knows not what it is.

Submission:

My life knows not what it is.

My adamantine will has given me

A suit of armour

That defies all life-shattering buffets.

```

3561. At the mercy of time

```

Enthusiasm I had.

Alas, time has cleverly cooled

My enthusiasm.

Determination I had.

Alas, time has secretly stolen it away.

And now where am I?

I am at the merciless mercy of time.

```

3562. Be careful of uninspiring books

```

Be careful of uninspiring books.

Their authors may mingle

With dust and ashes,

But their books will remain on earth

To damage your heart’s aspiration-cry

And your life’s perfection-smile. ```

3563. God's Benediction-Sky

```

His success-life began

Inside God’s Compassion-Sea.

His progress-life begins

Inside God’s Benediction-Sky. ```

3564. The right thing

```

I shall bid you to do

The right thing:

Love yourself sincerely and soulfully.

I shall forbid you to do

The wrong thing:

Cherish no low opinion of yourself

And rest not foolishly with indolence. ```

3565. Assist and resist

```

Assist and resist.

For your own good

Assist your aspiration-friend

Sleeplessly.

For your own good

Resist your temptation-foe

Vehemently plus vigilantly.

```

3566. The blossoms of hope

```

Your mind has not prayed to God.

Your heart has not loved God.

How then can you now expect

The blossoms of hope to appear in your life

To challenge the strength

Of your damaging despair? ```

3567. A right question

```

If you have a wrong question,

How can you expect a right answer?

If you have a right question,

Then rest assured, the correct answer

Will immediately follow it.

```

3568. Your outer smile

```

As a map is not the real country,

Even so, your outer smile

Is not your inner satisfaction.

```

3569. Confess to the right person!

```

What you call confession

I call the immediate disappearance

Of a serious infection

That was threatening your aspiration-life.

But confess only to the right person!

```

3570. Your constant remembrance

```

Remember what you said to God in Heaven

Before you left for earth.

Your constant remembrance

Will be transformed into a perfect performance. ```

3571. Unless I act from God's Heart

```

Unless I consciously act

From God’s Heart,

How can I soulfully and perfectly work

For God’s Body,

The creation?

```

3572. Always an oasis

```

There is always an oasis

In the desert-life of each human being.

But we must look for it

Here, there and all-where. ```

3573. An unforgettable truth

```

I know who God is.

Indeed, this is an undeniable fact.

I love God secretly

And God loves me openly.

Indeed, this is an unforgettable truth.

```

3574. The right thing to do

```

O my mind,

Do you know why I ask you

To be always perfect?

Because it is the right thing to do.

O my heart,

Do you know why I ask you

To be always content?

Because it is the right thing to do. ```

3575. You can increase

```

You can increase

The beauty of your purity

By questioning your mind’s purity.

You can increase

The purity of your oneness

By questioning your heart’s oneness.

```

3576. The eyeless and earless seekers

```

The eyeless seekers and the earless seekers

Think that the message

Of transformation and perfection

Is not applicable to them. ```

3577. Ignore your protests

```

Ignore your outer protests.

Go and see God standing

At your heart’s door.

Ignore your inner protests.

Remain seated at His Feet.

```

3578. Aspiration without dedication

```

To have aspiration without dedication

Is like seeing with one eye,

For the other eye has totally

Lost its vision.

To have dedication without aspiration

Is like using one hand,

For the other hand

Is completely paralysed. ```

3579. How can you succeed?

```

How can you succeed

With your heart’s superficial

Aspiration-flames?

How can you?

How can you proceed

With your life’s artificial

Dedication-drops?

How can you? ```

3580. Depending on oneself alone

```

Depending on oneself alone

Is like asking a little child

To run an ultramarathon.

```

3581. My Lord Supreme smiles twice

```

My Lord Supreme smiles twice:

Once when I say

My mind knows everything

And once when I say

My heart feels nothing.

```

3582. Give up your hiding game

```

Give up, give up your hiding game.

God is ready and eager to teach you

His all-satisfying inner discovery-Game.

```

3583. Do you know?

```

Do you know what

You unmistakably want?

No!

Do you know who

Unconditionally loves you?

No!

Do you know if or when

You are going to re-establish

Your friendship with God?

No! ```

3584. The last thing a saint wants to hear

```

The last thing

A true saint wants to hear

Is that he is absolutely perfect.

```

3585. You fail again and again

```

You fail again and again

Because your mind

Is not pure enough.

You fail again and again

Because your heart

Is not confident enough.

You fail again and again

Because your life

Has not surrendered enough.

```

3586. God's Independence-Delight

```

If you can live

In your oneness-light,

Then God will, without fail,

Grant you His Independence-Delight. ```

3587. How can you smile?

```

How can you smile

Until you have discovered

That you belong to your soul?

How can you dance

Until you have felt

That your heart belongs to you?

```

3588. A volley of borrowed opinions

```

Your mind is nothing other

Than a volley of borrowed opinions.

Your heart is nothing other

Than a flow of borrowed compassion.

Therefore, I dare not expect

Anything precious from you. ```

3589. What my life needs

```

What my life needed yesterday

Was determination.

What my life needs today

Is perfection.

What my life will need tomorrow

Is revelation. ```

3590. Sleepless goodness

```

Sleepless goodness is another name

For effortless and faultless oneness.

I am reminding you

Since you have totally forgotten

Your own profound wisdom-light.

```

3591. The strength-tower of sincerity

```

Sincerity can feel

The weakness-burden of insincerity.

But insincerity cannot see

The strength-tower of sincerity. ```

3592. If you think confusion is necessary

```

O my mind,

If you think that confusion is necessary,

Then for you

Perfection is absolutely unnecessary. ```

3593. His heart is against him

```

His heart is against him

When he speaks ill

Of the ill-fated world.

His mind is against him

When he does not speak ill

Of his own inner aspiration-heart

And dedication-life.

```

3594. What you need

```

What you need

You have deep within yourself —

For example: God-realisation.

What you want

You also have deep within yourself —

For example: the power to destroy

Your own life. ```

3595. The richest life

```

A life of soulful gratitude

Is the richest life on earth.

Therefore, countless people

Think that they cannot afford

To lead that life.

```

3596. The mountain of peace

```

Carelessly and foolishly

We have told peace

That we do not need it.

And now, in spite of our

New awakening and new understanding,

We are nowhere near the sea of peace,

Nowhere near the mountain of peace.

```

3597. The perfection-man

```

Society’s perfection-man

And my Lord’s perfection-man

Need not and cannot be the same.

Society’s perfection-man

Is not worth anything,

For he quite often neither sees nor feels

The presence of truth.

But my Lord’s perfection-man

Challenges ignorance-night every day,

And Peace, Joy and Bliss inundate his life. ```

3598. Your greatness is fascinating

```

My Lord Supreme,

Your Greatness is fascinating;

Therefore, I adore You.

My Lord Supreme,

Your Goodness is illumining;

Therefore, I love You.

My Lord Supreme,

Your Closeness is fulfilling;

Therefore, I need You.

```

3599. Do try to be as beautiful

```

O my heart,

Do try to be as beautiful

As the quick appearance

Of the rising sun.

O my mind,

Do try to be as beautiful

As the slow disappearance

Of the setting sun. ```

3600. Happiness

```

Happiness is not something

That we can give to the world.

Happiness is not something

That we can get from the world.

Happiness is something

That we can get only from the Supreme.

Happiness is something

That we can give only to the Supreme. ```

Editor's introduction to the first edition

This is the thirty-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

Sri Chinmoy welcomes Piero Vinci, Italy’s Ambassador to the United Nations, at a special function on 5 December 1978 commemorating the 23rd anniversary of Italy’s joining the United Nations. In remarks Vinci made at the time he said, “I am very happy to be here with the Meditation Group, which, under the outstanding leadership of Sri Chinmoy, is working to support the spiritual values of the United Nations.”

From:Sri Chinmoy,Ten Thousand Flower-Flames, part 36, Agni Press, 1982
Sourced from https://srichinmoylibrary.com/ff_36