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
Or
A sinking star.

Each life is either
A destruction-blow
Or
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).