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.”