4901. I do have the capacity

True, I do not have the capacity
To touch God’s Compassion-Feet,
But I do have the capacity
To feel God’s Forgiveness-Heart.

4902. The weight of ingratitude

A truth-seeker knows
That nothing on earth
Is as heavy as
The weight of ingratitude.

4903. A parting benediction

When my soul left Heaven,
My Lord Supreme granted it
A bountiful cry for my heart
And a powerful smile for my life
As a parting Benediction.

4904. Two important lessons

The human life
Learns two important lessons
From this world:
The progress-train is too slow,
The setback-planes are too swift.

4905. God's morning Breath

When my heart’s climbing cry
Ascended far beyond the realms of clouds,
God smilingly granted me
His own morning Breath to breathe.

4906. Do not give up

Even if your aspiration-heart
Needs constant repair,
Do not give up.
You will, without fail,
Someday realise God.

Even if your dedication-life
Needs constant repair,
Do not give up.
You will, without fail,
Someday manifest God.

4907. Perhaps I need not know

What have I changed?
My doubting mind.
How?
I do not know.

What shall I change?
My insecure heart.
How?
I do not know.

What will God change for me?
My birthless and deathless
Ingratitude-breath.
How?
I do not know,
I shall not know,
I cannot know,
Perhaps
I need not know.

4908. My golden reality-heart

I owe the divinity
Of my golden reality-heart
To the purity-flooded beauty
Of my silver dreams.

4909. His is the vision-eye

His is the vision-eye
That spreads moonbeams on everything.
His is the perfection-heart
That spreads sunshine on everybody.

4910. Oneness-music

Dryness-music
Your mind loves.

Soulfulness-music
Your heart loves.

Fruitfulness-music
Your soul loves.

Oneness-music
Your God loves.

4911. God will guide your steps

God will guide your steps
To reach Heaven
Cheerfully,
If you guard your heart’s sacred cry
Powerfully.

4912. My heart serves

My heart serves
Through climbing prayer.
My soul serves
Through illumining meditation.
My Lord serves
Through fulfilling Compassion.

4913. Each new determination

Each day is a new opportunity
To have a new determination
To realise God.
Each new determination
Is a newborn ecstasy.

4914. Its own eternal witness

Existence is its own
Eternal witness.
Consciousness is its own
Infinite sweetness.
Bliss is its own
Immortal Fulness.

4915. Suffering chastens my vital

Suffering chastens my vital.
Suffering sweetens my mind.
Suffering enlightens my heart.
Suffering brightens my heavenward journey.

4916. Each mind creates

Each mind creates
Its own little world.
Each heart reveals
Its own vast world.
Each soul manifests on earth
God’s Vision of the Beyond.

4917. Contamination

Your eyes are blinded,
Your mind is confused
Because you have contaminated
Your angel-affection for God
With your elephant-doubts.

4918. An Amusement-Enlightenment Park

The mind thinks that life
Is an experiment of the mind.
The heart feels that life
Is an experience of the heart.
The soul knows that life
Is a divinely beautiful
And supremely powerful
Amusement-Enlightenment Park of God.

4919. The fellowship of angels

In my outer life I enjoy
The fellowship of dust.
Only in my inner life can I enjoy
The fellowship of angels.

4920. A loser does not really fail

A loser does not really fail.
He just gets a useful experience.
A quitter shamelessly, miserably
Plus unpardonably fails.
For him no experience-light.
For him nothing
But all destruction-night.

4921. The harvest of silence-delight

When the holy sages sing,
My heart’s mounting cry
Collects the harvest of silence-delight.

4922. A powerful realisation

A beautiful experience:
For me, God is everything.
A powerful realisation:
In me, God is everything.

4923. To succeed in any great enterprise

To succeed
In any great enterprise of life
Only two things one needs:
A beautiful inner thrill
And
A powerful outer zeal.

4924. A pure heart

An impure mind can stain
Everything.
A pure heart can lovingly enchain
Everybody.

4925. My heart's only wish today

My heart’s only wish today
Is to feel that everybody
Has a sincere mind and a pure heart.

4926. Richly rewarding experiences

In the morning
I pray to the Lord Supreme
Far above my head.
In the evening
I meditate on the Lord Supreme
Deep within my heart.
Indeed, these two are
Richly rewarding experiences.

4927. I sat at the Feet of my Lord

Powerfully I shook
The dust of ignorance-night
From my feet.
Then soulfully I went
And prayerfully I sat
At the Feet of my Lord Supreme
In His Abode of Delight.

4928. One thing eternally fruitful

There is no such thing
As a fruitful self-enjoyment.
There is no such thing
As a fruitful self-denial.
There is only one thing
Eternally fruitful:
God-acceptance in all.

4929. Enjoy first the harvest

Enjoy first the harvest
Of your mind’s oblivion-nights.
Then only will you be able
To enjoy richly the beauty
Of your heart’s sweet memories.

4930. Use your sacred faith

Do not use your gross doubts
To see God.
You will fail.

Do not use your subtle hesitation
To approach God.
You will fail.

Use your sacred faith
To embrace God.

4931. The diamond secret

Concern has the golden key
To unlock the heart of the world.
Compassion is the diamond secret
To transform the heart of the world.

4932. Prove you are God's instrument

Nobody can change.
Nobody will change.
But you can and you shall.

Nobody can smile.
Nobody will smile.
But you can and you shall.

Prove to the world within,
Prove to the world without
That you are God’s choicest instrument
Unparalleled.

4933. God will be your Announcer

You become your faultless
And dauntless self-discoverer.
God Himself will be
Your immediate and proud Announcer.
Also, like Himself, He will shape you
Into another Self-Enjoyer
Of infinite Delight.

4934. God's sun-vast Satisfaction

When you offer to God
Your climbing flame-loyalty,
God will grant you
His descending sun-vast Satisfaction.

4935. The world knows you

The world knows you
For your surprisingly strange
Self-love.
But when will the world care to know
God’s unconditionally bountiful
Compassion-Sea for you?
When?

4936. A good God-seeker

If you want to be a good God-seeker,
Then God will wash away
Your mental doubts.

If you want to be a good God-lover,
Then God will wipe away
Your psychic tears.

4937. You are completely wrong

If you think God is displeased with you,
You are right.
But if you think you have
The rare capacity to displease God
Forever and forever,
You are wrong,
Completely wrong.

4938. An amazingly powerful capacity

I am all admiration for you.
You are the possessor of
An amazingly powerful capacity.
Yesterday you killed God’s Heart
With your self-interest.
Today you have most successfully
And most gloriously revived God’s Heart
With your self-conquest.

4939. Poise is the hyphen

Poise is the hyphen
Between what you have heard
From God
And what you have told humanity.

4940. Heaven is pleased with him

Heaven is pleased with him
Because he is ashamed of his past.
Hell is pleased with him
Because he is afraid of his future.

4941. One thing in favour

One thing in favour of Heaven:
It does not waste time in thinking
Of an ungrateful man.
One thing in favour of earth:
It does not waste time in thinking
Of an indifferent soul.

4942. Let them live separately

A mind with teeming doubts
And a heart with blossoming faith
Hate to live together.
Why then try to torture them?
Let them live separately.

4943. Difficult for a contemplative man

As it is difficult for a talkative man
To keep his mouth shut,
Even so, it is difficult
For a contemplative man
To keep his heart closed.

4944. Looking for the easiest way

Nothing is more exhausting
Than looking for the easiest way
To realise God.

4945. Patience-seeds and forgiveness-seeds

Patience-seeds and forgiveness-seeds
Either find it very difficult to germinate
Or do not germinate at all
In most human beings.

4946. If you think you are self-made

If you think that you are all
Self-made,
Then why do you expect anything
From God,
Who is not your Source?

4947. Sympathy

Sympathy is a sacred, precious
And God-given gift.
Do not waste it
On your doubting mind
And your unaspiring heart.

4948. Speak ill of yourself

Speak ill of yourself unreservedly
So that you can help others
Avoid speaking ill of you
Unnecessarily.

4949. Surrender is the only way

Surrender is the only way
To reach Eternity’s
Blessingful God in Heaven.

Gratitude is the only way
To reach Infinity’s
Bountiful God on earth.

4950. Our respective tasks

My responsibility is
The preparation of my heart.
God’s Responsibility is
The Satisfaction of His Heart in my life.
Can we not fulfil our respective tasks?

4951. The seekers must colonise

The seekers
Of the infinite Light and Delight
Must colonise the inner world
To spread their hearts’ hunger-cries,
And they must colonise the outer world
To scatter their souls’ well-nourished smiles.

4952. Each experience

Each accident is an incident.
Each incident is an experience.
Each experience tells the seeker
The distance between himself and God.

4953. The splendour of silence-delight

The splendour of silence-delight
Is not meant to be measured.
It is to be seen
Only by the Truth-seeker’s eyes.
It is to be felt
Only by the God-lover’s heart.

4954. Stupidity or humility?

What makes you prevent God
From telling the world
That you are His choice instrument?
Is it your sincere stupidity
Or is it your insincere humility?

4955. The greatest fool

I am a fool
When I underestimate my aspiration
Before ignorance-night.

I am a greater fool
When I overestimate my perfection
Before God’s Light.

I shall be the greatest fool
If I think that God does not care
For the human in me,
But only cares
For the divine in me.

4956. No credentials but yourself

In the outer world
If you live only for your perfect perfection,
And in the inner world
If you live only for your complete surrender
To God’s Will,
Then you need no credentials but yourself.

4957. His is the love

His is the smile
That moves Heaven and earth
Immediately.

His is the love
That increases Heaven’s Joy
And earth’s beauty
Astonishingly.

4958. Only one Lord

There is only one Lord
That I am truly afraid of:
My indolence-night.

There is only one Lord
That I am constantly fond of:
My sincerity-light.

4959. Your own puny God

Yesterday you referred to yourself
In all things
And thought of yourself only
All the time.
No wonder your own tiny self
Has become your own puny God.

4960. You wear the crown of miseries

You wear the crown of miseries,
Not because you have sadly failed
In your life,
But because you have not surrendered soulfully
To the Beauty of God’s Omniscience-Light.

4961. We do not need anything else

Deeply I love God’s Beauty.
Smilingly God loves my sincerity.
Therefore, we do not need
Anything else for ourselves.

4962. What can stand?

Before impurity, what can stand?
No, not even my powerful mind!

Before insincerity, what can stand?
No, not even my forgiving heart!

Before ingratitude, what can stand?
No, not even my oneness-soul!

4963. The only reality-passport

Your purity has the capacity
To unlock everybody’s heart-door.
Something more:
Your purity is the only reality-passport
Which enables you to enter into
Each and every human heart.

4964. No God-realised soul

No God-realised soul of the Himalayan height
Can be vanquished
Either by earth’s powerful arms
Or by Heaven’s bountiful charms.

4965. An unfortunate God-seeker

An unfortunate God-seeker
Is he who unconsciously forgets
His own courage in the inner world.

4966. Two divine realities

Two divine realities
Have never-ending beginnings:
God’s Eternity-Hunger in me
And
God’s Infinity-Delight for me.

4967. Perhaps you made a promise

God is keeping His Promise.
He is holding you up
Carefully and firmly
And keeping you from swaying.
Perhaps you, too,
Made a solemn promise to God.
Perhaps!

4968. If you have the determination-fire

If you have the determination-fire,
You can succeed in your outer life
Easily.

If you have the faith-glow,
You can proceed in your inner life
Amazingly.

4969. God will like you more

If you think of God silently,
God will like you more.

If you pray to God breathlessly,
God will love you more.

If you meditate on God unconditionally,
God will need you more.

If you contemplate on God transcendentally,
God will claim you more.

4970. May my life have the capacity

May my doubting mind
Have the capacity to unlearn.

May my longing heart
Have the capacity to learn.

May my serving life
Have the capacity to return darkness-night
To its possessor:
Ignorance.

4971. Certain and precious thoughts

Uncertain and anxious thoughts
Belong to the future.
Therefore, I have nothing to do
With the future.

Certain and precious thoughts
Belong to the present, the eternal Now.
Therefore, I shall always remain
In the eternal Now.

4972. My perfection is the heir

My perfection is the heir
Of my salvation.
My satisfaction is the heir
Of my illumination.
My gratitude is the heir
Of my realisation.

4973. My life is not a transient dream

My life is not a transient dream,
But my death is.
My God-realisation-light
Is not a transient reality,
But my struggle through ignorance-night was.

4974. Your amazing victory-song

Keep your sky-vast silence
Within.
Your amazing victory-song
Will be sung by the world
Without.

4975. You are wise, you are perfect

You are wise
If you can gain knowledge-light
From the illumining minds of the world.

You are perfect
Only if you can gain wisdom-delight
From the all-fulfilling Heart of the Supreme.

4976. Disown your mind

If your mind does not want
To be inspired by your pure heart,
Then disown your mind.

If your heart does not want
To receive instructions from your wise soul,
Then disown your heart.

4977. What really counts

What really counts
Is not what I see
In God’s Compassion-Eye,
But what God sees
Inside my aspiration-heart.
And what does He see?
He sees His own Immortality’s Face.

4978. Love-power sets the pace

In all our inner races,
Love-power sets the remarkable pace
And gratitude-power helps us win
The unforgettable race.

4979. Only I can damage

Only I can damage
My Eternity’s beauty-face
And only I can damage
My Infinity’s purity-heart.

4980. Is there any man?

Is there any man of ignorance
Who can never feel
My soulful heart?

Is there any man of intuition
Who cannot read
My doubtful mind?

4981. My satisfaction

My salvation
Is from my sin.

My liberation
Is from my ignorance.

My realisation
Is in my aspiration.

My satisfaction
Is in my Lord’s Satisfaction.

4982. Your burning determination

Your burning determination
Should always be kept
Beyond the reach
Of deathless lamentation.

4983. They do not want to remember

My mind does not want to remember
How much God has done for it
Although God blesses its breath
Time and again, unconditionally.

My heart does not want to remember
How much it has done for God
Although it serves God every day
Devotedly, soulfully and unreservedly.

4984. To become a satisfaction-emperor

Try to long for
The fruitful peace within
And the soulful action without.
Indeed,
This is the only way
To become a satisfaction-emperor.

4985. I shall feel sad

My Lord Supreme,
I shall not feel sad if Your Compassion-Sky
Does not care for my heart’s
Iota of aspiration.
But I shall definitely and sleeplessly feel sad
If Your Forgiveness-Sun
Does not care for my life’s
Himalayan blunders.

4986. God's own Beauty-Plants

God has planted His own Beauty-Plants
So lovingly and carefully
Inside our hearts.
Does it not pain His Heart
When we carelessly destroy them?

4987. Where can I find a man?

Where can I find a man
Who says that he loves God
Although God does not love him?

Where can I find a man
Who loves God the seen creation
And hates God the unseen Creator?

4988. A self-worshipper

Do not say anything
To a self-worshipper,
For God knows how and why
He is stabbing his own heart.

4989. There is always hope

There is always hope
For any man
Who can pitifully cry in the morning
And heartily laugh in the evening.

4990. My songs' prayerful journey

My songs start their prayerful journey
From my soulful vision-eye
And try to stop
Inside my fruitful satisfaction-heart.
At times they gloriously succeed,
At times they sadly fail.

4991. To be perfectly satisfied

To be absolutely perfect
My mind thinks
It needs more needs.

To be perfectly satisfied
My heart feels
It needs fewer needs.

4992. No experience is free

No experience is free
In the outer world.

No realisation is free
In the inner world.

No perfection is free
In God’s Vision-World.

No satisfaction is free
In God’s Reality-World.

4993. Courage I use

Courage I use
To conquer my mind.
Surrender I use
To conquer God’s Heart.

4994. Two supremely good partners

My heart’s soulful gratitude
And my life’s powerful smile
Are two divinely great
And supremely good partners.

4995. God will give Himself to you

If your sincerity-sky
Concentrates on God,
Then God will come to you
Immediately.

If your gratitude-sun
Meditates on God,
Then God will give Himself to you
Entirely.

4996. The moon's silver feet

The moon’s silver feet
Give my heart joy beyond measure.
The sun’s golden eye
Transports my life
Into the world of Transcendence-Treasure.

4997. Renewed friendship

My heart and my mind
Have renewed their friendship.
My heart of love
Shall show my mind the way.
My mind of peace
Shall guard my heart
Along the way.

4998. Heaven does not want him

Heaven does not want him
Because he is too impure.
Earth does not want him
Because he is too weak.
God does not want him
Because he is too hesitant
To claim God as his own
Transcendental Reality.

4999. Do not broadcast my imperfections

Do you want to be another God?
If so, do not broadcast
My teeming imperfections
Throughout the length and breadth
Of the world.

5000. When I want to surrender

When I want to think
God grants my mind
A large room to think.

When I want to pray
God grants my heart
A larger room to pray.

When I want to surrender
God grants my life
The largest room to surrender.

Editor's introduction to the first edition

This is the fiftieth 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

Chinmoy soulfully dedicates this special volume of “Flower-Flames” to his beloved mother, Yogamaya Ghose, whose picture is on the cover. The photograph of the poet, taken several years later, has been superimposed alongside it.