7001. A Single God-Touch

A single God-Touch
From God’s Compassion-Height
Can transform man’s unimaginable
And countless weaknesses
Into God’s own infinite,
Immortal and omnipotent Power.

7002. His Heart Helped Him

His mind failed to help him
Be a God-thinker,
But his heart helped him
Become a God-lover.

7003. Ecstasy-Sky Is Ready

Go beyond yourself.
Ecstasy-sky is all ready
To receive you.

7004. Transcend The Mind

Transcend the mind.
Your life will immediately
Have a new meaning:
Perfect satisfaction.

7005. He Who Fears

Do not fear.
He who fears cannot stay near
God’s Compassion-Eye
And God’s Forgiveness-Feet.

7006. My Success-Light Learns

My success-light learns from me
About the stillness of the mind.
I learn from my progress-delight
About the universal oneness
Of existence-height.

7007. Opinion-Gongs And Liberation-Songs

My mind likes
Opinion-gongs.
My heart loves
Liberation-songs.

7008. Your Heart Is Responsible

Your mind is responsible
For your own success-train.
Your heart is responsible
For the world’s progress-boat.

7009. Just Say No

You should say
What you want to say.
You must become
What you want to become.
Just say no
To the ridiculous demands of others.
Just become
A self-giving instrument of God.

7010. By Helping The Undeserving

By helping the undeserving,
You cannot make them worthy
Of Heaven’s Delight.

7011. My Lord Does Not Mind

My Lord Supreme does not mind
My total unfitness.
He cares only for
My cheerful willingness.

7012. Negate And Propagate

Negate what you proudly know.
Propagate what you soulfully are.
You will definitely please God.

7013. A Striking Commencement

Just to say
That you are going to commence
Is itself a striking commencement
Of your life’s very long journey.

7014. The Perfection Of An Old Cry

The perfection of an old cry
In my heart
Is the realisation of a new smile
In my life.

7015. Why Should I Be Embarrassed?

Why should I be embarrassed
To try something new in my life?
Who knows,
My newness may turn out to be
Another name for my universal oneness.

7016. I Am Surrendering Myself

You are not thinking at all.
Therefore, you are not moving.
He is thinking too much.
Therefore, he is moving backward.
I am thinking neither too little
Nor too much.
I am just surrendering myself
To my Inner Pilot.
Therefore, the human in me is succeeding
And the divine in me is progressing.

7017. Do Not Try To Hide

O my mind,
Do anything else you want,
But please do not try
To hide yourself
From my heart’s concern.

7018. Only Two Superior Ways

There are only two superior ways
To realise God:
My life’s surrender-way
And my heart’s gratitude-way.

7019. I Shall Cry For Perfection

I shall not cry for my satisfaction.
That is my Lord’s Task.
I shall cry for my perfection.
Indeed, that is my task,
My only task.

7020. My Frustration's Friend

My outer frustration
Is desperately looking for
Its lost friend:
My inner satisfaction.

7021. My Perfect Action

My closeness-promise
Is my right action.
My oneness-hope
Is my perfect action.

7022. To Feel God's Presence

To feel God’s Presence
Inside your heart
Is to forget the long-sought fulfilment
Of your desire-life.

7023. Two Other Names

Self-examination has two other names:
Self-perfection
And
God-satisfaction.

7024. I Must Become More

As I can see
What I know,
Even so, I must become
More than I know.

7025. Because I Need It

Self-deception-experience
I did not need.
Even then, I had it.
Self-liberation-realisation
I do need.
And just because I need it
I shall have it.

7026. God Has Already Started

God has already started meditating
On your life’s fulness.
Look, you have not even started thinking
Of your heart’s soulfulness.

7027. Unreality's Dream-Land

Who has instigated you
To immigrate
To unreality’s dream-land?
Not God, but somebody else!

7028. By Seeing, By Becoming

By seeing what you have seen,
I shall see the Compassion-Eye
Of God.

By becoming what you have become,
I shall become the perfection-instrument
Of God.

7029. God's Perfection-Plane

If I can correct
My thought-train,
God will immediately grant me
His own Perfection-Plane
To fly all over
His entire creation.

7030. Tomorrow's Problems

Today’s problems are torturing you
Mercilessly.
Tomorrow’s problems, do not invite!
Who knows, they may bring with them
The message of your unwanted
But inescapable and premature
Death.

7031. Dangerously Contagious Disease

My Lord,
Save my vital and free my mind
From the dangerously contagious disease:
Sadness.

7032. The Soul's Freedom-Game

If you have a beauty-mind
And a purity-heart,
Then you can participate
In the soul’s freedom-game.

7033. In My Mind's Descent-Life

In my mind’s descent-life,
No news is good news.
In my heart’s ascent-life,
No news is sad news.

7034. Hope-News

Every morning in the inner world
I look for and long for
Only one thing:
Hope-news.

7035. My Definitions

My definition of man:
Self-congratulation.
My definition of God:
Oneness-Satisfaction.

7036. One Book I Shall Never Write

In the inner world
I have written many books.
But one book I shall never write
And that is the book called
“Doubt-torture.”

7037. Bury The Desire-Prince

Bury the desire-prince
Of your vital
If you want to be really happy
As a perfect satisfaction-king.

7038. Desire-Kites

There is only one thing
We can easily do
Without being taught,
And that is to fly desire-kites.

7039. Two Unavoidable Consequences

Two unavoidable consequences
Of your doubt-life:
You lose your beauty’s eyes;
You lose your purity’s heart.

7040. A Perfect Victim

My Lord,
I wish to tell You that I know,
Beyond the slightest doubt,
That I have become a perfect victim
To my own exhaustion-mind.

7041. A Long-Neglected Letter

At last I have written
A long-neglected letter
To my Lord Supreme
Giving Him this special message:
Mine will soon be the life
Of unconditional surrender.

7042. Infinity's Eternal Soul-Melodies

Infinity’s eternal soul-melodies
Are what I wish to have
Deep within me.

7043. Unless You Are A Dreamer

Unless you are first a dreamer,
How can you become a darer?
Impossible!

7044. Today's Teeming Demands

Today’s teeming demands
Are simply killing you.
Why do you have to think
Of tomorrow’s countless demands,
You abysmal fool?

7045. No Desire-Bound Outer Hope

No desire-bound outer hope
Can be forbidden.
No aspiration-free inner hope
Can be smitten.

7046. A Weeping Defeat

My outer world does not know
What I inwardly wanted,
But it does know what I now have:
A weeping defeat.

7047. Defeated Dreams

My heart
Cannot and will not stay
With defeated dreams.

7048. With Mortal Hopes

Each human being pines
For an immortal life
But, alas, is forced to live
With mortal hopes.

7049. Great Liars

Fears are great liars.
Do not allow them
To lead your eyes
And guide your life.

7050. Make Your Life's Choice

Since you can enjoy
Either ignorance-sleep
Or wisdom-awakening,
Make your life’s choice
Here and now!

7051. Beauty's Song In The Morning Sun

Indeed,
I am fond of many things.
But I am extremely fond of
Beauty’s song in the morning sun
And purity’s dance in the evening sky.

7052. The Ladder Of Illumination

Unless you stop climbing
The ladder of earth’s ambition,
You will not be able to climb
The ladder of Heaven’s illumination.

7053. God Only Wants

God does not want you to die.
He only wants your depression-night
To die.

7054. Satisfaction-Lion And Aspiration-Deer

Satisfaction-lion
Will postpone its visit
Because aspiration-deer
Has not yet started its journey.

7055. Stop And Start

Intruding thoughts, stop!
Interfering mind, stop!
Fearful heart, stop!
Illumining soul, start!

7056. Transcendental Heights

Transcendental heights
Are always founded upon
God’s indispensable
Vision-spreading Depths.

7057. God Will Hurry It

You do not have to hurry
God’s Hour.
God Himself will hurry it.
You just make your aspiration
More intense
And your dedication
More immense.

7058. Premature Introductions

Frequent visits
Of depression-night
Are nothing other than
Premature introductions to death.

7059. The Path Of The Unillumined

The path of the unillumined
Is so narrow
That the illumined cannot proceed along it
To spread the light
Of aspiration-flames.

7060. I Have Not Forgotten You

My Lord,
I have not forgotten You
Even for the first time.
Will You not for all time
Remember me?

7061. Enjoying God's Fellowship

There was a time
When I wanted to enjoy God’s Fellowship
Only to become
An extremely important member
Of God’s cosmic Society.

Now I enjoy God’s Fellowship
Only to unlearn
What the ignorant world
Has taught me forcefully
Over the years.

There shall come a time
When I shall enjoy God’s Fellowship
Only to offer to the world at large
One message in supreme silence:
Just because God knows
What we truly are,
He needs us infinitely more
Than we need Him.

7062. A Difficult Task

My Lord Supreme
Has liberated my soul.
My soul is trying
To liberate my heart.
But because of my heart’s
Fear of vastness and oneness,
My soul is finding it
An extremely difficult task.

7063. My Heart Knows

My heart knows
It is not liberated.
Therefore, it does not try
To liberate my mind.
But my clever mind
Wants to liberate my restless vital,
In spite of knowing
That it is not liberated itself.

7064. My Vital Wants To Liberate

My vital, like my mind,
Is far, far away from liberation.
Yet it shamelessly and falsely feels
That its restless and destructive qualities
Are the signs of liberation.
Therefore it wants to liberate my body,
Which is also enveloped by inconscience.

7065. Necessity

Before, I felt the human necessity
Of solving my problems
All by myself.

Now I feel the divine necessity
Of invoking God’s Compassion,
Forgiveness and Concern
To solve all my problems for me.

There shall come a time
When I shall feel the supreme necessity
Of bringing to the fore
My unreserved surrender-life
And my unconditional gratitude-heart
While simultaneously invoking
The Presence of my Beloved Supreme
To solve all my life’s teeming problems.

7066. The Only Peace

To me, earthly power
Is no peace.
To me, Heavenly joy
Is no peace.
To me, my Lord’s daily Satisfaction-Smile
Is the only peace.

7067. The Victory

God’s Smile is the victory
Of today’s man.
Man’s smile is the Victory
Of Eternity’s God.

7068. The Sanctuary

My vision-eye is the sanctuary
Of the unborn creation
Of my Lord Supreme.
My realisation-reality is the sanctuary
Of the Perfection-Satisfaction-Message
Of my Lord’s ever-transcending
Light and Delight of the Beyond.

7069. Two Inherited Disasters

Two disasters he has inherited
From his many ignorance-lives:
A doubting mind
And
An unaspiring heart.

7070. Your Purity-Dawn

How can you break
Your impurity-enemy’s resistance?
Just imagine your heart
Bathing in the soul-light
Of your purity-dawn.

7071. I See All Around Me

When I live inside my hurtful mind,
I see all around me
Nothing but bitterness.

When I live inside my prayerful heart,
I see all around me
Nothing but sweetness.

When I live inside my blossoming soul,
I see all around me
Nothing but God’s continuous Fondness
For me.

When I live inside my Lord Supreme,
I see and feel all around me
Only one thing:
God’s sleepless Oneness with me.

7072. God Creates

God creates.
My heart discovers.
My mind distrusts.

7073. Immediate Neighbours

Enthusiasm and success
Are immediate neighbours.
Aspiration and perfection
Are immediate neighbours.

7074. Each Time You Fall

Each time you fall
It is a human experience.
Each time you rise
It is a divine realisation.

7075. No Need To Hide

For your true self
There is no need to hide.
For your false self
There is no place to hide.

7076. Apostles Of Perfection

Those who know the truth
And those who distribute the truth
Are apostles of earth’s perfection
And Heaven’s satisfaction.

7077. First Try To Know God

First try to know God,
And then try to know your mind.

First try to silence your mind,
And then think of feeling my heart.

7078. If Your Heart Becomes

If your heart becomes
The beauty’s morn,
Then God will become
Your victory’s horn.

7079. Enthusiasm

Enthusiasm has success
In it.
Enthusiasm is progress
In itself.

7080. A God-Climbing Heart

What I need is
A God-climbing heart
And not
A God-manufacturing mind.

7081. I Shall No More Roam

I shall no more roam
In my mind’s unlit jungle.
I now clearly see
And soulfully admire
The blossoming of my heart-flower.

7082. Heaven's Will-Power-Door

Each good and inspiring thought
Easily unlocks
Heaven’s will-power-door.

7083. Wrong Thoughts

If your mind continues
To harbour wrong thoughts,
You cannot reclaim
Your life’s divinity.

7084. My Prayer Unheard

My prayer unheard
Is a soulful dream.
My prayer heard
Is a powerful reality.

7085. The Heart Of Mankind

The sunshine-hope
In man’s aspiration-heart
Will last for a very long time,
For the heart of mankind
Is a deep, conscious and
Promise-treasuring core.

7086. The Higher Nature Commands

The higher nature commands
The birth of
A very new life.

The lower nature demands
The revival of
A very, very old life.

7087. Heaven Immediately Descends

When and where
Soulful qualities are unreservedly valued,
Heaven immediately descends.

7088. He Who Is

He who has
At times may be alone.
But he who is
Can never be alone.

7089. Only Two Reality-Lovers

There are only two reality-lovers:
One is God
The immortal Singer,
The other is God
The eternal Listener.

7090. His Mind Is Lost

His mind is helplessly
And completely lost
In the crowd of contradictory thoughts.

7091. What I Need From You

O my mind,
What I need from you
Is just a little determination
And nothing more.

O my heart,
What I need from you
Is just a little aspiration
And nothing more.

O my life,
What I need from you
Is just a little dedication
And nothing more.

7092. Painful And Destructive

The sudden joy
Of the aspiring heart
Is quite often painful and destructive
To the doubting mind.

7093. Mental Clouds Appear

Mental clouds appear
From time to time
To challenge and strengthen
My psychic sun.

7094. Preserve The Precious Moments

Preserve the precious moments
In your life
Sacredly
So that God can invite you
Into His Life
Proudly.

7095. Three Strangers

His mind is a stranger
To stillness.
His heart is a stranger
To soulfulness.
His soul is a stranger
To happiness.

7096. I Really Feel Sorry For Him

When I encounter an intellectual giant,
I really feel sorry for him,
For he has everything
Except the divinity of sweetness
In his heart.

7097. Right Person, Wrong Person

You are the right person
To ask your mind
If God needs it.

You are the wrong person
To ask God
If He needs your heart.

7098. Your Treasure-House

Your treasure-house
Is inside your own heart’s cry
And not inside the world’s frown.

7099. Please Warn Me

My Lord,
Please warn me before You come.
Otherwise, You may come unrecognised
And go back unloved.

7100. My Silence-Heart

Alas, how is it I did not know
For such a long time
That my silence-heart is so special
To my Lord Supreme?

Alas, how is it I did not know
That it is inside my silence-heart
That my Lord’s Victory-Drum
Will herald the new dawn
Of His perfect creation?

Editor's introduction to the first edition

This is the seventy-first 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

Artist Peter Max visits Sri Chinmoy’s Jharna-Kala Art Gallery on 28 April 1975, commenting, “He should just continue to draw and paint and flourish like he has been forever.”

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-7054: FFP 175 (revised version).