8301. My Safest Haven

I know, I know,
My heart’s purity-life
Is my safest haven.

8302. God Will Not Be Enthusiastic

If discouragement defeats your heart,
Then God will not be enthusiastic
In accepting you
As His Eternity’s partner.

8303. I Need Only One Thing

My Lord Supreme,
I need only one thing from You:
Do give me the capacity
To startle and awaken my body
From its easy slumber-life.

8304. My Mind Does Not Get Tired

My mind does not get tired
Of doing everything wrong.
My heart does not get tired
Of doing everything right.
My Lord does not get tired
Of transcending His outer Beauty
And His inner Divinity.

8305. An Immediate God

My mind is dealing with
An unreachable God.
My heart is dealing with
A distant God.
My soul is dealing with
An immediate God.

8306. God's Freedom-Gift

My life has misused
God’s Freedom-Gift.
Therefore, my Lord does not want
To unveil my heart.

8307. He Is Trying To Be Himself

He is soulfully trying
To be himself.
Therefore, God is inviting him
To bask in the golden rays
Of His transcendental Sun.

8308. The Master Key

You have the master key
To unlock God’s secret Heart-Door,
And that master key
Is your sleeplessly unconditional surrender.

8309. Each Moment My Heart Tries

Each moment my heart tries
To sacrifice itself on God’s Altar.
Each moment God grants my heart
The Ecstasy of His Eternity’s Oneness.

8310. God's Delight-Embrace

His mind is willing.
His heart is obedient.
Therefore, God has appeared before him
With His Delight-Embrace.

8311. God Wants To Hear

God wants to hear
All your problems,
But your unlit mind
Does not want you to share
Your problems with God.

8312. A Full Day Of Satisfaction

If your life has a moment
Of true consecration,
Then God will have a full day
Of true Satisfaction.

8313. An Inner Life Of Turmoil

Because his life-arrow
Has missed its mark,
His is an inner life of turmoil,
Beginningless and endless.

8314. When You Worry, God Feels Sad

You think it is necessary to worry.
I tell you, it is absolutely unnecessary.
What is worse, when you worry,
God feels sad
That His Vision of Perfection
Is not revealing itself inside you.

8315. By Surprise

You cannot win God’s Love
By surprise,
But God can catch
Your careful unwillingness
By surprise.

8316. Why Are You Grumbling?

Why are you grumbling against God?
Is it because you feel
He does not love you enough?
Is it because you feel
The need for a better God?
Or is it because you are
A total failure?

8317. My Climbing Prayer

My climbing prayer
Cannot persuade God,
But my divine surrender
Can and does persuade God.

8318. No Other Reality

When a world of doubt
Captured his searching mind,
No other reality,
Either from the inner world
Or from the outer world,
Came to his rescue
Save and except God’s Compassion-Sun.

8319. God's Voice Awakens

The outer voice demands.
The inner voice commands.
But God’s Voice neither commands
Nor demands.
It only unconditionally awakens
The seeker in me.

8320. If Your Mind Strives

If your mind strives to think divinely,
Then you are bound to be embraced
By God’s transcendental Delight-Beauty.

8321. The Sigh That The Sound-Life Heaves

The sigh that the sound-life heaves
Can eventually touch
The Compassion-Feet
Of the Lord Supreme.

8322. Respect Your Hopes

Respect your hopes,
Love your hopes,
For your hopes are destined
To see God’s Vision-Eye
And feel God’s Salvation-Heart.

8323. God Is Ready

God is ready
With His Saviour-Heart.
Alas, when shall I be ready
With my believer-heart?

8324. My Prayer Tries To Reach

When I pray,
My prayer tries to reach
God the tallest Height.

When I meditate,
My meditation tries to reach
God the vastest Breadth.

8325. An Unparalleled Joy

The silence of the heart
Is an unparalleled joy
Unattainable by the doubting mind
And the strangling vital.

8326. The Heart Is Born To Pray

The heart is born to pray.
The mind is born to hesitate.
The vital is born to fight.
The body is born to forget.
The soul is born to forgive
And illumine.

8327. A Loving Heart Knows How

A doubting mind knows how
To plague the heart.
A loving heart knows how
To illumine the mind.

8328. A Fortress Of Eternity

A realised soul
Is a fortress of Eternity
To protect humanity
From the inconscience-blows of death.

8329. Insensibility Weighs You Down

It is not responsibility
That weighs you down.
It is insensibility
That weighs you down
And destroys your heart’s
Oneness-happiness.

8330. A Most Powerful Gift

His doubt-enemy is in his grasp.
Do you know why?
Because his faith-friend has given him
A most powerful gift:
Confidence.

8331. Do Not Keep God Waiting

Do not keep God waiting
Any longer.
He has been waiting for you
For millennia.

8332. Your Unconscious Life

So far your unconscious life
Is unforgettable,
But do not allow it to become
Unforgivable.

8333. The Purity-Channel

When the purity-channel is open,
Your higher nature gets an immediate chance
To reign supreme.

8334. Your Mind Will Not Give You Peace

What foolishness is this?
Your mind will not give you peace,
Never!
It is your aspiration-heart
That will give peace
Not only to you
But to your uninspired mind as well.

8335. Heaven And Earth Will Pass Away

Heaven and earth, sooner or later,
Will pass away.
What will forever remain
Is your life’s eternal hunger,
And something more:
Your heart’s infinite thirst.

8336. God's Constant Closeness

His heart is a river
Of hopelessness.
His mind is an ocean
Of sadness.
His life is a desert
Of helplessness.
Yet he dreams of God’s
Constant Closeness.

8337. Born To Satisfy God

His mind was born to satisfy God
In His own Way.
His heart was born to love God
Unconditionally.
His soul was born to grow into
Another God.

8338. The Lustre Of Your Hidden Divinity

If your mind is driven
By demonic dreams,
How can the lustre
Of your hidden divinity
Shine on your outer life?

8339. His Love-Life With Himself

When a human being puts his ego
On display,
His love-life with himself
Needs immediate correction.

8340. A Peace Treaty

At last my mind and my vital
Have signed a peace treaty.
Therefore, my soul-bird is flying
Happily and proudly
In God’s Satisfaction-Firmament.

8341. Compassion And Justice

Compassion and justice
Need each other.
Compassion needs justice
For newness-light.
Justice needs compassion
For oneness-delight.

8342. Your Self-Righteous Pride

When will you realise
That your self-righteous pride
Is the constant companion
Of your failure-life?

8343. The Responsibility

God has given me the responsibility
To love Him and serve Him.
I have given God the responsibility
To strike me and perfect me.

8344. His Heart's Soulful Smile

His heart’s soulful smile
At once disarms the ugliness
Of his doubting mind
And captures the beauty
Of his loving soul.

8345. Paralysis

Insecurity-drops
Have paralysed your heart.
Impurity-flood
Has paralysed your mind.
Ignorance-sea
Has paralysed your life.

8346. God's Satisfaction-Flooded Voice

When his mind became
A silenced noise,
God gave him His own Heart’s
Satisfaction-flooded soundless Voice.

8347. No Escape

I can escape
Neither my powerful mind-forest
Nor my soulful heart-garden.

8348. Justice Is Not Enough

Justice is not enough.
Compassion is not enough.
Oneness is not only enough,
But more than enough.

8349. Suffering From Insanity

The outer world is suffering
From its immoral insanity.
The inner world is suffering
From its indifferent insanity.

8350. How Can You Have Hope?

How can you have a glimmer of hope
When your hope does not long for
The august company of your soul?

8351. A Safe Path

Your life is filled with
Love-seeds,
Devotion-plants
And surrender-trees.
No wonder you have a safe path!

8352. On Each Man's Life-Agenda

There are only two indispensable things
On each man’s life-agenda:
Complete perfection
Of his outer nature
And total satisfaction
Of his Beloved Supreme.

8353. Disappointment Is At Your Door

Your mind has extinguished
Your hope-flames.
Therefore, stark disappointment
Is hammering at your heart’s door.

8354. The Company Of Ignorance-Night

The human mind
Is dying to see God’s Face.
But, at the same time,
It does not want to shun
The company of ignorance-night.

8355. His Life's Outer History

A determination-eye
Is his life’s outer history.
An aspiration-heart
Is his life’s inner history.

8356. Investment And Enlightenment

Mental love is investment
In the outer world.
Psychic love is enlightenment
Within and without.

8357. The Life-Experience-School

To graduate
From the life-experience-school,
The seeker has to be rescued
From his own ordinary self.

8358. A Life Of Questions Unanswered

Because you do not love
God the Creator,
Yours is a life
Of teeming questions unanswered.

8359. The Untimely Death-Grave

You have allowed your mind’s impurity
To poison your heart.
Therefore, yours is now the untimely
Death-grave.

8360. The Divine In Me Dives Deep

When the human in me
Unconsciously goes to sleep,
The divine in me
Immediately wakes up
And also dives deep.

8361. When The Mind Is Ready

When the mind is ready
For self-examination,
It sees God the Dreamer
Dancing inside it.

8362. No Monopoly

As earth has no monopoly
On God’s Compassion,
Even so, Heaven has no monopoly
On God’s Pride.

8363. Tune Your Mind-Instrument

Do not discard your mind-instrument.
It is just out of tune.
Tune it carefully and devotedly.
It is bound to give you
Boundless satisfaction.

8364. Stamped As A Second-Rate Seeker

You are stamped as a second-rate seeker
Because you are not willing
To be a caretaker
Of this doleful earth.

8365. Born Of Their Own Divine Needs

A purity-mind,
A gratitude-heart
And a surrender-life
Are born of their own divine needs.

8366. A False God

If I desire to conquer the world
By God’s Grace-Flood,
Then I am bowing
To a false God.

8367. God Is Nourishing His Heart

His heart is totally indifferent
To its own needs.
Therefore, God Himself is secretly
And proudly
Nourishing his heart
With His own Love-Delight.

8368. What Can God Do?

What can poor God do
When the seeker begins hero-worshipping
His own deplorable self ?

8369. His Heart Chose To Be Weak

His powerful heart
Deliberately chose to be weak
So that he could become inseparably one
With earth’s excruciating pangs.

8370. No Difference

No difference between
My heart’s aspiration-power
And my life’s liberation-hour.

8371. One Question, One Answer

In the mind
There is only one question:
“How long?”

In the heart
There is only one answer:
“Not too long!”

8372. Earth Knows How To Hope

Earth knows how to hope.
Heaven knows how to be indifferent.
God knows how to smile at earth
And frown at Heaven.

8373. The Mind Accepts The Unacceptable

Alas, the human mind
Not only loves
But also accepts
The unacceptable: doubt.

8374. Sapping Your Heart's Strength-Tree

Your mind’s impurity is secretly sapping
Your heart’s strength-tree.
How then can you ever hope to see
The Face of your Beloved Supreme?

8375. Man Will Have A New Name

When his suffering finally ceases,
Man will have a new name:
God’s Self-transcendence-Song.

8376. Sincerity Is Meant For Living

Sincerity is meant for living.
Purity is meant for loving.
Oneness is meant for fulfilling.
Satisfaction is meant for being.

8377. You Can Only Go Forward

If your heart has climbing aspiration,
Then you cannot go backward.
You can only go forward.

8378. Down The Stairs Of Memory

He ran down the stairs of memory
Only to be bitten
By a destructive ignorance-wolf.

8379. God And I Are Seeing

Together God and I have seen
My mind’s failure-life.
Now together God and I are seeing
My heart’s success and progress-life.

8380. Everything Divine

Nothing divine
Can be accidental,
But everything divine
Can be ephemeral.

8381. A Translucent Mind

My Lord Supreme,
You have given me
An innocent heart.
Can You not also give me
A translucent mind?

8382. In The Company Of God

Ask nothing!
Lo, you are ascending.
Give everything!
Lo, God is descending.
Finally, you are unmistakably
In the company of God.

8383. I Seek My Beloved Supreme

Why do I seek my Beloved Supreme?
I seek Him because I need to see
His Vision-Eye in me
For my perfection-satisfaction-smile.

8384. Destruction In Disguise

Suppression is not transcendence.
Suppression is future destruction
In perfect disguise.

8385. Please Say Good-Bye

Desire, please say good-bye
To my tired mind.
Aspiration, please say hello
To my freshly awakened heart.

8386. Only Say

Do not say,
“I am going to try”
Or “I am going to do”.
Only say,
“God is doing it in me”
And “God has done it for me”.

8387. I Cannot Live Without

There was a time
When I could not live a moment
Without ignorance-night.
Now I cannot live a moment
Without my Lord’s Compassion-Eye
And Forgiveness-Feet.

8388. Hidden Dangers

O desire-life,
Now that I know
You have hidden dangers,
I have nothing to do with you
Any more.

8389. Now I Weep, Now I Laugh

Now I weep, now I laugh
Because of my mind’s impurity-frown
And my heart’s purity-crown.

8390. The Mirror Reflects

The mirror reflects
His diamond-face,
Flooded with the delight
Of his soul’s infinite Peace.

8391. Your Soul's Promise-Beauty

When your heart and mind
Greet each other,
Your soul’s promise-beauty
Is bound to increase
In a most astonishing way.

8392. How Can Your Heart Dare To Sing?

Since impurity-thoughts are darting
Through your mind,
How can your heart dare to sing
Fruitful songs of hope?

8393. Unfading Perfection-Beauty

My Lord, my heart is tied
To Your divine Feet.
Therefore, mine is the perfection-beauty
That will never fade.

8394. The Sons Of Morning Sang

The sons of morning sang
And reminded me of God the Power.
The daughters of evening sang
And reminded me of God the Peace.

8395. Each Page Of My Aspiration-Life

May each page of my aspiration-life
Contain only two messages:
Gratitude-song and surrender-dance.

8396. How Can You Blame God?

God has not asked you
To become a lover of loneliness.
How then can you blame Him
For your life of utter uselessness?

8397. The Farewell-Beam

The day you deliberately started
Making friends with ignorance-night,
You saw the farewell-beam
Of your inner sun.

8398. A Peerless Solace

A life of increasing perfection
Is undoubtedly a peerless solace
To every aspiring heart.

8399. His Superb Frown Of Pride

Each human being is nothing
But a tiny drop in the Eternity-Sea.
Yet quite often he enjoys
His superb frown of pride.

8400. The Sole Possession

My heart is so grateful
To have only You, my Lord,
And to claim You as the sole possession
Of my surrender-life.

Editor's introduction to the first edition

This is the eighty-fourth 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 meets with French philosopher Paul Richard in New York on 29 April 1967.