801. A map of silence

What do I see in my Heaven-free mind?
I see a map
Of midnight-silence
With a stupendous
Satisfaction-smile.

802. While walking

While walking along
The avenue of my aspiration-heart,
What do I do?
I harvest my heart’s sunlight.
How?
Slowly, steadily and selflessly.

803. You cannot possess two things

You cannot possess two things:
God’s Compassion-Sky
And
Man’s frustration-sky.

804. Even his enemies have forgiven him

Even his enemies
Have forgiven him totally
Now that he has fallen
Off the aspiration-tree.

805. Only one reason

You gave me
A flood of reasons
Why you do not care for me.
But I am giving you
Only one reason
Why I do not care for you.
I do not care for you
Not because
You do not care for me
But because
You do not care for God.

806. One positive seed-thought

One positive seed-thought
Has saved me,
My entire life:
My Lord Supreme
Will always love me
No matter what I do
Or what I say
Or even what I become.

807. Only when I allow

The strength of oneness-seed
I have,
The delight of satisfaction-tree
I am,
Only when I allow
All to claim my Beloved Supreme
As their own, very own.

808. O inspiration-sky

O inspiration-sky,
Where are you?
My mind is a beggar without you.

O aspiration-sun,
Where are you?
My heart is an orphan without you.

809. The beauty born of oneness-love

The beauty born of oneness-love
Forever lasts
In the perfection-life of man
And
In the Satisfaction-Heart of God.

810. Now I love

There was a time
When I loved you,
O my thought-world.
But now I love
The beauty of a silence-mind
And
The purity of a gratitude-heart.

811. Anxiety

Anxiety,
I shall not fear you
Any more.
Your hostility will
Before long
Vanish.

812. Are you really sure?

Are you really sure
That you do not want
A temptation-life?
If you are sure,
Then the Illumination-Eye
Will hasten towards you.

813. Lose the map

Lose, lose the map
Of your mind.
The road of your heart
Will immediately appear
Before your vision-eye.

814. God's morning Compassion

God’s morning Compassion
And
God’s evening Forgiveness
Have saved my life
Time and again.

815. Who wants my help?

Who wants my help?
Nobody, alas.
Who needs my attention?
Everybody, alas, alas!

816. Accept the truth

Accept the truth
Soulfully.
The higher worlds
Will inundate you
Immediately.

817. Everything is possible

Everything is possible.
I can even have a new mind
If I am totally disgusted
With my old mind.

818. Never fear to watch

Never fear to watch
What you are unlearning,
For that will eventually help you
Walk along the Liberation-Road.

819. God's Marathon-Compassion

I shall never forget
That God’s Marathon-Compassion
And His Ultramarathon-Forgiveness
Have saved my doubting mind
And my aggressive vital.

820. The detachment of the stars

The detachment of the stars
Surprises me and my mind.
The attachment of the moon
Puzzles me and my heart.

821. My remembrance-light

My remembrance-light
Is my progress-height.
My progress-height
Is my self-command.

822. The day I saved

The day I saved my oneness-light
From meanness-night,
I needed no more safety
From any human being.

823. This world has nothing for me

This world has nothing for me,
Absolutely nothing for me.
One day I shall have to go
In my own way.
And my way will be
Nothing other than God’s Way —
God’s beautiful, fruitful
And express Way.

824. Spend your thought-power

As you spend your money-power
Carefully,
Even so, spend your thought-power
Cautiously.
Each thought embraces
An atom bomb.

825. I am determined

Now that I have heard
Much about meditation,
I am determined to reach
My own experience-reality-existence.

826. Excusing myself

Yesterday I excused myself,
And thus I lowered
The quality-standard
Of the world.

Today I am excusing myself,
And thus I am lowering
The quality-standard
Of my own soul.

Tomorrow I shall excuse myself,
And thus I shall lower
Even the Quality-standard
Of my Beloved Supreme.

827. I have replaced

My Lord Supreme
Is extremely proud of me
Because I have replaced
My yesterday’s
Unconscious disobedience
With my today’s
Conscious obedience.

828. An inner medicine

Doubt is an inner disease.
Therefore,
To cure it what you need
Is an inner medicine.
And that medicine is
Your oneness-faith.

829. Truth has charmed me

I am saved at last,
For truth has unquestionably
Charmed me,
My entire being.

830. Now is the opportunity

To win God-realisation
Now is the opportunity.
Therefore,
Speed up and run after it
Now.

831. A sublime truth

My despair,
My wild despair,
I have discovered
A sublime truth:
I can do something
Infinitely better
Than surrender to you —
Fight, fight!
I must fight against you
To bring to the fore
The Real in me:
My inspiration-sky
And aspiration-sun.

832. Two things absolutely unparalleled

My Master Lord Supreme,
I love You, I love You only
Because You have given me
Two things absolutely unparalleled:
The map
For the eternal journey
And the courage
For the immortal travelling.

833. God will promote you

Protect your aspiration-heart.
God will promote you
Here on earth
Blessingfully
And there in Heaven
Proudly.

834. Who will condemn you?

Who or what
Can and will condemn you,
If not your own
Deplorably mistaken belief?

835. When I study

When I study
The train of anxieties,
I find that it carries
Nothing but a mountain
Of unhealthy ideas.

836. Reveal your nervousness

Conceal your nervousness;
You will eventually die.
Reveal your nervousness;
You will eventually be
The conqueror.

837. What others think of you

Remember one thing,
Only one thing:
What others think of you
Will not and cannot change you,
Your capacity-world
And your quality-world.

838. Nothing else is perfect

Nothing else is perfect
And
Nothing else can ever be perfect
Except the soulful cry
Of our fruitful gratitude-heart.

839. I love and I serve

I love and I serve.
What do I love?
I love the Compassion-Flood
Of God’s Vision-Eye.
What do I serve?
I serve the Forgiveness-Sun
Of God’s Reality-Heart.

840. I need only one thing

Yesterday I needed many things.
Tomorrow I may need many things.
But today, my Lord Supreme,
I need only one thing:
The forgiveness-flower
Of Your Compassion-Tree.

841. A false seeker

A false seeker
Every day writes at least
Seven complimentary letters
To himself.
He thinks and feels
That these letters have come
Directly from Above.

842. A false student

A false student,
No matter how many years
He stays with the greatest
Spiritual Master of the ages,
Remains the same
With no progress.
I may not be
The world’s greatest Teacher,
But I am blessed with
Quite a few false students.

843. Heaven laughs

Heaven laughs when it sees
A false seeker.
Needless to say,
Such false seekers
Are available almost everywhere.
But out of infinite compassion
Heaven has made up a list of items
That will raise the standard
Of humanity.

844. My mind has enslaved

Alas, alas,
My doubting and dividing mind
Has enslaved my entire life
Ruthlessly, plus sleeplessly.

845. I amuse God

I reject the world
Because
It contradicts me unnecessarily.

I amuse God
When
I contradict Him proudly.

846. Infallible inspiration

He is great
Because his mind
Has infallible inspiration.

He is good
Because his heart
Is infallible aspiration.

847. A supreme truth

A soulful heart
Has discovered a supreme truth:
To meditate on God
Is a privilege
And not a duty.

848. No advantage

You do not live
The Bible.
Therefore,
You can have no advantage over him,
Just because he has not read it.

He has not read
The Bible.
Therefore,
He can have no advantage over me,
Just because I do not know how to read.

849. God's Forgiveness finds me

God’s Forgiveness finds me
No matter where I am.
God’s Compassion takes me
Where I ought to go.

850. Let your heart criticise

Do not criticise your heart.
Let your heart criticise you,
Your worthless
And
Useless mind.

851. I have nothing to fear

I have nothing to fear
Save and except
My Lord’s total withdrawal.

My Lord has nothing to fear
Save and except
My deliberate neglect.

852. No matter how many mistakes

No matter how many mistakes you made,
You are making
And you will be making,
Remember only one thing:
Your aim is your
Perfection-light.

853. You have every opportunity-right

Self-command
Or
Self-extinction:
You have every opportunity-right
To make the correct choice.

854. The cure

What can cure
Your doubt-sickness,
If not your own
Oneness-faith-medicine?

855. Three invaluable Heaven-gifts

Newness in life,
Closeness to truth,
Oneness with God:
These are the three
Invaluable Heaven-gifts
I desperately need.

856. Why have you surrendered?

Are you a fool?
Why have you surrendered
To secret despair
And totally ruined your birthright:
Eternity’s Delight?

857. Happiness is my name

Happiness is my name,
For the desire to appear right
Has been replaced
By the desire to be right.

858. Seeing is becoming

In the inner world,
Seeing is possessing
And then becoming.

In the higher world,
Seeing is becoming
And then possessing.

859. The happiest man in God's creation

Make yourself known to humanity:
Its dark jealousy will make you unhappy.
Make yourself known to yourself:
You will unquestionably be
The happiest man
In God’s entire creation.

860. So thinks the human mind

Darkness has light:
So thinks the human mind.
Darkness is light:
So feels the human vital.

861. Sincerity tells me

Strangely enough,
Sincerity tells me
That we are wont to love
Confusion-night
More than we love
To illumine it.

862. The real wisdom-light

What is the real wisdom-light?
The real wisdom-light
Is to help Truth regain
Its lost throne.

863. The real life of happiness

The usual life of unhappiness
Is doing nothing for me.
The real life of happiness
Is hiding from me.
Alas, alas!

864. If you want to run the fastest

If you want to run the fastest,
If you want to fly the highest,
If you want to dive the deepest,
Then try to believe
That yours is not the only way
To reach humanity’s ultimate Goal.

865. Purity's way

There is a way
That has no negativities.
And that way is
Purity’s selfless way.

866. The new world

You fool,
What makes you think
That the new world
Will resemble the old world?
You fool,
What makes you anticipate
The same old frustration
In the new world?

867. The price

You fool,
Don’t you realise
That the price you pay
To remain in the dreamland
Is too exorbitant?
When are you going back
To your own reality-land,
When?

868. The Master's compassion-height

What is more powerful:
The Master’s justice-light
Or
His compassion-height?
For a sincere
And receptive seeker,
The Master’s compassion-height
Always remains unparalleled.

869. Your only problem

Until you have realised
That you are your
Only problem in life,
You will never be awakened
To the existence-reality
Of Perfection-Bliss.

870. I really love you

I really love you
Because you see your mistakes.
I really love you and need you
Because you have forgotten
The deplorable art
Of repeating them.

871. No difference

No difference
Between what I eternally am
And
What the Truth-reality is.

872. Truth and falsehood

What is falsehood?
A thing unbelievably dangerous.
What is truth?
A thing astonishingly prosperous.

873. The fight

The light of my heart never fights.
The fight is always between
The darkness of my mind
And
The restlessness of my vital.

874. Inspiration descends

Inspiration descends
To make me great.
Aspiration ascends
To make me good.
Realisation transcends
To make me perfect.

875. The human life

The human life is nothing
But
A prison of misunderstandings.
How can we escape?
We can escape
Through the self-giving windows.

876. Truth will not tolerate

Truth will not tolerate deception.
Bliss will not tolerate imperfection.
God will not tolerate frustration.

877. The relaxation of the mind

The relaxation of the mind
Has given me two invaluable things:
The silence-breath of the inner world
And
The sound-life of the outer world.

878. I cry and cry

I cry and cry
To see the Beauty of God’s Eye.
God cries and cries
To see the purity of my heart.

879. So easy to forget

So easy to forget:
God’s Compassion-Eye
And
God’s Forgiveness-Heart.

So easy to remember:
My tiny success-bubbles
And
My wee progress-flames.

880. I smile and smile

I smile and smile
When I see
God’s Satisfaction-Home.
God smiles and smiles
When He sees
My heart’s gratitude-room.

881. I want Him

My heart’s sincerity-cry needs God.
Therefore,
I want Him.

My soul’s purity-smile needs God.
Therefore,
I want Him.

882. A soulful heart questions

A soulful heart questions
The authenticity of the mind.
A fruitful soul purifies
The impurity of the mind.

883. Another way to live

I must realise
That there is another way
To live.
And that way is to see
God’s Beauty in man
And
Man’s ecstasy in God.

884. Because I know

Because I knew yesterday
What God is like,
And because I know today
What I am like,
I shall definitely know tomorrow
What you are like.

885. Suffering is a painful joke

Suffering is a painful joke:
So says my heart’s
Oneness-perfection
And my soul’s
Fulness-satisfaction.

886. So beautiful

I love God
Because
His Vision-Eye is so beautiful.

God loves me
Because
My aspiration-heart is so beautiful.

887. I think of God

I think of God
Because
I need God’s Power.

God thinks of me
Because
He needs my love.

888. Each day

Each day
Is the last opportunity.
Each day
Is the last boat.
Indeed, the Golden Shore is far,
Very far.

889. I am watching your eyes

I am watching Your Eyes,
My Lord.
They are so beautiful.

I am feeling Your Heart,
My Lord.
It is so fruitful.

I am touching Your Feet,
My Lord.
They are so powerful.

890. Faith is the transcendence-glory

Faith is the transcendence-glory
Of the heart-blossoms.
Surrender is the perfection-satisfaction-glory
Of the life-blossoms.

891. The happy God tells me

The happy God tells me
That He is all ready to take me
As His partner.
In case I do not want
To be His partner,
He tells me that He is all ready
To be the inseparable partner
Of my own unhappy life.

892. The vision I want

I do not want the vision
That swiftly vanishes
Into tomorrow’s nothingness.
I want only the vision
Of Eternal Now.

893. A heart flooded with poise

A heart flooded with poise
Can alone take me
Beyond the horizons
Of my sleepless sorrow.

894. Preparations

Simplicity prepares the mind
For God.
Sincerity prepares the heart
For God.
Humility prepares the life
For God.

895. Light and life mingle

Light and life mingle
When oneness-delight
Smashes the ruthless pride
Of division-walls.

896. Without the Grace-Power

Without the Grace-Power,
Everything is out of reach.
With the Grace-Power,
Everything is within easy reach.

897. The inner faith

The soulfulness of the inner faith
Is always
The vastness-beauty
Of the outer space.

898. Even death cannot escape

Even death cannot escape
From the vastness-spread
Of His Silence-Power.

899. Harvest of the heart

When God teaches
The song of hope-light,
I reap the harvest
Of my heart.

900. A stronger heart

Mine is the wisdom-light
That tells me to ask
Not for a lighter burden,
But for a stronger heart.

Editor's introduction to the first edition

This is the ninth 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

Don Ritchie, holder of the world record for the 50-mile and 100-mile runs, is shown with Sri Chinmoy after his championship 100-mile run in Flushing Meadow Park, New York, 16 June 1979.