8001. Yesterday I Prayed To God

Yesterday I prayed to God
To let me know who I really am.
Today I am praying to God
To make me feel that my heart
Really loves Him
And that my life
Really needs Him.

8002. Why Do I Cry?

Why do I cry?
I cry because
My clever mind
Has betrayed my soulful heart.

8003. You Have The Hidden Capacity

No matter where you are,
You do have the hidden capacity
To climb higher and dive deeper,
Even if it is just an inch.

8004. Self-Examination Means

Self-examination means
Self-perfection.
Self-perfection means
God-satisfaction.
God-satisfaction means
Universe-transformation.

8005. The Art Of Inner Deafness

If you are suffering
From world-doubts,
Then learn the art of inner deafness.
You will be happy
And your life will be amazingly progressive.

8006. Your Life's Ceaseless Pangs

Your mind’s blind restlessness
And your vital’s dark attachment
Cause your life’s ceaseless pangs.

8007. The Smile Of Your Heart

Walk along the path of purity.
Easily and effectively
The smile of your heart
Will be able to eradicate
Your imperfection-life.

8008. If You Become A Prayerful Seeker

If you become a prayerful seeker
Of God’s Love-World,
God will grant you His Vision-Delight
To treasure always.

8009. In The Heart Of Life

In the heart of life
There is only one thing: hope.
In the heart of death
There is only one thing: peace.

8010. Love Is The Quickest

Not your mind’s restless
And incessant calling
But your heart’s love
Is the quickest fulfiller
Of your dreams.

8011. My Eternity's Nectar-Food

The Silence-Blessing
Of my Lord’s Vision-Eye
Is my Eternity’s Nectar-Food.

8012. What Can Force You To Improve?

What can force you to improve?
Not the expectations of others.
No, not even your own desires.
Then what can?
Only your constant love of God.

8013. Satisfaction-Delight

When my consciousness lives on earth,
I see and become frustration-night.
When my consciousness lives in Heaven,
I become Heaven’s illumination-flight
And satisfaction-delight.

8014. Burn The Incense Of Your Heart

If your life is swimming
In the river of sorrow,
Then burn the incense of your heart
And inundate your entire being
With Eternity’s Light and Infinity’s Delight.

8015. A Ceaseless Flow Of Love

If you can make your heart become
A ceaseless flow of love,
Then the waters of liberation
Will not remain a distant goal.

8016. When I Dive Deep Within

When I dive deep within,
I see no imperfection-jungle
Or even difficulty-fern,
But only the smile of perfection
And the dance of satisfaction-delight.

8017. If I Listen To The Sweet Melody

I can conquer my body’s pitiful poverty
And make my life happy
If I listen to the sweet melody
Of my divinely wealthy heart.

8018. The Road Of Light

Who asks you to walk
Through an endless darkness-tunnel?
Do you not see that the road of light
Can easily be part and parcel
Of your life’s treasure-trove?

8019. If You Love Your Heart's Journey

If you love your heart’s journey,
Then rest assured the nectar-goal
Will not be able to forget you
Or ignore your life.

8020. A Life Of Dreams

If you have a life of dreams
And want your dreams to be fulfilled,
Then be as pure as the dew of the dawn
And play on your heart-violin every day.

8021. Your Supportive Listeners

If you truly have
An illumined mind-life,
Then my heart and I are more than ready
To be your regular supportive listeners.

8022. God's Smile Of Vision-Plenitude

You have shattered all earthly bondage.
Therefore, the doors of Heaven
Are wide open for you
To see God’s Smile of Vision-Plenitude.

8023. The Supreme Cause Of Life-Perfection

Rest assured, I never see
The heavy weight of your imperfection-plight.
What I always see is
The crown-glory of your self-offering
To the supreme cause of life-perfection.

8024. God Is His Compassion-Flow

If God is His
Compassion-Flow,
Then I am my
Aspiration-gratitude-flow.

8025. If You Cry With Hope

If you cry with hope,
Your liberated heart will one day
Be able to experience the silence-delight
Of God’s Transcendental Heights.

8026. End Your Friendship

How long can you continue
With your false hope-dreams?
Do you not realise that your life
Is as useless as dust?
Is it not high time for you
To end your friendship
With self-deception-night?

8027. My Tenebrous Mind

My tenebrous mind
Is enveloped in the black shadow
Of my world of sorrow
And desperate self-destruction.

8028. If You Want To Throw Away

If you want to throw away
Something from your life,
Then throw away
Your fear-arrow and your doubt-spear.

8029. He Embodies The Eternal

His right eye embodies
The eternal sun of power.
His left eye embodies
The eternal moon of love.
His outer heart embodies
God-Confidence.
His inner heart embodies
God-Satisfaction.

8030. Ask Your Mind To Create Something

Ask your mind to create something
That is infinitely faster than thought.
Then ask your heart to purify it,
Your soul to liberate it
And God to play with it.

8031. As Long As You Love

As long as you love
Your questioning mind,
How can you expect a smile
From your illumining soul
And a dance
From your loving heart?

8032. I See Your Smile-River

My Lord, I see Your Smile-River
Flowing across my eyes.
Can I not show You
Soulfully and unconditionally
My heart’s dance of flame-delight?

8033. A New Dream

My Lord,
When I tell You that I am a hopeless case,
What do You think of me?

“My child,
I think of giving you immediately
A new dream:
The dream of God-Satisfaction
In your giant mind.”

8034. What The World Needs

What the world needs
Is an all-loving God-Hour,
But what the world is running after
Is an all-devouring giant power.

8035. A Satisfied Heaven-Father

If you can think of yourself
As a true earth-child,
Then God will definitely think of you
All the time
As a satisfied Heaven-Father.

8036. Your Heart-Fountain

If you keep your heart-fountain flowing,
Your body and vital
Will be able to play sleeplessly
In the fields of Immortality.

8037. Your Unconscious Incapacity

Today your heart is
Your unconscious incapacity.
Tomorrow your life will be
Your fulfilled capacity.

8038. The Beauty Of His Soul

The beauty of his soul
Has penetrated his outer life.
The confidence of his outer life
Has satisfied his Inner Pilot.

8039. This World

Since my body
Lives in this world,
Can my heart not be
For this world?

8040. A Blessing-Gift In Disguise

Failure is at times
A blessing-gift in disguise.
Even then, nobody likes
To accept this gift.

8041. Those Who Want To Destroy

Those who want to destroy the world
Have already become prey
To their own suicidal commitment.

8042. If You Want To Protest

If you want to protest,
Then protest against your own
Hidden inner crimes
By virtue of your own
Sterling faith in God.

8043. Bury Your Mental Education

Bury all your mental education
If necessity demands,
But never bury the beauty,
Purity and divinity
Of your intuition-flames.

8044. Your Prayerful Life

The prayerful life you now lead
Has the powerful capacity
And the fruitful necessity
To disown your deplorable past.

8045. His Life Is All Happiness

His life is all happiness
Because sincerity-inevitability
Always holds his heart
In its adamantine embrace.

8046. Every Divine Thought

By nature
Each and every earth-bound thought
Is inhospitable.

By nature
Each and every divine thought
Is not only cordially hospitable
But also astonishingly adorable.

8047. Each Special Prayer To God

Each special prayer to God
Is a green hope
And a blue promise
To emancipate the human in us
From the binding shackles
Of the animal in us.

8048. A Seeker's Soulful Smile

A seeker’s soulful smile
Is an everlasting flower
In the Heart-Garden
Of his Beloved Supreme.

8049. Any Purpose In Thinking

If there is any purpose in thinking,
It is so the thinking process itself
Can try to transcend
Its own extremely limited existence-reality.

8050. Each Sorrow Tells Us

Each preceding sorrow
Tells us that life is a journey
Into the unknowable.

Each succeeding sorrow
Tells us that everything
Has its own preordained
Earth-limited finality.

8051. Never Surrender Your Hope-Heart

Even if you fail time and again,
Never surrender your precious hope-heart
To eyeless, life-denying despair.

8052. With Your Heart's Loving Gratitude

With your heart’s loving gratitude
You can easily gain
God’s Transcendental Beatitude.

8053. The Heart-Beauty Of Humanity

Your breath of cunning
And intoxicating malice
Has lowered the climbing
Heart-beauty of humanity.

8054. A Foolish Hope

Each stupid man
Thinks he is entertaining a foolish hope
When he thinks of the transformation
Of his own nature.

8055. Ripples Of Energy-Light

My heart’s gratitude-breath
Is constantly blessed
With the beautiful ripples
Of dynamic energy-light.

8056. Be Careful Of Undivine Thoughts

Be careful of your mind’s
Undivine thoughts.
Not only do they increase and multiply,
But also they can force you
To die a million deaths
Before your life’s final hour strikes.

8057. Your Mind's Maladies

You talk so much
About your mind’s maladies.
When will you start talking
About your heart’s remedies?

8058. Unless Your Mind Cares

Unless your mind cares
To be useful to your heart,
How can anyone
Make your life fruitful?

8059. A Frustration-Lion

The human life
Is like a frustration-lion
Loving a frustration-tiger.

8060. Do Not Try To Interpret

If you want to understand a thing
Sooner than the soonest,
Then do not try to interpret it.
Just love it
And become inseparably one with it.

8061. Poison-Food

Suspicion
Is the poison-food
Prepared by the weak
For the weak.

8062. What You Have Inside You

What you have inside you
Is a heart of beauty’s dawn
And a soul of divinity’s day.

8063. The Human Mind Does Not Progress

The human mind does not progress
Because it wants to have
An independent life
In the heart of a dependent life.

8064. If You Love The World

If you love the world,
Then why do you hide from it?
If you hate the world,
Then why do you live in it?

8065. Do Not Think!

If you want your mind
To understand the world,
If you want your heart
To be loved by the world
And if you want your life
To be treasured by God Himself,
Then do not think!

8066. A Life Of Silence

A life of silence
Is always an inner challenge.
Its goal:
To hasten the choice Hour of God.

8067. They Never Want To Listen

Fear and doubt
Never want to listen to anybody
Even though they are tortured
Not only by others
But also by themselves.

8068. The Time That God Has Given You

What have you done with
The time that God has given you
To love the beauty of His creation
And inspire the world
With the purity of your inner vision?

8069. A Song Of Service

If you want to know more
About God the Creator,
Then become a song of service
To God the creation.

8070. I Believe

I believe,
Therefore I see.
I believe,
Therefore I become.
I believe,
Therefore I eternally am.

8071. Each Uninspired Day

Each uninspired day
Marks the beginning
Of a painful failure
That ends in an inner death.

8072. Unless It Means Everything To You

Do not accept the spiritual life
Unless it means everything to you
Now and from now on.

8073. His Heart's Sincerity

In the morning
His heart’s sincerity
Makes him soulful.

During the rest of the day
His life’s purity
Keeps him soulful.

8074. An Unparalleled Blessing

If your aspiration-heart
Spreads the beauty and purity
Of sunshine,
Then your life becomes
An unparalleled blessing
To yourself and to others.

8075. Nothing To Do With Failure

I have nothing to do
With failure.
I run my life’s business always
With success
Just by virtue of my heart’s
Inner surrender-light.

8076. A Soul Of Beauty

A soul of beauty
Is the perfection-search
For a life of duty.

8077. A Heart Of Tranquillity

A heart of tranquillity
Is the beauty of the Beyond
That nourishes the hunger
Of unawakened humanity.

8078. Your Love For God

Your love for God
Can make your life beautiful,
But it is God’s Love for you
That can make your life fruitful.

8079. An Endless And Useless Task

Do not try to satiate
The wild vital.
It is undoubtedly
An endless and useless task.

8080. God Usually Does Not Hide

God usually does not hide from me
Except when I search for Him
Inside my doubtful mind.

8081. Listen To Only One Prayer

My Lord,
I am grateful to You
Because yesterday You did not listen
To my prayer for desire-fulfilment.

My Lord,
Tomorrow I shall be grateful to You
If You do not listen
To my prayer for life-satisfaction.

My Lord,
I beg You to listen
To only one prayer of mine:
“Let Thy Will be done.”

8082. You Do Not Have To Advertise

Your heart’s excellence
You do not have to advertise.
That is God’s job,
And He does not want you
To take it away from Him.

8083. God's Compassion-Patrol

Self-control in the outer life
Is another name for
God’s Compassion-Patrol
In the inner life.

8084. Constantly Self-Transcendent

His mind’s love of God’s creation
Is very limited.
His heart’s love of God’s creation
Is unlimited.
His soul’s love of God’s creation
Is not only unlimited
But constantly self-transcendent.

8085. As Imagination Runs

As imagination runs
Before reality,
Even so, aspiration can run
Before imagination.

8086. Unwilling To Be Brave

You are unwilling to be brave.
Indeed, you are a fool!
You are unwilling to accept the light
From others who are already brave.
That means you are
Worse than a fool!

8087. Only One Reality

There can be only one reality
In my life, not two:
Either my daily God-appointment
Or my daily sad disappointment.

8088. If You Rely On God Alone

If you rely on your friends,
You are clever.
If you rely on yourself,
You are wise.
But if you rely on God alone,
You are perfect
Both inwardly and outwardly.

8089. Only One Urgent Duty

When I look up to Heaven,
I have only one urgent duty:
My surrender-duty.

When I look at the world,
I have only one urgent duty:
My gratitude-duty.

8090. Sailing In Two Directions

You are sailing
Your mind-boat and your heart-boat
In two directions at the same time.
What can poor God do?
He wants to be a passenger
In only one boat,
For the Goal cannot be
Here, there and everywhere.

8091. If You Have A Pure Heart

If you have a pure heart,
Definitely it will add
To others’ happiness.

If you have a clever mind,
Definitely it will subtract
From others’ happiness.

8092. God Wants You To Love

God does not want you
To criticise your mind all the time.
He only wants you
To love your heart
More, ever more.

8093. O Dark World-Ignorance

O dark world-ignorance,
I am not afraid of you.
You will soon see my soul’s smiles
Even inside your wildest frowns.

8094. Dear And Sweet Death

He was tired of life.
Therefore he was constantly looking
For something that would
Lovingly and convincingly lure him
Towards dear and sweet death.

8095. Pleasure-Thoughts

Pleasure-thoughts before long
Will be shrouded
With abysmal torture-experiences.

8096. To Know The Difference

I shall have to know the difference
Between the sacred happiness
Of the heart
And the secret happiness
Of the mind
So that I can perfect my life
In God’s own Way.

8097. A Soulful Song

A soulful song
Can easily soothe the tortures
Of any cruel day.

8098. If You Can Sing Soulfully

If you can sing soulfully
And love the world unconditionally,
Then you are bound to hear
The soul-illumining music
Of the trance-world.

8099. Inner Beauty Has To Penetrate

Inner beauty has to penetrate
The outer world.
Outer surrender has to penetrate
The inner world.

8100. The Capacity To Be Happy

I love God,
Not because one day
He will make me perfect
But because He has given me,
Out of His infinite Bounty,
The capacity to be happy
All the time.

Editor's introduction to the first edition

This is the eighty-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

Sri Chinmoy meets with Olympic running coach Arthur Lydiard in New York on 7 June 1981.