Ten Thousand Flower-Flames, part 1

1. A new marathon1

```

Who am I?

A completely long lost tornado-speed.

Yesterday my supremely uncooperative body

Ran the New York Marathon.

The lightning-arrows of anxieties

And worries did not attack me.

I must say, they have

Always

Been very kind to me.

They do not knock at my heart’s door.

No, not even by mistake!

But cramps,

My unfailing friends, came and

Shook hands with me gently

Even before I had covered eleven miles.

Usually they come to befriend me

At the eighteenth mile.

But this time, after fifteen miles,

They desired to lavish

Infinitely more affection on me.

So they embraced me most avidly

And most powerfully.

Alas, alas!

From fifteen miles on,

I dragged my ill-fated body,

At times with my compassion-smiles,

At times with my frustration-cries.

To my great joy and sublime relief,

The worst possible nightmare

Finally ended

At the end of twenty-six miles.

One marathon-world

Leads me into another marathon-world.

To satisfy this new marathon-world,

Or to be satisfied by this new one, will be

Infinitely — I really mean it —

More difficult.

For here it is not just twenty-six miles

and 385 yards to run,

But to sow the seeds

Of ten thousand flaming flower-poems

Which at long last I shall place

Devotedly, unreservedly and unconditionally

At the Compassion-Feet

Of my Beloved Supreme.

```

FF 1-70. These seventy poems were written on a Pan Am flight to Japan on 22 October 1979.↩

2. Are you not ashamed?

```

Hurry up, my body!

Are you not ashamed

Of your lethargy-night?

Hurry up, my vital!

Are you not ashamed

Of your aggression-fight?

Hurry up, my mind!

Are you not ashamed

Of your doubt-poison?

Hurry up, my heart!

Are you not ashamed

Of your timidity-insecurity?

```

3. Days pass by

```

Days pass by.

No success-height.

Days pass by.

No progress-light.

Days pass by.

No perfection-delight. ```

4. Afraid

```

My mind is afraid

To feel anything.

My heart is afraid

To discuss anything.

My soul is afraid

To manifest anything.

And I am afraid

To like anything. ```

5. The tears of Mother Earth

```

The tears of Mother Earth

Make my life pure.

The smiles of Father Heaven

Make my heart sure. ```

6. Self-defeat

```

Yesterday

You defeated yourself

Because

You did not try.

Today

You are defeating yourself

Because

You are not crying.

Tomorrow

You will defeat yourself

Because

You will not be living. ```

7. Prayer-cry

```

A tree is the seeker’s

Prayer-cry.

A flower is the seeker’s

Meditation-smile.

A fruit is the seeker’s

Realisation-song. ```

8. Inside my silence-life

```

Inside my sound-life

I realise how weak I am.

Inside my silence-life

I discover that God’s God-Power

Is my other name.

```

9. God is not discouraged

```

God is not discouraged

Although

You are an unthinkable fool.

God is not discouraged

Although

You are an unspeakable rogue.

God is not discouraged

Although

You are an unbelievable failure.

```

10. A small trouble

```

A small trouble:

I do not think of God.

A big trouble:

God does not think of me.

A small fear:

I do not love God.

A big fear:

God does not love me. ```

11. A tamed mind

```

A tamed mind

Can do anything.

It can even think

Of the Compassion-God

And the perfection-life.

```

12. Pride

```

A woman’s pride:

Beauty-revelation.

A man’s pride:

Power-multiplication.

Earth’s pride:

Tolerance-height.

Heaven’s pride:

Satisfaction-delight. ```

13. What you need

```

What you need is another moon

To reveal you.

What you need is another sun

To fulfil you. ```

14. My journey's companion

```

My journey’s companion:

A silence-world.

My journey’s goal:

God’s Heaven-blossoms. ```

15. Mine is the life

```

Mine is the life that cries

In man’s binding chains.

Mine is the heart that flies

In God’s liberating reins. ```

16. In the field of frustration

```

In the field of frustration

My desire-life grows.

In the sea of satisfaction

My aspiration-life glows. ```

17. Two miracles

```

The miracle of my sound-life:

It can chase God.

The miracle of my silence-life:

It can embrace God. ```

18. The fever of my life

```

The first fever

Of my human life:

God does not think of me.

The last fever

Of my human life:

I have not loved God.

```

19. Your aspiration-life

```

Your aspiration-life

Has drowned the power of death.

Your realisation-life

Shall turn you into another God. ```

20. My aching urgency

```

My aching urgency

Has helped me see

God’s unseen Feet.

You are not an inferior flame.

Like me, you too are meant

To be a God-lover

And

A God-seer. ```

21. An infant God

```

True, today you are

An infant and inferior God.

But tomorrow

You can and you will

Be a mature and superior God.

```

22. First gift, last gift

```

My first gift to God:

My sincerity-awareness.

God’s last gift to me:

His ever-transcending

Oneness-Satisfaction.

```

23. My progress

```

Yesterday

My thought-freed mind

Was a God-seeker.

Today

My crying heart

Is a God-lover.

Tomorrow

My faithful life

Shall be a God-server.

```

24. Try not to rob my heart

```

Humanity,

Try not to rob my heart.

My heart has already been robbed

By my Lord’s Compassion-Feet

And

Forgiveness-Heart. ```

25. Competition-separation

```

Competition-separation

Does not find him

Either here or there

Or elsewhere.

Affection-perfection

Finds him

Here and there

And all-where. ```

26. O my beloved

```

O my beloved Eternity,

Do not forget me.

From this moment on, I shall always

Remember you.

O my beloved Infinity,

Do not desert me.

From this moment on, I shall always

Love you.

O my beloved Immortality,

Do not disown me.

From this moment on, I shall always

Claim you. ```

27. Ambition-noon, affection-moon

```

Ambition-noon

Finds him.

Therefore,

Affection-moon

Does not know him.

```

28. You have lost

```

You have lost

Your beloved Satisfaction-God

Because

You have overfed

Your insistent ambition-horse.

```

29. You are destined

```

Because

You have a sunlit mind

You are destined

To become a moonlit heart. ```

30. A solemn promise

```

I have made a solemn promise

To myself:

Next time

I see my Beloved Supreme,

I shall beg Him

To build me a new little heart

And totally destroy

My proud, giant mind. ```

31. He is God's

```

He is God’s.

God loves him

In planetary sweep.

His heart is a perpetual surprise

To changing and unchanging,

To loving and unloving

Mankind.

```

32. Beauty born of life

```

Beauty born of life

Has deepened my love.

Beauty born of death

Has deepened my wisdom. ```

33. Surrender-fulness

```

Obsession is not love.

Possession is not love.

Compulsion is not love.

Surrender-fulness

In oneness-light

Is alone love. ```

34. Prayers are made of tears

```

Prayers

Are made of tears.

Meditations

Are made of smiles.

Realisation

Is made of surrender-perfections. ```

35. Two things I immensely enjoy

```

Two things I immensely enjoy:

A sleepless perfection

And

A dreamless satisfaction. ```

36. Succeed and proceed

```

I like man the God

To succeed daily.

I love God the man

To proceed constantly. ```

37. A sly deception

```

Your very life

Is a sly deception.

How do you expect

Even an iota

Of your Master’s Compassion-Salvation?

```

38. The telescope of time

```

My desire-life

Wants to possess

The telescope of time.

My aspiration-life

Likes God

To keep it always with Him

And always use it,

Him to please in His own Way.

```

39. Your real need

```

Because of your ocean-greed

You have lost your real need,

Your only need:

God-satisfaction. ```

40. Too poor

```

Too poor for God:

Your mountain-pride.

Too poor for man:

Your fountain-surrender. ```

41. What delays our meeting?

```

I am dying to see God.

God is seriously planning

To meet me.

What, then, delays our meeting?

Alas, my surrender-smile.

```

42. Each night, each day

```

Impossibility does not

Discourage me.

Each night I dream of God-realisation.

Impossibility does not

Dishearten me.

Each day I plan for God-manifestation.

```

43. Although God loves him

```

Although

God loves him,

He is his heart’s sorrow.

Although

God blesses him,

He is his life’s failure.

Why?

Why?

Why?

Because he has not

Changed his name

Into love-devotion-surrender. ```

44. Poor little heart

```

Poor little heart,

Do not cry.

I have come to you

With a rising rainbow.

Poor little heart,

Do not cry.

I have come to you

With my beloved Father’s

Fountain-Flow.

```

45. Because he loves

```

Because

He loves the ascending earth,

God has given him

His Eternity’s Strength.

Because

He loves the descending Heaven,

God has given him

His Infinity’s Length. ```

46. God does not love me

```

God loves her

More than He loves me.

Alas!

Alas!

God does not love me any more.

Alas!

Alas!

My last and only resort

Is my sincerity-security-light.

```

47. God does not care for me

```

God cares for him

More than He cares for me.

Alas!

Alas!

God does not care for me any more.

Alas!

Alas!

My last and only resort

Is my humility-purity-height.

```

48. Slowly and steadily

```

Slowly the mind

Becomes clean.

Steadily the heart

Becomes pure.

Unconditionally the soul

Manifests the Supreme.

Supremely our Beloved Supreme

Fulfils Himself

In and through His creation-child.

```

49. The best, the worst

```

The best in man

Is his gratitude-flame.

The worst in man

Is his insurmountable

Ingratitude-mountain.

```

50. All due to jealousy

```

I have lost my patience-seed.

I have lost my flower-heart.

I have lost my satisfaction-soul.

All this is due

To my deplorably stupid jealousy.

```

51. The call of America

```

The call of America

Turned the timid cat

Into a roaring lion.

The love-blessing of America

Has turned the lion

Into a choice and fond lamb.

```

52. The stories told

```

The stories told by my soul’s delight

Are difficult to believe.

The stories told by my heart’s pangs

Are impossible to believe. ```

53. Two inseparable friends

```

Ignorance and incompetence:

Two inseparable friends.

Wisdom and competence:

Two inseparable friends

Plus

Eternity’s perfection-friends. ```

54. Finally

```

Finally,

Truth is on the march.

Finally,

I can declare God’s Victory.

Finally,

I shall see my Lord Supreme smiling. ```

55. Clutching the last hope-ray

```

Clutching the last hope-ray

I seek

Perfection-light,

Satisfaction-delight,

Within, without.

```

56. He took up death's challenge

```

He took up death’s challenge and declared:

“Earth-life is not

Man’s failure-night.

Heaven-life is descending

With satisfaction-delight.”

```

57. Human and Divine Business

```

My human business

Is to know the right thing

And

Do the right thing.

God’s Divine Business

Is to forget my past,

Forgive my present

And

Grant hope to my future.

```

58. The supreme Reality

```

The great reality,

Above.

The good reality,

Below.

The vast reality,

Within.

The supreme Reality,

Within, without,

Below, above.

```

59. Human life, divine life

```

Human life

Is the slave of fear.

Divine life

Is the courage of freedom-sphere. ```

60. My mind is tired

```

My mind

Is tired of its supremacy.

My heart

Can never be tired of its intimacy. ```

61. Yesterday, today and tomorrow

```

Yesterday

Imitation was my ignorance-nourishment.

Today

Limitation is my bondage-increment.

Tomorrow

Aspiration will be my freedom-announcement. ```

62. The blossom of your Heaven-fame

```

Sooner than the soonest,

The blossom of your Heaven-fame

You will see all around.

Just once and for all

Your wild mind tame!

```

63. The sure Hour of God

```

The pure hour of prayer

Awakens the sleeping man in me.

The sure Hour of God

Feeds the starving God in me. ```

64. The same day

```

The searching heart of earth

Will one day become soulful.

The beckoning hand of Heaven

Will the same day

Become fruitful.

```

65. A sad mistake

```

O my poor body,

Your marathon run

Was not a bad mistake.

But

Your lack of marathon fun

Is, indeed, a sad mistake. ```

66. I do not deserve

```

God’s unconditional pardon

I do not deserve.

Man’s regular prosecution

I do not deserve, either. ```

67. A God-Knower Master

```

A God-knower Master

Helps me to stand

On Eternity’s Shore,

Helps me to open

Immortality’s Door

And

Helps me to enter

Infinity’s Core. ```

68. In human nature

```

In human nature

There is something

Which everyone knows:

Bondage-bite.

In human nature

There is also something

Which practically nobody knows:

Freedom-kite. ```

69. To teach humanity how to love

```

To teach humanity how to love,

I must first become

God’s choice dove

And always soar above. ```

70. Desperate needs

```

The world’s most desperate needs:

A crying heart,

A self-giving life,

A God-becoming soul. ```

71. Why not take a chance!2

```

Why not take a chance!

Be a climbing cry

Or

A running smile.

I assure you,

God is awaiting

Your great arrival

At the end of both roads.

```

FF 71-100. These thirty poems were written in the Tokyo Prince Hotel, Tokyo, on 23 October 1979.↩

72. Spread your cheerfulness

```

Spread your cheerfulness.

God’s Love you will feel

Infinitely more.

Deepen your soulfulness.

God’s Satisfaction you will feel

Infinitely more.

```

73. The message I have heard

```

This is the message I have heard

From the lips of rank fools:

Man can hide

If he wants to;

God cannot abide

Although He wants to. ```

74. A simple truth

```

A simple truth:

God is.

A brief message:

God loves me.

A deep realisation:

I am of God alone

And

I am for God alone. ```

75. A full harvest of peace

```

A full harvest of peace

I collected

The day I realised

That neither earth’s great hunger

Nor Heaven’s good feast

Desires my eager presence. ```

76. The road from heart to heart

```

The road from heart to heart

Has perfection-trees

With satisfaction-fruits

On either side.

I have all along seen it.

```

77. I live for you alone

```

I live for You alone,

My Lord of Compassion Supreme.

I live in You alone,

My Lord of Satisfaction Supreme. ```

78. A secret way

```

To reach God’s Height

I have discovered

A secret way:

I just touch the lowest man’s

Filthiest feet.

```

79. Who lives above me?

```

Who lives above me?

Certainly not my Beloved Supreme.

Who lives below me?

Certainly not my Beloved Supreme.

Who lives inside me?

Who else if not my Beloved Supreme! ```

80. Three are the false excuses

```

Three are the false excuses:

Sorry, I have no time.

Alas, I am not ready.

Surely God does not care for me;

Therefore, why should I...?

```

81. True sacrifice glows

```

True sacrifice glows.

True happiness flows.

True perfection grows.

True gratitude sows. ```

82. To speak with authority

```

Three times God will allow you

To speak with authority:

If you know the Truth,

If you have the Light,

If you are the Sea of Peace.

```

83. Heaven descends, earth ascends

```

Heaven descends

When I consciously

And soulfully serve.

Earth ascends

When I unreservedly

And unconditionally love.

```

84. Two secret wishes

```

Two

Are my secret wishes:

I shall show God

Man’s transformation-head,

I shall show man

God’s Compassion-Feet. ```

85. Only three strides ahead

```

Only one stride ahead:

God’s Compassion.

Only two strides ahead:

My transformation.

Only three strides ahead:

God’s Satisfaction-Smile

And

My gratitude-cry. ```

86. A dreamless night

```

A dreamless night

Grants an unpromising day.

A sleepless night

Grants a sickening day. ```

87. A wild sound-call

```

A wild sound-call from below

Frightens me,

My entire being.

A perfect silence-call from Above

Enlightens me,

My all.

```

88. My secret rehearsal

```

I took my failure-life

As my secret rehearsal.

I take my success-life

As my open and free performance. ```

89. The lesson supreme

```

I barter my aspiration-cry

With humanity’s indifference-sky.

Why am I such a fool?

Indeed, this is the lesson supreme

I have learnt in my Lord’s

Compassion-Forgiveness-Perfection-Satisfaction-School. ```

90. Freedom-Immortality

```

Selflessness means

Freedom-dream.

Closeness means

Freedom-reality.

Oneness means

Freedom-Immortality. ```

91. The symphony of mental clouds

```

The symphony of mental clouds

Always has the same message:

Human life is doomed

To dine with ignorance-night. ```

92. My God-Realisation

```

Everything in life grows,

Then goes;

But not my God-realisation.

It grows only to glow,

It glows only to grow,

And it never, never goes. ```

93. Not beyond possibility

```

Not beyond man’s possibility

Is God-realisation.

Not beyond earth’s possibility

Is earth-transformation.

Not beyond my possibility

Is my Himalayan self-transcendence. ```

94. My life is burning out

```

My life is burning out.

I see no boatman.

My life is burning out.

I see no boat.

My life is burning out.

I see no life-river.

Alas, alas!

Nowhere my three old, good friends

Are to be found.

```

95. My God-hunger

```

Material things age and ache.

Spiritual things grow and glow.

And my God-hunger

Is a birthless and deathless thing. ```

96. I do not interfere

```

I do not interfere in God’s Affairs.

Every day I let Him

Create a new world.

God does not interfere in my affairs

Either.

Every day He lets me

Destroy an old world.

```

97. An idle thought

```

An idle desire awakens

The ignorance-prince in me.

An idle thought destroys

My heart’s inner beauty-world

And

My life’s outer duty-world. ```

98. Therefore I love

```

Life is lovely.

Therefore I live.

Prayer is lovely.

Therefore I pray.

Creation is lovely.

Therefore I love. ```

99. Nothing is equal

```

Nothing is equal

To my God-need.

Nothing is equal

To my God-satisfaction.

My aspiration-world

Is sleeplessly crying

To enter into

My God-realisation-world. ```

100. Just for a second

```

O my narrow faith,

How long am I supposed to live

In your tiny hole?

I am suffocating, I am dying.

Leave me alone!

Just for a second

I wish to enjoy

The Universal Breath of my Beloved Supreme. ```

Editor's introduction to the first edition

This is the 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

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-93: FFP 12 (revised version).

From:Sri Chinmoy,Ten Thousand Flower-Flames, part 1, Agni Press, 1979
Sourced from https://srichinmoylibrary.com/ff_1