Ten Thousand Flower-Flames, part 22

2101. You have the first place

```

My dear Lord,

You have the first place

In my aspiration-life.

My sweet Lord,

You are the first choice

Of my surrender-heart.

```

2102. A moment of self-assessment

```

A moment of correct self-assessment

Has illumined

His doubting mind

And pleased

God’s watching Eye.

```

2103. Baffled by life?

```

Baffled by life?

Look, a completely new road

Right in front of you!

Sleeplessly walk,

Bravely march,

Speedily run! ```

2104. His mind's astonishment

```

Before he realised God

He was his mind’s

Fearful and doubtful

Astonishment.

After he realised God

He became his heart’s

Cheerful and soulful

Astonishment. ```

2105. Two beautiful gifts

```

O my mind’s

Thoughtless and speechless clouds,

Two beautiful gifts

Have I for you:

A secret imagination-smile

And

A sacred aspiration-cry.

```

2106. The God-like wish

```

How can you have

The God-like wish

To transform mankind

If you are your mind’s

Impurity,

If you are your heart’s

Insecurity and

If you are your life’s

Uncertainty?

```

2107. A radiant and spotless heart

```

What do I expect from my prayers?

An exquisitely pure life.

What do I expect from my meditations?

A radiant and spotless heart. ```

2108. Except one thing

```

I can endure everything

Except one thing:

The heaviest weight of despair.

I can brave everything

Except one thing:

My volcano-ego. ```

2109. My last resort

```

My suffering mind’s

Last resort:

An inner perfection-sky.

My suffering heart’s

Last resort:

An inner satisfaction-sea. ```

2110. Sweet is his heart-flower

```

Sweet is his half-blossomed

Heart-flower.

Sacrifice-flames

Are its supreme delight. ```

2111. A silence-breathing God

```

What I need

Is a silence-breathing God.

What I need

Is a sound-announcing God. ```

2112. My heart's liberty

```

What my mind’s liberty has

Is a choice music-beauty.

What my heart’s liberty is

Is a choice song-purity. ```

2113. The wings of his mind

```

The wings of his mind

And his prayer-life

Go together.

The bird of his heart

And his meditation-life

Go together. ```

2114. O self-applauding stupidity

```

O self-applauding stupidity

Of my mind,

I do not want you.

Never!

O self-boosting stupidity

Of my mind,

I do not want you.

Never! ```

2115. The pressure of my grief

```

Who will understand,

Who will believe

The pressure of my private grief?

I have lost my heart’s

Only child:

God. ```

2116. He knew

```

Yesterday he knew

What advancing fear is.

Today he knows

What climbing aspiration is.

Tomorrow he will know

What lasting realisation is. ```

2117. A sweetness-prayer

```

A sweetness-prayer

Breathed in silence:

My Lord, I am giving You.

A fulness-meditation

Breathed in oneness:

My child, I am giving you. ```

2118. O my hope-life

```

O my hope-life,

Your existence is adorable,

Your pride is reasonable,

Your claims are acceptable.

Why?

Because you are immortal! ```

2119. Only a faithful life

```

Only a faithful life

Knows where God is.

Only a soulful heart

Knows who God is. ```

2120. Immediate neighbours

```

Freedom is meditation’s

Immediate neighbour.

Satisfaction is surrender’s

Immediate neighbour. ```

2121. When God was my neighbour

```

When God

Was my immediate neighbour,

Every morning

I used to borrow from Him

The sound-lives of the centuries,

And every evening

I used to borrow from Him

The silence-hearts of the centuries. ```

2122. A new heart-dance

```

My Lord, do sing for me

A new song today.

“My child, I shall.

But before I sing for you

A new song,

I want you to dance for Me

A new heart-dance.”

```

2123. Am I meant for You?

```

My Lord,

Am I meant for You?

“My child,

If your mind can spread

A little more cheerfulness,

If your life can spread

A little more devotedness

And

If your heart can spread

A little more oneness,

Then definitely

You are meant for Me.” ```

2124. The only solution

```

My mind’s division-bubbles

Are the only problem.

My heart’s oneness-sea

Is the only solution. ```

2125. At another time and place

```

True, at this very moment

I shall not be able to show you

My living God.

But at another time

I can and I shall.

True, inside my mind

I cannot show you

My Lord’s transcendental Crown.

But at another place

I can and I shall.

```

2126. I take them

```

I take them

Because they need God.

I leave them

Because they need me

And not God.

```

2127. Beautiful is the hour

```

Beautiful is the hour

Of knowledge-light.

Fruitful is the hour

Of wisdom-delight. ```

2128. Not the journey's close

```

Blunders are not

Dark sins.

Failures are not

Wild destructions.

Death is not

The journey’s close. ```

2129. Your heart-bank

```

Your heart-bank is totally empty

When you do not cry.

Your life-bank is completely empty

When you do not smile. ```

2130. The positive side of life

```

The positive side of life:

It truly loves God.

The negative side of life:

It blindly thinks that it can live

Without God.

```

2131. My mind spends its strength

```

My mind spends its strength

To dominate the world.

My heart spends its strength

To liberate my life. ```

2132. A chosen soul

```

You are a chosen soul

Because you know

Your Beloved’s role

In you,

Through you

And

For you.

```

2133. The human mind wants to see

```

The human mind

Wants to see

Only God the Duty.

The human mind

Does not want to see

God the only Beauty. ```

2134. Only a prayer-length away

```

In the morning

My Lord Supreme

Is only a prayer-length

Away from me.

In the evening

My Lord Supreme

Is only a meditation-depth

Away from me. ```

2135. A visit to nothingness

```

Escorted by darkness

He came to pay a long visit

To nothingness.

At the end of the long visit,

On his way back,

Destruction-tiger

Devoured him.

```

2136. The only path

```

Sing, sing, my loving heart!

Our Pilot Supreme has at last arrived

To show us the Path,

His Path,

The only Path.

```

2137. To be a friend of humanity

```

To be a friend of all humanity

You have to shun ruthlessly

The tempest of doubt

And uncover the beauty and splendour

Of constant sacrifice.

```

2138. Not to be found

```

I looked very carefully

In my heart-dictionary

To find the word

“Gratitude.”

Alas, this most precious word

Was not to be found. ```

2139. Not easily spotted

```

An unconditionally surrendered seeker

Is not easily spotted

Even by the accumulated strength

Of centuries. ```

2140. An unfinished man

```

Because of his shallow mind

He is an unfinished man.

Because of his deep heart

He is in unextinguished pain. ```

2141. A learning heart

```

What you have

Is a blundering mind.

What you are

Is a learning heart. ```

2142. Cyclone-dreams

```

Because his heart

Loves God’s Feet,

His heart is all illumination.

Because his mind

Loves man’s head,

His mind dreams cyclone-dreams.

```

2143. Faithfulness includes

```

Restlessness

Includes my mind.

Loneliness

Includes my heart.

Helplessness

Includes my life.

Yet

Faithfulness to the Supreme

Includes my soul.

```

2144. Death cannot see you

```

Love soulfully and live devotedly.

Death cannot see you,

For it is sleeping peacefully.

```

2145. My days know

```

My days know how to promise.

My nights know how to hope.

My moon knows how to watch.

My sun knows how to reign. ```

2146. God will extol you

```

Live like a beauty-scattering flower;

The whole world will appreciate you.

Live like an all-sacrificing tree;

God Himself will extol you to the skies. ```

2147. Hopes Himalayan

```

I shall feed my life

With hopes Himalayan.

My earth-bound life

Will be freed

To ascend and smile.

My Heaven-free soul

Will manifest

God the infinite Beauty

Here on earth.

```

2148. A goalless rain

```

My mind

Is a homeless cloud.

My heart

Is a soundless sky.

My life

Is a goalless rain. ```

2149. Your Love

```

Lord,

Your Love

Has awakened my body.

Your Love

Has disciplined my vital.

Your Love

Has illumined my mind.

Your Love

Has liberated my heart.

Your Love

Has bound my soul.

Your Love

Has selected my life.

```

2150. Merciless old life!

```

Merciless old life!

I am alone below the stars.

Eternity swims before me.

Confusion and frustration

Are playing hide-and-seek

Inside my bleeding heart. ```

2151. To invite God

```

To invite God

For a short visit

To my heart’s home

I shall have to borrow

Soulfulness from the day

And

Vastness from the night.

```

2152. O come back

```

O come back,

My childhood faith-flowers.

O come back,

My adolescent aspiration-flames. ```

2153. Journeying towards oblivion

```

At long last

Happiness is my name,

For my doubting mind

Is journeying towards

Oblivion-nest.

```

2154. Two things I enjoy

```

Two things I extremely enjoy:

My earthly race with fleeting time

And my heart’s sleepless cry

For unending Time. ```

2155. The shadow of deceased desire

```

What he had

Was the strength

Of strongest desire.

What he now has

Is the unmistakable shadow

Of deceased desire. ```

2156. Time will crumble

```

Time will crumble soon

If you do not start living

For God’s Satisfaction-Light

Inside your heart’s aspiration-height. ```

2157. I am a silence-pilgrim

```

My inner road has no tree.

My outer road has no fruit.

My Heavenward road has no companion.

I am a silence-pilgrim

Owned by Eternity’s hope.

```

2158. I shall surprise my soul

```

I shall definitely surprise my soul

By manifesting God

Long before the choice Hour strikes.

```

2159. My eyes silently sleep

```

My eyes silently sleep

Between my mind’s frustration-night

And

My heart’s aspiration-day. ```

2160. Hell-depth

```

You know that a doubting mind

Is hell-depth.

But you do not know

That a loving heart

Is Heaven-height.

You must learn this as well! ```

2161. Infinity's sadness-song

```

Believe it or not,

It is absolutely true!

From cradle to grave

He heard and sang

The eternal notes

Of Infinity’s sadness-song. ```

2162. The unparalleled joy

```

My Lord Supreme,

Do give me the unparalleled joy

Of carrying to You on my back

A few seekers

Who have gone astray.

```

2163. To soar from earth-torture

```

To soar from earth-torture

To Heaven-rapture

What I need

Is a childlike, pure heart

That never grows old.

```

2164. Truth goes alone

```

Poor truth goes about alone.

Its so-called friends

Are all weak.

Fear of the known

And fear of the unknown

Have captured them mercilessly. ```

2165. I saw earth ascending

```

I saw earth ascending

With its perfection-dream.

I saw Heaven descending

With its assurance-reality. ```

2166. Immediate defeat

```

Armed with doubts

His mind vehemently attacked

His God-devotedness-heart,

Only to lose immediately. ```

2167. These earth-bound eyes see nothing

```

These earth-bound eyes

Have seen nothing

And will see nothing

Of God’s Forgiveness-Sun

And Compassion-Sea.

```

2168. My latest discovery

```

My latest discovery:

I do not dare to trust you,

O my poison-mind,

Even in my prison-life. ```

2169. My watchful Master

```

My watchful Master,

Because you are not forgetful

I have made the fastest progress,

Beyond my imagination’s flight. ```

2170. My home of endless tears

```

They call it

The land of endless tears.

My satisfaction-heart and I call it

My home of endless tears. ```

2171. Two things do not end

```

Two things do not end on earth:

My heart’s gratitude-flower

For God

And my soul’s perfection-promise

To earth.

```

2172. His life is torn

```

His life is torn between

His mind’s wildest frustration

And his heart’s strongest satisfaction.

```

2173. The difference

```

The difference between

His heart and his mind is this:

His heart never makes a mistake;

His mind does not know

What a mistake is

Even when it is swimming

In the river of brooding mistakes.

```

2174. O compromise-flames

```

O my little compromise-flames,

I know your capacity’s length.

Never will you be able

To guarantee me

The hope-sky of peace-sun.

```

2175. Never too late

```

Never too late,

Never too early,

For the seeker’s determination-arrow

To arrive at its satisfaction-target. ```

2176. Truth's worst enemy

```

Who is truth’s worst enemy?

Not he who totally denies

The existence of truth,

But he who deliberately undervalues

The beauty-heart of truth

And

The purity-life of truth.

```

2177. They will easily shatter

```

O my mind:

My wisdom-soul,

My aspiration-heart

And

My dedication-life

Can and will easily shatter

Your doubt-weapons.

```

2178. His emptied mind

```

The world’s empty pleasures

Could not satisfy him.

What now completely satisfies him

Is his emptied mind. ```

2179. Faith was born in him

```

Faith was born in him

To see the Feet of God

And

Train the mind of man. ```

2180. Sweetness and bitterness

```

Sweetness and bitterness

Fight against each other within me

To be my teachers.

Sweetness is anxious to teach me

How to become a morning rose.

Bitterness is anxious to teach me

How to heave an evening sigh.

```

2181. How long have you to stay?

```

My confused mind,

How long are you going to stay

On earth?

How long?

My enlightened heart,

How long have you to stay

On earth?

How long? ```

2182. My Heavenward rise

```

My Heavenward rise

Will commence

Not when my desire-life is done,

But when my aspiration-life climbs. ```

2183. A blind fear

```

A blind fear

Restricts my heart’s joy.

A wild doubt

Weakens my life’s strength. ```

2184. I have learnt more

```

I have learnt more

By losing than by winning

In the competition-world.

I have learnt more

By surrendering than by dominating

In the concern-world.

```

2185. Brief moments

```

The moments of God’s

Justice-Light

Are brief, very brief.

The days of God’s

Compassion-Height

Are long, very long.

```

2186. Faith-nectar energises you

```

Doubt-poison forces you

To play with death.

Faith-nectar energises you

To play with God. ```

2187. What I need is a heart

```

What I need is a heart

That sleeplessly cares.

What I need is a life

That endlessly dares,

And nothing more.

```

2188. A delicate touch

```

A soft and delicate touch

From the soul-bird within

Broke the deep slumber

Of his earth-bound life. ```

2189. Victory's unparalleled trophies

```

His surrender-life

And his gratitude-heart

Took him to the Supreme,

Crowned with victory’s

Unparalleled trophies.

```

2190. To reveal the secrets of Eternity

```

To reveal the secrets of Eternity

You have to first

Sing with Infinity

And

Dance with Immortality.

```

2191. When I lost my Beloved Supreme

```

Sore grief assailed my heart

When I lost my Beloved Supreme

Because of my insecurity-breath

And my poison-mind. ```

2192. Inside the core of the sun

```

No earth-born cloud

Can hide his aspiration-life.

He lives inside the core

Of the Heaven-born sun. ```

2193. With or without hope

```

My desire-life does not proceed

Without hope.

My aspiration-life can proceed

Either with hope

Or with no hope at all.

```

2194. Learn and earn

```

Learn and earn,

Earn and learn.

Learn to earn

God’s Compassion-Sky.

Earn to learn

God’s Forgiveness-Secret. ```

2195. His life's sound-lion

```

His outer life’s sound-lion

Challenges his inner life.

His inner life’s silence-lion

Enlightens his outer life. ```

2196. I have tried but failed

```

I have tried,

But I have failed.

I have cried

All in vain.

And now

I wish to give myself over

To sorrow, deathless sorrow.

```

2197. My willing heart

```

My willing heart,

Because you are carrying sleeplessly

My unwilling mind,

God’s pride in you

Is beyond the flight

Of your imagination-bird. ```

2198. I have lost You

```

I have lost You, my Lord,

Not because my intimate friend

Is tenebrous ignorance-night,

But because I have never dared to claim You

As my own, very own.

```

2199. Two things are in my mind

```

Two things are in my mind:

I have never told God

What I think of Him

When I am extremely angry with Him;

I have never asked God

What I should tell Him

When my entire being

Grows into a gratitude-smile. ```

2200. God's perfect messenger-son

```

When my mind

Cheerfully listens to God,

I become a world-teacher.

When my heart

Unconditionally obeys God,

I become His perfect messenger-son.

```

Editor's introduction to the first edition

This is the twenty-second 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

During a visit to Antigua on 2 January 1979, Sri Chinmoy and some of his students met with Premier V.C. Bird. Sri Chinmoy and the Premier discussed, among other things, what role the island nation would play in the United Nations when it became independent and joined the world organisation. Both of these events finally occurred in November 1981.

Afterwards, Sri Chinmoy’s students sang his newly composed song, “Antigua”, which was dedicated to Premier Bird.

The Premier told Sri Chinmoy, “Your presence at the United Nations in the Meditation Group must help because, after all, it is the inner values — the way we think and the faith that we express — that will be able to dilute the wrongs and make a better world for us all.”

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-2140: FFP 94 (revised version).

From:Sri Chinmoy,Ten Thousand Flower-Flames, part 22, Agni Press, 1981
Sourced from https://srichinmoylibrary.com/ff_22