Ten Thousand Flower-Flames, part 28

2701. Today I am wise

```

Yesterday I was clever.

That is why

I wanted to change the world.

Today I am wise.

That is why

I am changing myself.

```

2702. Concealing and revealing

```

You have all along

Been an expert

At concealing yourself from yourself.

From now on

Can you not be an expert

At revealing yourself to yourself? ```

2703. The miracle-reward

```

Behold the miracle-reward

Of conscience-light:

It receives love long before it gives;

It becomes even before it achieves. ```

2704. Two close friends

```

An imaginary happiness

And a struggling life

Are perfect strangers.

These two strangers

Must become two close friends

If they want to see

The face of light

And become

The heart of delight.

```

2705. You do not want to change

```

You want to change your life,

But you do not want to change

The process of your thinking.

```

2706. The fruit of satisfaction

```

If you do not sow

The seed of perfection,

How can you expect to reap

The fruit of satisfaction? ```

2707. An insincere mind

```

An insincere mind can be made

To look like a sincere mind,

But an insincere mind can never be made

To feel like a sincere mind. ```

2708. Divinely perfect realisation

```

Heavenly inspiration

Descends.

Earthly aspiration

Ascends.

Divinely perfect realisation

Neither descends nor ascends.

It just spreads its infinite fragrance

Over the length and breadth of the world. ```

2709. The inner problem

```

No, not even one outer problem

Can ever be solved permanently,

If the inner problem remains unsolved.

And what is that inner problem?

My lack of God-hunger.

```

2710. Give Him what you have

```

If you want concern from God,

Then give Him what you have:

Love.

If you want love from God,

Then give Him what you are supposed to be:

A gratitude-heart. ```

2711. Many are the ways

```

Many are the ways

To use simplicity, sincerity,

Purity and humility.

But there are only very few ways

To increase them

In our lifelong journey towards God. ```

2712. The human mind

```

The human mind is willing to

Profess a perfection-life

As long as it does not have to

Practise it. ```

2713. The examination of self-improvement

```

There is only one examination

That cannot and will not stop,

And that is the examination

Of self-improvement. ```

2714. The only time

```

The only time

An insincere seeker tells the truth

Is when he calls certain other seekers

A flood of insincerity

Or

A sea of impurity. ```

2715. No advantage

```

You do not love God.

Therefore, how can you have any advantage

Over those who

Cannot love God? ```

2716. To see God's Face

```

My longing for God knows that

To see God’s Face is really important.

But what is more important

Is to have always a burning cry

Deep within my heart

To see His Face. ```

2717. How and why

```

The body will continue

To remain idle and impure

As long as the vital

Is anxious and eager to teach it how

And supply it with reasons why.

```

2718. You examine first

```

O my life,

Since my mind does not want you

To examine it,

Why do you allow it

To examine you?

Allow yourself to be examined

Only when you are allowed

To examine first. ```

2719. Save me from both!

```

My Lord,

Is there no way

To ask my vital

To stop keeping up appearances?

My Lord,

Is there no way

To ask my mind

To keep down expenses?

I am dragged down

Either by appearance-power

Or by expense-power.

My Lord, save me from both! ```

2720. Never possible

```

A generous mind

And an ungenerous heart:

Is this ever possible?

Never!

A perfect life

And an imperfect soul:

Is this ever possible?

Never! ```

2721. Ideas that are not true

```

There are ideas

That are not true

Yet are responsible for manufacturing

A train of insecurities and anxieties.

Here are two perfect examples:

God does not want me;

God has no faith in me.

```

2722. Your own feeble faith

```

Any sacred book

Is ready to stand against

Your reasoning mind.

But your own feeble faith in yourself

Will not allow you to have faith

In a sacred book

To make your heart soulful

And your life fruitful. ```

2723. Almost impossible to stop

```

Easy to begin

But almost impossible to stop

The blows of the impurity-mind

And

The flow of the insecurity-life.

```

2724. I am happy twice

```

I am happy twice:

Once when my saviour-heart

Becomes the interpreter for

My stupid mind,

Once when my saviour-vision-eye

Stops me from looking at

My imperfection-vital.

```

2725. To see perfection in the mind

```

There is no way

To see perfection in the mind

Except by making it perfect.

To achieve that,

What one needs

Is a heart of enthusiasm

In one’s inner life

And an eye of indifference

To one’s outer life.

```

2726. Nobody can see

```

Nobody can see God

On his own terms.

Nobody can achieve world-transcendence

On his own terms. ```

2727. Choose both

```

Between the suspicious mind

And the inauspicious vital,

Choose neither.

Between the loving heart

And the serving life,

Choose both.

```

2728. The son of time

```

The son of time

Is the

Aspiration-mountain.

The daughter of time

Is the

Dedication-sea.

```

2729. O forgiveness-light from Above

```

O forgiveness-light from Above,

Now that you have entered

My crying and bleeding heart,

Do never leave me alone and lost. ```

2730. A radiant ray

```

Each sweet breath

Of a soulful song

Is a radiant ray

Of fruitful peace. ```

2731. The tree of eternal freedom

```

Your power of self-control

Is the tree of eternal freedom.

The host of life’s difficulties, helpless,

In silence surrenders

To your freedom-light.

```

2732. Each soulful hope

```

Each soulful hope

Embodies the moon’s silver feet.

Each fruitful promise

Embodies the sun’s golden eye. ```

2733. What my heart is

```

What my mind has

Is an endless and goalless seeking.

What my heart is

Is a touch of undying sadness. ```

2734. The dreaming eyes of time

```

The dreaming eyes of time

Have given me two beautiful things:

A divinity-heart

And

A prosperity-life.

```

2735. My vision-realities

```

I have seen the beautiful

Face of God.

I have touched the powerful

Feet of God.

I have breathed the merciful

Heart of God.

I can broadcast

These vision-realities of mine

Only to God-tuned souls.

```

2736. When the silence-night surrounds me

```

When the silence-night surrounds me,

I hear Heaven’s splendour-voice

And earth’s perfection-cry.

```

2737. How can you be happy?

```

How can you be happy

When what you have

Is only a sense of self-importance?

How can you be happy

When what you are

Is only two flaw-seeking eyes?

```

2738. The hyphen

```

I am not happy.

Do you know why?

Precisely because I am

The hyphen between

An indifferent eye

And

A non-committal eye.

```

2739. Beyond the reach of delight

```

O my mind,

Are you not ashamed of the fact

That you have allowed vast uncertainties

To surround you?

Do you not realise

That you will remain forever

Beyond the reach of delight?

```

2740. The light that never fails

```

If you have the courage

To free your mind

From teeming doubts,

The light that never fails

Shall befriend you

Before long. ```

2741. Not on speaking terms

```

I think it is always good

That my doubting mind and my loving heart

Do not remain, even for a minute,

On speaking terms.

For my mind may contaminate my heart,

And my heart may lose its

Precious purity

If they are ever on speaking terms. ```

2742. The firsthand experience of God

```

You can have

The firsthand experience of God

When your gratitude-heart

And your purity-breath

Together live

Inseparably. ```

2743. Our soulful tears

```

Our soulful tears

Have strength unimaginable,

Even inside the heart

Of our untold and imperishable weaknesses. ```

2744. Impossibility

```

Impossibility, like everything else,

Can be brought under control

If one has a brightness-heart

And a quietness-mind. ```

2745. The greatest victor

```

You are indeed a victor

If you have conquered the human life.

You are indeed a greater victor

If you have conquered the human mind.

You are indeed the greatest victor

If you have conquered the human heart. ```

2746. Unnecessary thoughts

```

Like each necessary thought,

Each unnecessary thought

Also has tremendous power.

Therefore, at every moment,

Endeavour to empty your mind

Of unnecessary thoughts. ```

2747. Perfect nonsense

```

Vanity calls it

Wisdom.

Arrogance calls it

Wisdom.

Jealousy calls it

Wisdom.

But I call it

Perfect nonsense.

And what is it?

My unwillingness to surrender

To the Reality-Light.

```

2748. The miracle of miracles

```

The miracle of miracles is this:

You can and you will

Conquer your enemies

Sooner than the soonest.

But you who have been

Your own true enemy

Will take thousands and thousands of years

To achieve the perfection needed. ```

2749. The express falsehood-train

```

Don’t pretend that you

Know the truth

Or insist that you

Embody the truth.

For, alas, truth does not want

To ride with you

In the express falsehood-train.

```

2750. To save myself

```

To save myself in the outer world

What I need is

Conscious and constant attention.

To save myself in the inner world

What I need is

Sleepless and faultless self-examination.

```

2751. Change your inner attitude

```

Change your inner attitude.

Collect all the gratitude-flowers

Of your heart.

A new world will open up before you

To help you face tomorrow’s night

And change the abysmal fate

Of the day after tomorrow.

```

2752. Implore and explore

```

Implore God’s Grace.

You will be happy.

Explore your heart’s silence-breath.

You will unmistakably discover

The blue soul-bird within you.

```

2753. God will do that for you

```

You do not have to prove to the world

What you are.

God will do that for you.

Just tell yourself that

You are of God’s Compassion

And

You are for God’s Satisfaction.

```

2754. Self-centredness or self-awareness

```

Self-centredness or self-awareness:

Make up your mind and choose!

Self-centredness can be taught

Even by a speck of dust.

Self-awareness can be taught

Only by God Himself. ```

2755. When you do not wake up

```

When you do not wake up,

You live in the heart

Of the dream-land.

When you do wake up,

You live inside

The life-transcendence-sky.

```

2756. The beginning

```

Self-observation is the beginning

Of self-perfection.

Self-perfection is the beginning

Of God-Satisfaction.

God-Satisfaction is the beginning

Of God’s new Dream. ```

2757. The length of your trouble-world

```

You can easily avoid

Half the length

Of your trouble-world

By not telling

The rest of the world

What your heart wants

And what your mind does not want.

```

2758. I tell you secretly

```

You tell me openly

That you have the capacity

To build a faith-tower.

I tell you secretly

That you can also fix

The destruction-hour

Of all your teeming doubts.

```

2759. If your heart lives

```

If your heart lives

In the dream-land,

Someday, without fail,

Your eyes will reach

The perfection-reality-shore.

```

2760. The compromise-world

```

Be careful of the compromise-world.

Unconsciously, if not consciously,

It wants to destroy

Your originality-cry

And

Your immortality-smile. ```

2761. One of two things

```

God gave you

What He wanted to give:

His Compassion-Heart.

You can give God

One of two things:

Either your ingratitude-heart

Or your perfection-life. ```

2762. In the same boat

```

Your mind’s purity,

Your heart’s beauty

And your life’s immortality

Sail in the same boat

Towards God’s Satisfaction-Shore.

```

2763. Do you want to increase?

```

Do you want to increase

The perfection of your life?

If so, then increase

The perfection of your mind.

Do you want to increase

The perfection of your mind?

If so, then increase

The perfection of your heart.

Do you want to increase

The perfection of your heart?

If so, then increase

Your God-hunger

And multiply

Your love, devotion and surrender-worlds. ```

2764. Every atom

```

Every atom will find

A peaceful rest

And a fruitful life.

For God has already planned

To unveil Himself

In the beauty of

And through the duty of

Every atom. ```

2765. The zoo that you are living in

```

You do not have to be afraid

Of the animal-world around you.

The zoo that you are living in

Is enough for your total self-destruction. ```

2766. The unique capacity

```

If you are absolutely sure

That your mind has the extraordinary capacity

To injure others,

Then why are you reluctant to believe

That your heart has the unique capacity

To cure others? ```

2767. The fear of a jungle-mind

```

The fear of a jungle-mind

Always tries to prevent

The courage of a garden-heart

From believing that there is

A beauty-satisfaction-world.

```

2768. The real teacher

```

If your mind is really

Looking for God,

Then someday definitely

You will be blessed

With a real teacher

Who will not deceive you.

Do you know who

That real teacher will be?

That real teacher will be

Your own God-oneness-heart. ```

2769. Only one thing

```

Your mind does

Only one thing:

Every day it writes

Gratification-letters to itself.

Your heart does

Only one thing:

Every day it writes

A gratitude-letter to God. ```

2770. Inside the power of love

```

Do you know

What you will eventually see?

You will see

The invisible power of love.

Something more:

You will see

Inside the invisible power of love

The Hour of God

Which unites earth’s crying heart

And Heaven’s smiling soul. ```

2771. The world of realisation

```

The world of imagination

Is always beautiful.

The world of inspiration

Is always powerful.

The world of realisation

Is always bountiful. ```

2772. The satisfaction-sun

```

Think of the past,

Think of the present,

Think of the future.

Alas,

The thing that you are looking for

Is hiding.

You are looking for

The satisfaction-sun,

But this satisfaction-sun

Comes only after

The self-giving aspiration-dawn.

```

2773. Your own satisfaction

```

You want to change the world

To satisfy yourself.

What you want

Is nothing but satisfaction.

Such being the case,

Why don’t you change yourself?

Your own transformation,

I assure you,

Will never give you

A lesser satisfaction.

On the contrary,

Your transformation will give you

Not only the satisfaction

That you deserve

But also the infinite Satisfaction

That God eternally is. ```

2774. Defeat of my ego-power

```

This morning I was happy

Because my love-power

Defeated my ego-power.

This afternoon I was happy

Because my service-power

Defeated my ego-power.

This evening I was happy

Because my oneness-power

Defeated my ego-power.

```

2775. Truth-tellers

```

Truth-tellers are

The only ones

Who are not great actors.

Truth-lovers are

The only ones

Who are not idle dreamers.

```

2776. My deplorable weaknesses

```

God is never angry

With my deplorable weaknesses.

It is my deplorable weaknesses

That are always angry with God. ```

2777. One defeat I shall never accept

```

I am ready to accept defeats

In all spheres of life.

But one defeat I shall never,

Never accept,

And that is the defeat

Of my silver heart’s golden dream. ```

2778. The peace of silence-sky

```

If your searching mind can achieve

The daring concentration-power,

Then your heart can easily enjoy

The spreading peace of silence-sky. ```

2779. His special Favour

```

O pro-peace humanity,

O anti-war humanity,

My morning prayer

And my evening prayer

I dedicate to you,

And I beg of God

To grant you every day

His special Favour. ```

2780. God's amazing intimacy

```

If you have developed

A sense of astonishing immediacy

In your God-hunger,

Then God’s amazing intimacy

Cannot remain a far cry.

```

2781. The thorn-crown of depression

```

Even the possessors of great minds,

Let alone the common run,

Are forced to wear

The thorn-crown of wild depression. ```

2782. A silence-dawn invites me

```

In the morning

A silence-dawn

Invites me.

In the evening

A shoreless shore

Invites me.

At night

The waves of light and delight

From the ever-transcending Beyond

Invite me. ```

2783. The tasteless loaf of idleness

```

His heart’s hopes

And

His mind’s promises

Are sleeplessly alive.

Therefore, his is the life

That will never be forced to taste

The tasteless loaf

Of blind and dark idleness. ```

2784. An ingratitude-heart

```

A traitor’s arms

Are exceptionally powerful,

But they sadly fail to equal

An ingratitude-heart. ```

2785. A special world of God's

```

Each temple

Is a special world of God’s.

Every day

In the morning,

At noon and in the evening

It broadcasts all the news,

But only about God.

```

2786. A new thought

```

A new thought

Has saved his mind.

A new faith

Has saved his heart.

A new love

Has saved his life.

A new God

Has saved his soul. ```

2787. Do not hope to escape

```

Do not hope to escape,

For do you not know?

We are all living,

With no exception,

In an age of

Maddening self-doubts. ```

2788. Taste and renounce

```

They say

Taste the world and then renounce it.

I say

You cannot do that.

Your taste of the world

Will never end,

And your renunciation of the world

Will never begin. ```

2789. Each pure thought

```

Each selfish thought

Is a wild elephant.

Each pure thought

Is a trumpeting elephant

Announcing the victory

Of your perfection-life. ```

2790. Each divine thought

```

Each undivine thought

Is a heavy burden

For the entire day.

Each divine thought

Is a speedy run

Towards a perfection-goal.

```

2791. I thought I was perfect

```

I thought I was perfect,

O my soul.

But now that I am following you

I clearly see that I was

Millions of miles away from perfection.

Now a hope-dawn you have granted me

To reach the perfection-day,

For I am following you

Sleeplessly and unconditionally.

```

2792. The smile of life ever-lasting

```

You know that your heart

Is fixed on things fleeting.

How can you expect and

How do you expect

To gain the Smile of the Life

Ever-lasting and ever-transcending? ```

2793. The keys of wisdom-delight

```

If you want to live on earth

As a wise man,

Then keep with you

The keys of knowledge-light.

If you want to live on earth

As a perfect man,

Then keep with you

The keys of wisdom-delight. ```

2794. What I need from you

```

What I need from you

Is your heart’s amazing faith.

What I don’t need from you

Is your mind’s arid philosophy. ```

2795. The transcendental cure

```

Ignorance-mire is

The universal sickness of humanity.

When our heart starts singing

A new song,

The song of aspiration-cry,

Then the universal sickness

Will be transformed into

The transcendental cure. ```

2796. If you pray to lose yourself

```

If you pray to lose yourself

In aspiration-reality,

Which is your only true self,

Then each thought of yours

Will paint a new

And bright world for you. ```

2797. My definition of joy

```

My definition of joy is this:

Darkness and its friend impurity

Are nowhere to be found

In either

My world of aspiration-cry

Or

My world of dedication-smile.

```

2798. When we share

```

Sincerity is pure

When we share.

Humility is bright

When we share.

Purity is perfect

When we share. ```

2799. When hope is gone

```

Even when hope is totally gone,

Don’t give up

Mounting on the wings of prayer.

For the Grace from Above

May grant you a new chance

Wherein will abide

A new assurance.

```

2800. The path of the soul

```

The path of the mind

And the path of the heart

Are two contradictory paths.

The path of the heart

And the path of the soul

Are two complementary paths.

But I tell you one thing:

If you want to run

Always the fastest,

Then run along

The path of the soul,

For the soul is always of God

And always for God,

For God alone. ```

Editor's introduction to the first edition

This is the twenty-eighth 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

Foreign Minister Illueca of Panama presents Sri Chinmoy with his country’s highest decoration, the Order of Vasco Núñez de Balboa in the rank of Great Cross, on 20 August 1981. The occasion was the fiftieth birthday salute to Sri Chinmoy held in the Church Centre of the United Nations. On making the award, Illueca declared, “All of us here have tears and smiles of joy in our hearts in paying a tribute of gratitude to Sri Chinmoy on the occasion of his fiftieth birthday. Sri Chinmoy is a guiding light that leads to the way of oneness and to the supreme Oneness itself. Through his teachings he has given us Heaven-vision and earth-reality.”

From:Sri Chinmoy,Ten Thousand Flower-Flames, part 28, Agni Press, 1982
Sourced from https://srichinmoylibrary.com/ff_28