1801. How to suffer less

My Supreme Lord,
How can a seeker’s mind
Suffer less?
How can a seeker’s heart
Suffer less?
“My child,
A seeker’s mind will suffer less
If the seeker accepts the fact
That his days on earth are short,
Very short.
A seeker’s heart will suffer less
If the seeker accepts the fact
That his needs on earth are few,
Very, very few.”

1802. Seven aspiration-flames

Out of His boundless Bounty
My Lord Supreme has granted me
Seven aspiration-flames
And seven dedication-drops.
Why, why, why?
Him to please in His own Way
Sleeplessly and unconditionally.

1803. Purity-heart and beauty-face

My Lord Supreme,
First please make me feel
The purity-heart of Your creation
And then show me
The beauty-face of Your creation.

1804. Great and good

My Beloved Supreme,
When I become great,
What shall I do?
“My child,
When you become great,
You should think of Me more,
So that you can become greater.”

My Beloved Supreme,
When I become good,
What shall I do?
“My child,
When you become good,
You do not have to do anything else.
I shall think of you more,
I shall love you more,
I shall do everything and everything
For you.”

1805. In vain

In vain
My mind is searching for truth.
In pain
My heart is crying for light.

1806. Experience and reality

My Supreme Lord,
What is the difference
Between happiness and delight?
“My child,
Happiness is an experience,
And delight is a reality
That transcends experience.”

1807. The greatest masterpiece

My pen will never be able
To write the greatest masterpiece.
My heart alone can,
And it has already done it.
What is that greatest masterpiece?
My God-realisation is for God’s sake.
My God-manifestation is for God’s sake.

1808. Free yourself from tension

My Supreme Lord,
How can I free myself
From tension?
“My child,
You can free yourself
From tension easily
If you do not cling
To an astonishingly fleeting
Pleasure-life.”

1809. How can I be constantly happy?

My Beloved Supreme,
How can I be constantly happy?
“My child,
Renounce the desire
To be widely known.”

1810. We must wrestle

We must wrestle
With teeming temptations
In the darkness-cave
Before we ascend the mount
Of Vision Transcendental.

1811. Immortality will conquer

Because sincerity has conquered
Our minds,
Because purity has conquered
Our hearts,
Because beauty has conquered
Our eyes,
Immortality will conquer our lives.

1812. If we think of God

If we think of God sleeplessly,
Then let us love Him unconditionally.
If we love God unconditionally,
Then let us think of Him sleeplessly.

1813. A tremendous success

Yesterday
I was a colossal failure.
Today
I am a tremendous success.
How and why?
How?
Because my Beloved Supreme
Has done everything for me.
Why?
Because my Beloved Supreme
Wants to have the new experience
Of success-satisfaction-light
In and through my life.

1814. My prayers

My supreme wisdom
And
My divine wisdom
Pray to the Absolute.

My human stupidity
And
My animal audacity
Pray for the Absolute.

1815. I love God

I love God
Because I need Him
Desperately.

God needs me
Because He loves me
Sleeplessly.

1816. I shall become tomorrow

Perfection is something
That I am not today
But I can and I shall
Become tomorrow.

God is Someone
Who I am not today
But I can and I shall
Become tomorrow.

1817. This world can be truly happy

Sweet Lord,
How can this world of ours
Be truly happy?
“My child,
This world can be truly happy
If and when the machine-mechanised men
Listen to the God-realised souls.”

1818. What I do not have

My Beloved Supreme,
How can I give You
What I do not have:
A feeling of constant satisfaction?

1819. What I have been preserving for You

My Beloved Supreme,
I am now giving You
What I have been preserving for You
Throughout Eternity:
My Infinity’s constant Satisfaction.

1820. Surmount your faults

Because you can count
Your faults,
Your life is divinely great.
Because you can surmount
Your faults,
You are supremely good.

1821. Reveal an unknown world of beauty

If you have haunting music
In your mind
And a soulful song
In your heart,
Then easily you will be able
To reveal an unknown world of beauty
For the God-lovers.

1822. Man's mind

Fortunately
Man’s mind
Is a fleeting
Experience-incident.

1823. Today's machine-man

Fortunately
Today’s surprisingly incompetent
Machine-man
Will surrender to
Tomorrow’s astonishingly competent
God-man.

1824. Today's man of thought

Fortunately
Today’s strikingly incompetent
Man of thought
Will surrender to
Tomorrow’s amazingly competent
Man of will-power.

1825. A creative newness-satisfaction

O my doubting mind,
You are indeed a destructive
Nothingness-ambition.
O my crying heart,
You are indeed a creative
Newness-satisfaction.

1826. I must be receptive

I must make my entire being
Absolutely receptive
Before I can bear
God’s Forgiveness-Shower
And see
His Compassion-Tower.

1827. God will not deny me

If God’s supreme Necessity
Demands that He delay,
He will delay,
But He will not
Permanently deny me.

1828. What we are today

Remember, what we are today
Will not prevent us from becoming
What we should become tomorrow.
Today we may be
An insincere cry,
But tomorrow we
Can unmistakably become
Not only a sincere cry,
But also a perfect smile —
The smile that will fully satisfy
God’s Heart, our Eternal Home.

1829. Infinity's Abode

God’s Compassion-Eye
Is God’s
Infinity’s Abode.

1830. Gratitude

Gratitude
Is at once
Beautiful
And
Fruitful.

1831. Commitments and involvements

My commitments
And
My perfect satisfactions
Live together.

My involvements
And
My devastating frustrations
Live together.

1832. An absurdity

Spirituality
Without difficulty
Is an absurdity.

1833. The inner hunger

The inner hunger
Is conscious progress.
The inner hunger
Is fast progress.
The inner hunger
Is perfect progress.

1834. To love the ungrasped

I am happy
Because
I have the capacity
To love the ungrasped.

1835. God the Tree

When I aspire,
I love God the Tree.
When I serve,
I love the branches
Of the God-Tree.

1836. Love and service

Love is
Preparation.
Service is
Perfection.

1837. Under the Banner of God

Under the Banner of God
The Truth-seeker will become
The God-lover,
And the God-lover will become
The man-server.

1838. Why do you bind me?

O my vital,
Why do you bind me
All the time,
Why?

O my mind,
Why do you blind me
All the time,
Why?

1839. Inspiration-flood

Inspiration-flood
Is my mind’s beauty.
Aspiration-sea
Is my heart’s duty.

1840. My soulful aspiration

My soulful aspiration
Is my Lord’s
Only powerful Satisfaction
In me.

1841. Arrangement and rearrangement

Through arrangement
And rearrangement
The human life
Achieves its fulfilment.

1842. God is asking

God is asking you
To be His lover
Precisely because
You are not
A self-deceiver.

1843. One step at a time

Take one step at a time.
The first step
Is to develop a pure heart.
The second step
Is to live a self-giving life.
The third and last step
Is to smile a God-pleasing smile.

1844. My heart must succeed

My heart must succeed
Against my mind’s
Tremendous resistance.

1845. If you know

If you know what you want,
Then grasp it,
Immediately!

1846. An indispensable life

A sound-life
Is not indispensable,
But a silence-life is.

1847. Be faithful

Be faithful
If you want to
Be fruitful.

1848. Human nature

Human nature
Does not change
And cannot change
Without selfless service.

1849. Change your attitude!

Change your attitude!
Lo, look what stands before you:
Plenitude!

1850. No deception

No inner
Self-deception,
No outer
Temptation.

1851. When you become the Infinite

When you become
The Infinite,
Then only
The Absolute will bless you.

1852. Happiness

Happiness
Is in the affirmation
Of faith-sun
And the negation
Of doubt-night.

1853. Reject not!

Reject not!
Accept and transform.
You will prosper.

1854. Each thought

Each thought
Is important.
Each action
Is meaningful.

1855. I need a new start

What I need
Is a new start.
My enthusiasm will replace
My indolence.
My satisfaction will replace
My imperfection.

1856. The protection-cross

The protection-cross
Is for those who know how to cry.
The illumination-sun
Is for those who know how to smile.

1857. God-discovery

Art
Is God-discovery.
God-discovery
Is life-mastery.

1858. Imitation is not art

Imitation
Is not art.
Newness in fulness
Is art.

1859. You have made me happy

My Lord,
You have made me happy
By making me Your servant.
Will You not make me
Infinitely happier
By making me Your slave?

1860. I experience life

When I pray soulfully,
I experience
The richness of life.

When I meditate calmly,
I experience
The goodness of life.

1861. Fulness and emptiness

The heart calls fulness
What the mind calls emptiness.
I see eye-to-eye
With the heart.

1862. Nobody else

Nobody else
Except your Lord Supreme
Can or will
Do anything good for you.

1863. Satisfaction dawns

Satisfaction dawns
The moment you discover
That yours is not
The only way.

1864. Let your heart

Let your heart
Think of quality
While your mind
Thinks of quantity.

1865. How can you expect?

How can you expect
To learn something
New, soulful and fruitful
From your mechanical mind?

1866. The true truth

Try to realise
The true truth
That you are infinitely better
Than what you think of yourself.

1867. Be aware of everything

God does not want you
To be afraid of anything.
He just wants you
To be aware of everything.

1868. Wake up!

Wake up, wake up!
Don’t you know
That it is spiritually dangerous
To sleep for a very long time?

1869. A good intention

A good intention
Can change
A great many conditions.

1870. Absence demonstrates

Quite often
Absence demonstrates
The inner character.

1871. An inspiration-sky

O my mind,
Look what I have for you:
An inspiration-sky.
It is extremely precious.
Never lose it!

1872. Time's error

Time’s long error:
It had tremendous faith,
Faith in man.

1873. Signs of God

Forgiveness-Light
Is the sign
Of the visible God.

Justice-Height
Is the sign
Of the invisible God.

1874. Aspiration lives

Aspiration lives
In the vast land
Of hero-promise.

1875. A God-dreamer

A God-dreamer
Does not live
In the mind’s darkness-cave.

1876. He who has no faith

He who has no faith
Either in himself or in God
Lives in a compound-fracture-day
And a compound-fracture-night.

1877. My dream, my vision

My dream
Wakes me up.
My vision
Helps me fly.

1878. What more do I need?

What more do I need?
My Beloved Supreme has already given me
Two soulful eyes
And
One prayerful heart.

1879. An unconditional marriage

Heaven’s day
Has unconditionally married
Earth’s night.

1880. Look beyond appearances

Do not allow circumstances
To frighten you.
Do not allow situations
To torture you.
Look beyond appearances.
Yours will be
The unmistakable happiness.

1881. A single blessing-smile

You can pierce through
Your ego-ceiling
With a single blessing-smile
From your soul.

1882. Do not allow tension

Do not allow tension
To stab your life
If you want to succeed
In your prayer-life
And proceed
In your meditation-life.

1883. Infinite choices

Each aspiring life
Can live inside
The beautiful newness
And soulful fruitfulness
Of infinite choices.

1884. Be not afraid

O aspiration-dedication-heroes,
Be not afraid
Of the adamantine gates
Of tomorrow!

1885. What my Lord calls protection

What my Lord calls
Protection,
I call that very thing
My salvation.

1886. Nothing to fear

I have nothing to fear,
For I unmistakably know
That there is nothing dangerous.

1887. My soulful prayers

My soulful prayers
Have saved my heart.
My fruitful meditations
Have liberated my life.

1888. An unnecessary companion

Success is an unnecessary
Plus undesirable companion
On the path of progress.

1889. No answer

His mind searched
For God’s Will
But found no answer.

1890. Allow God to become real

You are bound to know
God’s Will
If you allow God
To become real to you.

1891. His life's early morning

His life’s early morning
Saw God’s Forgiveness-Feet.
His life’s late evening
Shall see God’s Compassion-Eye.

1892. Soulless competition

Never love the field
Of ruthless and soulless
Competition.

1893. Heaven's gratitude-heart

Heaven’s gratitude-heart
Was created by God Himself
For Heaven’s use.

1894. Two Himalayan blunders

Two Himalayan blunders:
To love ignorance
And
To hate oneself.

1895. Is there any difference?

My beloved Lord,
Is there any difference
Between Your Eternity
And Your Infinity?
“Yes, there is.
I live inside My Eternity’s Cry,
Treasuring the hope that
Someday, somewhere and somehow
I shall be able to live
Inside My Infinity’s Smile.”

1896. Pray in the morning

Pray in the morning
And meditate in the evening.
You will be able to stab the sighs
Of your deep unhappiness.

1897. A fertile mind

A fertile mind
Is nothing but a stream
Of soulless information.

1898. Oneness-satisfaction

Oneness-satisfaction
Is the death
Of the doubting mind.

1899. The unrewarded service

Every second of every day
Reveals to me
That God alone
Does the unrewarded service.

1900. Three Himalayan prayers

Three Himalayan prayers:
Lord, do give me the capacity
To love Your Forgiveness-Feet
Unreservedly.
Lord, do give me the capacity
To love Your Compassion-Heart
Untiringly.
Lord, do give me the capacity
To love Your Justice-Eye
Unconditionally.

Editor's introduction to the first edition

This is the nineteenth 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 the late President of Ireland, Eamon de Valera, on 15 June 1973 in Dublin. “I am grateful to you for illumining me and encouraging me in the evening of my life,” de Valera said. Sri Chinmoy told the Irish leader, “God has granted you inner vision… I see this in your ever-increasing love and ever-increasing compassion for your country.”