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?
Why?
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).