3501. Three are the easy steps

Three are the easy steps
To enter into the real spiritual life:
Do not try to fight the world,
Do not expect anything from the world,
Do not forget to surrender to the illumining dictates
Of your God-representative here on earth:
Your soul.

3502. Do you want to enjoy your self?

Do you want to enjoy your self
Or do you want to enjoy the world?
You can enjoy one of the two,
But not both.
Therefore, make the perfect choice
If you really want abiding satisfaction
In your life.

3503. He shows interest in you

He shows interest in you
Not because he thinks
That you are great
But because he feels
That you have the capacity
To make him great.

3504. Don't blame your confusion-mind

Don’t blame your confusion-mind,
For it is you who are to blame.
How is it that you have not offered
Your heart’s oneness-light
To your confusion-mind?

3505. You can never spare a moment

You are always free
To speak to others,
But you can never spare a moment
Either to speak to your inner self
Or to hear your inner self speak to you.
How do you then expect to make progress
In achieving perfection and satisfaction?

3506. Dependence-division-boat

Dependence-division-boat
Will always carry you
To a goalless shore.
Independence in inseparable oneness
Will always lead you
To the Golden Shore.

3507. What confession actually needs

What confession actually needs
Is the transcendental Illumination
And not the universal Compassion.

3508. God's perfect faith in you

Be not afraid
Of your teeming worries and anxieties.
God’s perfect faith in you perfectly knows
What it has to do with them
And what it has to do about them.

3509. A real difference

It makes no difference
Whether you love the world
Or the world loves you.
It makes a real difference
Only when you love the Supreme
In the world
And the world loves the Supreme
In you.

3510. You are obliged

You are in no way obliged
To perfect the world.
You are in no way obliged
To see perfection in the world.
But you are definitely obliged
To perfect yourself.

3511. To know more

To know more,
You have to love more.
To love more,
You have to discover more.
To discover more,
You have to not only surrender more,
But also surrender constantly
To the Will of God.

3512. Do not be afraid of shadows

Do not be afraid of shadows.
Someday you are bound to reach
The permanent sunshine.
Therefore, be not afraid
Of the shadows
That follow you.

3513. The human in you deceives him

The human in you deceives him,
Not because you are clever
But because you are weak.

The divine in you loves him,
Not because he is great
But because he is good.

3514. A perfectly adaptable instrument

Nothing is practical,
Nothing is practicable,
Unless and until you become
A perfectly adaptable instrument.

3515. Become the song of oneness

Fear imprisons your vital.
Doubt imprisons your mind.
Be careful!
Insecurity can at any moment
Imprison your heart.
Therefore, immediately become the song
Of all-fulfilling and all-fulfilled oneness.

3516. Illumination is imperative

You may suppress something for some time,
But you cannot avoid it forever.
Therefore, suppression of anything
Is not and cannot be the answer.
The illumination of that very thing
Is imperative.

3517. If you are a true seeker

If you are a true seeker,
Your heart will always remain
A prayerful rose.
If you are a true seeker,
Your life will always remain
A beautiful dawn.

3518. Think only of accepting

If you are a true seeker,
Then do not think of negating anything.
If you are true seeker,
Then do not think of renouncing anything.
If you are a true seeker,
Then do not think of possessing anything.
If you are a true seeker,
Then think only of accepting everything
In accordance with God’s express Will.

3519. I can easily protect myself

I prayed to God to protect me.
He said to me
For that I do not need His help.
I can easily protect myself
By repeating to Him,
“Let Thy Will alone be done.”

3520. If you have a searching mind

If you have a searching mind,
That means you have a mind
That deserves not only a perfection-life
But also a satisfaction-heart.

3521. God tells me what to do

God tells me what to do,
How to do it
And
Why to do it,
Out of His infinite Compassion.

I tell God what I am going to do,
How I am going to do it
And
Why I am going to do it,
Out of sheer delusion.

3522. Outer and inner conquest

The difference between
The outer conquest and the inner conquest
Is this:
The inner conquest
Cannot be lost,
For it is the Satisfaction
Of God in man.
The outer conquest
Can easily be lost,
For it is the satisfaction of man
In the animal kingdom.

3523. Yesterday my mind frightened me

Yesterday my mind frightened me
By telling me that God is extremely severe
In all His aspects.

Today my heart is illumining me
By telling me that my Lord’s Forgiveness
And my salvation
Are immediate neighbours.

3524. God likes your powerful mind

God likes your powerful mind.
God loves your soulful heart.
God needs your prayerful life.

3525. Two pieces of advice

You want to know
What you should do with your mind?
I have two pieces of advice for you.
The first piece of advice is this:
Give your mind a long vacation.
It should not be allowed to work
For a long time.
The second piece of advice is this:
Give your heart no leave,
Give your heart no holiday,
Not even for a fleeting day.

3526. What do you want?

What do you want?
Wisdom?
Then go beyond your mind.
What do you want?
Joy?
Then stay inside your heart.
What do you want?
Peace?
Then stay neither with your old self
Nor with your new self,
But with your soul,
Inside its cosmic nest.

3527. Before you think of realising God

Before you think of realising God,
You must pray for His Forgiveness.
Before you pray for His Forgiveness,
You must care for your
Inseparable mutual oneness.
Before you care for your inseparable oneness,
You must in silence repeat:
“God for God’s sake,
Not for my own sake;
God for God’s own Transcendental Victory,
Not for my desire-bound,
Ignorance-fond life.”

3528. I love my inner life

I love my outer life.
Do you know why?
I love my outer life
Because it longs for the inner life.

I love my inner life.
Do you know why?
I love my inner life
Because it always tries
To discipline my outer life
And beckon my outer life.

3529. I brave the powerful blows

I brave the powerful blows
Of stark disappointments.
I also brave the powerful Smile
Of God’s God-Hour.

3530. A fruitful life

God has unconditionally given you
A beautiful heart.
Can you not give Him in return
A fruitful life?
Try, you can!
You are bound to succeed!

3531. God does not mind

God does not mind
Your impure vital.
God does not mind
Your timid heart.
God does mind
Your unwilling, unaspiring
And unyielding mind.

3532. Someone is waiting

Someone infinitely wiser than you
Is waiting at your mind’s door.
Someone infinitely purer than you
Is waiting at your heart’s door.
Someone infinitely more self-giving than you
Is waiting at your life’s door.
Welcome Him.
Give Him the opportunity
To do everything through you.
Needless to say,
He will do everything for you
With utmost joy.

3533. To sit at the Feet of God

To see the Face of God
You must pray and pray.

To feel the Heart of God
You must meditate and meditate.

To sit at the Feet of God
You must surrender and surrender.

3534. I am a fool

I am a fool,
Not because I do not notice
What is happening in my inner life.

I am a fool,
Not because I do not know
What is going to happen in my outer life.

I am a fool
Because I do not dare to imagine
That God is unconditionally
All Love for me.

3535. My God-strength

My outer strength
Wants to break the world.
My inner strength
Wants to build the world anew.
My Lord’s God-Strength in me and for me
Transcends my sound-life
And
Befriends my silence-life.

3536. My Lord is happy

I am happy
Only when I worship
My Lord’s Thunder-Feet.

My Lord is happy
Only when I love
His Vision-Eye.

3537. Golden is Eternity's Road

Golden is Eternity’s Road.
Golden is Infinity’s Shore.
Golden is Immortality’s Cry.

3538. My mind is afraid

My mind is afraid
Of God’s infinite Power.
My heart is afraid
Of God’s immortal Love.
I am afraid
Of my life’s imperfection-night.

3539. Only one thing satisfies me

God’s infinite Power
Does not satisfy my vital.

God’s infinite Peace
Does not satisfy my mind.

God’s infinite Love
Does not satisfy my heart.

There is only one thing that satisfies me —
My vital, my mind and my heart:
That God all-where eternally is.

3540. Your wee life-boat

Your tiny, wee life-boat
Plies between the unknown fear-shore
And an unadmitted hostility-shore.
How then can you ever expect your mind
To be flooded with peace-light?

3541. You do not deserve

O my intellectual mind,
Do you want to stay alone?
Then stay alone.
You do not deserve
Oneness-beauty and fulness-satisfaction.

3542. End the inner war

If you really want peace,
Then end immediately
The inner war,
Which undoubtedly is
A doubtful mind.

3543. What a strange attitude!

What a strange attitude!
You treat your vital with utmost contempt,
And yet you expect your vital
To offer you its unalloyed respect.

3544. Why do you forget?

Why don’t you want to stay with yourself?
Why?
You are not ugly, not in the least.
You are not weak, not in the least.
You are not poor, not in the least.
Why do you forget
You are God’s choice instrument,
An especially God-manifested Vision?

3545. You can surmount all obstacles

You can surmount all obstacles
Within and without
Like a magician
If you soulfully study every day
The art of heart-offering
To the volition of your perfection-soul.

3546. If you want to learn more

If you want to learn more,
Then think more carefully,
Love more soulfully
And become more,
Immediately.

3547. Start to think of a new life

Start to think of a new life.
Your sincere mind
Will teach you how to start.
Your pure heart
Will continue for you.
Just start to think of a new life.

3548. When my dream-tower collapses

When my dream-tower collapses
And is totally ruined,
I do not suffer,
For I know that it was, after all,
Only a dream-tower,
And it had nothing to do
With my soul’s vision-reality.
My dream-tower is always made
Of my wishful thinking.
I do not need it.
I shall not need it.
It is an unnecessary thing
From my very remote past.

3549. For sweet progress

For swift success in your outer life
What you need is a stoic life.
For sweet progress in your inner life
What you need is a prayerful heart.

3550. If you dare to know who you are

If you dare to know who you are
And what you are,
Then God will share with you
Who He eternally is
And
What He sleeplessly and unconditionally does.

3551. Why do you have to feel helpless?

Why do you have to feel helpless?
Why do you have to feel hopeless?
Why do you have to feel useless?
Why?
Why?
Is God’s Compassion others’ monopoly?
Is God’s Satisfaction others’ monopoly?
Is God’s Oneness-Love others’ monopoly?
No, never!
If others claim God as their own,
Even so, you can claim God as your own,
Absolutely your own.

3552. If you think you are practical

If you think that you are practical,
Then you must see that God is extra-practical.
If you work for your own perfection,
Then you must see that
God works not only for His own Satisfaction
But also for your perfection,
For He knows that your perfection
And His Satisfaction
Will have to go together
To meet your mutual needs.

3553. Confusion-night cannot last

Confusion-night cannot and will not last.
Separation-night cannot and will not last.
Imperfection-night cannot and will not last.
What can and will last?
Only the Satisfaction
Of our heart’s eternal God.

3554. Three false realisations

You are the possessor of three false realisations:
The world needs you desperately,
You can live perfectly without the world,
You know what you are doing.

3555. Believe in the higher visions

Do you want to understand
The inner meaning of life?
If so, believe in the higher visions
Of your aspiration-life;
Believe in the deeper realities
Of your dedication-life.

3556. Your Himalayan self-transformation

Be not afraid
Of your rocky, hilly self-examinations
If you want to enjoy the beauty and the majesty
Of your Himalayan self-transformation.

3557. A sure surety-life

If you want to enjoy
A sure surety-life,
Then you must needs live
In your pure purity-heart
And renounce your possessive
Possession-life.

3558. Death ennobles

Death levels.
What does it level?
It levels the imperative mind.

Death ennobles.
What does it ennoble?
It ennobles the receptive heart.

3559. He will succeed

He does not want.
He does not want to resign himself to dotage.
He wants.
He wants to carry his life’s
Prayerful morning
Throughout his life’s powerful day.
He will succeed.

3560. I do not know them

Despair:
My heart knows not what it is.
Submission:
My life knows not what it is.
My adamantine will has given me
A suit of armour
That defies all life-shattering buffets.

3561. At the mercy of time

Enthusiasm I had.
Alas, time has cleverly cooled
My enthusiasm.
Determination I had.
Alas, time has secretly stolen it away.
And now where am I?
I am at the merciless mercy of time.

3562. Be careful of uninspiring books

Be careful of uninspiring books.
Their authors may mingle
With dust and ashes,
But their books will remain on earth
To damage your heart’s aspiration-cry
And your life’s perfection-smile.

3563. God's Benediction-Sky

His success-life began
Inside God’s Compassion-Sea.
His progress-life begins
Inside God’s Benediction-Sky.

3564. The right thing

I shall bid you to do
The right thing:
Love yourself sincerely and soulfully.

I shall forbid you to do
The wrong thing:
Cherish no low opinion of yourself
And rest not foolishly with indolence.

3565. Assist and resist

Assist and resist.
For your own good
Assist your aspiration-friend
Sleeplessly.
For your own good
Resist your temptation-foe
Vehemently plus vigilantly.

3566. The blossoms of hope

Your mind has not prayed to God.
Your heart has not loved God.
How then can you now expect
The blossoms of hope to appear in your life
To challenge the strength
Of your damaging despair?

3567. A right question

If you have a wrong question,
How can you expect a right answer?
If you have a right question,
Then rest assured, the correct answer
Will immediately follow it.

3568. Your outer smile

As a map is not the real country,
Even so, your outer smile
Is not your inner satisfaction.

3569. Confess to the right person!

What you call confession
I call the immediate disappearance
Of a serious infection
That was threatening your aspiration-life.
But confess only to the right person!

3570. Your constant remembrance

Remember what you said to God in Heaven
Before you left for earth.
Your constant remembrance
Will be transformed into a perfect performance.

3571. Unless I act from God's Heart

Unless I consciously act
From God’s Heart,
How can I soulfully and perfectly work
For God’s Body,
The creation?

3572. Always an oasis

There is always an oasis
In the desert-life of each human being.
But we must look for it
Here, there and all-where.

3573. An unforgettable truth

I know who God is.
Indeed, this is an undeniable fact.
I love God secretly
And God loves me openly.
Indeed, this is an unforgettable truth.

3574. The right thing to do

O my mind,
Do you know why I ask you
To be always perfect?
Because it is the right thing to do.

O my heart,
Do you know why I ask you
To be always content?
Because it is the right thing to do.

3575. You can increase

You can increase
The beauty of your purity
By questioning your mind’s purity.

You can increase
The purity of your oneness
By questioning your heart’s oneness.

3576. The eyeless and earless seekers

The eyeless seekers and the earless seekers
Think that the message
Of transformation and perfection
Is not applicable to them.

3577. Ignore your protests

Ignore your outer protests.
Go and see God standing
At your heart’s door.
Ignore your inner protests.
Remain seated at His Feet.

3578. Aspiration without dedication

To have aspiration without dedication
Is like seeing with one eye,
For the other eye has totally
Lost its vision.

To have dedication without aspiration
Is like using one hand,
For the other hand
Is completely paralysed.

3579. How can you succeed?

How can you succeed
With your heart’s superficial
Aspiration-flames?
How can you?

How can you proceed
With your life’s artificial
Dedication-drops?
How can you?

3580. Depending on oneself alone

Depending on oneself alone
Is like asking a little child
To run an ultramarathon.

3581. My Lord Supreme smiles twice

My Lord Supreme smiles twice:
Once when I say
My mind knows everything
And once when I say
My heart feels nothing.

3582. Give up your hiding game

Give up, give up your hiding game.
God is ready and eager to teach you
His all-satisfying inner discovery-Game.

3583. Do you know?

Do you know what
You unmistakably want?
No!

Do you know who
Unconditionally loves you?
No!

Do you know if or when
You are going to re-establish
Your friendship with God?
No!

3584. The last thing a saint wants to hear

The last thing
A true saint wants to hear
Is that he is absolutely perfect.

3585. You fail again and again

You fail again and again
Because your mind
Is not pure enough.

You fail again and again
Because your heart
Is not confident enough.

You fail again and again
Because your life
Has not surrendered enough.

3586. God's Independence-Delight

If you can live
In your oneness-light,
Then God will, without fail,
Grant you His Independence-Delight.

3587. How can you smile?

How can you smile
Until you have discovered
That you belong to your soul?

How can you dance
Until you have felt
That your heart belongs to you?

3588. A volley of borrowed opinions

Your mind is nothing other
Than a volley of borrowed opinions.
Your heart is nothing other
Than a flow of borrowed compassion.
Therefore, I dare not expect
Anything precious from you.

3589. What my life needs

What my life needed yesterday
Was determination.
What my life needs today
Is perfection.
What my life will need tomorrow
Is revelation.

3590. Sleepless goodness

Sleepless goodness is another name
For effortless and faultless oneness.
I am reminding you
Since you have totally forgotten
Your own profound wisdom-light.

3591. The strength-tower of sincerity

Sincerity can feel
The weakness-burden of insincerity.
But insincerity cannot see
The strength-tower of sincerity.

3592. If you think confusion is necessary

O my mind,
If you think that confusion is necessary,
Then for you
Perfection is absolutely unnecessary.

3593. His heart is against him

His heart is against him
When he speaks ill
Of the ill-fated world.
His mind is against him
When he does not speak ill
Of his own inner aspiration-heart
And dedication-life.

3594. What you need

What you need
You have deep within yourself —
For example: God-realisation.

What you want
You also have deep within yourself —
For example: the power to destroy
Your own life.

3595. The richest life

A life of soulful gratitude
Is the richest life on earth.
Therefore, countless people
Think that they cannot afford
To lead that life.

3596. The mountain of peace

Carelessly and foolishly
We have told peace
That we do not need it.
And now, in spite of our
New awakening and new understanding,
We are nowhere near the sea of peace,
Nowhere near the mountain of peace.

3597. The perfection-man

Society’s perfection-man
And my Lord’s perfection-man
Need not and cannot be the same.
Society’s perfection-man
Is not worth anything,
For he quite often neither sees nor feels
The presence of truth.
But my Lord’s perfection-man
Challenges ignorance-night every day,
And Peace, Joy and Bliss inundate his life.

3598. Your greatness is fascinating

My Lord Supreme,
Your Greatness is fascinating;
Therefore, I adore You.

My Lord Supreme,
Your Goodness is illumining;
Therefore, I love You.

My Lord Supreme,
Your Closeness is fulfilling;
Therefore, I need You.

3599. Do try to be as beautiful

O my heart,
Do try to be as beautiful
As the quick appearance
Of the rising sun.

O my mind,
Do try to be as beautiful
As the slow disappearance
Of the setting sun.

3600. Happiness

Happiness is not something
That we can give to the world.
Happiness is not something
That we can get from the world.
Happiness is something
That we can get only from the Supreme.
Happiness is something
That we can give only to the Supreme.

Editor's introduction to the first edition

This is the thirty-sixth 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 welcomes Piero Vinci, Italy’s Ambassador to the United Nations, at a special function on 5 December 1978 commemorating the 23rd anniversary of Italy’s joining the United Nations. In remarks Vinci made at the time he said, “I am very happy to be here with the Meditation Group, which, under the outstanding leadership of Sri Chinmoy, is working to support the spiritual values of the United Nations.”