3701. Just stay with me

My Lord Supreme,
I do not need Your Love.
I do not need Your Compassion.
I do not need Your Forgiveness.
What I need is Your Presence.
No matter how severe You are,
Just stay with me
And allow me to claim You
As my own, very own.

3702. A thinker shows the world

A thinker shows the world
What he has — his mind.
A seeker shows the world
Whom he knows — his God.

3703. If I feel love

If I feel love
Inside your heart,
How can I see ugliness
On your face?

3704. His transcendental Freedom

The human in me
Thinks before it chooses.
The divine in me
Chooses but does not think.
The Supreme in me
Neither thinks nor chooses,
Neither chooses nor thinks.
He eternally enjoys
His transcendental Freedom.

3705. God's best Child

I admit that I cannot
Speak to God.
But do you know that
His best Child, Compassion,
Every day speaks to my heart?

3706. As soon as I succeed

As soon as I succeed,
I shall be in a position
To smile at you.

As soon as I proceed,
God will be in a position
To smile at me.

3707. I shall prove myself

O God, You have proved Yourself
To be the greatest Power of Light.
Now I shall prove myself
To be the strongest gratitude of delight.

3708. My Lord, until we meet again

My Lord, until we meet again,
Do try to feel every day
My grateful heart.

My Lord, until we meet again,
I shall try to imagine every day
Your blessingful Eyes.

3709. Because I believe in you

I shall accomplish many things
Regardless of your belief or disbelief.
But because I believe in you,
You are able to accomplish many things
In a fleeting day.

3710. I pray to God

I pray to God
Because I need His Power.
I meditate on God
Because I love His Heart.

3711. I know what to feel

I may not know what to say,
But I do know what to feel —
Love, God’s constant Love.

3712. Before I pray to God

Before I pray to God,
I shall see what I need
From God.

Before I meditate on God,
I shall see what God needs
From me.

3713. I shall sleeplessly love God

O my mind,
I shall forgive you
If it is God’s Will.

O my heart,
Because it is your will
I shall sleeplessly love God.

3714. My heart loves God

My mind may not think of God,
But my heart loves God.
My heart may not know God,
But my soul pleases God.

3715. One question is torturing me

My Lord,
I am a little mind.
One question is torturing me:
Do You ever care for me?

My Lord,
I am a tiny heart.
One question is torturing me:
Do I have the capacity to love You?

My Lord,
I am an ordinary soul.
One question is torturing me:
Will I ever be able to manifest You?

“My sweet child,
I am also suffering from one question:
Is it not My Responsibility
To satisfy you?”

3716. There is only one kind of suffering

There is only one kind of suffering
Which is worse than the worst
And that is self-distrust.

3717. If you have stopped

If you have stopped
At the boundary of knowledge,
How will you be able to enter into
The kingdom of wisdom?

3718. The vision of possibilities

Be not satisfied
With the vision of possibilities.
You can be satisfied
Only with the perfect manifestation
Of divine Realities.

3719. A soulful and God-loving heart

What you have
Is an incompetent mind.
What you have
Is an unscrupulous vital.
How, then, do you expect to have
A soulful and God-loving heart?

3720. A dislike for praise

Not because you have an intellectual mind,
But because you have a God-searching mind,
You have a simmering dislike
For ignorant and useless
Human praise.

3721. A rare strength of mind

You have a very rare strength of mind.
Therefore, every day God supplies you
With a great deal of fresh knowledge-light.

3722. Eternity's fruitful Bliss

A sincere heart
Is a practical Heaven.
A perfect soul
Is Eternity’s fruitful Bliss.

3723. My deliberate errors

My deliberate errors
Are vigorously pursued
By God’s Illumination-Light
And Compassion-Height.

3724. Who can determine the distance?

Who can determine
The distance between
My known years of failure
And my unknown years of success,
If not the truth-seeker in me
And the God-lover in me?

3725. Try to live only one season

Try to live only one season,
And that season is the season
Of hope.
If you live in that season,
You will be able to liberate yourself
From the clutches of silence-sobs.

3726. The memorial of forgotten faith

I am bowing down
To a sad necessity:
Because you do not have
Aspiration-flames,
I shall observe the memorial
Of my forgotten faith in you.

3727. One thing can adorn my life

There is only one thing
That can adorn my life,
And that is my compassionate Lord’s
Delightful Confidence
In my life-boat.

3728. My Heaven-free heart

The difference between
My earth-bound mind
And my Heaven-free heart is this:
My earth-bound mind is abundant
In uncertain promises,
My Heaven-free heart is abundant
In certain fulfilments.

3729. A uselessly painful affair

I am so happy to tell the world
That at long last
My compassionate Father Supreme
Has liberated me
From an unaspiring life
Which was nothing but
A uselessly painful affair.

3730. Unconquerable indifference-noon

O modern and sophisticated world,
I shall be able to conquer
Everything that you have
Except one thing,
And that is
Your unconquerable indifference-noon.

3731. A soft tone of humility

To embody a soft tone of humility
Is undoubtedly
An exceptional privilege,
For therein lies
God’s triumphant Confidence
In His seeker-child.

3732. God the Lover

We pray to God the Power,
But God the Lover
Answers our prayers.

3733. God's unlimited Forgiveness

My Lord,
Today You are showing me
Your own unlimited Forgiveness.
My Lord,
Do give me the capacity
To show You tomorrow
My own unlimited soulfulness.

3734. My mind's sincerity-river

My mind’s sincerity-river
Shall never run dry.
My heart’s purity-river
Shall never run dry.
My life’s humility-river
Shall never run dry.
My soul’s illumination-river
Shall never run dry.

3735. Who wants to know?

Who wants to know
That his life is a total failure?
He who wants to know
Why he has failed
And he who wants to derive
An illumining and fulfilling experience
From his past failure-life.

3736. What am I waiting for?

What am I waiting for?
I am waiting for God’s Sound-Life
Inside my needy heart
And I am waiting for God’s Silence-Life
Inside my busy mind.

3737. I shall keep for myself

O world,
Take what I have —
God’s beautiful Smile.
I shall keep for myself
Only what I am —
God’s fruitful Cry.

3738. The Saviour teaches me

The Scriptures teach me
How to love the Saviour.
The Saviour teaches me
How to love the Real in me
The future God.

3739. I hope this discovery is true

My parents told me
That God the Creator
Will take care of me.
They were absolutely right.
Now God the Creator is asking me
To take care of God the creation.
I do hope that this discovery is true
And not my wild imagination.

3740. For you

If you can show God
An iota of patience,
Then God will show you
His limitless Power
Plus
His immortal Love,
For you,
Unmistakably and unreservedly for you.

3741. When I tell God

When I tell God
That I shall love Him only,
He immediately shows me
The shortest way to reach
His Palace.

When I tell God
That I shall serve Him only,
He immediately asks me
To sit nearest
His Throne.

3742. You enjoy peculiarity

You always enjoy peculiarity.
Therefore, you do not surrender
Even for a day
Your mind’s strong individuality
To your heart’s wise unity.

3743. When we cheerfully perform

When we soulfully and cheerfully
Perform today’s task,
God immediately promises us
That tomorrow our burden
Will definitely be lighter,
And the day after tomorrow
We will have no burden
Whatsoever.

3744. He who loves life

He who is afraid of life
Thinks that life is not worth living.
He who loves life
Knows that God and life
Are mutually crying for each other.

3745. Unless you believe in God's Help

Unless you believe
In God’s unconditional Help,
How will you,
Nay, how can you,
Wisely feel God’s Love?

3746. An idle man

An idle man
Knows how to speak
Ill of the world
Not only unnecessarily
But also ceaselessly.

An idle man
Does not want to learn
How to speak to God
Even in his dreams.

3747. The problem with fault-finding

The problem with fault-finding
Is that he who finds fault with others
Is in no way a happy person
Even after he has successfully
Accomplished his task.

3748. Unless I believe in the unknown

Unless I believe in the unknown,
How can I eventually become
Inseparably one with the unknowable?

3749. No matter how bad your mind is

No matter how bad your mind is,
I shall have sincere concern for you
As long as your heart
Remains true to God.

3750. If you have a pure heart

If you have a pure heart,
Then immediately give it to God
For His Satisfaction.

If you have an impure mind,
Then immediately give it to me.
I shall easily be able to cope with it
Since my own impure mind
Is infinitely stronger than yours.

3751. I really feel sorry

I really feel sorry
When my Lord Supreme tells me
That He understands everything
Except one thing,
And that is my lack of eagerness
To claim Him as my own, very own.

3752. A doubtful mind and a fearful heart

A doubtful mind and a fearful heart
Either consciously or unconsciously
Live near each other.

3753. Yesterday I was satisfied

Yesterday
I was satisfied
With God’s beautiful Eyes.

Today
I am satisfied
With God’s powerful Feet.

From tomorrow
I shall always be satisfied
With God’s fruitful Heart.

3754. God the young and God the old

I love
Both God the young
And God the old.

From God the young I learn
How to run, jump, fly and dive.

From God the old I learn
How to cry and smile
And how to smile and cry.

3755. He likes to play with God

When a child lives inside his eyes,
He likes to play with God the Beauty.
When a child lives inside his heart,
He likes to play with God the Purity.

3756. Feel that I am not displeased

My Lord,
What can I do
When I do not love You?

“My child,
To love Me is absolutely
The best thing to do.
If you cannot do that,
Then do the next best thing:
Try to think and feel
That I am not displeased with you.”

3757. The clouds do not last forever

My Lord,
What can I do
When I only think of myself
And not of You?

“My child,
Just try to remember
That the clouds in the sky
Do not last forever.
The sun does appear eventually.”

3758. Do not underestimate

My Lord,
Is there anything specific
You want me to know?

“Yes, My son,
Do not underestimate
The destruction-flow of your mind
And do not underestimate
The creation-glow of your heart.”

3759. If it is true

If it is true
That I have not done anything special
For this world,
Then it is equally true
That I have never lodged
A single complaint to Heaven
Against this world.

3760. I am pleased with my mind

I am pleased with my mind
Although it is lagging far behind
My speedy heart.
The very fact that it is trying,
Nay, desperately trying,
To reach the Abode of Truth
Is pleasing me.

3761. A seeker without discipline

A seeker without a life of discipline
Is a perfect dweller
In the animal kingdom.

3762. Aspiration minus dedication

Aspiration minus dedication
Is equal to
A half-blind man.

Humility minus sincerity
Is equal to
Ill-fated futility.

3763. Because God tells me

I love God
Not because He is so great and so good,
But because He tells me every day
That I shall eventually become
As great and as good
As He is.

3764. I can't believe

My Lord Supreme,
I can’t believe that my ignorance-night
Is hiding from me today.

“My son,
I can’t believe that today
You have renounced all your friends
And want to spend the whole day
With Me alone.”

3765. God has given up everything

When I am unhappy,
I think that God does not care for me
And that God has no time to think of me.

When I am happy,
I powerfully feel
That God has given up everything else
Only to satisfy me.

3766. I shall tell you where God is

I shall tell you where God is
Only when you dare to believe wholeheartedly
That God is eagerly waiting for you.

I shall tell you who God is
Only when you dare to imagine
That you have never loved
Anyone else but God,
Your other Self,
Your highest Self,
Your true Self.

3767. Twice I shed tears of gratitude

Twice I shed tears of gratitude:
Once when my Lord told me
That He does not mind my ignorance-night;
Once when my Lord told me
That I can freely use His Wisdom-Light
To my heart’s content.

3768. Two ways to conquer ignorance

There are two ways
To conquer ignorance:
One is to have more faith
In the perfection of knowledge,
And one is to have more faith
In the destruction of ignorance.

3769. Two beautiful twins

Tolerance in the inner world
And perseverance in the outer world
Are two extremely beautiful twins.

3770. An unconditional life

In the beginning
An unconditional life
Is a battleground.
But eventually
An unconditional life
Becomes a playground.

3771. Once God sees you

Once God sees you
Plying your life-boat
Between the soulfulness-shore
And the faithfulness-shore,
He will immediately grant you
His own Life-Boat
To ply between His Fruitfulness-Shore
And His Happiness-Shore.

3772. God wants to see

God does not want to know
What we daily do.
He just wants to see
What we are.

3773. My eyes do not know

My eyes do not know
Where God is.
My mind does not know
Who God is.
My heart does not know
Whether God cares for it.
And I do not want to know
If I will ever be able to please God.

3774. Life is sadness

Life is sadness
When I want to see yesterday’s head.
Life is gladness
When I want to feel tomorrow’s heart.

3775. Man's destruction-frown

To reject even unconsciously
God’s Compassion-Smile
Is to invite quickly
Man’s destruction-frown.

3776. Who is worthy?

Who is worthy?
He who wants me
Is worthy of having me
As his friend.
He who needs me
Is more than worthy of having me
As his closest friend.

3777. The best way

Think cheerfully.
This is a good way.
Give soulfully.
This is a better way.
Surrender to God’s Will.
This is the best way.

3778. God's sadness

You feel sad that you have failed.
Dive deep within.
You will feel that God’s sadness
At your failure
Far surpasses your sadness.
Does it not console you?
It should and it must.

3779. There is Somebody else

You feel happy that you have succeeded.
Dive deep within.
You are bound to see
That there is Someone who did everything
For your tremendous success.
Just feel that you are not alone
In thinking of yourself.
There is Somebody else
Who thinks of you infinitely more
Than you can ever think of yourself.

3780. Tell the world

Do you want to succeed?
If so, tell the world
That you can.
Do you want to proceed?
If so, tell the world
That you are.

3781. My Lord denied me

My Lord of Compassion denied me
A desire-thorn
Only to give me
My future aspiration-rose.

3782. Keep counting the flowers

Keep counting the flowers
Of Blessing-Light
If you want to avoid
The dark forest
Of ignorance-night.

3783. A great difference

There is a great difference
Between knowing the teacher
And knowing his teachings.
His teachings show the world what he has,
But what he is, is another name
For Eternity’s Vision.

3784. Two purposes

God created you for only two purposes:
One is to be true to Him
And the other is to be true to yourself.

3785. You come to realise

When you pray,
You come to realise
That you have a room high above.

When you meditate,
You come to realise
That you have a home deep inside.

3786. Don't pray for useless things!

Don’t pray for useless things!
To your sorrow,
If not to your strong surprise,
You may be blessed with the useless things
That you prayed for.

3787. A second birth

In your case,
A life of sincerity
Will be a second birth,
And this birth will not suffer death.

3788. The divinity of hope

Since your life entirely depends
On the divinity of hope,
How can you have a hopeless heart?
How can you?

3789. My consciousness tells me

My conscience tells me
That I am not pure enough
To sit at the Feet
Of the Lord Supreme.

My consciousness tells me
That My Lord Supreme
Will do everything for me;
For my part, all I have to do
Is remain seated at His Feet.

3790. The temptation-tree

The more I look at the temptation-tree,
The more I feel my attachment to it.
The farther I go away
From the temptation-tree,
The more I feel the uselessness of its existence.

3791. Soulfully you give

Soulfully you give
So that you can become
Powerfully rich.

Unconditionally you give
So that you can become
Another God,
A new God.

3792. If you have faith in yourself

If you have faith in yourself,
Then God will smile at you.
If God has faith in you,
Then you will become
Tomorrow’s God,
A new God.

3793. Have a positive idea

In the morning
Have a positive idea.

In the evening
Have a constructive ideal.

At night
Try to have the most effective realisation.

3794. My perfect disciple

Do you really love
All your brother and sister disciples?
Do you really love yourself?
If so, you are undoubtedly
My perfect disciple.

3795. Love yourself cheerfully

Love yourself
Cheerfully and spontaneously.
You will become happy
In the outer life.

Love God
Unconditionally.
You will become perfect
In the inner life.

3796. Give to man

Give to man
What you really do not want to give —
Your gratitude-heart.

Do not give to man
What you really want to give —
Your suspicion-eye.

3797. The Power of God's Feet

If you want to love
The Beauty of God’s Eye,
First you have to admire
The Power of God’s Feet.

3798. Since God has not rejected you

Since God has not rejected you,
That means you still have the capacity
To conquer ignorance-night.

3799. I am already up!

Satan says to me,
“Hurry up, hurry up!”
I say to Satan,
“Shut up, shut up!”
My Lord says to me,
“Get up, My child, get up!”
I say to my Lord,
“I am already up, Father,
I am already up!”

3800. My Lord's Oneness

My Lord’s Strictness
Changed my life for a day.
My Lord’s Kindness
Changed my life for a month.
My Lord’s Oneness
Has changed my life forever.

Editor's introduction to the first edition

This is the thirty-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

Ambassador David L. Hepburn of the Bahamas joins Sri Chinmoy and the Meditation Group at the United Nations on 21 November 1979 for meditation and the performance of the motto of the Bahamas set to music by Sri Chinmoy. On the occasion of a previous visit on 11 September 1979, Ambassador Hepburn made the following comments: “As we are all aware of the dedication and devotion to peace, justice and the preservation of human dignity by Sri Chinmoy and the Meditation Group, it would be superfluous for me to elaborate further. However, I cannot resist the temptation to quote a sentence from the motto of the group because it captures more adequately than any words I may use the real essence of devotion and selflessness: ‘When man listens to God, his imperfections are turned into perfections, his ignorance into knowledge, his searching mind into revealing light and his uncertain reality into all-fulfilling Divinity.’”