301. LOVE BEFORE YOU SERVE

Love before you serve.
Serve before you smile.
Smile before you soar.
Soar before you declare.
  What will you declare?
God-perfection in man.

302. THEREFORE I DISCOVER

My heart cries,
My soul wishes,
My Lord sanctions.
  Therefore
I discover.
  Therefore
I prosper.
  Therefore
I offer.

303. MORE THAN READY

You are now more than ready
Because your aspiration-bird
Is flying high above your mind’s
Binding and blinding
  Confusion-clouds.

304. YOURS IS THE VICTORY SUPREME

Yours is the victory supreme,
For you have already started flying
Soulfully and unconditionally,
Phoenix-like,
From the dead ashes of repentance-torture.

305. MY CHOICE

Aspiration is my choice.
Dedication is my choice.
Perfection is my choice.
  Therefore
God has allowed me
To hear His Voice
Here, there, all-where.

Note

The following fifteen poems were written on 28 October 1979 on a plane ride from Calcutta to Hyderabad.

306. WHAT IS THE MATTER WITH YOU?

What is the matter with you?
Why don’t you apply
Your volcano-mind
  To conquer
Your undying wolf-thoughts?

307. A MARATHON RUN

A marathon run
Is not fun.
It is an unspeakably
  Serious matter.

  A marathon run
Turns me into an orphan-life:
  No father, no mother,
  Helpless and hopeless.

308. I GO TO GOD TWICE A DAY

I go to God twice a day.
  In the morning I go to my Beloved Supreme
With the surrender of a tennis ball.
He tells me I am on my way to perfection.
  In the evening I go to my Beloved Supreme
With a basket of gratitude-flowers.
He tells me I am all perfection.

309. DESTINATION

Man’s destination
  And
God’s destination:
Man’s destination is God’s
  Satisfaction-Smile,
God’s destination is man’s
  Perfection-smile.

310. GIVE YOUR HEART A CHANCE

Your thoughts have made
  Your breath impure.
Your deeds have made
  Your life insecure.
But your heart’s mounting cry can easily make
  Your breath pure
    And
  Your life secure.
Just give your heart a chance.

311. A FREE PASS TO HEAVEN

Since I am no longer
  A disciple of ignorance,
God, the real God, has accepted me
  As one of His true disciples
And is now offering my aspiration-life
  A free pass to Heaven.

312. THE GRIP OF ATTACHMENT

The grip of attachment may please me
  For a fleeting second
    But
The grasp of detachment
Can surely and easily please me
  For my entire life.

313. EVEN GOD IS A DISCIPLE

Who is not a disciple?
Even God Himself is a disciple.
He is a disciple of my tiny gratitude-flame
And I am, indeed, a disciple
Of His own Eternity-Infinity’s
  Immortal Perfection-Sun.

314. A GREAT SECRET

You want to conquer
The perpetual fever of jealousy?
  I will tell you a great secret:
Just love and become one
  With your oneness-heart.

315. TO STEAL A LOOK AT GOD

To steal a look at God
Is to realise sooner than at once
  The pangs of your thorny present
And the ecstasies of your flower-future.

316. I AM FULFILLED TWICE

I am fulfilled twice:
  Once when I stand up
    For poor humanity,
  Once when I stand up
    For the unfulfilled God.

317. WHY AM I SO TIRED?

Why am I so tired?
I am tired
  Not because I work very hard,
  Not because I sleep too little,
But because I think too much.

318. DON'T TAKE A LATE START

Don’t take a late start.
You may lose the race altogether.
Keep your love-devotion-surrender
Always on the alert.
Then you cannot have a late start.

319. TO SEE HIS COMPASSION-FEET

To see the Compassion-Feet
  Of your Lord Supreme
Is to end the undying game
  Of your ignorance-dream.

320. INSIDE I LIVE

Inside I live
Soulfully and sleeplessly.
  Outside I give
Generously and unconditionally.

Note

The following fifteen poems were written on 28 October 1979 on the plane from Hyderabad to Madras.

321. A MISTAKE-PROOF LIFE

His is a mistake-proof life.
All life’s questions
He has perfectly answered.
To him, his God is no longer
  A forgotten Face
    But
  An extremely familiar Face.

322. NO REAL REASON

There is no real reason
Why you cannot make
  Your mind peaceful,
  Your heart blissful,
  Your life restful,
  Your soul successful,
  Your God blessingful.
Just replace your venom-doubt
With your sterling faith.

323. A LIFE OF INDECISION

Yours is a life
Of a hundred indecisions.
  How do you expect
An iota of God-Vision?

324. GREAT STRANGERS

Because you and tension live together,
  Transformation-light
    And
  Perfection-delight
Prefer to remain great strangers to you.

325. THE POWER OF YOUR SOUND-LIFE

The power of your sound-life
Fascinates my soul.

The power of your silence-life
Feeds and fulfils my soul.

326. MY NEEDS

Silence I need
To sow the vision-seed.

Sound I need
To grow the mission-plant.

Surrender I need
To climb the perfection-tree.

327. HUMAN MIND, HUMAN HEART

What is a human mind?
The unreality-fear that lengthens
Our journey’s course.

  What is a human heart?
The reality-cheer that shortens
Our journey’s course.

328. THE TENT OF MY BELOVED SUPREME

Inside the Tent of my Beloved Supreme
Everybody and everything can gladly stay
Except the old and unhealthy habits
  Of the unprogressive mind.

329. THE REAL REALITY

The real reality
Is a simple simplicity,
  And not a complexity.
Complexity has never been related to reality.

330. TIME FOR HEAVEN TO DESCEND

It is time for Heaven to descend.
Him to greet,
  Fly with your soul
    Bravely and immediately.
Him to serve,
  Dive with your heart
    Prayerfully and soulfully.

331. A DOUBTING MIND

A doubting mind
  Is responsible
For a sinking life
  And a dying heart.

332. ONLY ONE SAD THING

My Lord Supreme
Will definitely arrive.
  Only one sad thing:
I do not know
  The exact hour
Of His arrival.

333. EACH BODY DIES

Each life sighs
  Unmistakably.

Each body dies
  Eventually.

Each soul flies away
  Immediately.

334. NOTHING TO EQUAL

In our desire-life,
Nothing to equal hope-tower.
  In our aspiration-life,
Nothing to equal promise-power.

335. O DESCENDING BLUE

O descending Blue,
  I love you.

O ascending Green,
  I love you.

O divine Gold,
  I love you.

Note

The following thirty poems were written at the Hotel Savera in Madras on 28 October 1979.

336. NOTHING COMPELS YOU

Nothing compels you to shiver
  In helpless slavery.
Just don your God-given
  Aspiration-bravery.

337. DIFFERENT NAMES

You call it hesitation
  And
I call it confusion.

You call it confusion
  And
I call it suspicion.

You call it suspicion
  And
I call it perdition.

338. EARTH IS THE TEACHER

Earth is the teacher
That teaches us how to be
  Experience-tree.

Heaven is the teacher
That teaches us how to become
  Realisation-fruit.

339. MY SWEET LORD'S SATISFACTION-DELIGHT

Not because
Of my aspiring consciousness-light
Has my sweet Lord granted me
His Satisfaction-Delight.
No, no, that is not true!
He has granted me His Satisfaction-Delight
Because He does not have anything else
  To do with my life.

340. WHAT CAN YOUR MASTER DO?

When he withdraws
His outer sound,
You cry.
You say he does not care for you.

When he withdraws
His outer silence,
You say he simply hates you.
You tell me,
What can and what will he do,
  Your poor Master?

341. DO YOU NEED A PURE HEART?

Do you need a pure heart?
Then daily make your mind clean.
  Do you need a smile from God daily?
Then keep your heart aspiring ceaselessly.

342. BITTERNESS UNSPEAKABLE

You are now ready for the divine life.
For you, the false sweetness of your desire-life
Has turned into real bitterness
  Unspeakable.

343. LOST HERITAGE

The desire-life desires to regain
Its lost heritage:
  Ignorance-night.

The aspiration-life longs to regain
Its lost heritage:
  Immortality-Shore.

344. LOSS AND GAIN

Loss is gain,
Gain is loss.
Doubt-loss, faith-gain;
Desire-gain, perfection-loss.

345. I AM WATCHING

I am watching my past.
It is simply awful.

I am watching my present.
It is not at all hopeful.

I am watching my future.
It is soulful, plus fruitful.

346. I SEE A GARDEN

I see a garden
  In your face.

I see a rose
  In your heart.

I see celestial beauty
  In your eyes.

347. PLAYMATES OF THE SOUL

Three are the playmates of the soul:
Simplicity-life,
Sincerity-heart,
Purity-breath.

348. I THOUGHT OF DOING SOMETHING

I thought of doing something great.
God said: “Good, My son!”

I thought of doing something good.
God said: “Excellent, My son!”

I thought of becoming a selfless server.
God said: “Perfect, My son!”

349. JUST SING A SOULFUL SONG

Just sing a soulful song
  Together with your oneness-heart.
Lo, you have far surpassed
  All the barriers of confusion-night.

350. A CAGED SUCCESS

What does a desire-life get?
A caged success.

What does an aspiration-life become?
An uncaged progress.

351. GOD'S FAVOURITES

Only those are God’s favourites
  Who are supremely just
And offer others
  Their rightful earnings.

352. ONENESS-PEACE

To have oneness-peace
Only with the strong
  Is your cleverness-height.

To have oneness-peace
With all human souls
  Is your inner sun’s wisdom-light.

353. YOUR HOME

Your ignorance-night tells you
There is no home for you,
  There is no home.

Your wisdom-light tells you
The entire universe is your home,
  The entire universe.

354. PEACE

Peace, what is it?
God’s favourite boon.

  Peace, where is it?
In God’s Self-giving Infinity.

355. WHAT YOU HAVE

What you have
Is a vain thought.
  What you are
Is a selfish aim.
  Do you think
That God will grant you
His Satisfaction-Bliss?
  No, never!

356. I LOVE THREE DREAMS OF MINE

I love three dreams of mine:
  The dream that tells me
My mind shall succeed,
  The dream that tells me
My heart shall proceed,
  The dream that tells me
My soul shall always precede.

357. DO GIVE ME ANOTHER CHANCE

O my soul, do give me another chance.
  This time I shall definitely
And unconditionally become obedient.
  My new obedience
Will breathe in an eternal breath.

358. O MY FOOLISH BODY

O my foolish body,
Are you not ashamed
Of your most deplorable conduct?
Because of your lethargy,
Because of your unwillingness,
I am falling,
  Falling all the time;
I am failing,
  Failing everywhere.

359. THE ONLY WAY TO GO

The only way to go
From passion to perfection
Is by illumining the lower self
And feeding the higher Self.

360. YOUR GOD-ORDAINED TASK

Try not to put others right;
That is God’s task.
Try to put yourself right;
Indeed, that is your God-ordained task.

361. ASPIRATION TELLS ME

Aspiration tells me that my God is
  Compassion-Mother.
Realisation tells me that my God is
  Liberation-Father.
God-oneness tells me that my God is
  Perfection-Friend.

362. THE SAME SAD STORY

An uninspired mind,
An unenlightened heart,
An unrealised life,
An unmanifested soul,
An unfulfilled God
  Together tell the same sad story.

363. HIS VISION-EYE

His vision-eye is a constant prey
To his teeming imperfections.
  Therefore,
Someday, somehow, somewhere,
He will dance with perfection-sun
In the world of Infinity’s
  Silence-Sound.

364. A MOMENT OF INSPIRATION

A moment of inspiration
Powerfully feeds my aspiration-flames.
  A moment of aspiration
Unmistakably expedites my realisation-sun.

365. I AM CRYING

My body is sleeping.
  Therefore
I am crying.

My vital is fighting.
  Therefore
I am crying.

My mind is doubting.
  Therefore
I am crying.

My heart is hesitating.
  Therefore
I am crying.

Note

The following ten poems were written during a car ride from Madras to Pondicherry on 29 October 1979.

366. ONE THING HAUNTS ME

My heart is burdened with many things,
But one thing haunts me
  At each hush-gap,
And that is the mountain-burden
  Of world-sorrow.

367. PERFECTION

My soul conceived perfection.
My heart has achieved perfection.
My life will offer sleepless perfection.

368. FRIEND AND FOE

In Heaven and on earth
I have only one friend:
  The same old God.

Within and without
I have only one foe:
  The same old Chinmoy.

369. WHAT IS NEW?

What is new?
Nothing is new.
Indeed, this is a common answer.
  But there is something new:
God is watching you
With His Infinity’s Compassion-Heart.

370. DON'T BLAME GOD

Don’t blame God.
He is sincerely trying
To help you out.

Don’t blame yourself.
By blaming yourself
You cannot arrive
At the perfection-satisfaction-door.

Just love God a little more;
Just think of yourself a little less.
Lo and behold,
All your untold problems are solved.

371. BITTERLY CRYING

My life is fooling me.
  Therefore
I am bitterly crying.

My soul is ignoring me.
  Therefore
I am bitterly crying.

My Lord is not arriving.
  Therefore
I am bitterly crying.

372. LOVE IS

Human love
Is sickness.

  Divine love
Is completeness.

  God’s Love
Is selflessness.

373. LIGHT ENLIGHTENS

Darkness deepens
When the doubting mind triumphs.
  Light enlightens
When the aspiring heart
    Unconditionally surrenders.

374. THEY WILL CURE YOU

Do not be afraid of temptation.
Your introspection-mind,
Your meditation-heart,
Your vision-soul,
Your Benediction-God
  Can and will cure you
Of your bad disease.

375. A SECRET SOURCE

Self-conquest
  And
God-quest
Love each other deeply
And live together happily.
O world, hear it
  From me, a secret source.

Note

The following twenty-five poems were written on 29 and 30 October at the home of Sri Chinmoy's family in Pondicherry.

376. REVEAL YOUR INSECURITY-LIFE

Do not conceal,
  But reveal
Your insecurity-life.
  Lo,
God’s Compassion,
God’s Illumination,
God’s Perfection
Are eagerly waiting
  To receive your insecurity-life.

377. START DOING THIS IMMEDIATELY

Have you reached your soul’s height?
If so, then start doing this immediately:
Fight against falling down.

378. EVERY TIME YOU LOVE UNCONDITIONALLY

Every time you love unconditionally,
A winged angel flies down
And tells you:
“Sit down on my wing quickly.
The Lord Supreme is waiting for you.”

379. GOD HAS STOPPED HIS GAME

Be soulful, be careful!
Be fortified against
The entrance of ignorance-night.
Look, God has totally stopped
  His Game of hide-and-seek.

380. FACE YOUR LOWER NATURE

Face your lower nature
  Bravely.
Your higher nature
Is about to reach you
  Happily
    Plus proudly.

381. NOT YOU

Who despairs because of failure?
Not you, the hero-prince.
Not you, the truth-server.
Not you, the God-lover.
No, no, no!

382. KNOWN BY ANOTHER NAME

If you want to be known
As your heart’s oneness-responsibility,
God will make you known
By another name, too:
  God’s Infinity.

383. NO MORE

No more
Act like a fool.
Start studying
At the God-realisation-school.

384. YOUR SOUL-VICTORY'S CROWN

Your soul-victory’s crown
Depends on how powerfully
You frown at the clown
Of ignorance-night.

385. YOUR OLD DESIRE-CRY

Your old desire-cry
Must pass away
Long before your new aspiration-cry
Can bless you with its presence.

386. WE KNOW

You know who God is.
He knows where God is hiding.
I know when God will appear.

387. YOURS IS GREAT RESOLUTION

Yours is great resolution.
Yours is brave determination.
Lo, the total surrender of temptation!

388. NOTHING ELSE GOD WANTS FROM YOU

Arouse the body.
Cleanse the vital.
Correct the mind.
Open the heart.
Nothing else God wants from you.

389. YOURS IS A DEPLORABLE FAILURE

Yours is a deplorable failure
  Because
Your mind is not pure,
Your heart is not sure,
Your life is not willing to endure.

390. NOT READY TO LEARN FROM GOD

Easy to forgive
  But
Not easy to forget.
Ready to teach God
  But
Not ready to learn from God.

391. EVERY ASPIRATION-DAY

Every aspiration-day
Begins with new possibilities.

Every aspiration-day
Ends with new achievements.

392. WHAT YOU ARE WITHIN

What you are within
  Is perfection.
You will be mirrored accordingly.
Just pray and see.
Just meditate and see.

393. PAST, PRESENT, FUTURE

My past had its deplorable starts.
My present has its new starts.
My future will have its gold medals.

394. A LIFE OF EXALTED PURITY

You are living a life
  Of exalted purity.
Do you know why?
  Because your impurity-life
Is completely exhausted.

395. LOOK WHO TREASURES YOU

Pardon world-pressures.
Abandon sense-pleasures.
Look who treasures
  You: God Himself!

396. BEFORE YOU START THINKING

Before
You start thinking,
Look at others
Who are sinking.

  Before
You start doing,
Look at others
Who are enjoying.

397. I AM SICK OF MY ASPIRATION

Dear Lord,
I am really sick
Of my aspiration.
It has become a fountain
  Of speedy exhaustion.

398. I SHALL NOT FAIL

I shall not fail
  Although
I am in my mind-jail.
I shall succeed.
So has my Lord decreed!

399. TO GOD I HAVE SURRENDERED

To God I have surrendered
My aspiration-choice.
  To man I am offering
My ignorance-freed voice.

400. A VERY BUSY DAY

Yesterday
I was trying all the time
  To correct human nature.
Therefore
  I was having a very busy day.

Today
I am trying to perfect
  My own nature.
Therefore
  I am again having a very busy day.

But tomorrow
I shall be swimming in the sea
  Of my Lord’s Compassion-Forgiveness.
I am sure tomorrow
  I will have an easy day.

Editor's introduction to the first edition

This is the fourth 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

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-335: FFP 27 (revised version). FF-361: FFP 28 (revised version).