5101. Choose something different today

Choose something entirely different
And soulfully new today.
Look, your glorious victory-hour
Is fast approaching.

5102. Do not expect anything

Do not expect anything
From this unsatisfied
And dissatisfied world.
Do not expect anything
From the satisfied
And fulfilled Heaven either.
Then you will always remain
Far from the reach of sorrow.

5103. Yesterday your mind was nebulous

Yesterday
Your mind was nebulous.
Today
Your mind is puzzled.
Tomorrow
Your mind will be confused.
Why, why, why?
Because yesterday
You did not love your heart,
Today
You are not crying with your heart
And tomorrow
You will be unwilling
To smile with your heart.

5104. My morning's inner teacher

My morning’s inner teacher
Is my surrender-life.
My evening’s inner teacher
Is my gratitude-heart.

5105. Two sermons of ignorance-night

Two sermons of ignorance-night:
I do not care
Whether God thinks of me;
I am quite sure
I could have created a better world.

5106. Your burning temper

Your burning temper
Has consumed all at once
Your heart’s purity-cry
And
Your eyes’ beauty-smile.

5107. I shall always faithfully follow

My heart,
I shall always faithfully follow you.
No matter where you go,
No matter when you go,
No matter how you go,
I shall follow you.
You are eternally mine.
Do tell me
That I am also eternally yours.

5108. The fate of mere mortals

The fate of mere mortals
Need not and must not remain
A ceaselessly helpless cry.
It will eventually and inevitably
Be transformed into
A sleeplessly self-giving smile.

5109. A soulful oneness always wins

Hate never wins.
A powerful love
At times wins,
At times does not.
But a soulful oneness
Always and always wins.

5110. If you cannot treasure

If you cannot treasure
Beauty’s faith and purity’s gratitude
Inside your mind,
Then yours will be
The mind-sky with no stars.
No, not even one!

5111. Each humility-life

Each humility-life
Unmistakably owns
Teeming noble, life-inspiring,
Supremely divine qualities.

5112. His illumination-mind

His illumination-mind
Soothes the four corners
Of the world
With the beauty
Of Eternity’s moon.

His perfection-heart
Illumines the four corners
Of the world
With the power
Of Immortality’s sun.

5113. My fame is not lasting

My fame is not lasting.
Even the experience of fame
Is not lasting.
But the Compassion
Of my Beloved Supreme
In and through my fame
Is everlasting.

5114. My heart's gratitude-world

My Lord,
My heart’s gratitude-world
Is Yours
And it will forever remain Yours
Whether or not You grant me
An iota of Your own Compassion-World.

5115. I shall follow your footsteps

I shall follow Your Footsteps,
My Lord, I shall,
With my heart’s morning cry
And my life’s evening smile.

5116. Do not let any chance pass by

Do not let any chance pass by,
Especially when God knocks
At your heart’s door
To open your heart’s
Gratitude-fragrance-flower.

5117. My only God-realisation-hope

O my heart,
I am always buffeted
By the surging ocean
Of my mind’s doubts.
Yet I know that
My conscious and constant oneness
With your aspiration-world
Is my only God-realisation-hope
And
My only God-manifestation-promise.

5118. What God will accept from you

You want to know
What God will accept from you
And what God
Will not accept from you?
I tell you,
God will accept everything from you
Except one thing:
Your malicious disobedience-indulgence.

5119. God will transform my mind

God will transform my mind
Only after I have informed Him
That I shall live always inside
My heart’s soulful beauty
And
My life’s powerful purity.

5120. Most powerful possessions

In the morning
My heart’s surrender-drops
Are my Lord’s
Most powerful possessions.

In the evening
My life’s gratitude-flames
Are my Lord’s
Most powerful possessions.

5121. The river of aspiration-light

O current of desires,
You think that you are
Extremely powerful,
But you are not!
My Lord’s Compassion-Grace
Will make you flow
Into the river of aspiration-light.

5122. Miracles are unnecessary

Miracles were perhaps necessary
At the very start
Of your aspiration-life.
But once you have successfully
Started your inner journey,
Not only are miracles unnecessary,
But they may hinder your speedy progress
Far beyond your imagination.

5123. God has openly fed you

God has openly fed you
With His Compassion-Sea.
Will you not even secretly
Feed Him
With your heart’s gratitude-drops?

5124. Ignorance and stupidity

Ignorance and stupidity fooled you.
They donned the cloak of innocence.
Alas, you could not see
Through their tricks!

5125. Unless you desert your stupid self

Unless you desert mercilessly
Your stupid self,
The steps of your soulful heart
Will never be able to lead you
To your destined goal.

5126. My tears

Before I accepted
The life of aspiration,
My tears were the tears
Of real sorrow.
Now that I have accepted
The life of aspiration,
My tears are not tears of sorrow
But tears of real joy.

5127. Two souls I have

Two souls I have:
In my outer life
I wear smartly
God’s Protection-soul.
In my inner life
I wear soulfully
God’s Compassion-soul.

5128. Two essential truths

There are two essential truths:
The mind does not know the Truth
And at the same time
Does not want to know the Truth.
The heart knows the Truth
And yet wants to know
More of the Truth.

5129. Wait for God's choice Hour

Wait for God’s choice Hour.
Your mind’s indomitable strength
And your heart’s immeasurable splendour
Will, without fail,
Reach their final goal:
God-Satisfaction in God’s own Way.

5130. In his dying hours

In his dying hours
He prayed to God most soulfully
To grant him a fragrant and grateful
Surrender-life.

5131. My life's white-green mission

The manifestation of my soul’s
Blue-gold vision
Is my life’s white-green mission
Unparalleled.

5132. The first and last message

“Become supremely good.”
This was the first message
That I received from Heaven.

“Become enormously great.”
This was the first and last message
That I received from earth.

5133. We belong to the Unknowable

First we have to prove to ourselves
That we belong to the Unknown.
Then a day will come
When we will have to realise
That we belong to the Unknowable.

5134. Until we can love the Unknowable

Unless and until
We create a conscious
Love for the Unknown,
We will never be able to create
Any love for the Unknowable.

Unless and until
We can love the Unknowable,
We will not be ready
For the infinite Light and Delight
Of our Beloved Supreme.

5135. Wait for another hour

By taking your life
You don’t accomplish anything.
If you have failed,
Then wait for another hour,
God’s choice Hour,
To do something great for God.

5136. The higher way

Some people
Have the inborn tendency
To stick to their promise.
But to surrender to God’s Will
Is the infinitely higher way.

5137. Far from the Will of God

We shall try to do
Something extraordinary
Only if it is the Will of God.
Otherwise, while accomplishing
Something great,
We may go away,
Far, farther, farthest,
From the Will of God.

5138. You can easily remember

You can easily remember your Master
In everything that you do
If you can make yourself
Sincerely feel
That the very thing you are doing
Is for nobody else but him.

5139. Think of your highest Reality

Each time you feel insecure,
Think of yourself
As tinier than the tiniest
And think of your Master
As the vast ocean,
Which is your own highest Reality.
Don’t think of anybody else
Around you, behind you
Or in front of you.
Only throw yourself into the ocean,
Your Master,
And then become the ocean.

5140. Only think of happiness

If you want to make progress,
Only think of your heart’s happiness
And how you can keep
Your entire being happy.
Wherever you go,
Carry happiness with you.

5141. Be consciously aware

If you want to make the fastest progress,
At least seven times a day,
Perhaps for only five seconds,
But with a very strong inner intensity,
Be consciously aware of your spirituality.
You are on a very, very special path.
You are not an ordinary, unaspiring person.
You are a chosen instrument of the Supreme.

5142. If you want to feel newness

If you want to feel newness
In the new year,
You have to get that very newness
From the new year itself.
The new year has all newness:
New promise,
New success,
New progress.

5143. We got everything from the Source

Secretly,
Thousands of years ago,
We got everything from the Source.
Only now
Are we giving back to the Source
What we long ago received.

5144. Make your vessel larger

Today your vessel is tiny.
Every day
Make your vessel larger,
And every day
God will fill it.

5145. You are more than ready

Tell yourself
That although you may not be
Doing the right thing,
You are more than ready to do it,
And you will do it,
Unconditionally.

5146. A subtraction-sadness

A desire-life is nothing but
A subtraction-sadness.
An aspiration-life is another name
For an addition-gladness.

5147. If you wage war

If you wage war
Against your unbelief,
God will immediately grant you
His own Confidence-Light.

5148. Your hands are full

Words about God
Are on your lips,
But your hands are full
Of Satan’s deeds.

5149. Your life's prayer

Your life’s prayer
Must unveil the truth.
Your heart’s meditation
Must prevail over falsehood.

5150. Faith

Faith cares
Neither for your past misdeeds
Nor for your future misdeeds,
But only for your present good deeds.

5151. When nobody dares to challenge

When nobody dares to challenge
Your faith in God,
That is the time
For God’s Hour to approach you
Lovingly, speedily and satisfactorily.

5152. Hope is a future reality

Hope is a future reality,
A hidden reality,
Waiting for its revelation
In the heart of the Eternal Now.

5153. Two kinds of faith

There are two kinds of faith:
Faith in one’s own
Insecure capacity
And faith in God’s
All-illumining Compassion-Light.

5154. Hope says

Hope says:
“I shall one day please God.”
Faith says:
“My Lord is already pleased
With me.”

5155. The outer man

The outer man
Is decaying.
The inner man
Is preparing.
The God-man
Is revealing.

5156. I do not have to remind God

I do not have to remind God
Of all His Promises,
For God sleeplessly
And unconditionally
Wants to reveal Himself
In and through
My tiny little heart.

5157. God's sacred Possession

God’s sacred Possession
And man’s sacred possession
Are one and the same:
Humanity’s self-transcending cry.

5158. God stands up for you

You do not have to
Stand up for yourself.
God’s Compassion-Eye
Has already compelled God
To stand up for you,
For you alone.

5159. God has tried

I may not know
Whether it is God’s fault
Or my fault
That I am useless,
But I do know
That God has tried
Infinitely more than I have tried
To perfect my nature,
Illumine my heart
And
Liberate my life.

5160. Lingering effects

No defeat can make
My whole life miserable.
But the lingering effects
Of defeats
Have turned me practically insane.

5161. Your life's integrity-flower

Do not lose,
Do not sacrifice
Your life’s integrity-flower.
If you lose or sacrifice it,
Your poor life will be compelled to dance
With a totally useless futility.

5162. Your tempting tiredness

Be indifferent to your subtle,
Clever and tempting tiredness.
God will take it away immediately
So you can be a close member of
His inner Family
And walk sleeplessly along
His Eternity’s Victory-Road.

5163. A matter of self-giving

Failure is only
A matter of feeling.
Success is only
A matter of striving.
Progress is only
A matter of self-giving.

5164. Unless the seeker asks

Unless the seeker asks,
Do not tell him where God is.
Unless the seeker needs,
Do not supply him
With God’s Compassion-Flood.

5165. A real problem to yourself

You are a real problem to yourself
If and when you are unwilling
To change your frustration-mind,
Insecurity-heart and failure-life.

5166. God will teach you tomorrow

God will teach you Himself tomorrow,
If you unlearn what your
Suspicious mind and inauspicious life
Have taught you today.

5167. Simplicity and universality

Simplicity and universality
Are two complementary
Vision-realities
And two inseparable
Perfection-satisfactions.

5168. Neither resist nor resent

Neither resist
God-Beauty’s descent from Above
Nor resent
Man-duty’s ascent from below.

5169. The quagmire of contradictions

If your life lives
In the doubting mind,
Not too long, rest assured,
Will you be able to avoid
The serpentine quagmire
Of life-devastating contradictions.

5170. The glowing desire to be cheerful

If you have
The burning desire to serve,
Then first become
The glowing desire to be cheerful
Before serving,
While serving
And after serving.

5171. Freedom from self-mortification

Freedom from self-mortification
Will glorify your Heaven-bound heart.
Freedom from self-glorification
Will beautify your earth-bound mind.

5172. A maze of misinformation

Do not ask a barren intellectual giant
Anything about God.
He will cleverly and quickly,
If not shamelessly,
Supply you with a maze of uninspiring
Plus discouraging misinformation.

5173. Buffeted by unreality-strokes

Buffeted by cruel unreality-strokes,
His vision is denied
Tomorrow’s heart-illumining
And life-fulfilling dawn.

5174. My heart is capable of servitude

My poor mind is incapable of gratitude.
My rich heart is not only capable of gratitude
But also capable of constant,
Cheerful and self-giving servitude.

5175. A faithless friend

An impossible hope:
To have a faultless friend.
Not only possible but also available
Here, there and everywhere:
A faithless friend.

5176. O my God-manifesting heart

O my light-searching mind,
If you fail,
It is better to be embarrassed
Than ashamed.

O my God-manifesting heart,
If you fail,
It is better to be ashamed
Than embarrassed.

5177. A constantly blundering doubt

A constantly blundering doubt:
This is what our human mind
Primarily is.

A sleeplessly self-giving life:
This is what our divine heart
Precisely is.

5178. Fear no wrong

Fear no wrong.
Your heart should know this.
Love no wrong.
Your mind should know this.

5179. God will help you enrol

If you struggle to control yourself,
God will smilingly help you enrol
In His Life-Transformation-School.

5180. The ladder of will-power

Do you need protection
Against your wandering thoughts?
Then climb up quickly
The magical ladder of will-power.

5181. You will be able to operate

Cry within powerfully.
Smile without soulfully.
You will be able to operate
Easily and successfully
On the malignant ignorance-tumour.

5182. Do not allow anybody

Do not allow anybody
To subject your mind to ridicule.
Do not allow anybody
To subject your heart to deception.

5183. A most frightening challenger

A suspicious mind
Is a most frightening challenger.
Alas, my precious heart and my auspicious life
Have no capacity to smash its pride.

5184. Each pure thought immortalises

Each base thought
Defiles everything that is sacred
Immediately.

Each pure thought
Immortalises everything that is willing to change
Unmistakably and unreservedly.

5185. You are afraid to befriend

You are afraid to befriend
A sound-life.
That means you do not have
An all-loving heart.

You are afraid to befriend
A silence-life.
That means you do not have
An all-knowing mind.

5186. His universe collapsed

His universe collapsed
When his mind deceived his heart
And when his heart disobeyed his soul.

5187. At the Protection-Feet of his Lord

Breaking asunder the strong grip
Of wild emotions,
His heart sat at the Protection-Feet
Of his supreme Satisfaction-Lord.

5188. Every uncomely occurrence

Every unforeseen uncomely occurrence
Has the incalculable capacity
For a devastating recurrence.

5189. Alas, where am I now?

At the time of my soul-journey’s start
I thought I did not need
The smiling Eye of Heaven
Or the serving hand of earth.
Alas, where am I now?
I am crying at the feet
Of an unavoidable and inevitable
Failure-end.

5190. Your mind is shattered

Your mind is shattered.
Do you know why?
Because God wants you to enjoy
Freely and unconditionally
His Heart’s Ecstasy-Sea.

5191. God has freed you

You are indifferent to the pleasure-life.
Therefore, God has freed you
Once and for all
From the imponderable pressure-world.

5192. Heaven-free attempts

Earth-bound hopes
Flicker and die.
Heaven-free attempts
Succeed and proceed.

5193. If you want to be happy

No frustration,
O my vital,
If you want to be happy.

No sophistication,
O my mind,
If you want to be happy.

No hesitation,
O my heart,
If you want to be happy.

5194. All eyes will be on you

All eyes will be on you
When your own eyes look within
And drink deep the delight
Of your universal oneness-heart.

5195. An obedience-thought

An obedience-thought
Has enlarged the freedom
Of my mind.

A gratitude-smile
Has increased the ecstasy
Of my heart.

5196. Tomorrow's sky

If you want to look at your yesterday
As totally unimportant,
Then invoke the blessingful presence
Of tomorrow’s sky, tomorrow’s sun
And tomorrow’s moon
Inside your today’s receptivity-heart.

5197. O silence of Eternity

O silence of Eternity,
Do make my heart beautiful.
O sound of a fleeting second,
I shall make your contribution
Everlastingly and timelessly fruitful.

5198. Pale with guilty fears

His eyes are pale with guilty fears.
Do you know why?
Because his life has not become one
With his heart’s climbing tears.

5199. I live inside the Compassion-Eye

I do not live
On the praises of this world.
I do not live
On the indifference of the higher worlds.
I live inside the Compassion-Eye
Of my Lord Supreme.

5200. May my heart's purity radiate

May my mind’s sincerity
Spread like a silver dawn.
May my heart’s purity
Radiate like a golden morn.

Editor's introduction to the first edition

This is the fifty-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

Giani Zail Singh, President of India, meets with Sri Chinmoy for a brief session of prayer, meditation and spiritual discussion on 30 October 1982.