6901. With My Lord

My Lord,
Without You I may at most
Try to be good,
But with You
I am perfectly perfect.

6902. Time's Wild Flood

Time’s wild flood is rising
Because you have befriended
Your impure mind’s dark doubts.

6903. Today's Pangs Of Separation

Today’s keen pangs of separation
May turn into tomorrow’s
Stupendously illumining
Oneness-satisfaction.

6904. A Never-Fading Desire

Each earth-bound
Human breath
Is a never-fading
Desire.

6905. I Love You, My Lord

I love You, my Lord,
Not because of what
You are going to do for me,
But because of what You are
In Your Eternity’s Vision-Delight.

6906. Make Me Your Slave

My Lord,
You have made me Your friend.
Can You not make me Your slave instead,
To give me more joy?

6907. You May Never Recapture

Two unimaginably valuable things
You may never recapture:
Your sincerity’s cry
And your humility’s smile.

6908. I Am

I am,
Not because I do.
I am,
Because my heart sleeplessly cries
And my life breathlessly smiles.

6909. My Life's Chief Concern

My life’s chief concern
Is to wait soulfully
For God’s choice God-Hour.

6910. Unbridgeable Misunderstandings

Alas, there are so many
Unbridgeable misunderstandings
Between man’s binding desire-life
And his liberating aspiration-life.

6911. A Satisfaction-Life

An experience-life
Is beautiful.
A realisation-life
Is fruitful.
A satisfaction-life
Is divinely beautiful,
Supremely fruitful
And absolutely perfect.

6912. God Has Taught Me

God has taught me
How to work.
I am begging Him to teach me
How to continue.

6913. Our Inner Communication

Our outer intelligence-conversation
Is artificial.
Our inner intuition-communication
Is always beautiful.

6914. My Good Fortune's Greatest Smile

My good fortune’s greatest smile
Is the blue depth
Of my heart’s golden sky.

6915. Compulsion Or Liberation

The human in me
Helplessly calls it compulsion.
The divine in me
Lovingly calls it liberation.

6916. A Deep-Rooted Hatred

On the whole
I do not hate anybody,
But I do have a deep-rooted hatred
For power-hungry human authority.

6917. My Lord Supreme Tells Me

My Lord Supreme tells me
How I can either receive Him soulfully
Or deceive Him successfully.

6918. Make Goodness Your Companion

If you make greatness your companion,
You may suffer.
If you make goodness your companion,
You will not only prosper
But you will also have God
As your Companion.

6919. Do Tell Me Once Again

My Lord Supreme,
Do tell me once again
Why You love my heart
And why You need my life.

6920. How Is It Possible?

Alas, how is it possible for Heaven
To disown my human breath?
Alas, how is it possible for earth
To disown my divine life?

6921. Deliberately And Helplessly

Deliberately
My mind doubts.
Helplessly
My heart suffers.

6922. Heaven Is Cruel

Heaven is cruel.
Therefore, it delays
My God-realisation.

Earth is ignorant.
Therefore, it delays
My God-manifestation.

6923. When I Was About To Fall

When I was about to fall down
From the wisdom-tree,
My Lord’s Compassion-Eye caught me
Lovingly and powerfully.

6924. My Mind Does Not Want

My mind does not want to unlearn.
Therefore, I am suffering
From the worst flood
Of ignorance-torture.

6925. Your Armour Of Suspicion

You call it
A mere hesitation.
I call it
Your armour of suspicion.

6926. The Enormity Of Truth

At first the enormity of truth
May bewilder you.
But later the divinity of truth
Will illumine you.

6927. His All-Loving Heart

His all-loving heart
Sincerely dislikes wrestling
With his all-doubting mind.

6928. You Want Abiding Happiness

You want abiding happiness,
Yet you do not want to surmount
The mountain-barriers
Of your confusion-enjoying mind.

6929. I Cannot Aspire

Do you know why I cannot aspire?
I cannot aspire because of
Heaven’s sleepless indifference
And
Earth’s shameless interference.

6930. No Difference

What is the difference
Between a complicated mind
And contradictory thoughts?
No difference, none!

6931. To Please My Lord Supreme

To please my Lord Supreme
Every day I shall cry
With earth’s heart
And every day I shall smile
With Heaven’s soul.

6932. The Master Of Fulness

As the human mind is the master
Of useless swiftness,
Even so, the divine heart is the master
Of useful fulness.

6933. Doubtless Confidence

My mind consciously enjoys
Reckless confidence.
My heart smilingly enjoys
Doubtless confidence.

6934. Permanently Employed

His mind is permanently employed
By the owner of doubt-factory:
Ignorance-king.

6935. I Do Not Need Anything More

O earth, from you
I do not need anything more
Than a few comforting words.

O Heaven, from you
I do not need anything more
Than an illumining message.

6936. Live In Your Silence-Heart

What will you do
With your random flood of words?
Live instead in your silence-heart,
For your Silence-Lover: God.

6937. What Has Betrayed Me?

What has betrayed me?
No, not my teeming doubts,
Not my Himalayan pride,
But my eyeless unwillingness.

6938. God Is All Ready

Alas, I am not ready
With my receptivity,
But God is all ready
With His Infinity.

6939. A Starving Heart

Alas, what I have
Is a greedy mind
And what I am
Is a starving heart.

6940. Long Before I Wished

My Lord granted me
His Compassion-Smile
Long before I even wished
To deserve it.

6941. I Can At Least Try

If God can be
His own Goodness,
I can at least try to be
My own soulfulness.

6942. What I Need

What I need
Is a desert of thought
And a mountain of will-power.

6943. Only One Question

My Lord,
My heart has only one question
To ask You:
Will it have the capacity
To satisfy You eventually?

6944. The Moment I Touch

The moment I touch
My Lord’s Protection-Feet,
My Lord’s Compassion-Eye gives chase
To my roaming thoughts.

6945. The Beauty Of Human Perfection

The beauty of human perfection
Is the unparalleled necessity
Of human aspiration.

6946. Defy Or Deny

Either defy or deny
Your sombre past
If you wish God to certify
Your heart’s present smile.

6947. One Thing To Learn

Every day there is only
One thing to learn:
How to be honestly happy.

6948. A Special Love

God’s Heart has a special love
For him
Because he has unconditionally placed
His heart at God’s Feet.

6949. God Wants To Celebrate

Two things God wants
To do for you cheerfully:
He wants to celebrate
Your mind’s self-mastery,
And He wants to celebrate
Your heart’s God-discovery.

6950. My Heart's Only Unfailing Desire

My heart’s only unfailing desire
Is to remain perpetually a God-lover,
A perfect stranger
To the world of fame.

6951. My Mind Never Dares

My mind never dares
To wander
Inside my heart’s
Will-power-garden.

6952. Always Hopeful

I may not be helpful to you,
But I shall always be hopeful
For your success-life
And progress-heart.

6953. I Shall Not Give Up

Although my mind is useless,
Although my heart is worthless,
Although my life is soulless,
I shall not give up,
Never!

6954. My Two Questions

Let me see who can and will
Answer my two questions:
Why do I still love man
When he secretly thinks so poorly of me?
Why do I not think of God
When He openly speaks so highly of me?

6955. Defy And Enjoy

Your mind’s bondage-night
You must defy
If you want to enjoy
Your heart’s freedom-sky.

6956. My Heart Shall Defend

You may offend my mind’s pride,
But my heart shall always
Defend your right to do so.

6957. I Carry Only One Thing

I carry only one thing:
My Lord’s sleepless Smile.
My Lord carries only one thing:
My shadowless satisfaction.

6958. My Heart's Sacred Flame

My heart’s sacred flame
Sings only one song:
Earth’s self-transcendence-song.

6959. In Collusion

When my teeming doubts
And my tormenting fears
Are in collusion,
Frustration becomes my outer name
And destruction becomes my inner name.

6960. Between Two Shores

Your mind-boat is plying
Between criticism-shore
And cynicism-shore.

6961. I Bow

I bow to the light
That never dims.
I bow to the delight
That never fades.

6962. If You Wage War

If you wage war against fear,
You are divinely great.
If you wage war against doubt,
You are supremely good.

6963. Your Mind's Imperfection-Impurity

You do not have to seek
Your mind’s imperfection-impurity.
Your mind’s imperfection-impurity
Will inevitably find you.

6964. Another Opportunity-Smile

Another opportunity-smile
God has granted me today
To meditate on Him unconditionally.

6965. If Your Heartbeats Cling

If your heartbeats cling
To God’s Golden Boat,
Then your life will never sink.

6966. All My Achievements

May all my achievements,
Good and bad,
Die of inattention.

6967. His Mind's Inner Poverty

He is his mind’s inner poverty.
No wonder his outer life
Is a barren desert.

6968. Now I Am Going Back

I have already gone
To the very end
Of the world’s doubt-voyage.

Now I am going back
To the very beginning
Of my faith-voyage.

6969. Two Unnecessary Questions

Two unnecessary questions:
Does God love me?
Do I need God?

6970. I Am Crying Inside

I am crying inside
My sincerity-heart
To humble the pride
Of my haughty intellect.

6971. Not Used To Deception

Since your heart
Is not used to deception,
Your life will before long
Be granted perfection.

6972. Your Simplicity-Mind-Tree

Your simplicity-mind-tree
Must not bend.
Your sincerity-heart-tree
Must not break.

6973. His Heart's Silence-Smile

Alas,
His heart’s silence-smile
Has been chased away
By his mind’s reckless thoughts.

6974. Inside His Searching Mind

The thoughts that nestle
Inside his searching mind
Are pure, man-loving
And God-serving.

6975. Celestial Compassion-Moon

Celestial compassion-moon
My aspiration-heart today
Again and again implores.

6976. Revelation Itself

His searching mind
May be obscure,
But his aspiring heart
Is revelation itself.

6977. My Wisdom-Filled Need

I think of God
Because I know I need Him.
God thinks of me
Because of my wisdom-filled need.

6978. A Cynic

A cynic does not walk alone.
He walks with his monstrous eye
And murderous tongue.

6979. Straight Ahead

Keep on steering straight ahead.
The Golden Shore will not
Be denied you.

6980. Destined To Become

My mind is destined to become
The morning’s deep glow.
My heart is destined to become
The sun’s golden lustre.

6981. Each Heavy Thought

To me,
Each heavy thought
Is an unanswerable
Plus unpardonable question.

6982. Each Beautiful Thought

Each beautiful thought
Comes from a far-off land,
Cradled by God’s compassionate
Vision-Eye.

6983. My Heart Is The Place

My heart is exactly the place
Where yesterday I saw my Lord,
The Satisfaction-Giver.

6984. If You Are Brave Enough

If you are brave enough
To sing through darkness,
Then light will sing through you
And for you.

6985. A Loving Answer

Each human mind
Is a demanding question.
Each divine heart
Is a loving answer.

6986. Newly-Invented God

On earth I expected to see
The same God I knew in Heaven,
My soul’s God.
But instead what I see here
Is my mind’s newly-invented God,
The Science-God.

6987. Your Heart's Silvery Beams

How can you expect to see
Your heart’s silvery beams
Under your mind’s gathering shadow?

6988. Tomorrow's Distance-Light

My heart is gazing into
Tomorrow’s distance-light.
It is empty of even
A speck of fear.

6989. Astonishment And Enlightenment

My mind wants to be satisfied
With astonishment.
My heart wants to be satisfied
With enlightenment.

6990. Crippling Diseases

Your mind’s
Lack of enthusiasm
And your heart’s
Lack of determination
Will, before long,
Cripple your spiritual life.

6991. No Greater Purpose

Is there no greater purpose
For your existence
Than mere thinking and brooding?

6992. The Hallucination-Foundation

The hallucination-foundation
Of his outer life-tower cracked
When he saw that his grandiose achievements
Were nothing short of painful imperfections.

6993. With Me, Against Me

If your heart is not
With me,
That means your mind
Is against me.

6994. Haven Of My Hopes

Each beautiful and soulful morning
Is the haven
Of my thirsty and hungry hopes.

6995. From Nothingness-Fulness

From Nothingness-Fulness
We came.
To Fulness-Nothingness
We shall retire.

6996. Not For Them

The desire-bound world
Is not for my aspiring heart.
The aspiration-free world
Is not for my desiring vital.

6997. The Swiftness Of His Thoughts

The swiftness of his own uncomely thoughts
Not only puzzles his mind
But also weakens his heart.

6998. The Moment Of Certainty

My heart does love God
And my mind does need God:
Now is the moment of certainty.

6999. His Aspiration-Heart Cries

His aspiration-heart bitterly cries
When his mind is engulfed
By endless thoughts.

7000. My Heart Tells Me

My heart tells me
That I have not offered anything
To my Lord’s Heart
Unless and until
I have placed everything
At my Lord’s Feet.

Editor's introduction to the first edition

This is the seventieth 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

Artist Paul Jenkins engages Sri Chinmoy in a discussion about art and spirituality at an opening of one of the Master’s Jharna-Kala art exhibits in New York on 31 March 1975. Commenting on Sri Chinmoy’s paintings, he said, “What’s here is an abundance of colour, abundance of images, abundance of things that come through your mind when you meditate ….”

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-6961: FFP 126 (revised version).