8101. If I Accept My Supreme Lord

If I accept my Supreme Lord
Supremely and unconditionally,
Then only will I be able to read
What He has inscribed
On the golden tablet of my heart:
That He loves me unconditionally.

8102. Burn Doubts Away Immediately

Burn doubts away immediately.
Otherwise, dark death’s stretching sea
Will soon drown you,
Your entire life.

8103. When The Mind Is All Darkness

When the mind is all darkness,
It brings endless disgrace
To the aspiring heart
And the illumining soul.

8104. Fat Old Idleness

Fat old idleness
Has a shameless eye.
It can never be invited
To the precious awakening
Of human life.

8105. Stay Inside My Heart!

O my sweet soul,
Stay inside my heart, stay!
I shall no more offer you
My voice of melancholy.
I shall offer you only
My heart’s echoing love and peace.

8106. The Waters Of Perpetual Delight

Keep your belief always unstained.
Then you will be able to swim
In the waters of perpetual delight.

8107. Our Heart Must Approach God

With steps unswerving,
Our heart must approach God.
On the way there should not be
Any blind interchange
Between our heart’s faith
And our mind’s doubt.

8108. His Inevitable Farewell To Earth

Pain hangs heavily in his life
And his heart is twisted with grief.
In spite of his powerful attachment
To this life,
He is now saying
His inevitable farewell to earth.

8109. Invisible Flames Of Aspiration

Invisible flames of aspiration
Can not only brighten the soul’s light
But also create fuel
For life’s heavenward journey.

8110. His Deplorable Fate

His doubtful mind
And his fearful heart
Are desperately trying
To thwart each other.
Alas, this is his deplorable fate.

8111. My Mind Speaks Whisperingly

My mind speaks whisperingly.
My heart speaks soulfully.
My soul speaks delightfully.
Alas, why does my life
Have to speak strangely?

8112. The Blue Bird Inside My Heart

The blue bird deep inside my heart
Tells me that when I reach
The summit of my realisation-mountain
I shall see that the beauty of truth
Is in life itself.

8113. Can You Not Fly Away?

O my mind,
Can you not fly away
From the crowd of thoughts?

O my heart,
Can you not fly away
From your insecurity-cave?

O my life,
Can you not fly away
From the grasp of ignorance-night?

8114. Useful And Useless

He is at once
Useful and useless.
He is useful when his heart
Sees truth in all things.
He is useless when his mind
Sees no truth in anything.

8115. A Great Man

One characteristic
That distinguishes a great man
Is this:
Even if he is engulfed
In the fires of adversity,
He will try to remain
A God-believer.

8116. Two Promises

The perfection of my life
Is my promise to myself.
The satisfaction of God
Is my promise to God.

8117. You Have Something

You have something.
Therefore, you desire to achieve
Something more.
Can I suggest to you
What you need most?
God-Satisfaction
In God’s own Way.

8118. What Kind Of Independence Is This?

What kind of independence is this
When you depend so much upon
What you are going to say,
What you are going to do,
What you are going to become?

8119. My Soul Is Leaning

God has already allowed my soul
To lean its whole weight
On His Perfection-Arms.

Now He is asking my life
To lean its whole weight
On His Lotus Feet.

8120. Eternity's Infinite Questions

Man has his Eternity’s
Infinite questions.
God has His Immortality’s
Only answer:
Oneness-embrace.

8121. Your Uncertain Life

Your old mind
Is tired of living.
Your new heart
Is afraid of dying.
Your uncertain life
Is crying one moment
And smiling the next —
Crying for possession
And smiling with renunciation.

8122. He Made Two Great Decisions

He made two great decisions:
Not to speak ill of humanity
Any more,
To love God infinitely more
From now on.

8123. You Have Given Me Fear

Death, you have given me fear.
Take it away immediately!
Heaven, you have given me delight.
Allow me to keep it permanently!

8124. I Bring Forward My Soul

When my mind and my heart
Are at war,
What do I do?
I bring forward my soul
To help my real friend, my heart.

8125. Each Good Thought Vanishes

Each good thought vanishes
Faster than it appears.
Alas, each man is doomed
To have this experience.

8126. When He Struggles

He gets satisfaction,
Soulful and fruitful,
When he struggles and struggles
In the face of the inevitable.

8127. Heaven-Created Compassion

No earth-bound power
Can be permanently effectual
Unless Heaven-created Compassion
Sleeplessly supports it.

8128. An Incurable Disease

If you deliberately ignore
The Will of God,
Then you are bound to have
An incurable disease:
Unhappiness.

8129. Degrees Of Self-Complacency

When your mind and vital start enjoying
Various degrees of self-complacency,
Then your life’s progress comes
To an abrupt and total end.

8130. Tears Of Oneness-Love

Develop soulfully pure tears
Of oneness-love.
Then the universal life of beauty
Will be all yours.

8131. My Lord Supreme Loves Everything

Can you believe
That my Lord Supreme loves
Everything that I say and do,
Even my unimaginably feeble
Tribute to Him?

8132. Sleeplessly Devoted

My morning prayers
And my evening meditations
Are sleeplessly devoted
To the manifestation
Of God’s Compassion-Light
Here on earth.

8133. A Ruined Paradise

If you do not feed your heart’s hunger
Daily plus cheerfully,
Then your heart will soon become
A totally ruined paradise.

8134. My Heart's Fathomless Despair

O my stupid mind,
When will you stop laughing
At my heart’s fathomless despair?

8135. A Visible Dedication

What we need from life
Is a visible dedication.
Otherwise, an invisible frustration
Will chase our life.

8136. Your Uncomplaining Life

If your mind loves
Your uncomplaining life,
That means your mind is ready
For total illumination.

8137. I Wish To Unveil Heaven

My Lord, I do not want
To be chained to time any more,
For I wish to unveil Heaven
In its birthless and deathless Delight.

8138. Self-Enlightenment Will Cling

As self-contempt clings
To your impure vital life,
Even so, self-enlightenment
Will permanently cling
To your pure psychic life.

8139. You Need Sleepless Devotion

If you want to run away
From the wild world,
Then you do not need
Two swift feet.
What you need is sleepless devotion
To God’s Compassion-Heart.

8140. His Heart's Sleepless Hunger

His heart’s sleepless hunger
Is crying
For God-Satisfaction-dreams.

8141. The Doubting Mind Must Surrender

The doubting mind must surrender
To the aspiring heart.
Otherwise, the stumbling life will suffer
In a mournful mist of tenebrous fear.

8142. Mortal Grief

You are a man of belief.
How is it that you dare not believe
That your earthly grief
Itself is mortal?

8143. Speaking Ill Of God

Speaking ill of God
Is like fighting an unseen enemy
Who can be found anywhere inside
A limitless void.

8144. Two Things He Cannot Understand

Two things he cannot understand:
Why humanity fears him
And why divinity is indifferent to him.

8145. My Today's Hungry Heart

O my hope-world,
I have your tomorrow
Inside my today’s hungry heart.

8146. God Does Not Know How To Punish

O fearful heart,
Do believe that God does not know
How to punish.
God knows only how to illumine
And thus satisfy His Eternity’s
Infinite Vision-Dreams.

8147. A Strong Heart Gives And Becomes

A questioning mind does not give.
A strong heart not only gives
But also becomes.
What does it give and become?
God the eternal Dreamer.

8148. Your Mind Is Useless

If your mind is critical
Of everything,
Then your mind is useless.

If your heart is pleased
With nothing,
Then your heart is worse than useless.

8149. Your Faith Is Its Own Victory

Your faith is not worthless.
Your faith is not trivial.
Your faith is its own
Splendid victory.

8150. A Prison Of Self-Indulgence

If your life is locked in a prison
Of self-indulgence,
Then your self-image will
Without fail
Eclipse your God-image.

8151. Satisfaction Illumines My Life

When I live inside my vital,
Superiority damages my life.
When I live inside my mind,
Inferiority damages my life.
When I live inside my heart,
Satisfaction illumines my life.

8152. Not A Flicker Of Hope

Even though he gives all that he has
And all that he is
To mankind,
He does not see a flicker of hope
For God-Manifestation
In God’s own Way
Here on earth.

8153. His Soul Has Planned

His soul has planned
From the beginning of time
To reduce his mind’s desire-life
And diminish his vital’s frustration-life.

8154. If You Carry God Only Sometimes

If you carry God only sometimes
In your heart,
How can you expect God
To be your Friend
All the time?

8155. A Crisis-Filled World

This is a crisis-filled world.
Here you meet with
Either dire destruction
Or unforgettable failure.

8156. A True Candidate

If I can express my instant readiness,
Then only can I become
A true candidate
For the sunlit path.

8157. His Mind Has The Capacity

True, his mind has the capacity
To enter into self-delusion,
But his heart has the capacity
To cry for self-perfection.

8158. An All-Devouring Ego

If you are an all-devouring ego,
Then how will you know
Where you are supposed to go
And who will go with you
After you reach your frustration-goal?

8159. My Lord's Fulness-Heart

My Lord’s Fulness-Heart
Always answers my heart’s
Soulful appeal.

8160. Turn My Life Into An Open Book

O my Lord,
Do turn my life into an open book
And place it right before
Your Vision-Eye and Compassion-Heart.

8161. What I Need

What I need is a mind
Perpetually interesting.
What I need is a heart
Universally inspiring.
What I need is a soul
Transcendentally illumining.

8162. I Receive Only One Message

From earth’s most remote corners
I receive only one message:
“Earth and progress do not rhyme.”

8163. An Endless Future Is Before You

Remember, an endless future is before you,
Not behind you.
Therefore, you can easily make friends
With endless happiness-hopes.

8164. If You Have Oneness-Faith

If you have oneness-faith
In God’s Vision-Eye,
Then your life will be
Heaven’s transcendental choice
And earth’s universal voice.

8165. Heaven Will Accompany

Heaven itself will cheerfully
Accompany a God-lover
If he turns his life
Into a gratitude-song
For his Beloved Lord to sing.

8166. If You Are Afraid Of Silence-Light

If you are afraid
Of silence-light,
That means you are not meant
For God’s Nectar-Delight.

8167. Mine Is The Heart-Song

Mine is the heart-song
That invokes the unknowable
With the cheerful help
Of the unknown.

8168. When We Talk Of World Peace

When we talk of world peace,
We are actually talking secretly
Of our own self-interest.

8169. A Sheer Dream

If pleasure is a sheer dream,
Then pain is also a dream,
A mere dream.

8170. God Does Not Look At Me

God does not look at me,
Not because my mind is impure
But because my heart is unsure.

8171. You Are Not Happy

You are not happy
And you will never be happy
Because you do not lose yourself
Enough to find yourself —
I mean your true self.

8172. He Lives In Empty Silence

He lives in empty silence.
Therefore his ignorance-life
Is lengthened
And his knowledge-life
Is shortened.

8173. Everywhere

Everywhere is a demanding vital.
Everywhere is a doubting mind.
Everywhere is a God-loving heart.

8174. Do You Ever Think?

No doubt you love God soulfully,
But do you ever think
Of loving God’s Heart
And serving God’s Body
Unconditionally?

8175. His Curiosity-Mind Wants To Know

His curiosity-mind wants to know
The weak secrets
Of the past world
And the strong secrets
Of the future world.

8176. To Renounce My Curiosity-Life

There is only one way for me
To renounce my curiosity-life,
And that is to constantly feel
That I am of man the God
And for God the man.

8177. Let Time Tell The Rest

I love God, I need God.
This is what I can say
For the time being.
Let time tell the rest for me.

8178. If God Has Stopped Looking

If God has stopped looking
At your face,
That does not mean
You cannot look
At God’s Feet.

8179. Although I Delay

Although I delay
My heavenward journey,
My heart is always for
The perfection-satisfaction
Of Heaven’s smile.

8180. Haunted By Eternity's Hunger-Cry

Each soulful heart
Is haunted by Eternity’s hunger-cry.
I know it
And my heart knows it.

8181. His Love Of God Is Perfect

His outer life is rich,
His inner life is deep,
His higher life is sure
And his love of God is perfect.

8182. The Equal Of A Gratitude-Heart

The equal of a gratitude-heart
Will never be available
Either here on earth
Or there in Heaven.

8183. My Lord, Break Me

My Lord, break me,
My mind and my life,
So that I can claim You
As my own, very own,
And love You infinitely more
Than I can right now imagine.

8184. The Crowd Of Supernal Memories

Who says that you are doing
The wrong thing
By enjoying the crowd
Of your supernal memories?

8185. When I Talk About God

Everybody knows
When I talk about God.
But alas,
Does anybody care to know
When God talks about me?

8186. Why Do I Find Fault?

Since I am happy with what
I am doing for myself,
Why do I then find fault
With both God the Creator
And God the creation?

8187. God Is Always Perfect

Unconsciously I tell the world
That God is great.
Consciously I tell the world
That God is good.
Soulfully I must tell the world
That God is always absolutely perfect.

8188. God Has Told Me Many Things

God has told me many things
During the years
Since I first accepted the spiritual life,
But I have told God only one thing:
I need more Love from Him.

8189. Possessors Of Fruitless Expectations

I thought God was going to
Perfect my life.
God thought I was going to
Surrender my heart to Him.
Unfortunately we are both the possessors
Of fruitless expectations.

8190. Each Human Being Wants To Know

Each human being wants to know
What he can do for himself.
Alas, does he ever care to know
What God, out of His infinite Bounty,
Has already done for him?

8191. My Mind Knows

My heart may not know
How to love God soulfully.
My life may not know
How to serve God cheerfully.
But my mind knows
How to delay God’s appearance
Indefinitely.

8192. The Human Life-Story

Each day begins
With a soulful hope.
Each day ends
With a powerful promise.
This is the human life-story.

8193. The Heart That Cries Sleeplessly

The heart that cries sleeplessly
Knows what God looks like.
The soul that smiles constantly
Knows who God is
Plus where God is.

8194. The Humility Of A Tree

The humility of a tree
Pleases my life.
The purity of a flower
Pleases my heart.
The divinity of a fruit
Pleases my soul.

8195. A Universal Favourite

The heart that loves
The Divinity of God the Creator
And the Beauty of God the creation
Is always a universal favourite.

8196. The Golden Harp

If you want to break asunder
The chains of bondage-life,
Ask your heart to play
On the golden harp
Inside your soul’s dream-boat.

8197. What I Remember Most

I do not remember everything
That I did in Heaven,
But what I do remember clearly
Is the unconditionally cheerful sharing
Of the advanced souls.

8198. The Glowing Promise

Before I came to realise
Who God is,
God told me who I am:
The glowing promise
Of His Vision-Eye.

8199. Something Quite Unusual

In this fast-paced world
You are trying to do something
Quite unusual:
You are trying to have
A relaxed mind and a listening heart.

8200. Two Firm Convictions

True, God has not given me
Everything,
But He has given me
Two firm convictions:
He loves me
No matter what I do;
I shall need Him
No matter what I become.

Editor's introduction to the first edition

This is the eighty-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

Sri Chinmoy meets Bob Beamon, the world record-holder for the long jump, in New York on 8 June 1981.