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A number of Sri Chinmoy's poems reflect this essential ques-tioning of the nature of man and God:

WHERE, 0 WHERE, IS GOD?

Where, 0 where, is God?
    Is He inside my fondness-hope?
Where, 0 where, is God?
    Is He inside my oneness-scope?     (no. 205)

THE INNER PROBLEM

All the world's dire problems
Can be solved only when
The inner problem is solved.
What is the inner problem?
The inner problem is: Who am I? (no. 770)

MY SOUL-FIRE

My soul-fire,
Where can I find you, where?
My ignorance-mire,
When can I transform you, when?  (no. 584)

Poems composed of such ultimate questions are interspersed throughout the volumes. They are lyric cries, heart-cries, at once searching and timeless. Within the overall design, they serve to usher in the major portion of the poems for the greater number of poems in Ten Thousand Flower-Flames stand as answers to the fundamental queries of man concerning the meaning of existence. Through his words, Sri Chinmoy seeks to offer truth-messages to his readers. Like the Vedas of yore, these poems are truth-contours, their poet the truth-bringer.