How Secure are We?
A talk by Sri Chinmoy
Dag Hammarskjöld Lecture Series
Dag Hammarskjöld Auditorium, United Nations
Before commencing his talk, Sri Chinmoy recites the English translation and then chanted in Sanskrit the following chants from the Upanishads:
Lead me from the unreal to the Real.
Lead me from darkness to Light.
Lead me from death to Immortality.
Asato ma sad gamaya
Tamaso ma jyotir gamaya
Mrityor ma amritam gamaya
Infinity is that.
Infinity is this.
From Infinity, Infinity has come into existence.
From Infinity, when Infinity is taken away, Infinity remains the same.
Purnam adah purnam idam purnat purnam udacyate
Purnasya purnam adaya purnam evavasisyate
When we live in the body, we are constantly insecure. When we live in the vital, we are hopelessly insecure. When we live in the mind, we are surprisingly insecure. When we live in the heart, we are occasionally insecure. When we live in the soul, we are divinely secure. Finally, when we live in God, we are divinely, supremely and sempiternally secure.
What is security? Security is the endless smile of our inner self-confidence. What is our self-confidence? Self-confidence is our infinite achievement in the gradual process of our self-transcendence.
In our outer life, in our everyday life, we notice two deplorable things: Insecurity and impurity. These two defects loom large in our day-to-day life. Insecurity is of ignorance and for ignorance. Impurity is of darkness and for darkness. Likewise, in our inner life, two divine qualities loom large: security and purity. Security is of Light and for Light. Purity is of Bliss and for Bliss.
How insecure are we? If we can offer an adequate answer to this question, then automatically we are running towards our eternal security. How insecure are we? We are extremely insecure. Both men and women are extremely insecure. Why are we insecure? We are insecure precisely because we do not claim vastness as our birthright. We are insecure because we do not claim oneness as our soul-right. In our outer life, the power of ignorance wants to offer us its security, which is nothing short of absurdity. In our inner life, the power of Light wants to offer us its security, which is nothing short of complete fulfilment. It is only the power of Light that can offer us satisfaction and perfection.
Security does not lie in our material achievements. Security does not lie in our earthly possessions. The richest man on earth is not secure. His constant anxiety about maintaining and increasing his wealth makes him more insecure than the poorest man on earth. A king, a president or dictator is not secure. His hunger for sovereign power in ever-increasing measure and his fear of losing the power he has do not allow him to be secure. He is more insecure than the most insignificant human being on earth.
As an individual cannot be secure by amassing material wealth and by acquiring heights of power, even so a nation cannot be secure by displaying geographical boundaries and by declaring historical achievements. Money-power is no security. Expansion-power is no security. Possession-power is no security. It is the soul-power that is all security. And our love-power, which has free access to the soul-power, is always at our disposal.
A creator creates. Man is a creator; he is an inventor. He invents the atom bomb, a destructive power which annihilates all human security. Here it seems that the creation has more power than the creator. Once the creation comes out of the creator the creation threatens the creator himself. But if the inner being of the creator is surcharged with light, then the creator always remains omnipotent. He will not be at the mercy of his creation. It is the express will of the creator that the creation will have to execute. Man’s inner wisdom-light is infinitely superior to his creation. And who created man? God. God’s superior power is oneness. This oneness, inseparable oneness, we can achieve, grow into and become only on the strength of our love. Love is oneness. Oneness is the universal life. Self-giving is God-becoming. Only in God-becoming do we become all security.
AUM
Published in The Tears of Nation-Hearts
