A New Year’s Message
Sri Chinmoy delivers a talk in person
to his disciples of the Aum Centre in Puerto Rico
A New Year dawns. A new year, a new aspiration, a new dedication, a new realisation enter into us. Let us enter into the Supreme with a new joy, a new achievement and a new, constantly surrendering attitude. We are always fond of the “new”. Tomorrow, on New Year’s day, that new newness will enter into us. What can we expect from tomorrow? We expect that which we do not have right now: freedom from bondage, freedom from limitation, freedom from disease, freedom from death. Our expectation is not enough. In addition to our expectation, we must cultivate deep within us the firm determination that we shall have it, that we are bound to have all these divine qualities.
I always say, “The past is dust.” Once again I repeat, “The past is dust.” Why? The past has not given us what we have been striving for. So the past is of no use. It is the present and the golden future that enters into the present and make us feel what we are going to be, nay, what we truly are. We are not children of the past, but the children of the glorious future. There are many things we want to do, we want to achieve. But unfortunately we have not been able to achieve them. Why? Because our aspiration is not intense, our determination is not firm, our cry, our inner cry is not genuine. There is no end to the progress we can make and each New Year comes and stands in front of us and reminds us of that very fact: that there is no end to our progress, both the inner progress and the outer progress.
How can we transcend ourselves? We can transcend ourselves the moment we feel that Self-realisation or the conquest of the self is our birthright, our divine heritage. It is not that somebody has to come and thrust upon you this divine heritage. We have to leave aside, cast aside, throw aside doubt, one of our greatest enemies. Doubt does not allow us to go one inch forward or one inch backward. When we want to look forward, doubt says, "No, you are not so good." And when we want to look back, a kind of subtle doubt again tells us, "No, you cannot be so bad." Doubt never, never allows us to see the truth, to know where we actually stand. We stand right in front of God. Where are we seated? We are seated in the Lap of the Supreme.
Let us cry. The world needs seekers who will cry like a child for the Mother. We have forgotten how to cry. We know how to talk, how to impose truth on others, how to convince others of what we have acquired or what we have learned. From today on, let us cry from the innermost recesses of our hearts, Him to possess and Him to reveal. Without the Supreme, we do not exist. It is an unpardonable foolishness on our part when we say that we exist. No, we do not exist, we can never exist even for a second without Him. If you really, sincerely, whole-heartedly care for the Truth, my fervent request to you is to go deep within and try to discover your own divinity.
I am there to be your eternal slave. I shall wash the very dust of your feet the moment you feel that you are prepared to cry, cry whole-heartedly for the Supreme.
All of us present here, all our true members of the family here, must, once and for all, cast aside doubt. We must always feel that we are the children of the Supreme. We are growing together, we are fulfilling the Supreme together. The Supreme is entering into us to inspire us to dive into the deepest, to fly into the highest, to run toward the farthest.
In the name of the Supreme, I bless each and everyone present here and all those who are in my Boat, who need my help, my guidance, my assistance. It is not just for a year but forever, for eternity. I shall be a loving, dedicated servant, a slave, to all of you who care for the Supreme and for the Supreme alone. If one says or feels that the Supreme is his or hers, then at that very moment that very person can rest assured that I am there to serve the person, to be of immediate service. For me there can be no greater joy, no greater pride than to serve the seekers of Truth. And this is my soul’s promise to each of you on the eve of the New Year.
Published in AUM — Vol. 4, No. 6, Jan. 27, 1969
Questions and Answers
after Sri Chinmoy’s talk on the New Year.
Question: If somebody wants to choose one time of the year to make a new start — such as your birthday, or the anniversary of our joining the Centre, or our own birthday, or the beginning of the New Year — are each of these times equally good?
Sri Chinmoy: My birthday, your own birthday, the anniversary of your becoming a disciple, the day I came to America — all these are most significant days. Every hour cannot be the same. The way you can meditate early in the morning at six o’clock, you will not be able to meditate at twelve noon, unless you are an expert. Early in the morning, it is quite easy. Later in the day, it is not so easy. It is not impossible, but it is not easy.
When we remain here, in the earth-bound life, we cannot say that every day is equally important. No, every day is not equally important. Some days are bound to be more important than other days. That is why we observe anniversaries and birthdays. When a birthday comes, at that time we say to ourselves, “Why did I come here? Have I made any progress since I accepted the spiritual life? In some fields I have made progress; in other fields I have not made progress, or I have gone backwards.”
In your case, you have made so much progress in music. But again, you are losing your spontaneity and childlike consciousness. I am telling you about your progress and backward march for your good. You have made progress in one thing and gone backwards in another. If you had maintained your childlike consciousness, it would have given tremendous joy to your soul. Like this, everybody is a culprit. People have made considerable progress in one thing and in another field they have lost their previous standard and climbed down instead of up.
So you can choose any date you want to make a new start, but once you start, then you have to continue. Otherwise, on your birthday you will try to meditate very soulfully and the day after your birthday you will say, “Yesterday I meditated so soulfully. So today I do not have to meditate.” Our human life is like that. We eat voraciously one day and the following day we do not want to eat. But in the spiritual life, we have to eat every day because our capacity to eat is unlimited. God’s Affection, Love, Blessings, Concern and Compassion are unlimited, so God gives us unlimited receptivity.
Question: I used to meditate for half an hour every morning, but recently I have only been meditating for fifteen minutes. Is it better to meditate longer?
Sri Chinmoy: If you can continue, certainly. Do you think if you meditate more than fifteen minutes and still maintain your height that it will not be better? If you can meditate for half an hour instead of for fifteen minutes, certainly it will be better for you.
Some people just wait to see when fifteen minutes are over. They meditate on the hands of the clock rather than on their hearts. Instead, if you want to try to hear the sound of your heartbeat, that will be very good. Then, after you develop the power of concentration, you can meditate on your heartbeat in any part of your body. If your mind is bothering you, you can bring the hammer — the heartbeat — there and strike the mind so that it will be good.
Question: Every time you give a special talk, I become so inspired. Then, after a few days or a week, it goes away. Is there any way I can remain inspired?
Sri Chinmoy: The question is whether you really want to maintain that inspiration. Edmund Hillary climbed up Mt. Everest, but he did not do it in one stroke. For a week he halted and then he started again.
You say that you are not maintaining the same inspiration and aspiration after a week. What you have to do is see how far you have come during that week and then look up to see if there is any space for you to go higher. You will see that the distance which you have covered is next to nothing, whereas the distance you have yet to cover is very great.
What actually happens is this: the disciples, after climbing up five feet, think that is enough. They get a complacent feeling, and this complacent feeling is their worst enemy. They are so happy that they have climbed up five feet, but they have to feel that they have to climb up five million metres! They have to feel, “Oh, if only I had climbed up seven inches more, I would have been still higher. So let me continue.”
The very fact that you climbed up five feet should give you enthusiasm and inspiration to go higher. In the spiritual life, we cannot remain at one place. In the ordinary life, you can reach a certain point and stay there for ten or twenty years, or for the rest of your life. But in the spiritual life, every day you have to make a new attempt. Otherwise, you will come back to your same old, stupid self.
If you want to maintain your enthusiasm and determination, you have to feel that no matter how far you have come, it is practically nothing compared to the distance you have to go. And also you have to feel that if in one week you had the capacity to climb up five feet, then you have the capacity to climb up another five feet the following week. In this way, you will be able to climb up to the highest height. But human beings usually do not do that. Either they become tired or they look around and see how far they have come. Then they feel that this distance is enough for the rest of their lives.
So maintain your hunger and thirst. Otherwise, you will go back to your ordinary life and your mind will again become totally unspiritual. When you take part in a tug-of-war, so many times you come back five inches and then go five feet forwards. Such a struggle goes on — forwards and backwards. Like that, you have to continue to struggle in order to make progress in the spiritual life.
Question: Sometimes the outer conditions make it difficult to meditate.
Sri Chinmoy: Everybody has the same problem: it is too hot or too cold, or something else. Unfortunately, the world is like that. If you are inside the meditation room, it is too hot. Again, outside the sun is very bright. Either way there is a problem. The place is not good; the sun is bothering you; there is too much noise — in addition to the inner difficulties that you face! But instead of thinking of the difficulties, try to think of it the other way: think of the opportunities. One approach is to think of the hurdles that you face in life. Another approach is to think of the joy that you will get after crossing over the hurdles. You have to say, “If I cross over the hurdles, which I can and I must, then I will be so happy.” This way of seeing things increases your inner and outer capacity.
Sometimes the outer conditions make you feel absolutely miserable when you are meditating. You can easily surrender and say, “It is not my fault. It is nature’s fault.” In this way, you can justify your surrender very nicely. But the other way is to say, “If I can meditate in spite of this opposition, then I will become a better, stronger disciple.” Instead of surrendering to those obstacles, regard them as opportunities to make progress.
Spiritual people are supposed to be warriors. When we face obstacles, we have to conquer them. This has to be our attitude all the time. Otherwise, if we surrender to circumstances, we will never be able to do anything. So if you think of the happiness you will get when you conquer the obstacles that you are presently facing and if you can bring that happiness forward, it will give you added strength. And that strength will give you the capacity to meditate more peacefully.
Published in Sri Chinmoy Answers, part 34
Three Stages of the Mind
by Sri Chinmoy
Question: Does my mind have any special message for me?
Sri Chinmoy: The mind goes through three main stages. First is the sleeping stage, when the mind is fast asleep. Then comes the stage when the mind is awakened, and finally there is the stage when the mind becomes illumined. Again, there are many levels within each stage, but these are the three main categories.
Definitely your mind is not asleep anymore. You are not in ignorance-sleep. Your mind is between the awakened stage and the illumined stage. When you are in the illumined mind, when your soul’s light is powerfully working in your heart and inside your mind, at that time you are saying the right thing to the right person and doing the right thing for the right person. You are telling the right person to do the right thing, but the wrong person you are not telling this. It is not because the wrong person is your enemy or because it is beneath your dignity to tell him. No, only the wrong person’s hour has not struck, and if you tell him to do what for somebody else is absolutely the right thing, it will only expedite the other person’s destruction.
Again, when you are just in the awakened mind, at that time you show kindness and sympathy to people who not only do not deserve it but also misuse what you are offering to them. You will say that once you are kind to them, your task is over. But you have to know that your kindness can be used in a very wrong way. If somebody comes to you and asks for a dollar, because you have a big heart you will give him the dollar. But you have no idea whether the person is good or bad, or what he plans to do with the money. Perhaps he will use it to take a subway or taxi to a church, where he will pray and meditate and try to become a better person. That is very good. Again, perhaps the person will go to a bar and drink and lower his consciousness. Then who is the culprit? You are so happy that you have shown your generosity and charity, but you have actually made a mistake.
You may try to escape by saying, “I did not know.” But an unconscious mistake is still a mistake, and it can produce bad results. Even if unconsciously I touch fire, I will still burn my hand. Similarly, unconsciously you have helped someone become worse than he otherwise might have been. If you had not helped that person, at least for a short while he would have been a slightly better person.
In your case I will give you an example of what is happening. You are showing compassion to people who are misusing it and thus heading towards even greater destruction. When some people give up their spiritual life, you feel sad and miserable. You feel that perhaps if you had not said this or if you had said that, they would not have left the spiritual path — as though you are responsible for their leaving. God cannot save that person from destruction, the Master cannot save that person; but you think that perhaps if you had done something or said something, in some way you could have prevented or delayed that individual’s departure. That is a real mistake. I am saying “you,” but this applies to many people.
It is far better to remain in the awakened mind than in the mire of ignorance-sleep. But the awakened mind may not always have the necessary wisdom to do the right thing. You are awakened to the point where you want to be kind and nice to people. I am not asking you to be indifferent to people — far from it! But kindness has to be accompanied by inner light. If kindness does not carry inner light, then it can be misused very badly.
The awakened mind believes in charity, patience, compassion and so on. Because it is awakened, it feels a vast consciousness entering into it. It is like what happens when somebody’s flower-heart blossoms; at that time the heart becomes big. So the awakened mind immediately looks to this side and that side and tries to do the right thing. Unfortunately, it does not always know what the right thing is or how to use its expanded consciousness correctly.
So it is always good to use the mind that has got direct light from the soul, which comes through the heart. That is the mind that will save you. If you cannot use the illumined mind, then try to remain between the awakened mind and the illumined mind. But do not remain directly in the awakened mind. If you have got a big mind, and with your big mind you are trying to be generous, kind and hospitable, then you will be in trouble.
I am catching your mind; you have made mistakes. You have to know that, when the hour strikes, people come; and again, when the hour strikes, people go. We cannot make them stay on the spiritual path. It is very difficult, because our heart’s magnanimity comes to the fore and we want to use kindness. We see that so-and-so has been with us for so many years. For years and years somebody was on the top of the tree eating most delicious fruit. Now that particular person has come down, and there is every possibility that a hungry wolf or tiger will be waiting at the foot of the tree to devour him. But what can we do? Only at the top of the tree can he be safe.
I tell you, I make the same mistake; but in my case, I do not give up. In your case, you make the mistake and after two days you give up. But because I deal with the soul, I struggle and struggle and struggle. Some people who left our path ten or twelve years ago still very kindly show up at my heart’s door. At that time, my door is still not closed. Are you thinking of someone who left the path ten years ago? For you, enough is enough. But I go on trying to help them.
Published in Sri Chinmoy Answers, part 1
Prayers for the New Year
by Sri Chinmoy
very early in the morning
in Qingdao, China
The new year bravely
Wakes up.
Happy New Year,
Happy New Year!
Be brave, be brave!
No fear, no fear!
Happy New Year,
Happy New Year!
Go forward,
Fly upward,
Dive inward!
No fear, no fear!
Happy New Year!
God the Eye you claim,
God the Heart you claim
And God the Life you claim.
Claim, claim, claim, claim God.
No fear, no fear!
Published in My Early Morning Prayer-Journeys, part 2