March 14

Do We Have the Capacity to Help Others?

A talk by Sri Chinmoy
at the United Nations in New York

Do we have the capacity to help others? Yes, we do. Do we have the capacity to help others in words? Yes, we do. Do we have the capacity to help others in deeds? Yes, we do. Then how is it that we do not help others? We do not help others for various reasons. I wish to cite a few deplorable and painful reasons.The most deplorable reason is a very simple one. We do not want to see happiness in others; we want only our own happiness. By nature, we human beings are cruel to one another. By nature, we do not want to see others happy. When we see that others are happy, we feel that our own little world is totally shattered and destroyed. The animal in us gets happiness from destruction. The human in us gets happiness from division and a sense of separativity. But the divine in us gets satisfaction only from oneness. The divine in us knows nothing else save and except oneness.

So the main reason that we do not help others is because we do not want to see others happy. This is the root cause. This root cause branches into several subsidiary causes. One of the subsidiary causes is that we want the rest of the world to see how important we are. When others come to us for help, we feel that we are indispensable. But when we come to learn that the same people have gone to others for help, we feel that we were right in not helping them. We feel that since the other party did not feel that we were indispensable, since the party went to others, we did the right thing in not helping. In this way we justify our unwillingness to help.

There is human friendship and divine friendship. Human friendship says, "Give me; I need." Divine friendship says, "Take me, for I am all yours." When we exercise our human friendship, we tell the world, "Give us; we need." When we exercise our divine friendship, we tell the world, "Take us, for we are all yours." The human in us has not only failed us time and again, but it will always fail us. The divine in us has always succeeded and will always succeed. This divine success is nothing short of world harmony and universal harmony, world peace and universal peace, world satisfaction and universal satisfaction.

Divine friendship is founded upon oneness. The source of divine friendship, divine love and divine concern is oneness. For this reason, divine friendship is lasting. On the other hand, human friendship on earth is nothing but a rope of sand. We shall not be an inch from truth if we say that most human beings are fair-weather friends. When we are desperate and facing inclement weather, our so-called friends desert us in a twinkling. We come out in the street and see an individual and ask him, "Are you my friend?" He says, "Of course, I am your friend, but on one condition: that you never ask me for a favour." Then we see another individual and ask him, "Are you my friend?" He says, "Of course I am, but on one condition: that I shall be at least one inch superior to you. You have to be under me. If you are ready to be at my beck and call, if you are ready to be at my feet, then I will accept you as my friend."

We see a third individual and say, "Are you my friend?" He answers, "Of course I an; but on one condition: whenever I am in need, you have to come to my rescue. But if ever you are in need, you must not count on me, for I have many, many things to do on earth other than helping you. So, if you want to be my friend, then let your acceptance of me be unconditional."

So, when we are looking for a friend, we are like a helpless beggar. At that time, God our supreme Source is playing the role of the eternal beggar in and through us. He wants to play the role of a veritable beggar and we are extremely grateful to Him that He has chosen us for this; in and through us He will fulfil His begging task. Then God goes to some other individuals and asks them to assist others. He wants to play another role in and through them: the role of the eternal giver the divine friend. But to His wide surprise He gets no response. But since God is compassionate to the needy, He continues trying to find some individuals who will allow Him to play this role in and through them. He is looking for some individuals in and through whom He can fulfil the aspiration-life and the desire-life of those in whom He is playing the role of a beggar. Finally, He finds some souls that are receptive. They are more than willing to abide by His express request, and they come to the rescue of those who are desperately in need of help.

When the seeker needs help, he can only do one thing. He has to dive deep within and bring to the fore his adamantine will. This adamantine will he will place at the Feet of the Absolute Supreme. Then the Absolute Supreme grants His all-fulfilling Compassion-light to the adamantine will of the seeker. When the seeker's will and the Supreme Grace become one and are ready to work together, man's aspiration-world and God's Satisfaction-World make God the Beggar and God the Giver totally fulfilled both in the aspiration-world of earth and the satisfaction-world of Heaven.

Published in The Seeker's Mind

Five Soulful Friends

A talk by Sri Chinmoy
in Honolulu, Hawaii

Dear seekers, dear brothers and sisters, I wish to give a very short talk on perfection, satisfaction, giving, becoming and transcending.

Perfection and satisfaction are one and inseparable. I need perfection. I pray to God to grant me, out of His boundless Bounty, soulful perfection. I want satisfaction. I meditate on God for His fruitful satisfaction. I pray to God sleeplessly not to fulfil my desire-life. I meditate on God for His triumphant manifestation in and through my aspiration-life. My desire-life binds me. My aspiration-life liberates me. My desire-life feeds the animal in me, binds the human in me and blights the divine in me. My aspiration-life silences the animal in me, awakens the human in me and immortalises the divine in me.

Giving and becoming are one and inseparable. I am giving to my Beloved Supreme my ignorance-night. I am giving to mankind an iota of my faith-flame. I am giving to my Beloved Supreme my surrender-heart and gratitude-life. I am giving to mankind my aspiration-cry and dedication-smile. Consciously and constantly I am becoming both God’s messenger and man’s messenger. As a messenger of man, the seeker in me is carrying humanity’s imperfection-sea to God. As a messenger of God, the seeker in me is carrying God’s Compassion-Sky to man.

Becoming and transcending are one and inseparable. I am transcending. At every moment I am transcending, within and without. I am transcending my previous experiences and my previous realisations; I am transcending my earth-bound capacities. At every moment the divine in me, the Supreme in me, is making the impossible possible. At every moment the Singer Supreme within me is singing the song of continuous progress. Continuous progress is founded upon self-giving, and self-giving and God-becoming are one and inseparable.

I am giving. I am becoming. I am transcending. Unconditionally I am giving. Unreservedly I am becoming. Unendingly I am transcending.

The human in us cries for success. The divine in us cries for progress. When we live in the success-world, we see that there is no end to our success-march. Each time we succeed in something, we become dissatisfied, because at that very moment a new goal appears before us and we still feel like veritable beggars. But when we live in the progress-world, although our ultimate Goal is still a far cry, at every moment we are finding satisfaction, because progress itself is all-illumining and all-fulfilling satisfaction. Therefore, a sincere, genuine, soulful seeker will always long for progress and not for success. If he longs for progress, only then will he be able to please and fulfil his Beloved Pilot Supreme in the way that He wants to be pleased and fulfilled. And this is the only way that the seeker himself can be truly satisfied: by pleasing God in His own way.

Each moment the seeker in me is longing for perfection, which is the harbinger of satisfaction. Perfection and satisfaction are always founded upon self-giving, and self-giving is another name for God-becoming. What is God-becoming? God-becoming is nothing other than our conscious and constant realisation of transcending oneness in perfection and transcending perfection in oneness.

Published in AUM – Vol. 6, No. 5, May 1980

Questions and Answers

following the talk

Question: I need aspiration. How can I get it?

Sri Chinmoy: Aspiration you have, but you need more. How can you have more aspiration? You can have more aspiration if you sincerely feel the need for it. When we lead an ordinary life, we want to increase our material possessions, our earthly possessions. Because we cry for earthly possessions in the outer life, eventually we do get them. Similarly, if we want to increase our aspiration, we have to cry inwardly. If we have the inner hunger, the inner cry, then it is bound to be fulfilled.

Look at a flower. When you look at a flower and appreciate the flower, what is it that you are appreciating? You are appreciating the beauty of the flower. The beauty of the flower is carrying God’s Aspiration, God’s Vision, God’s Compassion — many, many good qualities — and that is why you are soulfully appreciating it. But the same beauty that you are appreciating in the flower is also inside you. So when you start appreciating the beauty that you have within, when you start appreciating the aspiration that you have within, at that time your aspiration is bound to increase.

Another thing you can do is imagine that you have a small flame, a tiny flame, inside your heart. Just visualise it. What is this flame doing? It is trying to climb up. It is trying to illumine the unlit part of you. If you can appreciate that flame, then your aspiration will increase.

If you give me something, and immediately I appreciate it and appreciate you, then the capacity of that thing increases, and your own capacity to give also increases. Your daughter garlanded me, and I appreciated it. I thanked her and bowed to the Supreme in her. If I hadn’t paid any attention to her, then the joy that she got from garlanding me she would not have got. Each time we appreciate something, we expand that thing and increase its capacity. If you can imagine inside you a flame that is burning, and if you can appreciate it, then that flame will increase, and its capacity will also increase. Eventually it will become big enough to illumine your heart and your entire being. So, in order to increase your aspiration, please appreciate the burning flame inside you. While you are appreciating it, you will see that your inner cry is increasing.

Question: What is the best way to keep extraneous thoughts out of your mind when you are trying to meditate?

Sri Chinmoy: There are two kinds of thoughts: good thoughts and bad thoughts. One kind is healthy and one kind is unhealthy. Unhealthy thoughts, undivine thoughts, are our enemies, whereas good thoughts, divine thoughts, are our friends. We are standing at the door to our house and somebody is knocking at the door. We have to see whether it is a friend or enemy. If it is a friend, then we will allow him to enter. If it is an enemy, no, we will not allow him. But the difficulty is that sometimes when we open the door just a little, immediately the enemies may force their way in. So what do we do? We don’t open the door at all. We keep the door bolted from inside. Our real friends will not go away. They will think, “Something is wrong with him. Usually he is so kind to us. So there must be some special reason why he is not opening the door.” They have sympathetic oneness, so they will wait indefinitely.

But our enemies want only to bother us, to torture and destroy us. They will wait just for a few minutes. Then, after some time, they will lose all patience and say, “It is beneath our dignity to waste our time here.” These enemies have their pride. They have not conquered pride. They will say, “Who cares? Who needs him? Let us go and attack somebody else.” If we pay no attention to a monkey, the monkey will eventually go away and bite somebody else. It will enter into somebody else’s mind. But our friends will say, “No, we need him and he needs us. We will wait indefinitely for him.” So after a few minutes our enemies will go away. Then we can open the door, and our dearest friends will be there waiting for us.

So, in the beginning, it is best for us not to allow anybody in. We will remain silent for a few minutes and say, “Since I do not know who my friends are and who my enemies are, since I don’t know which thoughts are healthy and divine and which ones are unhealthy and undivine, the best thing is for me to keep my mind totally empty. I will keep my mind’s door shut for a while, and then when I open it, I will see only my friends, the good thoughts, and I will let them enter.”

Question: Would it be best for me to take the Kriya yoga classes that have been offered to me by the woman whose picture I showed you? Is that in my best interest?

Sri Chinmoy: It depends on what you feel from within. If you have faith in that person, then definitely take this Kriya yoga. Take any yoga in which you have faith. On earth there are many teachers. If you have faith in a particular teacher, then you should follow that teacher. At that time, you do not have to ask me, because I won’t be able to create faith in you. I can only tell you that if you have faith, then you should try to increase it. It is like your love of God. If you love God, then I will always say, “Go on, go on and increase your love.” If you have faith in anything or anybody, then you should give your life to that person or that ideal.

What is a disciple? A disciple is one who has faith in a Master. If he has no faith in his Master, then he is not a disciple; he is just an ordinary individual. So if you have faith in that particular lady, then follow her path. But if you do not have faith, and if you ask me about her, then no matter what I say, your mind will immediately argue with me and doubt me. If I say, “She is extremely good,” then if something happens tomorrow and you lose faith, at that time you will blame me. And if I say, “No, she is not good,” then you will say, “Oh, he is just jealous of her.” The human mind is so tricky. If I say, “good,” in a few days you will be assailed by doubt and you will think that I am totally wrong. And if I say “bad,” you will argue inwardly and you will try to prove in so many ways that she is good, she is divine, she is perfect.

The time you are spending in judging me or in assessing her is simply a waste of your own precious time. Only ask your heart: “Do I have faith, implicit faith, in her?” If your heart says, “Yes,” then forget about me, forget about the rest of the world. But if your heart says, “No, I don’t have implicit faith,” then she is not the right person for you. Your faith is your saviour. What more can I say? Your faith, your inner faith, will always save you. Nothing else can save you.

Question: Sri Chinmoy, why is it that I feel more divinity in a flower than in a piece of wood? Isn’t divinity in everything?

Sri Chinmoy: Divinity is in everything. But in some things or in some individuals, we see divinity more manifested. What you call darkness has inside it infinitesimal light. Again, there is no end to light: there is effulgent light, boundless light, infinite Light. Here you are seeing light. But this light can be immensely increased.

God is manifesting in and through me, in and through you, in and through everyone. In the flower-consciousness God wanted to establish a certain amount of beauty. God did not feel it necessary to make this wall or a piece of wood as beautiful as a flower. But that doesn’t mean that God is unkind to the wood or to the wall. No, only in a game or in a play, let us say, there will be a king and there will be a slave. Also, there will be ordinary people. All these different roles are necessary. You can’t have a play with nothing but kings. No, you will need kings, ministers, subjects and so forth in order to have a good play.

Here, also, many different things are necessary. If you want to appreciate God’s Beauty aspect, then He will put a flower, or the stars, or a most beautiful child in front of you. If you want to appreciate His Power aspect, then immediately God will bring an elephant or a lion in front of you. If you want to appreciate God’s Vastness, then immediately He will bring the vast sky in front of you, or the sea. Again, if God wants you to appreciate His infinitesimal, tiniest part, then He will put right in front of you an atom. So it is up to God what aspect of His He wants you to appreciate. God has all aspects; He has all attributes. But He has decided that He wants you to appreciate one particular aspect of Him more than other aspects. God has already decided whether you will appreciate His Beauty aspect, or Power aspect or some other aspect.

Again, today God may want you to appreciate His Beauty aspect, tomorrow He may want you to appreciate His Peace aspect and the day after tomorrow He may want you to appreciate His Power aspect. But whatever aspect you are meant to appreciate, God will put inside your consciousness that particular aspect.

Question: What is the difference between concentration, meditation and contemplation?

Sri Chinmoy: First comes concentration, then comes meditation and then comes contemplation. They are like three rungs of a ladder. First you concentrate, then you meditate and then you contemplate. If the first rung is missing, you may lose your footing.

When you concentrate, you try to focus your one-pointed attention on a small object. If you want, you can concentrate on your fingernail. Then, like a bullet or an arrow, your concentration-power has to penetrate into the object.

Meditation is totally different. Meditation is vastness. In meditation, you are dealing with the vast sky or the vast sea — anything that is larger than the largest. In meditation you try to make your mind calm, quiet, tranquil and vacant so that you can become one with the Vast. When you are concentrating, you are concentrating on the smallest possible thing. Like an arrow, you are trying to pierce the veil of ignorance. When you are meditating, you are dealing with what is vaster than the vastest. All around, you are seeing Infinity.

Then, when you are contemplating, at that time you enter into your Supreme Beloved and become inseparably one with Him. One moment you will be playing the role of the divine lover and He will be playing the role of the Supreme Beloved. The next moment you will reverse roles. On the basis of your oneness, and out of His infinite Bounty, He will make you feel that you are the Beloved and He is the divine lover.

During meditation, a softness and sweetness and one-pointed adoration will come forward. But in contemplation, you are merging into something and becoming something. During meditation, you do not become; only you see something that is vaster than the vastest. But when you are contemplating, you become the object of your adoration. Inside contemplation there is concentration and also meditation.

Question: In concentration, we must concentrate on something small and in meditation we must concentrate on something large?

Sri Chinmoy: During meditation we are not concentrating. At that time, we are just feeling and observing the vastness around us. In contemplation, we are merging into the Supreme Reality and becoming inseparably one with that Reality. God the Creator and God the creation are becoming one in contemplation.

Question: Is evil simply the absence of God’s Presence, or is it an actual force?

Sri Chinmoy: It is a force. God’s Presence is everywhere, but we can say that evil is a force that has less light or insufficient light or insignificant light. Anything that has insufficient light we call a harmful or destructive force. From the spiritual point of view, there is no such thing as evil; it is only that something is less perfect, less illumined and less fulfilling.

First we have an iota of light and peace, and gradually, gradually we increase it until we have infinite Light and infinite Peace. If we take this iota of light, which we had in the beginning, and compare it with the infinite Light we will eventually have, immediately we see a vast difference. Our iota of peace or light can easily be assailed by fear, doubt, anxiety or jealousy because it is so small and weak. But if it makes friends with these unillumined forces, we don’t say at that time that it becomes an evil force.

If I am suffering from worries and anxieties, these are my possessions or I am their possession. But I am still a seeker. Some of the time I am consciously crying for God’s Peace, Light and Bliss. Inside me I have always an inner cry, so how can I be an evil force? But I have not fully realised my divinity. I have very little light, but I do have some light. Anything that has light in a very insignificant measure and, at the same time, does not add to our divinity, we can call evil.

Right now we do not have boundless light or boundless peace at our disposal. We have inside us a tiny drop of light, a tiny drop of peace. If we know that we have or we are a tiny drop, then let us jump into the sea of light and become the sea itself. Let us not be afraid. There is nothing in the sea to devour us or kill us. Others are swimming in the sea, so let us also jump into the sea.

The little forces and big forces that we call destructive we have to throw into the effulgence of light. The part of us that is keeping a sense of separativity, the small portion that wants to enjoy its sense of individuality or personality, is not actually evil. It is creating problems for us because it is unwilling to become unlimited. Anything that is limited, anything that does not aspire to become unlimited, we may see as evil, but the real problem is that it is limited. If we can throw that limited reality into the unlimited by virtue of our inner cry and aspiration, then that limited thing will become unlimited. Once the drop enters into the ocean it becomes part and parcel of the vast ocean. If the limited thing can be enlarged and made unlimited, then where is the so-called evil?

Question: Can you speak about the doubting mind? Is it something we have to crucify?

Sri Chinmoy: Crucifixion is not the answer. Illumination is the answer. Today my mind is very bad. It is doubting and creating so many problems. So I destroy my mind. Then tomorrow I start having problems with my vital. My desiring vital is desperately trying to strangle my aspiration; therefore, I destroy my vital. The day after tomorrow I see that my body is extremely lethargic.

It does not want to get up early in the morning; it wants to remain always sleeping. So I destroy my body. In this way, if I go on destroying, I will have nothing left. I will have no body, no vital, no mind, nothing.

Destruction is not the answer. The answer is transformation. We have to transform and transcend. If the body is lethargic, I will inspire and compel the body to get up. To my vital I will say, “Instead of strangling someone, go and help him. You have strength enough; just help him.” If my mind is doubting, I will compel my mind to have faith.

Always we have to take the positive side. Instead of destroying the lethargic body, we will make it active. The destructive vital we will try to make dynamic. And into the doubting mind we will instill faith, implicit faith. Instead of destroying anything, we will only illumine and transform it. We will replace doubt with faith, destruction with dynamism, lethargy with wakefulness. We should never destroy anything. God sent us here to do some work for Him. Everything that we have and everything that we are is imperfect, but God does not want us to destroy ourselves. He wants us to transform ourselves and become perfect. He has given us the message of perfection. If something in us is imperfect, then let us make that particular thing perfect. Only then will God be pleased with us. God created us not for destruction but for perfection, so that He can enjoy satisfaction in and through us.

Published in AUM – Vol. 6, No. 5, May 1980