The Secret Supreme
A lecture by Sri Chinmoy
at the University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, North Dakota
The Secret Supreme is the Supreme Himself. He can be seen. He can be felt. He can be realised. When He is seen, He is Existence. When He is felt, He is Consciousness. When He is realised, He is Delight. In His embodiment of Existence, He is Eternal. In His revelation of Consciousness, He is Infinite. In His manifestation of Delight, He is Immortal. His Vision Transcendental and His Reality Absolute are man’s future achievements. Man’s expanding love, crying devotion and glowing surrender are God’s future possessions.
God is at once finite and Infinite. He is in space. He can be measured. He must be measured. He is beyond space. He is measureless. He is boundless. He is Infinite. Smaller than the point of a needle is He. Larger than the seven higher worlds and seven lower worlds combined is He. In His Heart is earth’s suffering. In His Soul is heaven’s joy. Secretly He tells earth, “My child, I am yours. I am at your service. Use Me. Lo, you and I are fulfilled.” Openly He tells heaven, “My child, you are Mine. You are at My service. Bend your head and go and give My Vision’s Light and Reality’s Height to your brother earth, younger in wisdom, older in patience.”
The Secret Supreme is the Knowledge Supreme. This Knowledge is the song of liberation. This Knowledge is the dance of revelation. This Knowledge is the silence of perfection. When a man is liberated, he sits at the Feet of God. When a man reveals the highest Truth, he plays in the Heart of God. When a man is perfectly perfect, God will shake hands with him. Rest assured, one day God will send that perfect son of His into the world.
The world tells you a frightening secret: God is austere, God is demanding, God is stern. I tell you an illumining secret: God is reachable, God is lovable, God is enjoyable. When your mind is calm, God is reachable. When your heart is pure, God is lovable. When your soul is sure, God is enjoyable.
For God’s sake, do not be afraid of Him. He not only enjoys but appreciates your jokes. Your innocent jokes delight Him. The Vedic seer is now singing in you, through you and for you: “If, O God, Thou wert I, and I were Thee, Thy prayers should have their due fulfilment here and now.”
And for your own sake, for your own joy and pride, you can sing along with the Vedic seers: “O God, Thee I shall not sell for the highest price, not for a thousand, not for ten thousand, not for an amount measureless, O my Lord Supreme of Infinity’s Plenitude.”
Self-realisation is the Secret Supreme. Right now we are in both ignorance and knowledge. The Isha Upanishad teaches us that ignorance and knowledge should be pursued together. Through ignorance, we must conquer death. Through knowledge, we must obtain Immortality. Here ignorance means ritualistic actions, actions done for the sake of fruits. And knowledge means the deepest meditation that makes man consciously one with God; action done to fulfil God here on earth, there in heaven; truth for truth’s sake.
The world tells me that human birth is the worst possible curse. I tell the world that human birth is the best possible opportunity. India’s peerless Avatar (direct descendant of God) Sri Krishna has something more to tell the world. He says, “Blessed is the human birth; even the dwellers in heaven desire this birth, for God-Realisation is attained only by human beings here on earth.”
Dear North Dakotans, dear friends, dear brothers and sisters, I have come to you to speak on the Secret Supreme. I wish to spring a surprise on you. With my soulful joy and in all sincerity, I wish to tell you that your own state and your own university have secretly and most open-heartedly taught me the Supreme Secret. The dedicated motto of the state of North-Dakota has taught me the Supreme Secret: “Liberty and Union, Now and Forever, One and Inseparable.” The aspiring motto of the University of North Dakota has taught me the Supreme Secret: “Light and Law.” With your kind permission I wish to say a few words on these two divine mottoes. To start with the State motto, liberty means responsibility. Whose responsibility? God’s responsibility. When a man is liberated from the meshes of ignorance, God acts in him proudly, God acts through him unreservedly, God acts for him unconditionally.
Lord Halifax once aptly remarked, “If none were to have liberty but those who understand what it is, there would not be many free men in he world.”
We shall all have liberty, both inner and outer. The inner liberty is the highest realisation of the absolute Truth. The outer liberty is the most successful manifestation of Divinity’s perfect Perfection on earth.
Union, man’s union with God: God is consciously and fully aware of it. Before long he too will be consciously and fully aware of this union. In man’s union with God, we see man the soulful gratitude. In God’s union with man, we see God the Compassion-Flood.
Now and forever: once liberty has given birth to man’s union with God, or man’s union with God has given birth to his liberty, man’s life starts living forever in the Eternal Now.
One and inseparable: Liberty and union are inseparable because they have to enlighten each other. Now and forever are inseparable because they have to feed each other. Man and God are inseparable because they have to fulfil each other.
It is time for us to dive into the life-growing and soul-fulfilling sea of the university motto: Lux et Lex, Light and Law.
Light is not a theoretical knowledge, but a practical wisdom. Law, the Divine Law, is not a command, but an experience. Man’s inspiration expands through the bliss of Light. Man’s aspiration ascends through the peace of Law. The spiritual Light has an inner glow that illumines the outer life. The unspiritual light has an outer glare that obscures the inner life. When an aspirant lives in Light, he is the doer. When an aspirant lives in the Divine Law, he is the knower. The difference between an ordinary man and an aspirant is this: an ordinary man wants to be defended by the law, although he himself will not care for or follow the law, whereas an aspirant will soulfully, unreservedly and unconditionally defend the law. Law is truth. We have to know how to use the truth in our daily activities.
A truth that is told with bad intent
Beats all the lies you can invent.— William Blake
This is true, absolutely true. We must always tell the truth with divine intent. Our truth must be flooded with love, concern and oneness. Our truth must illumine and not blind. Our truth must liberate and not bind. Finally, I wish to say with regard to the university motto that Light is the weight of the universal Soul, and Law is the height of the transcendental Soul.
The Secret Supreme. If you want to realise the Secret Supreme, you have to meditate. You have to know how to meditate. And for that you need a spiritual teacher. Until you have a teacher of your own, you have to meditate all alone. During your meditation, do not be afraid of anything. Fear is something you can and must give up. God’s constant Love is something you can and must have. Your fear kills God’s Love. Your aspiration for God-Realisation and your surrender to God’s Will kill all your fear, born and yet to be born. Harbor divine confidence in the inmost recesses of your heart. Confidence is the secret of success. Hope is the secret of attempts. Doubt is poison. Doubt destroys your life of aspiration sooner than immediately. During your meditation, do not fight against evil thoughts. If you constantly fight against evil thoughts, you will, to your great surprise, only strengthen them. But if you open yourself to divine thoughts, evil thoughts will have no need for you. They will be terribly jealous of your divine thoughts and in no time will leave you. During your meditation, try to cultivate divine Love. Try to love humanity soulfully. You may say, “How can I love others when I do not know how to love myself?” I will tell you how you can love yourself. You can love yourself most successfully just by loving God unreservedly. You may ask, “How can I love God when I do not know what Love is?” I will tell you what Love is. Love is the transforming power in our human nature. Love transforms our life of stark bondage into the life of mightiest freedom. Love cries for Life. Love fights for Life. And, finally, Love grows into the Life Eternal.
The Secret Supreme is God-Realisation, nothing more and nothing less. Yesterday my ignorance unconsciously offered me to God. Today my knowledge consciously offers God to me. In my unconscious awareness of God, neither God nor I am fulfilled. In my conscious oneness with God, both God and I are fully fulfilled.
Published in Eastern Light for the Western Mind
Ten Divine Secrets
The day after Dulal's birthday, he asked Sri Chinmoy to reveal some of his inner secrets for the benefit of the disciples. The following is Sri Chinmoy's reply:
Miracles
In the outer world a miracle is something unusual that fascinates the human in us. In the inner world a miracle is a common experience-reality. In the outer world each miracle creates tremendous confusion in the human mind. It fascinates the mind but, at the same time, it detracts from the spiritual reality. But in the inner world every so-called miracle is only an incident, a happening, a necessity so that the outer life can be awakened, perfected and fulfilled without falling prey to doubt, fear, frustration and impurity. There is not a single day when I do not perform hundreds of miracles in the inner world. But when I do something in the outer world directly and immediately, then it becomes an astonishment, something fantastic, which may create problems. This is one secret.
The reality of the inner world
When I sing or play instruments, no matter how badly I play or sing, no matter how many mistakes I make, my realisation remains the same. When I play, some disciples inwardly laugh and others just fall asleep. But you have to know that whenever I do anything in the outer world, quite a few things happen in the inner world. Each time I do something significant for humanity, the cosmic gods and spiritual Masters of the highest order come to appreciate it. I am their brother; I am one with them. When I do something, they come and garland me.
But what am I going to do with the human beings who are living in the world of insecurity, impurity and jealousy? Shall I take them as the reality and the inner world as the dream? Or shall I take them as the dream and the inner world as the reality? The inner world is much more real to me. When I look at you, I see inside you the Supreme, and also I see your human imperfection. I see the real inside you and, at the same time, something else which is not real. I see the divine and the human. Within each human being, it is the same Supreme, but in the outer expression it is totally different.
Insecurity and complacency
I always say that insecurity is very bad. Why should you be insecure? Oneness is the only reality. He who has established oneness with God has no insecurity. But until that oneness is established, the seeker has to be very careful. He must always remember that he has come here to become God’s perfect instrument. If he does not become a perfect instrument and please God in His own Way, then the fulfilment of the Master’s mission will remain a far cry. Every hour and every day he should think, “Let me become a perfect instrument.” Even if he is highly appreciated in the outer world, he should not have a complacent feeling. If he does, he will not strive to become better and he will not make any progress.
God is transcending Himself at every moment. Our part in God’s cosmic Game is to know that we need perfection and then to strive for perfection — the ultimate perfection which is always transcending itself. If we feel insecure because we have not reached our goal and because we are still imperfect, then that kind of insecurity is helpful. We are imperfect and we know it, but we are in no way trying to increase other people’s insecurity. If we have this kind of insecurity, then every day we will try to make progress until we become perfect instruments of God. This sense of insecurity helps us. When we feel miserable that God-realisation is a far cry for us, our next step will be to strive to make progress.
Some disciples become complacent because they get outer affection from me. But perfection will remain a million miles away from them if they do not constantly increase their desire for self-perfection.
Fighting in the inner worlds
The other day we were watching Muhammad Ali fighting on the television. One of the disciples asked me, “How can you watch that kind of fighting? It is so brutal!” So I told her that several weeks ago two of my disciples fought in the inner worlds, and their fight was infinitely more brutal. She herself had fought with someone in the vital worlds a month or so before that time.
If you are fighting or boxing in the outer world, you may break your nose or your shoulder and then have to stop. But if you are fighting in the inner world, especially in the vital world, your inner capacities can be permanently damaged or totally destroyed. You can lose all faith in your inner reality, in God and in your Guru. When faith loses to doubt, your spiritual life is ended.
When I see disciples fighting or being jealous in the outer world, sometimes I just ignore them. In comparison to what can happen in the inner world, it is nothing. I direct my attention to the inner world. My whole concern is for their inner life. Their quarrelling outer nature will be transformed in a minute when their inner life is illumined.
Inner work
Just because I am eating or talking, some people may think my spiritual life is forgotten. But they have to know that in the inner world I can do many things at one time. When someone drives a car, he is doing all kinds of things at the same time. He is looking ahead and also glancing in the rear view mirror and to the side. He uses his feet and his hands to operate the car and, at the same time, he may be talking or listening to the radio. An ordinary man has enough power of concentration to do many things at one time, but only on the outer plane. A Yogi can do all these things on the outer plane and many other things on the inner plane simultaneously. I go very high in the inner world while outwardly I am talking or joking. This is another secret that I have to offer.
Feeding the disciples' souls
Believe it or not, every day I feed the disciples' souls. As it is the bounden duty of the mother to feed her children every day, whether the children want to eat or not, so it is my duty to feed my divine children who are here on earth and also the disciples who have passed away. I also feed many who are not my disciples but who have seen who I am.
There are times when I visit you in a subtle body while you sleep. Like a nurse, I go with utmost compassion to check on you to see if everything is all right and to make sure that the wrong forces are not operating inside you. If I see that you are all right, I quietly leave. Many times you see me, but before you get up other forces operate and you forget that I was there. The experience of my presence can last three or four days; again, it will not last even five minutes if ignorance, like a cloud, veils the mind.
Disciples who have left the path
Quite a few disciples have left our path and I have asked a few to leave. I wish to say that those who have left us have gone out of one room and are staying in another room. I have two rooms belonging to me. If they were to remain in this room, they would disturb the others who are there. So I have asked them, either inwardly or outwardly, to enter into the room of the universal heart. The first room is for the select few who are crying for realisation and who are ready to give utmost importance to realisation. Those who have the capacity to run fast, those who have the same standard, should stay together. The tiger and the goat are both animals, but how can one put a tiger and a goat together?
Disciples who have left, or whom I have asked to leave, do not stay with the select few in my family, but they do stay within my universal heart. Is there anything apart from the universal heart? No, there is nothing. So how can we say that someone has gone out of my heart? But my personal heart, which also houses Infinity and Immortality, is eager to help those of you who still remain in my boat. It is ready to offer realisation, perfection and satisfaction to you as soon as possible, whereas the others will have to take time. They belong to Eternity. But for you Eternity beckons now. For you God’s Hour has struck. They will also reach the goal, but you have learned the value of time.
The eternal newness of life
There is no end to our realisation; there is no end to our manifestation. There is always something new to achieve or become. Those who do not live the life of the heart are like broken records. They keep playing the same ignorance-tune over and over. But if we are seekers, every day we have to make a new record, sing a new song, discover a new melody. Those in my boat who are consciously aspiring are singing a new song every day.
Dealing with wrong forces
Sometimes wrong forces attack the disciples because the disciples have done quite a few things wrong. When the forces attack them, they suffer. Then they ask for an interview. They feel that if I talk to them, it will be all over. But I have observed inwardly why they are suffering. I know that if I give them outer attention, their suffering will become worse. It has often been my experience with the wrong forces that as soon as they see love and compassion in the outer world, they attack more violently. When these forces see me coming with love, concern and affection on the outer plane, they attack most powerfully because they are most powerfully threatened. It is like a last effort. Their attack is so powerful that the victim identifies with it and surrenders to them. Then he becomes an instrument of the wrong forces and his depression and frustration increase. It has happened many times. When the depressed person asks for an interview, I don’t give it because I know what the consequences will be. I know he is suffering, but I must not feed the destructive aspect. This is why very often I deal with the disciples only in the inner world — with utmost compassion, love and concern. Although I may appear to ignore you in the outer world, you have to know that I am not ignoring you in the inner world.
When depression and frustration loom large in your life, if you want to receive my light, you have to bring some receptivity. You will be able to receive my cure according to your receptivity. What is your receptivity? Your receptivity is your cheerfulness. You have no receptivity when you are depressed, so there is nothing that can be done outwardly. If a patient is dead, what can the doctor do? No matter how many injections the doctor gives him, the patient cannot be cured. Only when there is a little life-energy left is there some hope. If the patient starts with a little cheerfulness, which is spiritual life-energy, then your Guru-doctor will be able to feed that cheerfulness immediately. Even if you have been suffering for a long time, if you come to me with cheerfulness, I can cure your suffering. Your cheerfulness is the bud that will blossom. But if there is no bud, then how can you eventually have a flower? So you have to come with receptivity. If you show inner cheerfulness, then I am ready to help you outwardly as well as inwardly. But without your cheerfulness, the minute I try outwardly to help you, that same minute I will fail and your depression will become infinitely worse. So you must bring some cheerfulness to save yourself.
Outwardly, I try so many times to please the disciples in their own way, so that they will also please me in my own way. If I please them ten times in their own way, I feel that they should try to please me at least once in my own way. But human desire knows no end. The more I try to please them, the more they compel me to please them. I feel that they should at least act like gentlemen: If I please them ten times, then they should please me at least once. But they want to please ignorance instead and they don’t please me even one time. If they did please me, they would be able to open up to light, to compassion and to delight. But instead, the disciples say, “You have not given me an interview. You are not pleasing me. You are doing many things wrong. You smiled at someone else and made me jealous. You do something wrong and make me suffer and then you just watch. You just sit there painting or playing the flute. You are fooling us and you won’t fulfil any of our needs.” When the disciples feel this, then what can I do? I am helpless.
Fulfilment of desires
I have not come into the world to fulfil your desires; I have come to fulfil the divine Will. If you have desires, you have to be responsible for the fulfilment of those desires. But I wish to tell you that those who have given up the inner life to fulfil their desires have found only frustration. Either they have not been able to fulfil their desires or they have found that fulfilling their desires has not given them any true satisfaction. So let us be wise: let us walk along another way. I am your guide. Previously, you listened to the mind and were disappointed. But the heart is the true reality. You are searching for light, but you have not yet achieved it. The heart has told you to take my guidance. When you want to do something, if the teacher tells you not to do it, you should not do it. If I don’t allow you to do something, it is because it is not God’s Will. You have come to me with an age-old disease: ignorance. Just allow me to cure you. Ignorance has ruled you for millennia, because you have been trying to please your desires. Now try to please your aspiration. God’s Hour will strike without fail.
These supreme secrets are my gifts to you, These are real inner secrets that I think will be of benefit to you in your inner life. If you are not aware of them, try to be aware. Other inner secrets will be difficult for you to grasp. They are also true, but they will not help you in any way. If all the disciples listen to these secrets which I have just told you, they will be able to run the fastest. Otherwise, they may stumble and fall on the road.
Published in Ten Divine Secrets