God and Truth
A talk by Sri Chinmoy
in the Peace Room of the United Nations Church Centre
God expresses Himself through Silence. God expands Himself through Light. God unites Himself with His Creation through Delight.
Man's outer life needs God's Silence. Man's inner life needs God's Light. Man's higher life needs God's Delight.
Again, man is God's Hope. Man is God's Smile. Man is God's Pride. Man is God's Hope in his inner life, man is God's Smile in his higher life and man is God's Pride in his outer life.
God's Hope is man's possibility. God's Smile is man's ability. God's Pride is man's necessity.
Truth, the ultimate Truth, plays its role in three different stages of evolution: objective, subjective and absolute. In the objective, Truth is man's searching consciousness; in the subjective, Truth is man's awakening Divinity; and in the absolute, Truth is man's fulfilling Reality.
In Reality man sees the Truth in its universal form. In Divinity man sees the Truth in its theoretical form. In consciousness man sees the Truth in its practical form.
Published in The Garland of Nation-Souls
Stories by Sri Chinmoy
at his home in Jamaica, New York
Heaven and hell are side by side
I went to the hospital to visit my Chinese doctor. An Indian lady doctor was in the room. I said to her, “He is alive. Can you try again to revive him?”
She did not want to do anything. Then a disciple who was with me contacted another doctor who was the disciple's friend, and he said something to the lady doctor. Finally she condescended to look at the patient. She did not take even a second. She said, "Oh, he is dead."
I went home, knowing perfectly well that my Chinese doctor was still alive. If there had been a sympathetic doctor available who really trusted me, he or she would have examined the patient and tried to do something. But this lady did not care. What a sad experience that doctor gave me! This was the worst possible experience.
Again, I also had the best possible experience. Many, many years ago my dearest Brother-Friend Alexandr Razvin* was in the hospital, and I went to see him. He said to me, “Sri Chinmoy, do not worry! I have an excellent doctor, an excellent doctor! She will cure me.”
This doctor, who was also an Indian lady, immediately said, “Oh, no, no, no, no, no! Swamiji is the one to cure you, Swamiji is the one to cure you!”
Then the doctor asked me if I would be staying there for a few minutes. I said, “Definitely I will stay.” What did she do? She went downstairs and brought her husband. The husband fell at my feet. The doctor said, “He has been longing, longing to meet with you.” She was so happy! That was an excellent experience.
That Indian lady doctor gave me the experience of Heaven. How devotedly she spoke to me! She went downstairs and brought her husband because she knew that her husband had tremendous admiration for me.
Heaven and hell go together. They are side by side.
* Alexandr Razvin, who served for many years in the USSR Ministry of Foreign Affairs and became Russia’s Ambassador and Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations in 1994, was a dear friend of Sri Chinmoy’s. He departed this world on 10 March 1998.
Published in The Temple and the Shrine
Never retire!
I beg all the disciples, never retire, never retire! Retirement stands against enlightenment. If you retire, then your life-energy, your mental strength, everything disappears, unless you can be very, very active. Retirement is just the opposite of enlightenment. Never retire! Work as long as you can! By your own choice I never, never advise you to retire. But if the organisation has a fixed retirement age, you are helpless.
Those of you who are serving the United Nations, I will be very, very happy if you can continue as long as possible. True, the United Nations is not perfect. Is there any place that is perfect? Is anybody perfect in God’s Creation? In comparison to other places, the United Nations, as it is, is Heaven. Some individual bosses or colleagues may be undivine, but the soul and heart of the United Nations will always remain the goal of goals for humanity. Life is complicated; the mind is complicated. To transform the mind and the life of the United Nations, spirituality is needed.
Again, I am so grateful to my spiritual children who come to meditate at the UN in my absence. Those who come to meditate when I am not present deserve my boundless love, affection and admiration. Those who come to pray and meditate for fifteen minutes in my physical absence I can say are my true, true disciples. They value my inner existence; they value my God-realisation; they value me.
Published in The Temple and the Shrine
Those who stay to the very end
At our Aspiration-Ground, some disciples are very good. They stay to the very, very end of our functions. And again, to my greatest joy, there are some disciples who would be gladly willing to stay indefinitely. If I were to stay there for three hours or four hours, they would stay.
Some may say that those are fanatic disciples, or that they have nothing else to do. I do not see eye-to-eye with those critics. Only because of their love for me, because of their oneness with my soul, my heart and my life, those disciples are more than ready, more than willing, more than eager to stay at the Aspiration-Ground as long as I stay. Like that there are some super-super-disciples.
Those who stay with me, even when I cut jokes, know the meaning of satsang: meeting with spiritual people. Sri Aurobindo’s story, ‘The Ideal of Forgiveness’, perhaps you have read. Vishwamitra came to kill the sage Vashishtha. He was in Vashishtha’s presence for only a few minutes. When he saw Vashishtha’s forgiveness-capacity, he bowed and touched Vashishtha’s feet.
Then, when Vishwamitra wanted to be initiated, Vashishtha sent him to another place. There Ananta Dev told him that he had to hold the world. Then only Ananta Dev would initiate him. Alas, the whole world was collapsing on Vishwamitra.
Vishwamitra was praying to Ananta Dev to save him. Ananta Dev said to Vishwamitra, "Just tell me, were you ever in the company of a spiritual person?"
Vishwamitra said, “Oh, I was with Vashishtha for a few minutes.”
"Then think of him, and think of the incident."
Vishwamitra thought of Vashishtha, and then the whole world became calm and quiet.
In India, seekers give utmost importance to the company of religious and spiritual people. I am your spiritual Master. Perhaps I am one step ahead of the ordinary spiritual people.
There are many, many seekers and disciples who do not feel that familiarity breeds contempt. That idea is not in their philosophy. They feel that, the longer they can stay with the Master, the more they receive. Even when he cuts jokes, when he is absolutely one with them and enjoying hilarious laughter, they feel that their souls are being fed, their hearts are being fed, their lives are being fed. I do have quite a few disciples like that. Again, there are those seekers who value their comfort more than their Master’s company. One hour of meditation is enough for them.
Everything is being recorded, recorded in the inner history: who cares for me, who loves me. Some disciples stay on the spiritual path for other reasons. But those who stay out of their heart’s love and their soul’s love are my true disciples.
Needless to say, here I end. I cannot say anything more.
Published in The Temple and the Shrine