Questions
The following questions are answered by Sri Chinmoy at the First Unitarian Church, in San Francisco, California.
Question: How can we protect ourselves from the mind and from making a Himalayan mistake, especially when we are making decisions or judgements?
Sri Chinmoy: It is a mistake to think that only with the mind you can calculate or judge things. This is a false distinction that we have given the mind. We are told by our parents and our teachers that only the mind can judge or make decisions; no other member of our earthly existence can do it. But this is not true. The heart can do it far better than the mind, and so can the soul. We have to consciously say to the mind, "I don't accept you as a reality superior to the heart. You are a reality, and I don't deny your existence, but just because in the outer body you are a few inches higher than the heart, that does not mean that in inner maturity, in spiritual development, you are superior to the heart. Far from it." On the physical plane there are many here who are taller than me, but in terms of heart-power, I think I am one inch taller than you. Just because my heart is one inch larger than yours, your head is surrendering to me. Now you have to convince your mind that it is no match for the height of your own heart.
The mind has many things to do: add, subtract, multiply and divide. The heart has only one thing to do: to feel oneness. When it feels oneness, it grows into perfection. We must always feel that the heart is far superior to the mind. Unfortunately we do not do this. We have been trained by our parents, by our teachers, by our environment that the mind is superior, but it is not. Every day the mind digs a grave for us, but the heart will never do this. The heart always tries to save us; yet we take the mind's side.
At the end of our life's journey we should ask, "What has the mind taught us?" The physical mind, the earthbound mind has given us only information. If you can tell me who all the Presidents of the United States were, what do you gain? Only that others will say that you are not an idiot. This is what the mind can offer. But if you can identify yourself soulfully, with utmost love and concern, with whoever the President is, then you are becoming one with God's creation. Only oneness with another creation of God will give you real satisfaction. You are a petal of a flower. Becoming one with another petal will give you tremendous joy. Just by knowing who the President is, you do not gain anything. You have only mental knowledge. But by becoming one with the soul of the President, you will receive tremendous joy. This joy you will never be able to receive from the mind.
If you become sincere, you will try to unlearn what the mind has taught you. You have learned too much; now try to unlearn. There are millions of things which you can unlearn. If you unlearn them today, you will not suffer so much. You are suffering because you have learned too much. The mind has learned many undivine things. If you can unlearn those things, you will be safe.
In the case of the heart there is nothing to unlearn. The heart has discovered the Supreme. The physical mind is nothing but information. We also have the intuitive mind, which is a higher mind, the overmind, the illumined mind and the supermind. These are not like the earthbound mind inside the head. In our spiritual development we can learn to use these higher minds. There we can have a quiet, calm and tranquil mind, and we can achieve boundless peace in the mind. But unfortunately we do not have access to these minds, or these levels of consciousness. We live only in the physical mind, which at every second is dividing us, separating us from others. It even separates us, in a very clever way, from its own outer life. In this respect children are far better than we. They do not use their minds. They live in the heart.
Question: Why is God sometimes referred to as “nameless”?
Sri Chinmoy: Everything that God has and is, is unlimited. God is eternally unlimited in all His aspects. "Nameless" is a term which we apply to God for different reasons before we have realised God and after we have realised God. Before we have realised God, we swim in the sea of ignorance. We do not know who God is or what God is; therefore, He is nameless. Once we have realised who He is and what He is, again we feel and we see that He is nameless, for His qualities cannot be grasped by the human mind. Eternity cannot be bound by name and form; Infinity cannot be bound by name and form; Immortality cannot be bound by name and form.
In God, Infinity itself is transcending its own Infinity; Eternity is transcending its own Eternity; and Immortality is transcending its own Immortality. Therefore, we cannot name God or give any form to His ever-transcending Reality; so again, God becomes nameless to us.
Question: How can we come to the realisation of God?
Sri Chinmoy: We can come to the realisation of God only when we feel that all that we have and all that we are cannot give us true satisfaction, not even an iota of true satisfaction. Material wealth, earthly achievements, cannot give us lasting satisfaction. Therefore, we dive deep within in order to discover if there is anything or anyone who can grant us satisfaction. Then there comes a time when our soul comes to the fore and convinces the doubting mind that there is a divine Reality in the inmost recesses of our heart, which is eternally flooded with Light and Delight. As outer hunger compels us to eat earthly food, our inner hunger will compel us to eat heavenly food. This heavenly food we call aspiration. When we aspire, slowly, steadily and unerringly, we come to the realisation of our Beloved Supreme.
Question: How can we stay on God’s Path without getting lost?
Sri Chinmoy: We can remain on God's Path without getting lost if our cry remains sincere and genuine. If a child cries on the first floor and the mother happens to be on the third floor, the mother comes down to the child because she knows that the cry of the child is intense, sincere and genuine. Similarly, when our inner cry is sincere and genuine, God feeds us with His Compassion-Light. Once we are fed by His Compassion-Light, without the least possible hesitation we can walk along God's Sunlit Path.
Question: What is the difference between jnana and vijnana?
Sri Chinmoy: jnana is knowledge and Vijnana is superknowledge. jnana, or earthly knowledge, is all information. Vijnana has two meanings: one is "science," the other is "Supreme discovery." Vijnana is infinitely superior to the so-called mental knowledge, or what we call book-learning or world-information. It is a superior type of knowledge, which is founded upon one's inner discovery. The inferior type of knowledge is jnana, which is desire-bound and earth-bound. Vijnana is Heaven-free. It is not bound by time or space. Anything that inspires us to become universal, to grow into the transcendental reality, is Vijnana. Anything that instigates us to bind the world is jnana. The higher knowledge inspires us to swim across the sea of light and delight, to fly in the vast welkin of peace, light and delight. The lesser knowledge instigates us to bind anything that we see around us.
Question: Can our own feelings or ideas about the nature of our ultimate spiritual goal hinder or interfere with our deeper perception of reality?
Sri Chinmoy: Sometimes it does, sometimes it does not. It depends entirely on what kind of belief the seeker is dealing with. If it is only a mental belief, not based on inner reality, then naturally it will obscure his inner vision. But if it is something from the heart, from the psychic vision or reality, then it will without fail accelerate his progress. If it is mere mental belief which comes from the earthbound mind, it is bound to be contradicted by another type of belief. But if our belief has grown into positive conviction, soulful conviction, then it will not be an obstacle. On the contrary, our soulful conviction expedites our life's spiritual Journey.
The mind is constantly doubting its own convictions, its own realities. But beyond the mind, beyond the belief-reality, there is a reality which we can call conviction-reality. This conviction-reality is in the inmost recesses of our heart. Once we can become consciously one with our inner conviction, we will feel that at every moment we are given the golden opportunity to run fast, faster, fastest.
Question: What are the dangers involved in the awakening of the Kundalini?
Sri Chinmoy: The awakening of Kundalini is dangerous only when the seeker is not pure enough. If the seeker is impure on the physical, vital or mental planes, if he has not developed a sufficient amount of purity in his entire being, then it is dangerous. If the seeker is pure, and if it is God's Will that the Kundalini power be awakened in him, then it will not be dangerous for him at all.
Question: What does it mean to misuse the Kundalini power?
Sri Chinmoy: After the seeker awakens or develops the Kundalini power, if he immediately starts using it to satisfy his ego, not at the direction of God's all-loving Will, then the Kundalini power will be misused. He will create danger in his life, and danger for those who are around him. But if the seeker listens to the dictates of his soul after he has brought the Kundalini power to the fore, then he cannot make the mistake of misusing the Kundalini power.
You misuse something when you are not directed by God's Will. Suppose you have two dollars. Now, two individuals have approached you, and both of them tell you that they are in need of money. If you are a seeker, you should dive deep within to know what is God's Will — whether He wants you to give your money-power to both of them, to one of them or to neither of them. If you do not dive deep within, you may decide to give a dollar to each one. Now, one may use the dollar for transportation to go to a spiritual place, to pray and meditate. But the other may take your dollar to go to a bar and drink. Now, if you had listened to the dictates of God, you would have heard the message to give the money-power only to the seeker who was going to use it for spiritual purpose, a divine purpose. But you gave your money-power to the wrong one, and his karma, the result of his action, will be worse because of your ignorance.
When we do something without listening to the Will of God, then we are misusing our capacities. We should try only to execute God's Will. If we know what God's Will is, then we do not care for the after-effect. By executing God's Will we feel that we are fulfilled. But human nature has a peculiar way of deriving satisfaction. We feel that if somebody asks for something and we can give it to him, then naturally we are doing the right thing. But we have to know that we have come to earth not only to give, but to give to the right person, the person who is truly needful. If someone is not hungry and just because I have something I give it to him, I do not help that person, especially if I give it untimely.
Power should always be used at God's choice Hour. At God's choice Hour, God will inspire me to give you something or God will inspire you to give me something. But if it is not God's choice Hour, and just because you have something you start giving it to others, then you are misusing your power, light-power, Kundalini power, money-power, any power. This way of using power is dangerous and in no way helps others. It only creates confusion and confusion is followed by destruction.
Published in Aspiration-Glow and Dedication-Flow, part 2