Opportunity Divine and Necessity Supreme
A lecture by Sri Chinmoy
at Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island
We are all seekers of the Infinite Truth. I am one of you. On the strength of my soul's oneness with you I shall speak on opportunity and necessity.
I take no advantage of earthly and heavenly opportunities. I know perfectly well that my life itself is the greatest opportunity I have here on earth, there in Heaven and everywhere.
Opportunity is the human aspiration to live by in the outer world. Again, opportunity is the divine realisation to live for in the inner world. When I have an opportunity to know more, shall I use it to know others more, or shall I try to know myself more? I wish to say that I shall do both. I shall use the opportunity to know myself more and also to know others more. By knowing myself more, I realise God the Creator. By knowing others more, I realise God the Creation. By knowing myself more, I realise God the Breath. By knowing others more, I realise God the Life. By knowing myself more, I realise God the Unity. By knowing others more, I realise God the Multiplicity.
“No great man ever complains of want of opportunity.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson
This is true. A truly great man does not have to depend on outer opportunities. He has abundant faith in his inner capacity. To say that a great man never complains of want of opportunity, however, is an ideal affirmation of the state of consciousness for all great men. I hope that all great men will realise and live this truth.
“A wise man will make more opportunities than he finds.” — Francis Bacon
A spiritual man not only finds opportunities but also creates more and more opportunities constantly. His opportunity is composed of his inspiration-light and his aspiration-height. With his opportunity he realises God, he serves God and he fulfils God.
Opportunity in the spiritual life means to do and to be. What can I do? I can totally identify myself with each fleeting moment and offer myself at the Feet of God for His use in His eternal Time. What can I be? I can be God's Dream-Boat. He will be my life's eternal Pilot. Him to serve is my only awakened and illumined dream.
Opportunity is necessity. In the spiritual life a spiritual Master is a necessity; a spiritual disciple is a necessity. Let us pray with the Vedic seers:
Aum saha navavatu,
Saha nau bhunaktu
Saha Viryam karavavahai.
May He protect us (the disciple and the Master) both. May He nourish us both. May we both work together with energy, indomitable and endless.
If a disciple can establish conscious and constant oneness with the Master, then he has done the right thing, absolutely the right thing. If the Master has established his conscious and constant oneness with the disciple, then the Master has also done the right thing. Only when the disciple's oneness with the Master is perfect can the disciple work with the Master. When the Master's constant oneness with the disciple is perfect, then only can the Master work for the disciple. When the disciple works with the Master devotedly, the Mission of the Supreme for the Supreme begins. When the Master works for the disciple, the realisation of the Ultimate Transcendental Truth begins to dawn on the disciple. When the disciple works with the Master, he has to work with purest devotion. When the Master works for the disciple, he has to work with soulful and unreserved concern. The disciple has to feel that the Master is the Light of his own heart. The Master has to feel that the disciple is the strength of his own arms. When the disciple feels that his Master is the Light of his own heart, he is bound to be happy within and without. When the Master feels that his disciple is the strength of his own arms, his joy knows no bounds. And at that golden hour, choice hour, divine hour, what happens? God speaks to the disciple and the Master. To the disciple He says, "My child, you are My purest Pride." To the Master He says, "My son, you are My surest Pride. Both of you have fulfilled Me in My Vision, in My Reality, in My Mission and in My Manifestation on earth."
Published in My Ivy League Leaves
My Ignorance
A talk by Sri Chinmoy
at the University of California, Santa Barbara, California
My ignorance is my excuse. Is it justifiable? No, never! My ignorance is my excuse. Is it pardonable? No, never! My ignorance is my excuse. It is changeable? Yes, it is!
What is my ignorance? My ignorance is my unawareness of my source, the golden orb. My ignorance is my negligence of my inner duties: the transformation of my nature, the perfection of my life and the satisfaction of my Beloved Supreme.
My ignorance is an excess of fondness for the earth-bound fleeting time and my total indifference for the Heaven-free immortalising life. My ignorance is that I do not claim my Beloved Supreme as my own, very own. I do not dare to become His choice instrument. I remain in the meshes of ignorance.
My Beloved Supreme can forgive me, forgive my ignorance. But I shall not and cannot forgive myself and my ignorance, for inside the depth of my ignorance what looms large is my ingratitude. My Lord Supreme, out of His infinite Bounty, has always been trying to give me His Eternity’s Love, Infinity’s Delight and Immortality’s Life. But I do not accept His divine Boons. Everything I shall forgive but one thing: my ingratitude.
Published in The Vision-Sky of California