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Is God Really Partial?

A short story by Sri Chinmoy

"Master, you are compassion incarnate. May I ask you something about God's Compassion that has been bothering me for a long time?"

"Please ask me, my daughter."

"You have always said that God is impartial, but it seems to me that God shows more Compassion to those who have entered into the spiritual life than to those who have not. Don't unaspiring people need more Compassion and Consolation from Him, since they are even more helplessly caught by ignorance than spiritual seekers?"

"My daughter, you are correct in saying that God favours spiritual seekers. But you are wrong when you think that those in the ordinary life need more Compassion. They do not need or want God's Compassion."

"Master, what do you mean?"

"When one begins to aspire, at that time all his bad qualities are being gradually transformed and illumined and all his good qualities are being brought to the fore. So even if there is just a little aspiration, Compassion works. But if there is no aspiration, if there is no seed planted in the ground, then when God's Compassion rains down, it is all wasted. Also, if there is no aspiration, the word 'compassion' is not even in the person's dictionary. Those who are still living in the world of aggression do not need anybody's compassion. So why should God give them His Compassion? For them the law of Karma is operating; for them God uses the Light of His Justice."

"But Master, aren't unaspiring people sincere in their own way?"

"My daughter, some people have very good intentions, but that does not lessen their ignorance-life. I may tell a lie and repeat it ten times forcefully with the idea that I am telling the truth. But this kind of sincerity does not help us at all."

"But Master, are we really any better than those still in the ordinary life? Even now I can think of hundreds of things I did wrong just yesterday."

"Before we entered the spiritual life, we led semi-animal lives; but we were not conscious of the fact. Now that we have entered fully into the spiritual life, we see that we are really half-animal. Inwardly we strangle many people, although outwardly we may smile at them and shake their hands. We fight, we are jealous; every day we do countless undivine things. But at least we are fully aware of the things that we do wrong."

"What about the mistakes we still make, Master?"

"Spiritual people know they are making mistakes, but every time they take the side of Light. If you have good intentions and on the way you stumble, God sees that your intentions are good. You still need more strength, inner strength, but you will get this one day. Although you are helpless, hopeless and useless, you have an inner urge to please God in His own way. The very fact that you have entered into the spiritual life pleases God."

"So this is why God shows us extra Concern?"

"Yes, my daughter. He is always compassionate. Even His Justice-Power used with unaspiring people is Compassion, because it perfects them and makes them want to give up their undivine ways. But for seekers who want to please Him devotedly, soulfully, unreservedly and unconditionally, He has more Compassion. If you are trying to do the right thing and I am not, who will deserve more Compassion? God's Compassion-magnet will be able to pull you more. If I am not as sincere as you, then I cannot expect to receive the same amount of Compassion-food from God. So although the seeker is bound to make mistakes, in his case God's cosmic Law will give way to God's Compassion-Smile.

"Master, if we know that God showers extra Blessings and Concern on us, how can we prevent ourselves from feeling superior to others or judging them?"

"Let me explain it to you, my child. If somebody is not aspiring, it must not affect you. Again, if somebody is aspiring much more than you can, why do you have to be involved? If you see someone who is not aspiring and you become full of pride, then you are ruined."

"How can we stop pride from entering us, Master?"

"If you walk along the street and see that somebody is not leading a spiritual life, you should remain detached. It is one thing to see something and another thing to feel that you are superior. Why do you have to make a judgement?"

"So, Master, how should I feel when I am with my friends who are not aspiring?"

"If you mix with these friends, don't feel superior or inferior. Try to act in your own way. Your friend wants to eat a food which satisfies him, and you want to eat a particular food which satisfies you. He wants to eat the food of idleness and you want to eat the food of aspiration and dedication. If you say that your food is more nourishing than his, then you are judging him. Just feel that you are approaching your reality in a different way."

"Can I be absolutely sure, Master, that I am not judging my friends?"

"My child, you have to know what you feel within. If you feel superior within, that is judgement. Any feeling of superiority or inferiority is judgement. So if you don't have any feeling of superiority, then there is no judgement. Feel that your friend has every right to lead his own life. You are going to be responsible for your own life and you are not going to be responsible for his. Eventually you will stop mixing with your old friends and remain with spiritual people whenever you have an opportunity. Have you understood my philosophy, my daughter?"

"Yes, I have understood you, Master. You have illumined my mind and heart with your compassion. You always answer your spiritual children's inner and outer questions. But the main thing we learn, Master, is that our spiritual father is all compassion and all concern for us. You are always compassion incarnate."

Published in Is God Really Partial?

The Interim Master

A short story by Sri Chinmoy

One day a very great spiritual Master was approached by the brother of one of his closest disciples. "You know, Master, that I have my own spiritual Master, even though I have always had the greatest admiration for you. I accepted my Master long before you came to this city and I have always remained faithful to him. But now my Master has said that he cannot teach me any more and he wants me to go to somebody else. For all these years I thought that he was the Master I was destined to have. Now I have entered into a sea of confusion, so I have come to you for advice."

The Master said, "You are correct that one is predestined to meet one's Master. If you have an inner cry, then you are bound to get your Master. When you find the person, you are fortunate. But owing to circumstances, you may not find your Master right away."

"Then all the years I spent with my other Master are wasted?" asked the youth.

"No!" said the Master. "Nothing is lost. But you have to see the situation with true detachment. When you come to someone who you feel is not your true Master, you have to feel, 'For the time being, for a few months or a year, let me learn what this particular Master knows.' This way you will not be sad and disheartened. And even if the person is not your real Master, you will learn something from him."

"Then what should my attitude now be to my ex-Master?"

"If you realise that this Master is now taking you to someone else, then go to a new Master; but do not criticise the old Master. Your sincerity is your safeguard. It will ultimately take you to your destined Goal."

"But, Master, since I was mistaken the first time, how will I actually know who is really my Guru?"

The Master said, "Please enter deep within when you go to a spiritual Master. You may get an inner experience and feel in the inner world that he is yours. Then see if you can have implicit faith in this particular Master. You may look a long time and you may see many Masters, but you will prefer one over the others. The Master whom you prefer, the one with whom you will have an inner connection, a deep affinity, is your Master."

"What exactly will happen when I see him, Master?" asked the seeker.

"First of all you will get a kind of inner thrill and you will not be able to account for it. Your mind will not be able to give an adequate explanation, for the experience is a spiritual one and it takes place far beyond the mind. You have to be the judge. If you go to a spiritual person and he gives you abundant joy, boundless joy, then you will know that he is your Master."

The seeker said, "I am grateful that you are making everything so clear to me. Now, please tell me, Master, for a little while should I follow both my old Master and the new one that I accept?"

"My son," said the Master, "that is like placing one foot in one boat and the other foot in another boat. In the spiritual life two boats cannot be the same and the two boatmen need not follow the same route. It is not like going to school where you take different subjects and have many teachers. In the spiritual life there is only one subject and that is called God-realisation. So you have only one teacher. Your own Master can easily take you to the destined Goal provided that you have faith in him."

"So the way my Master taught me was not wrong, but just different, is that right?"

"Each Master is right in his own way. The destination is always the same and all roads lead to there, but you will prefer one particular road. If you get the wrong Master, you move with the speed of an Indian bullock cart. You are bound to make progress, but your speed will be slow. But if you go to the proper Master, then he will carry you like a jet plane. If you are lucky, you will find the right Master and then naturally you will fly with the speed of an aeroplane."

"Master, during our whole conversation, I have been drinking in your Peace, Light and Bliss. This whole time I have been experiencing such an inner thrill and joy. Master, may I tell you a secret?"

"Certainly, my son."

"I came to you because my heart knew that you were my true Master, but my mind was still confused. You have illumined my mind and you have fed my heart and soul. Master, will you accept me as your disciple?"

The Master blessed the youth. "I accept you, I accept you, my son. You will be my true disciple, my dearest spiritual son. Now you have found your real spiritual home and I shall definitely take you to your destined Goal."

Published in Is God Really Partial?

The Desperate Seeker

A short story by Sri Chinmoy

About fifty years ago, there lived in America a spiritual Master who had about forty or fifty disciples. This Master was always ready to give interviews to his disciples and to other sincere seekers who came to him for spiritual guidance.

One day he was visited by a young writer who had written to the Master previously about his problems. On this day he had a particular problem that he wished to discuss with the Master.

"Master, please help me," said the young man. "For the past two weeks or so, I have hardly been able to get any sleep. I have never meditated very much. I always felt that mental activity was more fulfilling. But almost every night now I wake up with a desperate feeling in my heart. All of a sudden I feel that I am in desperate need of spirituality. I have tried in vain to understand this feeling. My mind does not seem capable of analysing it. However, since I cannot see clearly with my mind what is happening to me, I am worried that I may be suffering from some delusion. Can you help me? Is this desperate feeling that I have dangerous to my mental health?"

The Master replied, "No, it is not at all dangerous. You are crying for the fulfilment of your inner cry. It is not with the mind that you are crying; you are crying from the inmost recesses of your heart. The inner heart has infinite capacity. It is not limited like the mind. One does not approach the highest Truth with the mind; therefore, mental health does not come into the picture at all."

"But why am I feeling this cry, Master? What am I really crying for?"

"When we cry deep within," the Master said, "it is because we feel the necessity of Peace, Light and Bliss. When we have this kind of inner cry, then these qualities either come to the fore from within or descend from above. I tell my disciples that they can develop the inner cry by giving more importance to what they really need in their life. When we give importance to our true necessity, then automatically our inner cry, our inner sincerity, is bound to increase. The more we feel that we desperately need Peace, Light and Bliss, the sooner our inner cry increases."

"How can we fulfil this necessity?" asked the seeker.

"In the outer world, when we are hungry we try to fulfil our hunger. If there is no food at home, we go to a restaurant or to a friend's house. Similarly, in the spiritual life when we are really hungry for Peace, Light and Bliss, we will go to a spiritual Master who can fulfil our hunger. First of all he will increase our inner hunger and then he will fulfil it."

"But what about my lack of sleep? Is this harmful or unhealthy?"

The Master explained, "If we have Peace, Light and Bliss within ourselves, then these divine qualities will not tell upon our health. On the contrary, they will strengthen the physical. The physical will have a new sincerity, a new faith in fulfilling the divine in us. The term 'sincerity' is very important. If we want to achieve Peace, Light and Bliss by hook or by crook, if we try to use physical force or vital force, if we try to push and pull, then we will unduly create problems in our mind. But if we rely on our inner cry, then our sincerity will carry us up to the Highest. At that time, the divine protection will be there. It will not allow us to have any mental problems."

"How can I become really sincere, Master? How can I tell if I am sincere?"

The master reassured him, "In your case, you have sincerity. But sometimes, although we are sincere, we still try to pull or push. We try to expedite our progress with our vital energy instead of relying on our own inner sincerity. When we have a sincere inner cry, we come to realise that it is the inner being that is crying in us and for us. And when the inner being cries, our outer mind need not and cannot be affected. It is only when we try to achieve something through our outer mind that the, mind will be affected, because it is not ready to receive these qualities in a divine way.

"Master, may I ask one last question? Patience is also a divine quality. I am afraid that with this feeling of desperation, impatience will come."

"If you know what patience is," the Master said, "then it is very easy to have patience. If you feel that you can be patient only for a certain length of time, then you will be impatient when the time is up. If you think that in two days you will realise God, then if God is still hiding from you after two days, two months, two years, then you will become impatient."

"How can one cultivate patience?" the writer asked.

"You should feel, 'I shall realise God at His choice Hour. My part is to pray and meditate and it is God's part to grant me realisation when He feels the time is ripe.' If you feel this, then patience will come. You are responsible only for your prayer and meditation and you give the responsibility for the result to somebody else, who is God. God has only asked you to pray and meditate; He has not set a time for you to come and visit Him. We each must take care of our own business. Time belongs to Him, but prayer belongs to you. In this way, you can be divinely patient."

"Master," said the young man, bowing with utmost humility, "you have not only answered all my questions today, but you have given me the answer to all my life's questions. From today, my heart's inner cry will be my only reality."

Published in Is God Really Partial?

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