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How Can One Reach God in One’s Lifetime?

Sri Chinmoy answers a question by Mr. Jose Luis Casanova (Agni) during a visit to the Aum Centre in Santurce, Puerto Rico

Sri Chinmoy: Let us change the word “reach” and instead let us use the word “realise”. When we use the term “reach” we feel that we have to come to a certain place. Now you are sitting over there and if you want to reach me, you have to come to me by either walking or jumping or flying. But when we use the term “realise”, there is no separation. Where is God? God is deep within us. But God-Realisation in one life, in one short span of time, by one's own personal effort, is next to impossible. But along with one's personal effort, if the aspirant has absolute aspiration, one-pointed dedication, if he has the blessings, grace and concern of a very great spiritual master who represents God to his disciples and if he has been assured by his spiritual master on this point, then, in one life, he can realise God.

If one does not have a fully realised master, a Guru, but if his aspiration is most intense, then God's Grace showers on him and God Himself plays the part of the human teacher, that is to say, the spiritual master. If God sees that the particular aspirant is absolutely sincere and he deserves self-realisation in this life, then, as I have said, God plays the part of a human Guru. Otherwise it is a spiritual master who plays [or] becomes a pilot and takes you across the ocean of ignorance to Light, Wisdom, Peace, Bliss and Plenitude.

You have got a Guru, Agni, so your problem is over and your aspiration is most intense. I say it with the very depth of my heart that this Guru of yours will never fail you. You will always be in the inmost recesses of his heart. He will carry you, carry you to the Golden Shore of the Beyond.

Published in AUM – Vol. 3, No. 5, 6, Dec. 1967 – 27 Jan. 1968

Poetry and Spirituality

a talk by Sri Chinmoy
at the Jharna-Kala gallery in Mahattan

Poetry and spirituality are inseparable. They are like the obverse and the reverse of the same coin. Here I mean spiritual poetry and spirituality. When I speak of spirituality, I mean the acceptance of life. True acceptance of life and true self-ascendance, which is spirituality, are always inseparable.

I am a seeker. I write poems. I meditate. When I write poems, I try to reach my highest height. Here the human in me tries to reach the highest height. And when I meditate, the divine in me descends from its highest height. It is like a ladder, spiritual ladder. I go up and come down.

Poetry helps me reach the highest, my highest height. And my meditation helps me come down and become one with the world-sorrow and the world-smile, and it also helps me to share its willingness-capacities.

I have been writing poems since my infancy, since I was an infant. Who knows, perhaps even now I have not surpassed that infancy stage, although I have written hundreds and thousands of poems. Some of my good friends, my good critics, accuse me of writing hundreds of poems in a short span of twenty-four hours. They think and they feel that perfection is of utmost need. How can one write 843 poems in one day and, at the same time, dream of perfection? Is it not absurdity on the face of it? To some extent, it is absolutely true.

Now, in my humble defense, I wish to say this: I am not a poet, and I don’t want to become one. I am not a composer, although I have composed hundreds of songs. I am not, and I don’t want to become, one. I have drawn thousands and thousands of paintings. Yet I don’t dare to claim to be an artist. Truth to tell, I don’t want to become an artist. 

Then what do I want to become? I want to become a football. In India, we call it football game; here you call it soccer. I happened to be a good footballer. Still I remember the experiences that I had in those days while kicking the ball hard, very hard. I was consumed with a strong desire to become a football to be kicked most powerfully by my Beloved Supreme. The harder I kicked the ball, the greater joy I received. I felt here also, in my life of aspiration and dedication, my only prayer, my only aspiration, is to become a football and my only prayer is to be kicked every day, every hour, every minute, every second by my Beloved Supreme.

I wish to become a more devoted, more self-giving, instrument of His. While utilising me as an instrument of His, if He wants me to play the role of a poet or the role of a singer, musician, or an artist, I am always at His Behest. To fulfil His Command in His own Way is my only aspiration. 

The Sanskrit word for the poet is kavi and, in the Sanskrit world, a kavi is he who envisions. What does he envision? He envisions the Truth, the Truth in its seed form, its potentiality, this Truth, in its possibilities; finally, in its inevitabilities.

Now, what is Truth? Truth is happiness in our progress. And what is progress? Progress is our constant self-giving. We represent both the finite and the Infinite. The self-giving of the finite to the Infinite is the supreme progress of the finite. And the self-giving of the Infinite to the finite is the supreme progress of the Infinite itself.

When the finite offers its reality-existence to the Infinite, in return it receives from the Infinite a fruitful Smile. And when the Infinite offers its Reality-Existence to the finite, in return it receives a soulful cry. The soulful cry and the fruitful Smile are the imperishable, incomparable, eternal and immortal Treasures of the Absolute Supreme.

Partially published in Poetry: My Rainbow-Heart-Dreams

Sri Chinmoy recites some of his earliest poems and delivers a talk entitled, ‘Poetry and Spirituality’ at a ceremony of the Sri Chinmoy Poetry Awards, a contest of spiritual poetry, which took place at the Jharna-Kala Gallery in Grand Central Terminal, Manhattan.

Listen to Sri Chinmoy reciting some of his earliest poems...

Listen to Sri Chinmoy’s talk on Poetry and Spirituality...

Indian Stories

by Sri Chinmoy

Bhudep Mukherjee’s examination

One day an examination was being held in a college classroom. The most brilliant student in the class was Bhudep Mukherjee. Bhudep Mukherjee was deeply engrossed in writing his exam when all of a sudden his fountain pen slipped from his hand and dropped to the floor. His English professor, who was standing nearby, picked up the pen and gave it back to the student. Bhudep Mukherjee took it from the teacher and, without saying anything, started writing again.

The professor was a little surprised. “Why didn’t you say ‘Thank you’ to me?” he asked. Bhudep Mukherjee remained silent.

“Why don’t you answer?” the professor said. “You Indians have no courtesy?” The student still remained silent.

“This is what I have taught you over the years?” the professor asked. “It seems that you are not feeling well, or perhaps you have a difficult question that is occupying all your attention. Otherwise, you are always respectful.”

The student said, “No, nothing is wrong with me, I am perfectly all right and the questions are not difficult at all. It is true that I was deeply absorbed in answering a question. But that is not the reason I did not answer you. Sir, you always taught us to do our duty. Whenever we get an opportunity to help someone or to serve someone, we should do it without being asked. Today, when my pen slipped from my hand and dropped, you got the opportunity to help me and serve me. So why do I have to thank you? If you expect my gratitude, then it is not real self-offering. So it is better to help the needy with no expectation. This is what you have taught us, and I am only obeying you. I have not done anything wrong. At the time of my need you helped me, and whenever you are in need I will definitely help you.”

The professor’s anger by this time had changed into joy and gratitude. He said to the student, “I am so proud of you. I am so proud of you. Indeed you are right. When you are in need, others should come and help and not ask any reward for it. If someone is in need, we should go immediately to help the person. And if we expect a ‘Thank you’ or gratitude, it is a mistake. It is our duty at every moment to help others and even to sacrifice our lives for others.”

Bhudep Mukherjee eventually became a very, very great scholar. He was a great son of Mother Bengal who did much for the intellectual and social development of his nation.

Tagore sings

There was once a little boy who was very beautiful to look at and very smart, with many talents. He was talented even at a tender age. His father was very rich and well-respected; he owned vast plots of land and had many, many servants. The little boy used to spend most of his time with the servants. He was the youngest in the family and they all adored him.

One day, the boy was singing a song that he had composed himself. The song expressed the idea that, “The eye cannot see You, although You are inside the eye. The heart cannot know You, although You are inside the heart.” He was singing it most soulfully, and the tune was simply excellent.

The father heard him singing from another room and was deeply moved. He asked his servants to go and bring the little boy to him. Then the father said to his youngest son, “Can you sing the song for me again?”

The boy didn’t often get the opportunity to come to his father, because the father was so great and very busy. He could not approach his father any time he wanted to. So although it was a great honour that his father had called him, he was also afraid of his father and he felt shy. The father said, “I am your father. Please don’t feel shy. Just sing the song that you were singing before, my child.”

The boy sang a few times and the father was so deeply moved that he entered into trance. When his trance ended, the father entered his office and wrote the boy a cheque for 500 rupees. In those days, 500 rupees for a child was really something. When he gave it to the boy he said, “In the past, the Mogul Emperors used to honour talented people with great gifts. Now the Mogul Emperors are no more. But your talent is so remarkable that I know you rightfully deserve honour from the king. Unfortunately there is no king here to honour you. But I am your father, and I am giving you 500 rupees.”

The son was so excited and delighted. He ran with the cheque and showed it to his servants. The servants lifted him up into the air. They were so proud that their little hero had become such a great poet.

Indeed, this heroic soul became the poet of poets. He became India’s greatest poet ever and won the Nobel Prize. Many people have got the Nobel Prize and many poets have been honoured, but in India he remains matchless. He composed about 1800 songs, many of which are sung all over India, including India’s national anthem, Jana Gana. Truly, Rabindranath Tagore was a creative genius who excelled in every field of the arts. In the latter part of his life he even took up painting. As poet, singer and playwright, he won love and respect not only in India but all over the world. He remains in the vanguard of poets for his lyrics, songs, plays and stories. India’s Tagore will eternally remain unique. In 1961, on his birthday, the whole world observed his centenary.

The train journey

There was once a very great man who came from a very rich family. He was a great seeker, a seeker of the highest order, and to the whole of Bengal he was the very embodiment of truth. Countless people admired him, loved him and adored him, and felt he was a saint.

One day he took his youngest son with him on a train ride from Calcutta to Bombay. He bought a full-price ticket for himself and a half-price ticket for his son, who was eleven years old.

After the train had been going for some time, the ticket collector entered into their compartment and asked for their tickets. When he saw the half-price ticket for the boy, he was a little bit hesitant, for the boy was very tall for his age, and he looked much older than eleven years old. But the ticket collector didn’t say anything. He just marked the ticket and left.

After two hours another ticket collector came. He also hesitated because he too thought that the boy was over twelve years old, since he was so tall and smart looking. But he didn’t say anything either.

After some time, these two ticket collectors brought the station master to the man’s compartment, and the station master asked to see the tickets. The station master was so ignorant. He did not realise that this man was well known for his greatness and goodness.

By this time the man was very mad. So many times these ticket people were bothering him! “All right, see the tickets!” he said angrily.

The station master said, “This boy is a minor? How old is he?”

The man said, “Eleven.” The station master said, “No. You are telling me a lie.”

The man, whom all of Bengal worshipped as the embodiment of truth, said to himself, “What will you do with these ignorant people? It is useless to argue with them.” So he paid the difference in the fare to the station master, saying, “Take it!”

The station master gave him a full ticket for his son, and returned his change. When the station master gave the great man his few rupees of change, the man became so furious that he threw the money on the floor and it all scattered.

Then the station master felt very embarrassed. “What a scene I created for one ticket for a young boy and a haughty old man!” he said to himself.

Because of the commotion, many people came running to see what had happened. What they saw was the great sage and saint of Bengal, Devendranath Tagore, Tagore’s father. And the young boy was Tagore himself.

Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar

There was once a very great man who was knowledge incarnate. He was a professor of English at a college and was very, very brilliant. His eyes were full of light and in almost every way he was an ideal man. But unfortunately, on the physical plane he was not so handsome. He was very short, and his head was very big in comparison with the rest of his body

One day, an Englishman of higher authority wanted to see this Bengali scholar, so he sent for him. When the Bengali scholar came to the Englishman’s office, he was shocked. The Englishman had his feet on the table and was smoking profusely, and he began talking to the scholar with an air of contempt.

The Indian, who was a principal of a particular Sanskrit college, could not believe what he saw. He said to himself, “How can Englishmen behave so badly? They have no courtesy. They have no etiquette.”

When the meeting was over, he came back home mad and furious. “I shall one day pay that Englishman back in his own coin,” he said.

A few months later this same Englishman needed a favour from the Sanskrit professor. So he personally came to the professor’s office and knocked at the door. “Can I come in?” he said. But the professor did not answer. Only he asked his servant to bring his hookah.

The servant prepared the hookah and brought it to the professor. The professor placed his feet on the table, with his sandals on (he never wore shoes) and started smoking the Indian hookah. Then he asked the servant to let the Englishman in.

When the Englishman came in, he was so mad. He said, “I am an Englishman and I hold such a high post. Yet you are showing me such disrespect! What’s wrong with you?”

The professor said, “Nothing is wrong with me. Only I happen to be a good student. I always learn everything from my teacher. The other day you taught me to act like this and I have to show you that I have learned everything you taught me. If I don’t show you that I have learned what you have taught me, then you may not like me.”

The Englishman was shocked and, at the same time, illumined by the learned man’s remarks. This learned man became the ocean of compassion, the ocean of knowledge, whom all Bengal worshipped and adored. His name was Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar.

The gardener

There was a great leader who was very, very simple. From his appearance nobody could tell that he was a great leader. Only people who were around him and knew him well, or those who were in the political world, could recognise who he was. Otherwise, from his outer appearance he could fool anyone, since he was not tall and there was nothing about him that showed that he was bright or commanded respect and admiration from people. He always wore very simple clothes, and he was all simplicity and all sincerity.

One day he was working in his garden, digging and planting and doing everything all by himself. He was wearing very, very simple gardening clothes. A few middle-aged men came up to him and said, “Can you tell us where the chief is?”

He said, “Yes, I can. Just wait. I will call him.” Then he went into the house, washed his hands, put on a panjabi and dhoti and came out and stood in front of them.

They said, “You! You have come again. You didn’t tell the chief that we are here? We wanted to see the chief and not you.”

This time the gardener was a little serious. He said, “Well, the chief is here. I am the chief.”

“You are the Prime Minister of India?”

“Yes, I am!” Some of them bowed down, some were shocked. Some felt miserable. “Oh, we thought you were just the gardener,” they said.

The Prime Minister said, “I am so glad that you didn’t recognise me as the Prime Minister of India because I don’t want the world to know me by my appearance, but by my actions. I want to remain always simple, always humble.”

He was the second Prime Minister of India, after Nehru. Lal Bahadur Shastri: simplicity incarnate and heart’s magnanimity incarnate. Lal Bahadur Shastri was without a single enemy. His own people admired him and the opposition party also admired him equally for his heart’s nobility and his life’s simplicity and purity.

The blessings of Acharya Prafulla Chandra Ray

There was a very, very great scientist who was also a great patriot. Everyone adored him. He lived a very simple, austere and spiritual life and remained unmarried. He had a very long beard and moustache, and was very lean and thin. He believed that well-educated young men should not just accept the work of clerks and other unimportant work. He felt they should not act like slaves but should do something with their lives if they were well-educated. He came to realise that money gave one the opportunity to do quite a few things in life.

“Money properly used is a blessing, but money badly used is a curse,” he used to always say. “If one has money and uses it properly, then one will have a decent life. And from this decent life one can try to aspire. But if one is pinched with hunger all the time and suffers from poverty, then how can one do anything great and good?”

He always used to advise everyone, especially the Bengalis, to enter into business and to make money, and then to use the money to try to do something great and good for mankind.

Just because he was great, after getting their degree young people used to come to him to get a recommendation from him for jobs as clerks. But instead of a recommendation, with all love and concern he would give them a smart slap. “Go away from here,” he would say. “I will recommend you to become somebody’s clerk and assistant? I don’t want that! I want you people to enter into business and use the money you make to lead a decent life. Then only will you get the opportunity to do the right thing. But if you misuse the money you make, you will destroy your life.”

One day, when the great scientist was an elderly man, a young man approached him and asked him to say a few words in favour of him so he would get a clerical appointment. As he usually did, with all love, affection and concern the great scientist gave the young man a smart slap. Then he said, “You deserve it! I always tell you people to enter into business.”

The young man said, “Yes, I want to enter into business, but I have no money.”

Then the scientist said, “You want to enter into business? How much do you need? I will give it to you.”

He said, “I need ten thousand rupees.”

The scientist said, “Ten thousand rupees you need for a business? Absurd! You don’t need that much. I am giving you three thousand rupees. You people are under the impression that if you have a large amount of money to invest, then only will you be able to make money. It is not true! It is not the money you invest, but your will power.

“I am giving you three thousand rupees. You don’t have to return this money to me, only promise me that you will enter into business. If you enter into business, I will be very happy. With this money you will start and, I tell you, you will be successful. With all my blessings I am giving you this money.”

The young man bowed to him and said, “This money I am taking as your blessing.”

The old man said, “Yes, it is my blessing. But you have to try to be successful. And even if you are not successful, I will be very happy and proud of you just because you have tried.”

This man was India’s most famous scientist-pioneer, P.C. Ray. He received his Ph.D. from Edinburgh University and, as a teacher of chemical science, had many pupils who later became great world chemists. When once asked if he had any children, he responded with a list of seventy-three of his dearest and brightest students. Such was his love and dedication for those who took him as their teacher-father.

The Brahmin and the old woman

One day a high-class Brahmin went to the Ganges for a dip. On that particular day he was supposed to go to court, and he was late. So he could not spend as much time as usual bathing in the Ganges.

After hurriedly taking a dip, he was on his way back home when all of a sudden he heard someone say, “Hello, hello, can you spare a moment?” It was an elderly woman.

The Brahmin said, “Yes.”

The woman said, “Today my house priest could not come and there is nobody to conduct our house puja today. Without a Brahmin, how can my daily house puja be performed? You are a Brahmin, so will you do me a favour? Will you come and do the puja? Our house deity will be displeased if he is not worshipped today. And I never eat without worshipping our presiding deity. So please come.”

So the Brahmin said to the old lady, “Yes, I am coming.” And he followed her to her house.

The Brahmin was well-educated. He was a great scholar who knew Sanskrit and even the scriptures well — far better than the Brahmin who usually conducted her pujas. He did everything. It took him an hour or so.

After he was finished, the lady said to him, “Now I wish to reward you. I would like to give you something from the puja. I will give you a fee, and also I wish you to take some coconuts and bananas. Please take.”

The Brahmin said, “No, no. I cannot take this.”

“No, you have to take this,” the old lady said. “You have done me a favour, so you have to take money from me. You have to take fruits from the puja.”

But the man said, “No, I cannot do it. I am very grateful that I was able to help you, but I cannot accept any fee.” Then the Brahmin ran away.

The Brahmin happened to be the judge of the Calcutta High Court. He was a great scholar, a great pandit and a very great judge of the High Court. His name was Sri Gurudas Banerjee. The lady didn’t know who he was, but he himself knew who he was and what he was. Even though he held such a high post, he still regarded his duty as duty.

Chitta Ranjan Das

There was once a great leader whose heart was larger than the largest. In law he was extremely successful and as a national leader he was also quite successful. His real name was kindness, affection and compassion. He was always for the poor and the miserable and he used to help people far beyond their need. The tips he gave to the police, for example, were ten times the amount that they usually got from others.

“These policemen work so hard,” he said. “Just because they wear Indian dhotis and garments, we don’t value them. But if the same work were done by Englishmen with trousers on, we would have to give them much more.”

One day a man in the Congress who worked for the great leader came up to him crying. The great man said, “Why are you crying?”

He said, “I stay at your house, but just because I come from the lowest class, everyone goes away from me. I am given my food at the place where the dogs and the chickens stay. It is so dirty and filthy there. One of your servants brings my food and I eat there as if I were another dog or another chicken. Please do something for me.”

Because of his low class, society did not permit him to sit with the members of the family. But still the great man felt very sad. He said to his wife, “All right, granted he cannot sit and eat with us, but can you not at least give him a nice place to eat? Why does he have to eat with the dogs and chickens? Can he not be given a better place?”

His wife said, “Yes, he should be given a better place. I shall see to it.”

Although the wife told the servant to take his food to a nice place, a few days later the servant was careless and took the food to the same place. So once more the Congress worker came to the great man, crying and crying: “They have given me the food there again, just because I come of a low class. I am staying with you because of your affection and love for me. Otherwise, I would not stay. This kind of treatment I hate. Whenever your Brahmin cooks see me, they run away. They show tremendous contempt for me and literally hate me. Am I not a human being?”

The great leader felt miserable, and he burst into tears. He called his wife and said, “From now on this young man will eat not only inside the house, but actually in my room where I eat. He has to eat in my room whenever I am eating. If I happen to be elsewhere and it is time for him to eat, he has to eat in my room. I make it a law.”

This great man was Chitta Ranjan Das. He was known as the most beloved friend of Mother Bengal. It was he who saved Sri Aurobindo from jail. When he died, Tagore said, “You came into the world with an immortal heart and you left it here on your way back.”

Published in Great Indian Meals: Divinely Delicious and Supremely Nourishing, part 3

A Story about Netaji

by Sri Chinmoy

Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose and the hooligan chief

There was once a great patriot who conquered the heart of everyone in India, specially the Bengalis. He was known as the leader of great leaders. When he was in college, he was a most brilliant student. He had tremendous fondness for spiritual and religious people. Whenever he could be of any help to the poor, the sick or the needy, he would be the first person to go there.

Once, when he was a young man, cholera broke out in Calcutta, and all the rich people left the city. When the epidemic broke out, there was no medical treatment for the poor, so this patriot used to go to the section of town where the very poor lived and treat them.

Now, in that part of town there were many hooligans. Their leader used to threaten him and say, "Do not come to our section and do not bother us. We do not want to see you. You are well-educated and come from a rich family, whereas we are very poor and uneducated. We do not want you here." But although the hooligans did not want him to come and help the poor, he did not care. He said, "Do whatever you want. If you want to kill me, kill me. I have come into the world to help the poor and sickly. I shall continue coming with my money and my food to try to help as much as I can."

One day the only son of the leader of the hooligans was attacked by cholera. So the young man went to his house and started caring for the son, feeding him and giving him medical treatment. The hooligan leader was so moved! He said to the young man, "I threatened you and warned you not to come to this area, and now when my own son is attacked by cholera, you come to help him. You are so brave."

The young man said, "It is not a matter of bravery; it is my necessity. I see God in everybody. When I see somebody is suffering, when I see another human being in need, I feel it is my duty to help him. One must help one's brother when he is in need."

The hooligan chief bowed down to the young man and said, "You are not a human being. You are Divinity incarnate."

This great leader and great patriot, this matchless leader and matchless patriot, was none other than Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose. The very mention of his name brings such a divine emotional feeling into the consciousness of India!

Published in Mother, Your 50th Independence-Anniversary! I am Come. Ever in Your Eternity’s Cries and Your Infinity's Smiles, Subhas

A Story about Chitta Ranjan Das

by Sri Chinmoy
The first of six stories about the great Indian leader

A larger than the largest heart

There was once a great leader whose heart was larger than the largest. In law he was extremely successful and as a national leader he was also quite successful. His real name was kindness, affection and compassion. He was always for the poor and the miserable, and he used to help people far beyond their need. The tips he gave to the police, for example, were ten times the amount that they usually got from others.

“These policemen work so hard,” he said. “Just because they wear Indian garments, we do not value them. But if the same work were done by Englishmen with trousers on, we would have to give them much more.”

One day a man in the Congress who worked for the great leader came up to him crying. The great man said, “Why are you crying?”

He said, “I stay at your house, but just because I come from the lowest class, everyone goes away from me. I am given my food at the place where the dogs and the chickens stay. It is so dirty and filthy there. One of your servants brings my food and I eat there as if I were another dog or another chicken. Please do something for me.”

Because of his low class, society did not permit him to sit with the members of the family. But still the great man felt very sad. He said to his wife, “Granted, he cannot sit and eat with us, but can you not at least give him a nice place to eat? Why does he have to eat with the dogs and chickens? Can he not be given a better place?”

His wife said, “Yes, he should be given a better place. I shall see to it.”

Although the wife told the servant to take his food to a nice place, a few days later the servant was careless and took the food to the same place. So once more the Congress worker came to the great man, crying and crying: “They have given me the food there again, just because I come of a low class. I am staying with you because of your affection and love for me. Otherwise, I would not stay. This kind of treatment I hate. Whenever your Brahmin cooks see me, they run away. They show tremendous contempt for me and literally hate me. Am I not a human being?”

The great leader felt miserable, and he burst into tears. He called his wife and said, “From now on this young man will eat not only inside the house, but actually in the room where I eat. He has to eat in my room whenever I am eating. If I happen to be elsewhere and it is time for him to eat, he has to eat in my room. I make it a law.”

This great man was Chitta Ranjan Das. He was known as the most beloved friend of Mother Bengal. It was he who saved Sri Aurobindo from jail. When he died, Tagore said, “You came into the world with an immortal heart and you left it here on your way back.”

Published in Deshabandhu: Bengal’s Beloved Friend

Homeopathy and Allopathy

Comments by Sri Chinmoy
at the Rex Hotel, Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam

Sri Aurobindo once made a comparison between allopathy and homeopathy. He said that homeopathy is far better because it deals with nerves and it can enter into the subtle nerves. Everything is in the subtle nerves.

I am not an expert either in homeopathy or in allopathy. When my homeopathic doctors cure patients, I say, “Excellent, excellent!” But sometimes they do not cure. I care for the results.

I believe in homeopathy more than allopathy, but the homeopathic doctors have to know their field thoroughly. Otherwise, just to study a few books is not enough. A good homeopath needs lifelong experience. My mentor was one of those. He gave me a list of eight different homeopathic medicines and said, “Learn their names and their properties by heart. You do not have to go through hundreds of medicines. Eight if you can learn, it will be enough for you.” He gave me the list, and I learnt it. At that time I knew about forty or fifty remedies by heart. Now perhaps I know only ten.

In the Ashram, homeopaths gave better results than allopaths. The allopathic doctors were all very great doctors. They received their degrees from abroad. But our Ashram homeopaths achieved better results.

No matter which type of medicine you prefer, if you have faith, then so much the better. Faith will cure you, whether doctors give you the correct medicine or not. But I have to say that the little homeopathic pills can create miracles. Everything is inside us. If homeopathy can penetrate and go deep within to cure, then it touches the root.

The funny thing is that, if you take some homeopathic pills and they aggravate your problem, so much the better! You take the medicine and, if your condition becomes temporarily worse, then the medicine is working. It is hard to believe, but so often it is true. First your health takes a wrong direction. Then you are cured. It has happened many, many times. If the result is worse, then you are getting better. That is very hard to understand.

Published in Only Gratitude-Tears

When I Give You a Job

A talk by Sri Chinmoy
at the Awana Kijal Golf, Beach and Spa Resort, Kijal, Malaysia

If I request you to do something and you cannot do it immediately, please try to do it as soon as possible. I know there are some jobs that may take a day or two, or even weeks or months. That I know. Again, there are some jobs that can be done immediately. If you cannot do your job immediately, then do it as soon as possible. Otherwise, you may create serious problems for me. When I give you a job, I entirely depend on you, entirely. No third party is involved. But if you cannot do it, then please come and inform me that you are unable to do it. Then I will choose somebody else as my instrument.

If I specifically mention a name, then that person should come. In some cases, if there is a team working together, I may mention the team. Then one team member should come. If they are unable to do the job, if they are not available, then one of them will come and report to me.

If I request you to do something, please try to do it yourself. If you do not do the job that is meant for you, if you delegate the job to somebody else, you may create serious problems for me, very serious problems. Obedience, obedience! If I ask you to do something, please do it yourself. Do not give the task to others. Usually I do not say that if you cannot do it, you should let somebody else do it.

It is not the most difficult thing on earth to obey me. If you take it as having to obey me, then the uncontrolled vital may either revolt or do the job unwillingly. But if you take it as my request, as my plea, I hope you will do it divinely. Please take my requests very, very seriously.

When I request you to do something, do not wait and say, “Oh, it can be done tomorrow.” No, no — it has to be done as soon as possible. If it is not done immediately, what can I say? True, there are things that cannot be done in the twinkling of an eye. They may take time. That I know. But there are specific things that can be done immediately. Those things I may not want to give to somebody else, and I do not want you to delay.

Your own so-called little mistake can create very serious problems for me. It is a very painful experience. You may call it a mistake, or minor negligence or carelessness, but it can create very serious problems for me. And when you make a mistake, many, many other people may also be involved. At that time they will be forced to make those unconscious or conscious mistakes also.

Published in Our Sweetest Oneness

How to Live in Two Worlds

A lecture by Sri Chinmoy
at the Sarah Lawrence College
Bronxville, New York

If I can stop one heart from breaking, I shall not live in vain; If I can ease one life the aching, Or cool one pain, Or help one fainting robin Unto his nest again, I shall not live in vain."

— Emily Dickinson

My dear Sisters and Brothers: I have come here to serve you. Serve I must. If I can serve even one amongst you in her endeavour towards self-discovery I shall not live in vain, nay my life on earth will have its purposeful meaning. Sisters, you are entitled to cherish pride for being devoted students of this unparalleled college in the United States. And today God presents me with matchless opportunity to discover in you an aspiring heart.

The Sarah Lawrence College is for women, as we all know. I wish to say a few words about the Hindu women. I am sure by this time you have learned that I am a Hindu. I come from India. A Hindu woman is the living embodiment of sanctity, devotion and faith. Purity is the hyphen between her life and her deeds. Intellectual education she does not care for. Her heart cries for the inner education, the education of the soul. No hyperbole. Her life of spontaneous and unending sacrifice is the soul of the Hindu race. In the hoary past, it was a Hindu woman Maitreyi, who said to her husband, Yājñavalkya, the peerless sage of the Upanishads, that nothing would satisfy her, save and except Immortality.

When she said Immortality, she did not mean the prolongation of her physical body for millions of years. She meant that she wanted to have the immortal consciousness, the consciousness of immortality, within and without.

"After thirty years of research into the feminine soul, the great question which I haven’t been able to answer is: what does a woman want?"

— Freud

On behalf of women all over the world, Maitreyi’s soul tells us what a woman wants.

There are two worlds: One is the world of Truth, the other is the world of Falsehood. Who shall decide when Truth and Falsehood disagree? Acceptance. Their mutual acceptance. Truth will accept Falsehood to transform the life of falsehood. Falsehood will accept Truth to manifest the breath of Truth.

Two worlds: One is known as Acceptance, the other as Rejection. I accept. I accept with my deepest gratitude what God has for me: Illumination. I reject with adamantine determination what the world has for me: Frustration. Two worlds: Condition and Situation. Condition says: "God gives when you give." Situation says: "You are helpless. God alone can give and He does give."

Unlike others, my God has two names: Delight and Compassion. In the inner world, I call Him by the name Delight. In the outer world, I call Him by the name Compassion. My God has two souls: the soul that He has in the inner world embodies His Dream. The soul that He has in the outer world reveals His Reality. My God has two bodies: His outer body is my Inspiration. His inner body is my Emancipation. Heaven and Hell represent two worlds in our consciousness. Heaven surprises Hell with its boundless Joy, Hell surprises Heaven with its ceaseless cry. Heaven says to Hell:

"Hell, I know how to dance and I can teach you if you want." Hell says to Heaven: "Wonderful, you know how to dance and you are ready to teach me how to dance, but I wish to tell you that I know how to break my legs and I can break your legs too, if I want to."

Science and Spirituality are two different worlds. Science wants to shorten distances. Spirituality wants to unite distances. For me it is not enough. My vision wants to divinise and transform distance.

East and West: Two worlds. We must unite them.

The awakened consciousness of man is visibly tending towards the Divine. This is a most hopeful streak of light amidst the surrounding obscurities of today. This is a moment, not merely of joining hands, but of joining minds, hearts and souls. Across all physical and mental barriers between East and West, high above national standards, above individual standards, will fly the supreme banner of Divine Oneness. The outer world is a world of reasoning mind. The inner world is a world of experience. Hard is it for the outer world to believe in the existence of God. In the inner world the existence of God always looms large. Sri Aurobindo said:

"They proved to me by convincing reasons that God does not exist and I believed them. Afterwards I saw God, for He came and embraced me. And now which am I to believe, the reasoning of others or my own experience?"

Can we live in two worlds? Certainly we can. If we have spontaneous inspiration we can successfully live in the outer world achieve our outer goals. If we have soulful aspiration we can live in the inner world and achieve our inner Goal. The outer world is the body. The inner world is the soul. It is up to us whether we want to stay in the body, or in the soul.

If we stay in the body, then constantly we have to abide by the dictates of the soul so that the body, instead of being a blind tool of fate, becomes a perfect channel for the Supreme for His divine manifestation in the physical. And if we want to live in the soul, to experience infinite Light, Peace and Bliss, then we must not neglect the body, we must not destroy the body, for it is inside the body that the soul abides on earth.

Published in AUM – Vol. 4, No.11, June 27, 1969

Self-Examination

A lecture by Sri Chinmoy
at St Thomas Aquinas Chapel, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut,

Dear seekers of the infinite Truth, just because we are all seekers we are all in God's Boat. God's Boat will carry us to our destined Goal. Today I wish to give a short talk on self-examination. Most of us here are students. To be precise, all of us are students. Some of us are studying at the university, while others are studying in the outer world or in the inner world. We work very hard to pass our examinations. Our teachers and professors work very hard to be impartial.

When the human teacher wants to examine us, very often his pride pleads with him. It wants to examine us on the teacher’s behalf. When God, the divine Teacher, wants to examine us, His Compassion pleads with Him. It wants to examine us on God’s behalf. The human teacher gladly agrees to the proposal made by his pride. The divine Teacher immediately agrees to the proposal offered by His Compassion.

When the human teacher examines us, we either pass or fail the examination. But when the divine Teacher examines us, we never fail. Why? We never fail because the divine Teacher is at once our examiner and our private tutor. He privately teaches us what He is going to ask us on His examination. Naturally we never fail. First He teaches us devotedly, constantly and unconditionally. Then He openly examines us, and we all pass His examination without any difficulty.

Self-examination and deception are total strangers. They are constantly at daggers drawn. Deception hates self-examination. Self-examination is fond of perfection, and perfection is proud of self-examination. Deception runs backward. Self-examination runs forward to its goal of perfection. At the end of the backward journey, Satan, the evil force, shakes hands with deception. And at the end of the forward journey, God, the Supreme Pilot, garlands self-examination.

Self-examination is our aspiration for the higher world and the inner world. The higher world is immortal Light. The inner world is infinite Peace. Light shows us the face of Truth and then makes us the body of Truth. Peace makes us the body of Truth and then shows us the face of Truth. Light says to Peace, “Sister, I need your Length. What you have and what you are is Infinity’s Length.” Peace immediately tells Light, “Brother, my Length is equally yours. What you have and what you are is Transcendental Height. I need your Light and your Height.” The immortal Light says, “My sister, take it. My Light and my Height are equally yours.”

Unlike us, God examines Himself constantly. We are reluctant to examine ourselves, but God is fond of examining Himself at every moment. He examines Himself in order to see whether His infinite Compassion is operating most effectively in the heart of mankind. And unlike us, God is fond of perfecting Himself at every moment. He feels that He is perfect only when we can offer Him a soulful smile. We pray to God for countless things, but He inwardly prays to us for only one thing: a smile, a soulful smile.

Self-discovery and God-discovery are one and the same thing, but they usually work in two specific ways. In God-discovery, we see the infinite Infinity crying in the heart of the finite. In self-discovery, we see the finite smiling through the soul of the Infinite.

Self-examination leads us to self-control. Self-control leads us to self-mastery. Self-mastery is the denial of ignorance-sea and the affirmation of Illumination-sky. Self-examination is our journey’s start. Our first Goal is self-discovery. Our second goal is God-revelation. Our third and last goal is God-manifestation.

God-discovery or God-realisation, God-revelation and God-manifestation: these are the three rungs in the ladder of our spiritual evolution. Early in the morning, Mother Earth offers God-realisation to Father Heaven as her first gift. At noon, Mother Earth offers God-revelation to Father Heaven as her second gift. And in the evening, Mother Earth offers God-manifestation to Father Heaven as her third and ultimate gift.

All seekers of the Transcendental are receiving Truth, Peace, Light and Bliss according to their capacity and receptivity. Everyone starts his spiritual journey as a beginner-seeker. When a beginner-seeker examines his body, he discovers a stupid donkey. When he examines his vital, he discovers a mad elephant. When he examines his mind, he discovers a restless and mischievous monkey. And when he examines his heart, he discovers a feeble ant. His sincerity sees and feels it. But at the end of his journey’s close, his sincerity makes him see and feel something else. He examines his body and discovers a sea of Purity. He examines his vital and discovers a sea of divine Power. He examines his mind and discovers a sea of infinite Peace. He examines his heart and discovers an infinite expanse of Light and Delight.

[The University of Connecticut in 1973 became the first academic institution to offer a credit course on Sri Chinmoy's philosophy. The course was developed and taught by Professor Peter Pitzele (Brihaspati). The following remarks were addressed by Sri Chinmoy to Brihaspati's wife, Indira, and to Brihaspati's students, who attended the talk.]

[To Indira:] You are Brihaspati's inspiration. You inspire him outwardly and I inspire him inwardly. He needs inspiration both from the outer world and from the inner world. Our deep inspiration and his lofty aspiration have made him what he is — a professor who is loved and admired by all his students. In the name of the Supreme, I offer my loving gratitude to you and to Brihaspati.

[To Brihaspati's students:] I am most grateful to you. You have studied our philosophy. I pray to the Supreme to shower His choicest, highest blessings upon your devoted heads and your aspiring hearts. By studying our philosophy, you have given us the opportunity to serve the Supreme in your aspiring hearts. Brihaspati will offer our light to the Supreme in you. For that I am offering you my soul's deepest love and my heart's blessingful gratitude.

Published in Fifty Freedom-Boats to One Golden Shore, part 1

Indian Stories

by Sri Chinmoy

Have faith in Vishnu!

Once a great devotee of Vishnu went horseback riding. He was enjoying the ride, when he happened to come near the house of a washerman. The washerman had just washed some clothes and put them out to dry. Unfortunately, the devotee’s horse ran over the newly washed clothes, leaving its footprints on them. The washerman got furious and ran after the devotee, pulling him down from the horse.

The devotee started screaming, “O Vishnu, Vishnu, save me, save me!”

At the time, Vishnu was having his feet massaged by his consort in Heaven. All of a sudden he ran away. His consort cried, “What are you doing? Where are you going? Did I do anything wrong?”

Vishnu replied, “Don’t worry, I am coming back soon.” He opened the door, walked only a few steps outside his house and then returned.

His consort said, “Well, what happened? You ran outside, but there was nobody there. What were you doing?”

Vishnu said, “You don’t know what happened? On earth my greatest devotee was being chased by a washerman. First he ran away, afraid for his life, and prayed to me to save him. But as soon as I ran to save him, suddenly he decided that he had strength enough to fight the man himself, so he didn’t pray to me anymore. He just threatened the washerman and frightened him. The washerman felt that my devotee was much stronger than he, so he stopped chasing him. My devotee got back on his horse and continued his morning ride to enjoy the beauty of nature.”

The consort said, “Since he had invoked you, he should not have changed his mind. He could have got hurt!”

Vishnu said, “Either one has to have faith in me or faith in oneself. If one has faith in me, then he is always safe. But if one has faith in oneself, sometimes ego enters into the picture. If the seeker has very intense aspiration and if he can establish his oneness with me, then faith in me and faith in himself are the same thing. But if he has not established oneness with my Will and my Consciousness, then his faith in himself is only a parade of ego. That kind of seeker is one day bound to fall in his spiritual life, without fail.”

Spirituality is for those who are careful

Once there was a beautiful woman who was very spiritual. Her husband was also quite spiritual. Often they used to invite seekers to their home for spiritual discussions, prayer and meditation. The two were very generous, and after these meetings the wife would usually serve dinner to everyone.

Once the husband had to go out of town on business for a few months. The seekers who previously had been coming to her home asked if they could continue meeting there. But she said, “Oh, no! My husband wouldn’t like the idea. Only when he is here can I invite you over.” That was not the real reason, however. Several times in the past, when her husband had been out of town, the wife had continued meeting with seekers. But now, during her husband’s absence, she had become very friendly with one of her servants and eventually fell in love with him. Because she was deeply interested in the servant, she found no need for spirituality in her life.

One day, a spiritual Master was walking near her house. He looked very sad. When the wife saw him, she asked, “Why are you so sad?” The Master said, “I am very sad because from my childhood I have always carried a special toy with me. The toy was my friend, my only friend. Whenever I did anything very private and intimate, I allowed only this toy to accompany me. Nobody else would ever know what I was doing. The toy was like my collaborator, and it always suffered whenever I did anything wrong. But now I have done something so bad that, out of shame, the toy has fallen down and broken its head.”

The woman was very sympathetic. “Let me buy you another toy so that you forget about this one,” she said.

But the Master said, “No, I can’t do that. How can I have another toy? This toy represented my inner being. It was part and parcel of my nature, my character, my life. If I get a new one just because it has smashed its head, then it will have another consciousness.”

The lady got the point. Here she was married to a good and spiritual man, and now she was in love with a servant, of all people. She cried and cried at the feet of the Master. “Oh, forgive me, forgive me,” she said.

The Master said, “I will forgive you for what you have done. Even your husband will forgive you, immediately he will forgive you, for his love for you is boundless. But your soul — the only real reality inside you — may not forgive you at all, or for a long time. It may withdraw and not come to the fore again this whole incarnation.

“Once one accepts the spiritual life, once one becomes a real seeker, at that time if one falls and enters into the vital and emotional life, indulging in unthinkable things, then the punishment is unbearable. One is compelled to lead a miserable, miserable life, without forgiveness.

“So, be careful before you accept the spiritual life, and then, once you have accepted the spiritual life, be constantly careful. For if you fall at that time, darkness-life will not care for you and wisdom-light will not care for you either. Aspiration-life will not care for you if you do not aspire and desire-life will not care for you, for it will feel that it cannot trust you totally. It will say, ‘Again he may go back to aspiration-life.’ And aspiration-life will not trust you. It will say, ‘Oh, he left me to go back to desire-life.’

“So, you will be caught in between aspiration-life and desire-life. You will not get joy from desire-life, for you have already told aspiration-life that you will be its eternal friend. And once you betray desire-life and go after a higher life, desire-life will only torture you. So be careful! Spirituality is only for those who are always careful in what they say, do and become.”

Chandra Gupta and the lion

There was once a king named Samudra Gupta who had two sons: Rama Gupta and Chandra Gupta. Everyone liked Chandra Gupta, the younger of the two, because of his bravery, sweetness, politeness and humility. Chandra Gupta had all the divine virtues, whereas Rama Gupta was very haughty and undivine in every possible way. Even their father couldn’t help liking his younger son better. All the members of the royal family and the court favoured Chandra Gupta, except for one very bad minister. This minister was a rogue of the first water, and he liked Rama Gupta for his own undivine reasons.

The two princes had many friends among the sons of ministers and high officials. One day, Chandra Gupta came to his father and asked “Father, can we go out to the river and play?”

The father said, “Why not, my son. Go and enjoy yourself.”

The two brothers and eight or nine of their friends went to play by the river. All of a sudden, a ferocious lion came and everybody became frightened and ran away. Only Chandra Gupta stayed. He started fighting the animal and finally killed him. Afterwards, all the other children started appreciating Chandra Gupta.

His brother became very jealous and said, “Oh, he just killed a lion. Anybody can do that.”

The friends said, “Anybody can do it? Then why did you run away, you coward?”

The brother said, “I ran away only because everybody else was running away. They would have pulled me with them, and would not have allowed me to stay.”

“You liar!” everybody shouted. “Your brother didn’t run away. He challenged the strength of the lion and killed it!”

Rama Gupta became furious. “I hate my brother! Everybody appreciates him and admires him. It isn’t fair. I am also the King’s son, the prince of this kingdom, but nobody appreciates me.”

Everyone said, “You are a coward, like us; that is why we can’t appreciate you. But your brother set his strength against that of the wild beast and came out victorious. Indeed, he is destined to be King one day.”

Rama Gupta said, “How? I am the older brother. It is my kingdom. It is I who will get the throne.” Everyone continued to argue with him.

By now it was getting late, and still the children had not returned to the palace. The King became worried, and he sent a messenger to see if they were all right. When the messenger reached the river, he told the princes, “Your father is very worried. You must come back to the palace now.” “We were enjoying the death of this lion,” the children said.

When the King came to hear of the story, he couldn’t believe his ears. He personally came to the river with his whole entourage of ministers and important people. “Chandra Gupta, you have done this?” he said. “This is beyond my imagination. I have had many dreams about how powerful and great you will be, and this only makes me more certain.”

Everybody was shouting with joy that Chandra Gupta had killed the lion, but the rogue minister was very sarcastic. “At last Chandra Gupta has done something great,” he said.

“Shut up, Minister,” everyone said. “Why are you mocking him? Chandra Gupta has performed such a great feat, almost a miracle. He is the great hero in the family.”

The minister became afraid he would be fired. He said, “I am sorry. I don’t know why I said that. I really meant to say that you should give him a reward.”

“What kind of reward should I give him?” asked the King. “Whatever I give him will be inadequate. On the one hand, I am so proud of him. On the other hand, I feel that he will get his reward for his virtuous life when the day comes for him to take care of the kingdom.”

“What?” Rama Gupta cried out. “How is that possible? I am the older brother. The throne belongs to me.”

The King answered, “No doubt, Rama Chandra, you will become King after my death. But I feel that somehow, someday, Chandra Gupta is destined to rule.”

“Father,” cried Rama Gupta, “you always speak well of Chandra Gupta. In your eyes I am nobody, just a speck of dust.”

The King said, “Don’t be a fool. You are also my son. Only be grateful that your brother has saved your life.”

“I hate him!” screamed Rama Gupta. “I can save myself.”

“Look, I am the King,” the father said firmly. “Come back home peacefully. Otherwise, I will throw you out of my kingdom.”

Rama Gupta became frightened and returned to the palace. Because his older brother felt so miserable, Chandra Gupta said to him, “O brother, I have killed a lion. But you and I are brothers, so easily you can feel that it is you who have killed it.”

“You fool!” said Rama Gupta. “You killed the beast, and I will say that I did it?” He became furious.

“But what is the difference?” asked Chandra Gupta. “We are members of one family. Our parents, our relatives, even our father’s subjects are all one. When you do something great and good, at that time I feel that it is I who have done it.”

“What have I ever done?” asked Rama Gupta.

“You will do very great things,” Chandra Gupta consoled him. “And I will claim them as my very own. Although I have killed this lion today, please feel that it is you who have done it. And one day when you do something significant, I will claim your achievement as my own.”

Rama Gupta's capture

When King Samudra Gupta died, he left two sons: Rama Gupta and Chandra Gupta. Rama Gupta was supposed to become King, since he was the eldest. But everybody spoke ill of him because of all his undivine qualities. Some said that the King would have really wanted Chandra Gupta to succeed him. The subjects also wished that Chandra Gupta could take the throne but, according to law, Rama Gupta was meant to become King.

There was an evil minister in the royal court. Rama Gupta took this evil minister into his confidence: “Immediately I have to become King, before it is too late. Otherwise, I fear that my brother will somehow win the throne.”

The minister said, “You will become King without fail, but why don’t we wait a few days. People are still mourning your father’s death.”

In his heart of hearts, the minister was very happy that Rama Gupta was anxious to take the throne. “The sooner the better for him,” he said to himself. But outwardly he did not want to appear disrespectful to the King.

A few days later Rama Gupta came to the minister and gave him a very large amount of money as a bribe. The minister said, “Money I need, and also I am one with you. I don’t like Chandra Gupta either. Everybody always appreciates him, whereas nobody even cares for my own son. When I think of the way you are treated, I am reminded of my own son. Let me make you King.”

The minister called in the priest and told him to perform the ceremony making Rama Gupta King. Chandra Gupta did not feel sorry because, after all, he was the younger brother and was not supposed to be King. He was sincerely happy that his brother was becoming King, and he participated in the ceremony, giving everybody joy.

In a few years’ time Rama Gupta married a most beautiful girl named Dhruva Devi. They had an intimate friend named Madhavi, who used to tell the Queen that Chandra Gupta was so great whereas her husband was not so great. Dhruva Devi all the time heard stories about Chandra Gupta’s goodness and her husband’s undivine qualities.

One day Dhruva Devi said to her husband, “I have heard so much about your younger brother’s greatness. Is it all true?”

Rama Gupta became furious: “Everything you have heard from that Madhavi. I shall kill her! You shouldn’t believe that stupid woman. What she says is not true. It is I who am great, greater, greatest. That’s why I have become the King. I will banish Chandra Gupta from my kingdom.”

The Queen said, “No, don’t do that. I will not speak of him anymore. And even if you wanted to throw him out of the kingdom, do you really think you would be able to? The whole kingdom likes and admires him. Wait and see. You can’t throw him out.”

When Madhavi heard about this, she said to the Queen “Without Chandra Gupta, would there even be a kingdom? Rama Gupta is only King by name. The strength and power of the kingdom come from Chandra Gupta.”

Rama Gupta was furious when he heard what Madhavi had said. “I need some rest,” he said. “I am tired of always arguing with these rogues. They stay in my kingdom, eat my food and then speak ill of me. I don’t need this kind of subject. I am going away for some time. O Queen if you want to come and enjoy some rest with me, you are most welcome. We shall take a few soldiers with us in case anything happens.”

So with a small army, the King and Queen set out for a short vacation, wandering here and there. Alas, one day they came near the border of King Shaka’s kingdom. Shaka’s soldiers thought that they were coming to do battle. Since they knew the area so well, they circled around Rama Gupta’s soldiers and caught them by surprise. Then they drove them across the border into Shaka’s territory proper. As soon as they crossed the border, another army of Shaka attacked them from the front. Rama Gupta’s men, caught off guard, were defeated and the King and Queen were held captive.

The queen's plight

While King Rama Gupta and his Queen, Dhruva Devi, were out on a holiday, accompanied by a few of their soldiers, they were captured by the army of King Shaka.

King Shaka sent the captured King a message: “I will allow you to go back to your kingdom only if you give up your wife and allow her to marry me. Dhruva Devi rightfully belongs to me, because originally I was supposed to marry her.”

Rama Gupta was surprised. “Dhruva Devi, is this true?” he asked. His wife admitted, “It is true. My father arranged for me to marry King Shaka, but at the eleventh hour he changed his mind. Shaka is such a bad man; he is undivine in every way. And I was so beautiful, so good and divine, that my father decided not to allow me to marry him.”

Rama Gupta said, “Indeed, you are so beautiful that I will never part with you. I will fight Shaka.”

When Shaka heard this, he laughed and laughed. “Already you are conquered,” he told Rama Gupta. “What kind of fight will this be? You are practically dead. How are you going to fight if you are half dead? Now you are going to see your wife for the last time. I will force her to come and marry me. But for a few days let me allow you and your wife to stay with your conquered army. I am enjoying your imprisonment and mistreatment.”

Afterwards, Rama Gupta said, “O Queen, if I don’t give you to King Shaka, I will lose my entire kingdom. Again, if I give you away, I will feel miserable. But to be very, very frank with you, I want to remain king. So I am going to send you to this brute. When you get married, I will feel sorry, for I will miss you, but I want to go back to my kingdom.”

The Queen was horror-struck: “I knew it, I knew it!” she cried. “What a rogue you are! Your brother would not have done this kind of thing.”

Then Rama Gupta became furious: “Don’t bring Chandra Gupta into the picture. Why has he not come to help us, if he is such a great hero?”

“He does not even know what happened to us,” said the Queen. “If I could only send a message to him!”

“How will you send a message? Our army is now in chains, and many people have been killed,” the king said.

But it happened that Chandra Gupta was wondering why his brother had not yet come back: “He left the palace for only a few days’ rest; now he has been gone two weeks. What is delaying him?”

So Chandra Gupta decided to go searching for his brother and the Queen. He asked some of his friends and soldiers from his brother’s army to accompany him. It was not long before Chandra Gupta heard that his brother was being held captive by King Shaka, and he went looking for him. When Shaka’s soldiers saw Chandra Gupta coming, they laughed and laughed. “They have so few people. Let them go and see how badly we are treating their royal king and queen.”

When Chandra Gupta came, Dhruva Devi started screaming and weeping. “Your brother is giving me away to King Shaka so that he can go back and rule his kingdom,” she said.

Chandra Gupta was shocked. “How can you do this kind of thing? Think of how great our father was! For your kingdom you will give up such a kindhearted and beautiful woman?”

“Enough of your wisdom!” Rama Gupta said. “I need name and fame. I will get infinitely more by being King than by remaining with this wife.”

Dhruva Devi was so horrified that she fell down on the ground. Chandra Gupta said to her, “Sister, I will not allow my brother to give you away. I will fight for you, and I will take you back.”

So, with his very limited army he fought King Shaka’s soldiers and won. Then he went to King Shaka, and also killed him. Afterwards he came and freed his brother and his wife and took them home.

The death of the King

Chandra Gupta returned home after slaying the evil King Shaka, bringing with him his brother, King Rama Gupta, and the Queen, Dhruva Devi, who had been held captive for several weeks. Everybody was appreciating and admiring Chandra Gupta for his heroism. At the same time, they were criticising and cursing the King, for agreeing to give his own wife away in order to regain his kingdom. Everybody was filled with hatred for the undivine King.

The King felt miserable that everybody was appreciating his brother. “Something should be done,” he said. “Why has this happened to me?”

His evil minister read the King’s mind. “O King, you were a fool to expose your cowardice.”

But Rama Gupta said, “Still I am the King. Yet nobody gives me any importance.”

“What can you expect from your subjects?” the minister asked. “They all love and admire their Queen and they are angry that you wanted to give her away.”

Rama Gupta became very agitated. “Even my own wife is more venerated than I am. This is my fate!” A friend of the undivine minister happened to overhear this conversation. He was extremely jealous of Chandra Gupta and had a clever idea.

“O King,” he said, “I could not help overhearing your words. I fully sympathise with you. But I must tell you that you will never be happy as long as your brother stays on earth.”

The King said, “Indeed, I fear you are right. I should banish him from the kingdom.”

“He would only gather an army and return to challenge you. But,” the friend continued, “O King, if your brother were dead, everybody would forget all about him. Then all the glory in this kingdom would be totally yours.”

“I need glory, name and fame,” agreed the King. “But alas, my brother will live on earth for many years.”

“We can change his fate and our fate,” said the minister. “What if poor Chandra Gupta were killed mysteriously in his sleep?”

“An excellent idea,” said Rama Gupta.

“Tonight!” said the minister’s friend. “You should kill him tonight, before another day passes and you lose more glory, name and fame.”

“We shall help you rule the kingdom without him,” said the minister. “Boundless will be our wealth and power!”

That night Chandra Gupta was sleeping when he heard a loud sound. “Who is there?” he demanded.

Someone was approaching him in the dark, sword in hand, and was about to stab him. “Villain!” Chandra Gupta cried out. “At this hour you have come to kill me?” With that, he pushed aside his assailant, grabbed the sword and stabbed the person.

When Chandra Gupta turned on the light, he saw it was his own brother that he had stabbed. “What can I do? Forgive me, forgive me. I didn’t know it was you. If I had seen you, if I had known it was you, I would have allowed you to kill me and put an end to all your suffering. You should have asked me to leave the kingdom. I would have gladly gone away. I don’t need name and fame. I am happy with what I have and what I am.”

Chandra Gupta could do nothing to save his brother, who died in his arms. “What have I done, what have I done!” Chandra Gupta cried out. “I did not know it was my brother. Alas, my father was so great and good. Is this the fate of his sons and kingdom?” Chandra Gupta buried his head in his hands totally crushed and heartbroken.

A father's dream becomes reality

With the death of Rama Gupta, his brother, Chandra Gupta, became King. The whole kingdom came to his inaugural ceremony. Everyone was crying with joy and relief, for they felt that he would be a just and kind King and that the land would flourish and prosper under his rule. The soldiers all pledged loyalty to their new King and said they were honoured to serve such a brave and heroic ruler.

After several days of festivities, the wife of Rama Gupta, Dhruva Devi, came to the new King. “Please,” she said to him, “you have to marry me.”

Chandra Gupta was surprised. “Dhruva Devi, your heart and soul are forever bound to my dear brother. Unfortunately, I took away his life, when I slew him without knowing who he was. I could never take away his Queen also. You will forever remain beloved to my kingdom as Rama Gupta’s kind and beautiful Queen.”

“No, Chandra Gupta,” said Dhruva Devi. “You have saved me from that dreadful King Shaka. You have given me a new life. It is you who deserve my love and loyalty.”

“But how could I ever marry my own brother’s wife?” Chandra Gupta asked. Dhruva Devi fell at the King’s feet: “Please, I have always admired your kindness and affection for humanity. I have always adored your valour and heroism. It is you who saved your brother when he was about to lose his kingdom and it is you who saved my prestige and honour.”

“Speak no further,” Chandra Gupta said. “My sense of loyalty to my brother would never allow me to accept your proposal. What would my subjects think of me?”

“Where was your brother’s loyalty to me when he was ready to give me away to that King Shaka? He did not value me at all,” Dhruva Devi cried. “Only you valued me enough to fight for my freedom and honour.”

Chandra Gupta remained silent.

She continued, “In no way am I trying to exploit you or your new position. Because of your divine qualities, I have always appreciated you. I want to be as divine and spiritual as you are. Divine love is the only reality. You have to marry me.”

The King said, “Dhruva Devi, my heart is deeply moved by your words. You shall again be Queen.”

At that moment the undivine minister who had always supported Rama Gupta against his brother rushed into the room: “You are fulfilling your father’s wish. Your father wanted you to become King, but I opposed it. I wanted Rama Gupta to be King because of my weakness for him. He reminded me of my own son. Forgive me.”

Chandra Gupta said, “My father was not only great and good, but he was also all forgiveness. I want to become like my father. Whether or not I have got his greatness or goodness, God alone knows. But I have prayed to God to give me the power of forgiveness, and this He has given me. That is why I am forgiving you.

“I also pray that God will forgive me for having killed my brother, for I did not do it intentionally. I would have allowed him to kill me had I known that he was my attacker. I always tried to make him happy. His happiness was my happiness. God gave me capacity and I want always to use this for a good, divine purpose. Alas, this capacity has caused so much trouble for me. My own brother wanted to destroy me. O God, capacity is a boon; again, capacity is a great problem.”

Then the minister said, “You will rule the kingdom peacefully and gloriously. I could not help overhearing your conversation with Dhruva Devi. She loves you, and it is you who deserve her. You should marry her. This is what all your subjects want. They are all hoping that she will again be Queen.”

“They shall get their wish, O Minister, and you shall get my forgiveness.”

Dhruva Devi said, “And your father is finally getting his wish. His dream has become a reality, now that your greatness and goodness will rule the land.”

Published in Great Indian Meals: Divinely Delicious and Supremely Nourishing, part 3

Sri Aurobindo and Suresh Chandra Chakravarty Drink Tea

A story by Sri Chinmoy

In the Sri Aurobindo Ashram there was a super-excellent Bengali writer. His name was Suresh Chandra Chakravarty, but he was known as Moni. He was extremely close to Sri Aurobindo. He was the one who first went to Pondicherry at Sri Aurobindo’s request to arrange for Sri Aurobindo’s accommodation there. Everything was done in secret so that the British would not come to know of it. This young man took such a risk because the British wanted to kidnap Sri Aurobindo. Sri Aurobindo arrived in Pondicherry by steamer on 4 April 1910.

Sri Aurobindo had very few companions at this time. Suresh Chandra Chakravarty was one of these young men. They used to take turns making tea for Sri Aurobindo and cooking. When Sri Aurobindo used to drink his tea, he had the habit of placing his legs on the table and this young man did the same. He used to put his feet up on the table. Nobody else dared to do it, but he was so close to Sri Aurobindo.

Then, when the Mother came to Pondicherry in 1914 and saw this behaviour, she was horrified. How could a disciple put his legs up on the table in front of the Master? So she stopped it. She was also very strict with Sri Aurobindo’s diet. From eight or nine cups of tea a day, she brought it down to one.

Published in My Book of Tea and Coffee Experiences