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The World’s Highest Experience

Sri Chinmoy asks his disciples what they think is the highest experience the world has to offer. Many try to guess, but no one comes close.

Here is Sri Chinmoy’s answer:

“From my experience, it is uncertainty. In this world my own experience is that nothing is certain, absolutely nothing is cer­tain. This is the highest thing the world has to offer. No matter what the world gives us there is always uncertainty. The world’s achieve­ment is not certain at all. In this world you can get the highest God-realisation, but from this world no matter what you get you are uncertain, absolutely uncertain. From my own experience, uncer­tainty is the best superlative which this world can offer.

“If you as a human being identify yourself with the world­-consciousness, you may think that you are certain of what is going to happen, but the next moment you are absolutely uncertain. Even one second from now you can’t say what is going to happen. Today you are determined that you won’t do this, you won’t say this, but the next moment you do something diametrically opposite. You promise that you will never be jealous of anyone, absolutely never. But what kind of determination do you have? From your repeated experience you should know that it is all uncertain. You promise that you will be a good girl or a good boy, but what does your experience say? Your promise to yourself is uncertain; it does not last. It is good to keep that kind of promise, but inside that promise is just uncertainty.

“Certainty is again a matter of trust, trust in yourself. If you trust yourself, then you know you will do this, say this, become this. You have certainty; you are positive that you will do this, say this, become this. But when you are not certain of your life, then distrust starts. If you can’t trust yourself, if you can’t trust your promise, then you break your promise. Again, once you break your promise, how can you trust yourself? Then once more you have to start from the begin­ning. It all stems from uncertainty. You have determination, but even inside your determination there is uncertainty. “Now I am talking about what you get from this world, but if you want to get something really valuable in this world, then God-­realisation you can get; infinite Peace, Love and Bliss you can get. But you are not getting those things from this world. If you are iden­tified with this world, then you are giving the uncertainty experience not only to yourself, but also to others.

“But again, if you identify with some inner force or with your Master or God, then everything is certain; it is going to happen. It may be delayed, it may be postponed, but definitely it is going to happen. Definitely you are going to be a perfect instrument; it is absolutely true. If you identify with me, then definitely it is a matter of time. It may be tomorrow; it may be in the distant future. But if you don’t identify with me, then it is absolutely uncertain. Identifica­tion with me is the only thing that will give you certainty. The moment you lose that identification, the world will bring uncertainty into your body, vital, mind and heart, and even into your soul. The soul itself will suffer from uncertainty. The soul will say, ‘Will it really happen?’

“To be one with me in the mind is always difficult, for the stupid mind is always doubtful; but even the mind will be certain if you identify with me. If the body is lethargic and the vital is aggressive, a dead elephant we can carry and a mad elephant we can control; but if doubt-cancer starts in the mind, it is very dangerous. When doubt­-cancer spreads you die. But even doubt-cancer can be conquered if you become one with the Will of the Supreme in me. If you are one with my will, then everything is certain, certain. But the moment you lose your oneness with my will, you are finished; even your soul will suffer from uncertainty. The soul will be totally covered at that time by the body’s will, the vital’s will and the mind’s will. If oneness is missing, then it is all uncertainty. If you identify yourself with the world, then you will always be uncertain; you can’t say that anything is definitely going to happen. Only constant oneness with God’s Will is all absolute certainty.”

Published in Chinmoy Family, May–June 1980

Later reprinted in The Temple and the Shrine

Anecdotes

by Sri Chinmoy at his home in New York

Nobody Came To My Lecture

When I went to Minneapolis for the first time, I spoke about reincarnation. Not even one person came. I was looking at the ceiling and giving my talk. Ida Patterson, our Sukhukee, was standing at the door, hoping and hoping that somebody would come. My lecture was over — nobody, nobody came!

I read in a book that the same thing happened to Brahmananda, Sri Ramakrishna’s disciple. Brahmananda was supposed to give a talk and nobody came. Brahmananda said that was his best speech! There was no controversy. The walls received his message so nicely!

Many New Things About Swami Vivekananda

Many new things I have seen in a particular book. Swami Vivekananda’s brother, Bhupendra, wanted to become a Guru. Swami Vivekananda said no, and his brother said something unkind to him. But afterwards, Bhupendra became so devoted, so devoted.

The author found that Swami Vivekananda was not the oldest in the family. Everywhere it is written that he was the oldest, but before him three or four were born. They all died as infants. In all the books from our childhood we read that Swami Vivekananda was the oldest and he could not feed his young brothers. My play started when he was unable to feed his family. His father had died and they had such financial difficulty. Now we have found out that he was not the first child born in the family.

In some subjects at Calcutta University he was not good at all! He got a mark of forty. According to the Indian standard, thirty-three is a passing mark. According to the American standard he would not have passed his examination. Now the whole world knows that he was a most brilliant student, with a brilliant mind. In hundreds of books it is written. But as far as the university was concerned, he did not get high marks in some subjects.

Sri Aurobindo called Swami Vivekananda the flower of Calcutta University. He wrote about when the flower of Calcutta University sat at the feet of Sri Ramakrishna. Swami Vivekananda became that! Others perhaps got only paper degrees.

The Supramental Light

For more than two weeks, when Sri Aurobindo was in jail, every day Swami Vivekananda used to come and tell Sri Aurobindo about the supermind. At that time Sri Aurobindo had no idea about the supermind. In my book I have written about it. Swami Vivekananda said, “You have to bring down the supermind.” When Sri Aurobindo brought down the supermind, it was most luminous, but it did not last more than two days. His face was absolutely flooded with light — there was no electric light. His whole body was surcharged with the light of the supermind. Alas, it did not last. Then he said it was only for his disciples. No photograph was taken — it was not allowed.

For those two days they kept two bodyguards nearby so that nobody would try to touch Sri Aurobindo. Dilip was so devoted and so emotional, but even he was not allowed to touch Sri Aurobindo at that time.

The Supramental Light went away. Then, a few years later, the Supramental Light again touched the earth. I ran my 400 metres at around four-thirty or five o’clock. After running 400 metres, I literally cried.

That was my most difficult race. For everybody, 400 metres is the most difficult race. I was lying down on a very old mat. All of a sudden I saw the light — somebody showed me. Half an hour later, the Mother said that the light had touched her.

A Roaring Lion

Once, on the 15th of August, Sri Aurobindo’s birthday, we were all marching, group by group. On that day, the band was playing Bande Mataram. Sri Aurobindo liked Bande Mataram. That became the cry of the whole of India.

There were three groups coming together, and each group had a captain. One captain, Pranab, became the director of physical education. He writes to me and sends pictures. He and I were very good friends. The Mother was standing in front of a map of India. She used to take our salute from that place. The time came for our group to salute the Mother. Behind me there were about thirty people in our group. Because of the formation, some groups were facing the Mother, but I could not see the Mother, because other groups were there.

The Mother said that, while the band was playing Bande Mataram, she saw a lion roaring and roaring on the map of India. She said she saw it and she heard it. This was all happening in the inner world.

I told my brother Chitta, “I saw the lion and I heard it roaring. I can even give the position of the lion.”

My brother brought a small picture of a lion, I think from the newspaper, and he brought a map of India, the same one that was at the playground. We had many, many copies of that map. On the map I put the picture of the lion where I had seen it. I put the tail, the mouth, every part of the lion exactly where it had been in the playground.

My brother used to frame little pictures of the Mother and Sri Aurobindo, and he would give those framed pictures to the Mother. There were twenty or thirty children at the Ashram. Twice a month or so, the Mother would give the pictures to the children. Now, on this occasion my brother gave quite a few pictures, and he also gave the copy of the map of India where I had placed the lion. In a very casual way he said, “Chinmoy says this is the position of the lion that was roaring. He says that he saw the lion.”

Very, very seriously the Mother concentrated on the position of the lion. Then my brother got a very bright, broad smile from the Mother.

The lion was looking up, toward the Himalayas. I got the exact place very correctly, because it was so clear to me.

My third eye I can keep open, but sometimes I do not open it. Sometimes I do not want to open it because then I may have to solve some problem in the inner world. But sometimes the third eye automatically opens. At that time I was a young fellow in my marching consciousness. I was marching, I stopped and then my third eye opened. I did not have the eagerness to see what was happening at that moment — not at all! Millions of times I do not have the eagerness to know what is happening. I do not want to know, because if I know, I will only have to deal with problems. If for some reason I must open it, I do open it. But as I said a few minutes ago, after running 400 metres, while panting, I just saw that Supramental Light.

It is true, true, true. In my Ashram life, all kinds of things happened.

A Very Devoted Family

One family in the Ashram was very, very devoted to me from the beginning. The whole family was very devoted. As soon as the father first saw me, when I was about fourteen years old, he said, “What is your name?”

I said, “Chinmoy.”

He said, “No! I can see that you are the king of the yogis, Yogiraj!” From that moment he never called me by the name “Chinmoy.”

The whole family called me Chinmoy-da, irrespective of their age! The mother was twenty or thirty years older than me. They were all much older than me, but that was their established way of addressing me. The eldest son was older than me, and he called me Chinmoy-da. They all called me Chinmoy-da, but the father called me Yogiraj.

The whole family was so fond of me. One of the daughters was named Kiran. After the father died, a spiritual Master told Kiran that her father had taken a new incarnation and he was now a little baby. The whole family wanted to see their father, because the spiritual Master had said it. But Kiran’s mother was still mourning her husband, so she did not want to go to see the child.

By that time I had established a very good inner connection with the family. Kiran’s mother was begging me, “Please, please tell me if it is true. I am still suffering from the loss of my husband, so I do not want to see the little boy.” The little boy was by that time three or four years old.

I had a very, very dear friend. Once I saw Sri Ramakrishna in the moon and I was talking to him while this friend was beside me. I was talking, but my friend could not understand anything, although he was even hearing the words! On one occasion I saw that this dearest friend of mine was playing with that little boy. I asked my dearest friend to bring the little boy to me, so he brought the boy. I concentrated very seriously. Then I went to that family’s place. I said to the mother, “I do not think so — it is not true. He is not your husband.”

She said, “What a relief!” She totally gave up thinking about that child and she would not go to see him. And the children also stopped, just because I said it was not true. They believed me.

When this lady died two years ago, at around two o’clock in the morning, her soul wanted me to take full care of her. In the Ashram she was very devoted.

I said, “I cannot do that. Your Guru is the Mother, your Guru is Sri Aurobindo.”

But she said, “No, I am your disciple.”

I said, “For so many years you have been a disciple at the Ashram!”

She said she had taken me as her Guru, and I should take care of her. She and her husband were the Mother and Sri Aurobindo’s disciples, but they had such love for me, such admiration. The first time the husband saw me I was only a young boy. He said, “Your name is not Chinmoy — it is Yogiraj!”

When the father was dying in the hospital, I went there with his son, who was my dearest friend. Three doctors came out of the room, and they were all smoking and smoking. My friend asked, “How is my father?”

One of the doctors said, “Oh, he is doing quite well.”

I entered into the room. As soon as I saw the father, I touched his feet, because he was older than me. Then my friend went in to see him. The doctors came back and examined him. It was a matter of only two minutes or so. They examined him and then they said, “Oh, he is gone.” Just two minutes before they had said, “He is doing well.” Perhaps, in the Indian way, they were trying to console the son.

Something In My Eyes

People saw something in my eyes. What they saw, God alone knows. I was walking along in the street near the Ashram. A gentleman came up from behind me and said, “May I call you Yogibar?” “Yogibar” means the greatest of the yogis.

I did not know who he was! He was over forty-five, and I was perhaps seventeen or eighteen. I said, “No, my name is Chinmoy.”

“I know your name is Chinmoy, but you must allow me to call you Yogibar.” I did not even know his name! He was very nice, a real gentleman. That is how I became Yogibar.

A few months later he brought his wife and little child to the Ashram. They came to my sister’s place. The wife was crying and crying because she did not want to listen to her husband. Her husband was insisting that she become Sri Aurobindo’s disciple, but she said no, because she had already taken Swami Vivekananda as her Guru — not Sri Ramakrishna, but Swami Vivekananda. She never saw Swami Vivekananda on the physical plane. Still the husband was insisting, and she did not want to become Sri Aurobindo’s disciple. Like that the fight was going on. She wanted to remain Swami Vivekananda’s disciple. The husband said, “Oh, Sri Aurobindo is much higher than Swami Vivekananda — he is an Avatar.” He was trying to convince her.

My sisters were wise. They said, “Allow her to remain with Swami Vivekananda. Why to force her if she does not want to become Sri Aurobindo’s disciple?”

It was late in the evening. I said, “All right, tomorrow evening come to my place.” At that time I was staying with my brother in a small place near the sports ground, which was only fifty metres away. I stayed there for eighteen years. The lady and her husband came. The room was very small. I requested them to sit down. We all sat down, the husband, the wife and I. It did not take two minutes. I invoked Swami Vivekananda. Swami Vivekananda is so fond of me, so fond! He comes at any time. Sometimes he scolds me, because I am the younger brother. Affection is like that! I invoked him, and he came.

I was sitting next to the husband, and next to him was his wife. I touched his quadriceps. Then I said, “Now please touch your wife.” As soon as he touched her, a current passed through her. She started screaming with joy, literally screaming, because she was seeing Swami Vivekananda in a most beautiful form. She saw him in the corner of the room. She was crying and crying with such joy, with ecstasy.

Now, I touched the husband, but he did not see Swami Vivekananda. The wife saw Swami Vivekananda. He asked me how it could happen. I said, “You are Sri Aurobindo’s disciple. Why do you have to see Swami Vivekananda?”

He asked, “Then why did you touch me?”

I said, “Only to demonstrate on the physical plane that I was doing something.” After that experience, the husband did not insist that his wife become Sri Aurobindo’s disciple.

These kinds of experiences took place in my life. I tried to be of service to people while I was living in the Ashram, so at that time I became a Guru!

To Watch You, Not To Help You

Swami Vivekananda! Once he came during our Christmas Trip when I was unable to lift a particular weight. I said, “It is all your fault! You could have helped me.” He said, “No, I did not come here to help you — I came here to watch you!”

Lord Shiva also came once. I said, “I am struggling with my bench press. You are watching. Can you not help me?”

He said, “I cannot help you. I came here to see you, to watch you, not to help you.”

Believe it or not, my connection with Swami Vivekananda is closer than the closest. Even at this moment if I invoke him, he will come. That kind of connection I established in the Ashram.

How Could My Sister Have Known?

Nothing can be truer than this incident in my life.

Many years ago I was lifting a very heavy weight. Sri Ramakrishna and Swami Vivekananda both came, and both of them blessed me. It was Saturday morning in India, and it was Friday night here in New York. Once a week, every Saturday, I called my family. Then, when Mantu was sick, I used to call every day. Finally it became twice daily. This time when I called, my sister Lily answered and said, “You do not have to tell me anything — you do not have to tell me.”

I said, “What do you mean, ‘You do not have to tell me anything’? What has happened?”

In our family we do not call him Sri Ramakrishna — we always call him Thakur. That is our love and devotion for him. We always call Sri Ramakrishna and Swami Vivekananda Thakur and Swami-ji. My sister said, “Both Thakur and Swami-ji came here to bless me. They told me that a few hours ago they came to bless you.”

How could I deny that they had come to bless me?

Then they went to bless my sister, because, even though our family members are Sri Aurobindo’s disciples, we have such love and devotion, devotion, devotion for Sri Ramakrishna and Swami Vivekananda. Bengalis are all made of Thakur’s and Swami-ji’s blood. We all carry that devotional aspect, because Sri Ramakrishna’s blood is always inside us. Devotion, devotion! My sister told me that they had come to bless me and then they went to bless her.

This incident I will absolutely never forget. How could my sister have known? It is one hundred per cent true.

Sri Aurobindo Opened My Sister’s Third Eye

Once Sri Aurobindo opened up my sister’s third eye. Here is the story.

I went to Ramana Maharshi’s place. At that time I did not have any problem in disappearing from the Ashram, because I was not working for Nolini. Who would know if I did not go to work one day? There was no problem! I had shaved off my hair completely, and I was wearing a loincloth. Afterwards I was going back on the train, and I did not have any money. The ticket-checker came. I had only a stopwatch. If you did not have money, the ticket-checker very nicely grabbed your possessions.

The ticket-checker came into our compartment. On the Indian trains, you could open the windows completely. Now, in those days I was an athlete, and I climbed through the window! I did not want to give up my stopwatch, which cost perhaps two dollars or five dollars. The train was moving. When I jumped through the window, I landed thirty metres away — not one metre! How did it happen? Do I know how to fly? Thirty metres away I landed, in a paddyfield. It was unimaginable! I was so dirty. I started looking for a pond. But nothing, absolutely nothing happened to me — I just jumped!

I walked a little and then I found a pond. There was a mango tree, and one branch was hanging only a metre or so above me. I started washing and washing myself.

By this time it had become very late, perhaps twelve o’clock or one o’clock. My brother could not find me. My family members were worrying and worrying. Where could I be? The whole day had passed, and now it was far into the night.

Finally I came home to my sister’s place. They had all been worrying the whole day, except one person: Lily. She was not worried, but she did not tell our family members anything. And she was the one who loved me the most! So what happened?

When I came back, they asked me all kinds of questions. But Lily said, “Sri Aurobindo came to console me, and then he showed me what you were doing — how you jumped out of the train, how you fell down and then how you were washing yourself by the mango tree.” Sri Aurobindo showed her everything, so she was not worried. The others kept wondering: where did I go, where did I go?

That was my first experience at Ramana Maharshi’s place. When I went there, I was looking at Ramana Maharshi’s statue. It was most beautiful. Then, on my left side, I saw the Mother and Sri Aurobindo. They were shedding tears, tears, tears, so I had to come back. At that time I wanted to accept sannyasa, but it did not work out!

To Come Out Of The Circle

The second time I went to Ramana Maharshi’s place, I was working for Nolini. I told him that the Mother had given me permission to go. What a story! The following day, the Mother said, “Yes, I gave you permission!” Then, very affectionately she gave me a slap. I was at that time twenty-eight years old. She made a big circle, and she said, “You will not be able to go outside this circle, beyond this boundary.” It was like the circle that Lakshmana made for Sita. Such affection she had for me!

It took me three or three and one-half years to come out of the circle. The Mother stood against my decision to go to America in every possible way. On my last day, she did not want to see me.

Only One Power

There is only one power, one divine power. That divine power works through Sri Ramakrishna, Swami Vivekananda, Sarada Devi, Sri Aurobindo and all the spiritual Masters. Sri Aurobindo has written that there is one power that works in and through every human being, whether that person is an Avatar or an ordinary human being. There is one power that works inside the whole universe, not two powers. Here when it is needed, it will work here. When it is needed there, it will work there. One power operates. That power can open up one’s third eye at any moment and that same power can keep it closed forever.

The day a great Indian writer was coming to meet with us at P.S. 86, I could have died. I was walking on 150th Street at my 200-metre mark. All of a sudden a car started turning. The car was coming towards me in an absolutely crazy way. I did not know what to do! Such panic I experienced! I felt that that would be my end. I was on the side of the street, and suddenly I saw my body standing on the steps of a house! I do not know how my body appeared on the steps of a house, at least fifteen metres away. I did nothing; I did not use occult power.

There are more incidents that I cannot even remember at this moment. If God wants to save someone, He can easily save that individual. In my case, so many accidents — seven or eight accidents — all could have resulted in death, but nothing happened.

You know my most significant story: I am alive because of Mother Kali. The doctor would have pronounced me dead after my 400-metre race. My soul went away. Then Mother Kali grabbed my soul and put it back into my body. For three days I could not move. I was only looking at Mother Kali. While lying down I saw only her in the whole room. I looked here, Mother Kali was here; I looked there, Mother Kali was there. Everywhere I saw Mother Kali. This is how she protected me. Otherwise, I would have gone to God! That was in 1945 or 1946. At that time I was fourteen years old, and now I am going on and going on — I am seventy-five years old.

These are life-threatening experiences in my life.

A Treasure For My Sponsors

[To Palash, about a photo album] Very carefully please cover it and bring it to my sponsors, Sammy and Eric. This is something that they will never get anywhere else! I am sure they will be eternally grateful. I went to four or five important places in the Mother's life, including where she was born, and stood there prayerfully. Photographs were taken at each place. This will be a treasure for them, something invaluable. One set of photographs I have sent to Pranab, and one is for them. There are different houses where she stayed. I have signed the album and inscribed it for Matagiri.* I feel that nobody has done this before. I have never seen it.

[Sri Chinmoy reads his inscription] “To the Matagiri, with my heart’s infinite love and my life’s infinite gratitude.”

* Matagiri is a spiritual retreat near Woodstock, New York, dedicated to Sri Aurobindo and the Mother.

Published in Only One Power

Sri Chinmoy delivers a talk, entitled ‘A Spiritual Goal for the United Nations: Is it Practical?’, in the Dag Hammarskjöld Auditorium at the United Nations in New York.

A Spiritual Goal for the United Nations: Is it Practical?

A spiritual Goal for the United Nations: is it practical? Without the least possible hesitation I venture to say that it is highly practical. It is not only practical, but also practicable. Something more: it is inevitable. We have to know what the spiritual Goal for the United Nations is. Its Goal is to become ultimately the saviour of the world’s imperfection, the liberator of the world’s destruction and the fulfiller of the world’s aspiration.

My heart tells me that the United Nations has a divine Ideal. My soul tells me that this Ideal is going to be transformed into the supreme Reality. Soulful concern is the essence of the United Nations’ Ideal. Fruitful patience is the substance of the United Nations’ Ideal. Supernal fulfilment will be the essence of the United Nations’ Reality. Sempiternal perfection will be the substance of the United Nations’ Reality. What is Reality? Reality is the inseparable oneness of Infinity’s smile and Eternity’s cry.

The great philosopher Aristotle once remarked, “Some men are just as firmly convinced of what they think as others are of what they know.” The firm conviction of the United Nations is the confident flight of sublime thought and glowing depth of its knowledge-light.

Today’s United Nations sees the nations as its true friends. Tomorrow’s United Nations will see the nations as its real sisters and brothers.

Today’s United Nations offers hopeful and soulful advice to mankind. Tomorrow’s United Nations will offer fruitful and fulfilling peace to mankind.

Today’s United Nations feels Truth, Light and Delight in its loving heart. Tomorrow’s United Nations will manifest Truth, Light and Delight with its all-embracing soul.

Anatole France said something which is at once interesting and amusing. He said, “It is human nature to think wisely and act foolishly.” But in the case of the United Nations it is totally otherwise. The United Nations thinks profoundly and acts selflessly.

My aspiring heart has a soulful message to offer to all the nations that have formed, that have made the Garland of United Nations. The message is:

There are two stumbling blocks: doubt and insecurity. Doubt in the mind, insecurity in the heart.

There are two stepping stones: faith and surrender. Faith in oneself, and surrender to God's Will, conscious surrender to God's constant Will.

True, we have lost and misused thousands of golden opportunities, but we cannot lose or empty God's infinite Compassion. Out of His infinite Compassion, He will make us feel and realise the Transcendental Truth. However, this can be done in two ways. One way is to realise the highest Truth at God's choice Hour; the other way is to realise the Truth when we feel the time is ready, according to our own sweet will. When we open our eyes at God's Will, we fulfil God in His own Way. When we open our eyes at our choice will, at our own selected hour, we fulfil God in our own way. The desire in us fulfils God in its own way. The aspiration in us fulfils God in God's Way. Needless to say, our aspiration is bound to manifest the ultimate, absolute Reality on earth; and in the manifestation of absolute Reality on earth, the face of earth will be transformed into the face of Heaven.

True, the man of the hour need not or cannot be the man of Eternity. But the message that the soul of the United Nations offers to the world at large is for Eternity. Its message is:

Today's imperfect and unfulfilled man is tomorrow's absolutely fulfilled and supremely manifested God.

Published in The Garland of Nation-Souls

Why Do I Meditate?

Sri Chinmoy delivers an inspirational talk and offers a special concert and meditation for the diplomatic community, held in the Dag Hammarskjöld Auditorium at the United Nations in New York.

Why do I meditate?

I meditate so that my mind cannot complicate my life. I meditate so that I can one-pointedly concentrate on the things that I desperately need. I meditate so that I can easily obliterate my past mistakes that are still haunting me. I meditate so that I can bravely terminate my long-standing friendship with ignorance.

I meditate so that I can liberate my earth-bound life and place it inside my Heaven-free life.

I meditate so that at every moment I can elevate my thought-life to God’s Will Power-Life.

I meditate so that I can inundate my entire being with the omnipotent power of peace.

I meditate so that I can accelerate my progress while running forward, flying upward and diving inward.

I meditate so that when the Hour of God strikes I shall not be late in my unconditional surrender-examination.

I meditate so that I can celebrate the Transcendental Victory of my Beloved Supreme, not only in my own life, but also in the life of His entire creation.

Sri Chinmoy: If you have any questions regarding meditation, the spiritual life or the inner life, I shall be extremely happy and grateful to answer them.

Questions

following the talk

Question: For a long time people have been meditating for the good of humanity, but there does not seem to be any sign of humanity coming on the right path. Do you feel that meditation can be spread enough to envelop the entire humanity?

Sri Chinmoy: First we start with ourselves. If an individual can become good, divine and perfect on the strength of his own meditation — of course, along with God’s Grace — then at least one individual is liberated from the bondage of ignorance. Then another individual will be inspired to strive for liberation. It is from one to many that we have to go. Just because the world has not reached perfection, the sincere seekers will not give up. To reach perfection is a long process. One does not get one’s master’s degree overnight. For twenty or thirty years one studies; then finally one gets the degree. Here also, one has to practise meditation for years and years and years to achieve liberation. Sometimes it takes quite a few incarnations.

Just because I cannot have most delicious food every day, I do not give up eating. Just because I cannot maintain my peace of mind every day, I will not give up meditation or spirituality. What I need is patience. If in one day I cannot achieve abiding peace, then I will strive for it for two days. And again, if on the second day I do not get what I want, I shall continue striving.

Our progress entirely depends on our heart’s cry-on how sincerely you need, I need, he needs and she needs meditation, which is the only process that can bring about world peace. World peace entirely depends on the individual need and the collective need. If one person sincerely needs peace, then his inspiration, aspiration and inner illumination will automatically spread all around him. Then others will also be inspired to strive for peace, and eventually there shall come a time when the entire world will be inundated with peace.

Not in vain did our Beloved Supreme, God the Compassionate Father, create the universe. He and Peace are one and the same — the obverse and reverse of the same coin. Just because we do not see or feel peace within us and around us, we should not give up hope or stop praying and meditating. We shall continue to pray and we shall continue to meditate, for we believe in His Vision, which is to spread peace all around His creation. So if we pray and if we meditate, there shall come a day when instead of inner and outer conflict and disharmony, Peace, Light and Delight will reign supreme.

Question: Weren’t there more spiritual people in the past?

Sri Chinmoy: In the hoary past, in the Vedic age, many seekers prayed and meditated and reached a certain height. They may not have reached the ultimate height, but it was a height from which they could bring down peace from above. Also, in those days there was more abiding peace and harmony in the world.

Question: Are we to achieve knowledge through meditation? If so, what kind of knowledge?

Sri Chinmoy: It is not school knowledge that we get from meditation. It is an inner knowledge that we get, and inner knowledge means illumination. This Dag Hammarskjold Auditorium is fully lit. An hour ago or last night there was no light here. But now the switch has been turned on, and the hall is all illumined. Similarly, for millennia we have been in darkness. If we want to illumine our darkness — the darkness that covers our body, vital, mind, heart and central being — then we need meditation. Meditation brings about this illumination. If we meditate soulfully for a few months or a few years, then gradually we will see illumination taking place. In the beginning or even for a couple of years we may not see a flood of illumination. But if we can meditate soulfully and devotedly for many, many years on a regular, daily basis, then we most assuredly can have the same illumination that the great spiritual seekers and Masters attained through their meditation.

Question: Can this illumination be shared among people — for example, between a person who has meditated for a long time and a person who has not?

Sri Chinmoy: This illumination one can share with others. When a spiritual person prays and meditates, at that time he spreads his illumination-power, and others do feel it. If we are with a bad person, we are unconsciously affected by his bad qualities. Similarly, if we are with a spiritual person who prays and meditates and leads a saintly life, then automatically we will feel the light and bliss that is radiating from him. We will definitely see it and feel it and in this way receive inspiration from the spiritual person. When illumination takes place, we cannot hide it, just as we cannot hide anything in this hall because this hall is now fully illumined. But if we turn off the light, then the hall will be in darkness and we will be able to hide many, many things.

Question: There are many schools of meditation, and it becomes hard for a person to select one. How do you find the best one for you?

Sri Chinmoy: It is very easy. It is a matter of feeling. Here there are quite a few people. They are all God-lovers and Truth-seekers. They are all God’s children. But all of them are not giving you the same feeling. When you look at one individual, you may have a good feeling. This kind of feeling we call the soul’s affinity. From one person you may get a certain kind of joy or peace or confidence, and you will feel confident that this person will be able to help you. Again, if you look at another individual, you may not feel anything or be inspired at all.

There are many teachers and many paths. What you have to do is observe each one of them. Some paths will give you immediate joy, a kind of inner ecstasy, while others may not give you anything. The school or the teacher that gives you immediate joy or an immediate sense of satisfaction is undoubtedly the right one for you.

Question: What about the subjects of meditation?

Sri Chinmoy: It depends on the individual. You as an individual will have one subject that you meditate upon, and I as an individual will have another. Again, today you may meditate upon peace, and tomorrow you may meditate upon joy. Suppose that today in your office you had some difficulties with your colleagues and your mind is agitated, restless and wanting in peace. So you will meditate on peace. Then tomorrow, if you see that you are not able to feel joy either in yourself or in others, you will meditate on joy.

Ultimately everything is one. If you have peace, then you will also have joy; if you have joy, then you will also have peace. My body is one entity. But I can also speak about my eye, my nose and so forth. I can separate my body into its different parts, or I can take it as one. Similarly, peace, joy, love and all the other divine qualities can be separated, but they ultimately lead us to the same destination, which we call satisfaction. So, today your subject can be peace, tomorrow it can be joy, the day after, love. Every day you can change the subject of your meditation. Again, you can continue meditating for days, weeks, months and years on the same subject because each time you are increasing your capacity and receptivity. Today you may be satisfied with just an iota of peace, but tomorrow this will not satisfy you. Tomorrow you will pray for abundant peace, and the day after you will cry for infinite Peace. If you are praying and meditating for infinite Peace, then naturally it will take you more than one day to achieve it.

Question: Is there a place for prayer and meditation in equal measure?

Sri Chinmoy: Prayer and meditation can easily go side by side. In the West we hear more about prayer. In the East, especially in India, we hear more about meditation. But prayer and meditation should go together.

Although they lead us to the same destination, prayer and meditation have distinct qualities and capacities. When we pray soulfully, we feel that something within us — let us call it an inner cry — is going up high, higher, highest. We also feel that our Heavenly Father, our Eternal Father, is listening to our prayer or is waiting for our cry to reach Him. When we pray, something is climbing within us, and finally it reaches the Highest; it reaches the Feet of our Beloved Supreme.

When we meditate, we feel that the Highest, our Absolute Lord, is coming down to us. When we meditate, we feel that Something or Someone is coming down from above, from the highest plane of consciousness. What for? To bless us. When we pray, we feel that we are going up to place ourselves at the Feet of our Lord. But when we meditate, we feel that He is descending. During our meditation He comes down, blesses us, and tells us what to do. When we go up in our prayer, we ask Him to grant us something that we need:

“Lord, give us peace, light, love, joy.” When we pray, we tell Him what we need from Him. But when we meditate, He comes down and tells us what He wants from us. He tells us, “I need you to become My choice instrument, My devoted instrument. You have to please Me. I shall grant you what you want from Me, but you also have to please Me.” This is what He tells us when we meditate. In this way, prayer and meditation should go together.

Question: Could you explain what contemplation is and how it differs from meditation?

Sri Chinmoy: Concentration, meditation and contemplation are three different terms. If I look at a flower one-pointedly, with my concentration I am trying to pierce into the flower. When we concentrate, like a piercing ray we enter into the very depth of the object we are concentrating on. Then, when we meditate, we enter into silence, absolute silence. We can look at the vast sky or the deep sea and try to become one with it. When we concentrate, we focus our attention on something minute, small. In meditation we become one with something infinite.

Contemplation is totally different; it is the highest stage. In contemplation we not only enter into something and become one with it, but we also exchange identities with it in a game of hide-and-seek. When we contemplate on our Beloved Supreme, we see Him face to face. At one moment we are loving God with all our heart and soul. Then at the next moment we ourselves have become the object of adoration, and the Person whom we previously were adoring is now looking upon us with affection, love and adoration. So this is the third stage-contemplation. Here the God-seeker or God-lover becomes one, inseparably one, with God the Supreme Beloved.

Question: What do you recommend for beginners?

Sri Chinmoy: For beginners I recommend reading a few spiritual books to start with. You can also chant hymns from the Bhagavad Gita, the Upanishads or the Vedas, or sing some soulful songs — anything that inspires you. Then you should try to meditate early in the morning and in the evening at least for five minutes. In the beginning you will not allow any thought to come into your mind while you are meditating. At every moment one is either attacked by bad thoughts or inspired by good thoughts. Every second a thought-wave comes — a good thought-wave or a bad thought-wave. In the beginning it is very difficult to observe which kind of thought is coming. So what you should do is stand right at the door of your mind-room and not allow any thought to come inside-whether it is a good thought or a bad thought. You should not allow any thoughts at all to enter. Then after some time you can open the door and see who is waiting there.

If someone is a real friend, a true friend, he will wait for you indefinitely because he loves you. Good thoughts definitely love us. Good thoughts will wait on the other side of the mind-door indefinitely. Bad thoughts, on the other hand, will leave after a while. They will feel it is beneath their dignity to be kept waiting outside. Like this, the beginner should meditate for five minutes in the morning and in the evening.

Also, if it is possible, during the day while working at home or in the office, you should try to remember six or seven times-only for a minute, a fleeting minute-what you did early in the morning or what you are supposed to do in the evening. You don’t even have to meditate; only remember. This remembrance itself is a form of meditation. Here in the hustle and bustle of life you may not get the opportunity to meditate the way you can meditate at home early in the morning or in the evening. But if you can remember what you did early in the morning, around six o’clock, and what you will be doing in the evening, around seven o’clock, then it helps considerably.

Talk, questions and answers published in Meditation at the United Nations Bulletin, July/August 1982
Some of these same questions and answers published in My Meditation-Service at the United Nations for Twenty-Five Years differ slightly from the original publication.

When You Take One Step Towards Me

by Sri Chinmoy

Although I have an insincere mind,  
I frequently think of You, my Captain.  
Although I have an impure heart,  
I fearfully love You, my Captain.  
Although I have a complicated life,  
I hesitantly need You, my Captain.  
Please tell me what You actually think  
Of my insincere mind, impure heart  
And complicated life.

“My child, when you use your insincere mind,
Impure heart and complicated life,
It is like taking one step towards Me.
While you are taking one step towards Me,
I go one step farther away.
But if you ever use your sincere mind,
Pure heart and simple life,
Then I tell you,
When you take one step towards Me,
I take ninety-nine steps forward to meet you
And give to your mind
A beautiful Sincerity-Smile,
To your heart,
A powerful Purity-Embrace;
And to your life,
A fruitful Simplicity-Oneness.”

Published in Captain, My Captain