December 6
December 5
Sri Chinmoy at a celebration in Jamaica, Queens, New York, for the first bridge — connecting the towns of Cumberland and Central Falls on Rhode Island — becoming a Sr Chinmoy Peace-Blossom.
December 5
Stories from the Bahamas
by Sri Chinmoy
at the Nassau Beach Hotel in Nassau, Bahamas
A thousand times one can be nice to someone. The Master can be nice to a disciple a thousand times or a million times. But if on one occasion the Master is upset, that very incident the disciple will remember. He will say to himself, “On that date, at that place, the Master was displeased with me; he was angry with me.” The Master also suffers when the disciple gives infinitely more value to that experience, although thousands and thousands of times the Master has been extremely compassionate and affectionate, extremely grateful, extremely proud.
The poet who wrote Tomari hok joy for the Mother was with the Sri Aurobindo Ashram. Later I set his words to music. The Mother was very kind to that poet. She gave him the inspiration and the capacity to write such beautiful poems. The Mother was very, very kind to him, but on a certain day she expressed some displeasure. He said that he suffered for years because of that one-day experience. Then he said he counted how many times the Mother had given him the brighter than the brightest smile and all her affection. He wrote down all the times the Mother was nice to him. Finally, with the Mother’s smile and the Mother’s affection he was able to conquer that experience.
One unhappy experience of the Mother’s displeasure he had, and for years it lasted. After such a long time his recollection of the Mother’s pleasure, the Mother’s happiness and the Mother’s pride in him conquered that experience.
I meditated in Sri Aurobindo’s room
One ashramite who is ninety-four and a half years old, Nirod, is begging me to give talks on Sri Aurobindo! He read the talk on Sri Aurobindo that I gave at Cambridge. He said, “You are so qualified to speak on Sri Aurobindo. You have to speak on Sri Aurobindo!”
In my talk at Cambridge, I mentioned that I used to meditate in Sri Aurobindo’s room. There I had personal experiences. There were two or three very important incidents in my life. Only four or five persons knew about them, and one of them is still alive. He is my friend.
During my last visit to the Ashram I was meditating only a metre away from Sri Aurobindo’s bed and his statue. I was standing. I could not bend because of my knee problem. With folded hands, very seriously, I went very high. One guard came up to me and opened up my palm. He put two flowers in my hands. This particular guard never saw me meditating in Sri Aurobindo’s room in my younger years, but the other guard had seen me many times. When the first guard came and gave me two flowers, the second guard came from the other side and put another flower in my hands. So I got three flowers, while I was meditating very seriously. They blessed me with flowers! This is their affection.
Nirod knew that the Mother and I had some differences after I came to America. He asked me what happened. I said, “The Mother used a weapon which conquered me. I surrendered to her weapon.”
He asked, “What kind of weapon was it?”
I said, “It was very powerful.”
Again he asked, “What was it?”
I said, “You know that the Mother said one thing and I said something else. We had a wonderful disagreement. Finally the Mother wrote to someone in red ink, ‘Tell Chinmoy that I am still his Divine Mother.’ That weapon really killed me! That weapon was too difficult for me to fight against. I shed tears.”
In this particular story, after I came to America, the Mother wrote to an Ashram member in New York, “When you see Chinmoy next time, show this to him.” That was in ordinary black or blue ink. But in red ink she wrote, “Tell Chinmoy that I am still his Divine Mother.” That was the Mother’s weapon that conquered me.
One of the prominent disciples in the Ashram has taken a new incarnation. He is now our disciple in the Oneness-Dream-Boat-Shore. He was one of the pillars of the Sri Aurobindo Ashram. He was as prominent in those days as Subhas Bose, Netaji.
After leaving India, Netaji became extremely popular almost overnight, although in India he was not so popular. This man was his compatriot. He could have become a great Minister, but he gave up his political life and joined the spiritual life. He had tremendous faith in Sri Aurobindo.
Sri Aurobindo said to him, “We have only one Bengal. There should be no East and no West.” That was Sri Aurobindo’s dream. The disciple wanted to leave the Ashram and unite the two Bengals, East and West.
The Mother told him not to go, but he left. Because he did not listen to the Mother, he quoted an Indian proverb: “How can a thief listen to religious discourses?” He compared himself to a thief!
Published in The Feet of the Supreme’s Compassion
It Is God Alone Who Teaches Us
A talk by Sri Chinmoy
Pangkor Island, Malaysia
I wish to say a few words. There is only one spiritual Teacher, and that spiritual Teacher is God. My students and I call Him by one Name and you may call Him by a different Name, but it is the same Person.
Some people are good in a particular subject. Somebody is an excellent soccer player, let us say; somebody is a great musician, and somebody else shines in a different field. When it is a matter of spirituality, prayer and meditation, in this incarnation I started at the age of seven. In previous incarnations also I studied, so perhaps I know the subject well. After practising spirituality for many, many years, one can know one’s previous incarnations. From spirituality we get this capacity. If I am a good basketball player or volleyball player or any other sports player, I will not be able to know who I was or who you were in a previous incarnation. This is an advantage that we get from spirituality.
Spirituality will be able to give us peace of mind. No matter how great one is as a sportsman, as a musician, as a singer or as a champion in any field, that person will not have peace of mind. For peace of mind we have to pray and meditate. Nothing else will give us peace of mind. If you are the greatest manager of the world’s greatest hotel, you will have so many problems! The greater you become, the more responsibility you get. But if you pray and meditate, then worries and anxieties will not assail you.
I have nearly seven thousand disciples in at least sixty countries. I am fully responsible for them. At the same time, I place their problems at the Feet of God. I pray to God. I am offering God my prayers, and all the problems I place at the Feet of God. In that way I get peace. This is what we learn in our meditation: peace, peace.
There are three families for each person. Your own family, with children, father and mother, is one family. Your small family includes your own relatives. Then comes your beloved country, Malaysia. You have to take Malaysia as your family. This is your beloved country, which becomes your second family. Suppose you were born in China. Then your beloved country will be China. Some people here were born in India. Their beloved country will be India. For each individual, a particular country will be his second family. Whether you are Malaysian, Chinese or Indian, first comes your own family. Then comes your country as your second family. Your third family is the whole world.
I was born in a tiny village. I went to South India to pray and meditate for twenty years, and then I went to America to be of service to the spiritual seekers. Whatever I do, I do not say that I “teach.” It is God alone who teaches us; we only serve. I serve you. Your God, if you are a Muslim, is your Allah. If you are Chinese or Indian, you also call your God by a particular Name. It is the same God, whether we call Him Allah or any other Name.
We pray to God to give us joy. We pray to God to keep us always physically in good condition and morally and spiritually awake, so that we do not make mistakes. Many, many mistakes we have made. We all make mistakes. Some people do not pray to God for forgiveness, while others do. If we pray to God for forgiveness, He will forgive us. Some people do the wrong thing, but they do not pray to God for forgiveness. They feel that it is not necessary. But if we do not pray for forgiveness, it will be very, very difficult for us to be happy in life.
I am very grateful to you all. My blessing is my prayer, my meditation. I do not use my hands to bless an individual in the traditional way. I feel that only God can put His Compassionate Hands on our head. I know a little more about spirituality than you do. You know much more than I do about business and other subjects. I am praying to God to bless you. Again, I do not bless anybody in India’s traditional way, and I do not want people to touch my feet. I am not worthy of it, but sometimes people come up to me and touch my feet. That is traditional, but I do not want it. I take you all as my young brothers and young sisters. The older brother knows a little more than the youngest ones in the family. The one who was born first knows where the father is, where the mother is. He tells the little ones, “Come, come — I will be able to show you where our parents are.” At that time his job is over. Then the little ones will be able to speak to the mother and to the father, and they will be able to learn many, many things about the inner world and the outer world.
Again and again I am saying that when I pray with you, you will get Blessings from God. I call Him the Absolute, and I use the term “Supreme.” It is the same God, but I like that Name. Your children call you by one name, like “Daddy” and “Mommy.” When they grow up, they will call you “Father” and “Mother.” And other people, your friends, will call you by your proper name. Whether you are a magistrate or a senator, or you hold some other important post, you are the same person, but for someone you will be a friend, for someone you will be a parent, for someone you will be a sister or brother. But you are still the same person, same person. Like that, God is the same, no matter what Name we use for Him.
Now I am inviting each of you to kindly sit in front of me and meditate with me for one or two minutes. If your relatives are with you, if your wife or husband is with you or your child is with you, then you may come together. But if you are alone, if you have not brought your wife or your husband or your children, then do please come alone.
Now please come, one by one, and kindly look at me. Rest your hands comfortably. Our prayer, our meditation is not severe or austere — no, no, no! God does not appreciate it if I go to Him in an austere position. God will say, “You fool! Who asked you to become unnatural?” We should approach God in a normal way, a natural way. Some people torture their body when they pray, and God feels sorry. If I want to go to my Father, do I have to suffer? That is sheer stupidity. God will say to me, “My child, come to Me as you are.”
Published in My Golden Children
December 5
Running Anecdotes
by Sri Chinmoy
Big mouths
Quite often a fat lady who walks with a cane greets me during my run. She has two dogs and she likes me very much. Whenever she sees me, she always has the same question: “Hey, don’t you feel cold?” Each time I give her a smile and say, “No, no.” By that time, I have run past her. Even if she sees me twice in the same day, she greets me with this same question, and I tell her the same thing.
This morning, at around 7:15 on our street, I saw this fat lady and her dogs having a real fight with another lady and her dog. The other lady was thin and seemed to be a little aristocratic. Let us say the fat lady is my friend, since she sees me every day and she likes me and talks to me. When the dogs started coming near each other, my friend said to the thin lady, “Don’t you dare come near me.” The thin lady replied, “Shut up, you big mouth!” Then, the fat one, my friend, threw her cane at the other one and said, “To hell with you!”
I finished my run and stood there watching them. As the thin one was leaving she said to her own dog, “You also have a big mouth!”
Now I had to sympathise with the fat lady because she was my friend. I went about 15 metres over to her cane and picked it up and gave it to her. She was very nice to me and said, “I knew all along you were a nice guy.” She was giving me a compliment. By that time the other lady had gone away.
The power of a smile
The first time I ever did seven miles, I was running alone in Flushing Meadow Park. After three or four miles an old man who was also running saw me and gave me a smile. There was such power in his smile that I went practically half a mile without feeling any pain, just joy.
Then, when I was coming back after having completed six miles, I was breathing heavily: “Ahh, ahh.” An old, fat lady who was waiting for the bus saw me and started imitating me in a joking way: “Ahh, ahh.” In silence I was saying, “Oh, if you had run six miles!”
The man was so nice and the lady was so bad!
Running late
There is a very nice black lady who helps school children cross 150th Street. Every morning she sees me running and appreciates my style. The other day I was coming back from my run later than usual because I had run four miles instead of my usual two miles at that hour. She thought that I had run only two miles, but had taken more time because I was tired and exhausted. When I came near her she said, “What is wrong with you? Why are you coming so late?”
She had been talking to a man and she told me, “I was just telling my friend that today you have new shoes and you look so nice. Why are you late?” I went twice as far, but this lady thought that I should have come back sooner. She has her own time!
Child’s advice
One day while running, I was talking to myself in Bengali, in my Chittagong dialect: “I can’t go any farther.”
What could I do? I was dying! I kept saying, “I won’t be able to go any farther.”
Then, a child about eight years old came up to me and said, “Don’t talk. It will make you more exhausted. Don’t talk.”
Published in Run and Become, Become and Run, part 1
The San Juan Marathon
An anecdote by Sri Chinmoy
At our marathon in Puerto Rico the runners had to run three times around the stadium at the start of the course. Our singers had taped running songs that were played over the loudspeaker, and they inspired the runners considerably.
Because of the heat, many people suffered after completing the race. For many it was a very painful experience.
The man who won had a time of around 2:30, and his wife stood first among the women. So husband and wife stood first together, with one hour difference.
The former champion finished in 2:51. I had a long talk with him, and many pictures were taken. He said this was his worst time in ten years. He blamed the heat. Also, the day before he had eaten Kentucky Fried Chicken, and he said that ruined everything. So remember, don’t eat chicken before a marathon!
Published in Run and Become, Become and Run, part 17
Sri Chinmoy ran the Sri Chinmoy Marathon in 5:12:00 in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
December 5
Japan, a Soulful Flower-Garden
Lyrics:
Japan, Japan, Japan!
A soulful flower-garden.
Clearly you see,
Quickly you do.
Silence-ecstasy
Your property true.
Japan, Japan, Japan!
High Heaven’s hallowed Plan.
Translation:
Nihon, Nihon, Nihon!
Tamashii no hanazono!
Chiebukaku shunbin na,
Chinmoku no hooetsu
Shinjitsu no tamamono.
Nihon, Nihon, Nihon!
Tenkai no seinaru nagare!
Published in My Aspiration-Heart’s Country-Life-Salutations
Sri Chinmoy performs on 107 instruments during a 9-hour, 19-minute concert (including breaks), at Public School 86 in Jamaica, New York.
December 5
Thomas Carlyle
A talk by Sri Chinmoy
in Room 550, United Nation Building, New York
Last time I mentioned the importance of the great figures who have illumined our world. Today I shall speak about Carlyle.
Carlyle. The colossal pride of his country he was. A thinker he was. A philosopher he was. A historian he was. Most of his life-experiences were founded upon his inner awakening and inner illumination. He stirred quite powerfully and significantly not only the Scottish consciousness and the British consciousness, but also the entire European consciousness.
According to his philosophy, materialism and the machine-world cannot and will not illumine and fulfil mankind. It is the message of the spirit that can and will transform the face of mankind. In unmistakable terms he declared that only the life-disciplined and ideal heroes can steer humanity's boat to the shores of satisfaction-fulfilment.
Something more: in Carlyle's philosophy, all human beings are in essence one, because they are of the same Source. But if one individual is more awakened and more illumined than the others, naturally he has to lead and guide the rest. Carlyle maintained that this individual has to play the role of a pioneer precisely because he himself was one of the pioneer world-thinkers and world-transformers. Dauntless he was. Nothing could cow him. He hoisted high his lofty banner of life-awakening and life-illumining reality.
He spoke in clear and emphatic terms with regard to the inner resource, and it was here that he was badly misunderstood. His critics saw in him an unbearable autocrat and not an apostle of a new dawn. To his admirers' sorrow, impatience and irritation plagued his mind. Nevertheless, he made his mighty contribution to the world's life-code. Especially his work for the world of German literature and for the French revolution made him a most significant member of the human family. His enthusiasm for German life in his early years added considerably to the German contribution to the world community. And his book on the French revolution is an immortal book. There he offers a most significant idea: an inner guidance, an unseen hand guides and shapes the destiny of mankind. In all human actions, in all activities, in all worldly, earthly affairs there is a spirit that moves, guides and shapes the world-destiny; there is an inner purpose for outer action.
His father wanted him to be a priest. But he became something else: a world teacher. In fact, his father's desire was fulfilled in an infinitely wider and more profound way. Had he become a priest, perhaps only a few Scottish religion-lovers and truth-seekers would have received his light. But by becoming an illumining thinker and writer, a historian and finally a philosopher-saint in the purest sense of the term, he offered to this world of ours his world of light, abundant light. Thus, he has become the property of the world and he belongs to the world-treasure.
Yesterday was Carlyle's birthday. For a second let us offer to his soul our gratitude-heart for what he has done to create a better world, a better mankind.
Published in Reality-Dream
Sri Chinmoy meets with Piero Vinci, Italy’s Ambassador to the United Nations, at a special function held at the UN commemorating the 23rd anniversary of Italy’s joining the United Nations.
Piero Vinci remarks:
“I am very happy to be here with the Meditation Group, which, under the outstanding leadership of Sri Chinmoy, is working to support the spiritual values of the United Nations.”
Published in the forward to Ten Thousand Flower-Flames, part 36
Excerpt from a letter from Mr. Robert Muller, Chancellor of the University for Peace and former United Nations Assistant Secretary-General:
I know Sri Chinmoy is a great prophet of the United Nations. The entire world should he extremely grateful to Sri Chinmoy, head of the Meditation Group at the United Nations, for his untiring efforts to bring the United Nations closer to the heart of the people. This he has done most devotedly and extensively this year in honour of the United Nations fiftieth anniversary.
Excerpt from a letter from Mr. C. Subrainaniam, President, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan:
Today we need the blessings of holy men to preserve peace in the world. Sri Chinmoy is contributing a great deal to establish peace on earth and to promote harmony in human society.
Sri Chinmoy lifts Professor Dr. Haryono Suyono, Chairman of the Indonesian Self-Reliance Community Foundation at the Lor In Hotel in Solo, Java, Indonesia.
December 4
Sri Chinmoy during a lifting session at the Holiday Inn Resort in Kauai, Hawaii.
December 4
Sri Chinmoy offers the ‘Lifting Up The World’ medallion (not lifted) to Count Hubertus Faber-Castell, painter and humanitarian, scion of the world-famous Faber-Castell company at Gloria Verde Resort in Belek, Turkey.
December 4
God’s Dream-Boat and Man’s Life-Boat
Sri Chinmoy’s first lecture
at an American university
Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut
There is always some compensation, even on God’s part! God has not blessed me with a college degree or diploma. No, not even a high school certificate. But out of His infinite Bounty, He has blessed my searching heart with the opportunity to serve Him in the seekers of the infinite Truth. You who are the fortunate students of Yale serve the university with your devoted heads. The university serves you with its fathomless knowledge. I have now come to serve your matchless university, your distinguished professors and your significantly blossoming minds with my heart’s climbing flame and my soul’s glowing love.
To be unreservedly and perfectly honest with you, while I was in India, my ignorance prevented me from being aware of more than six universities in the whole of the United States, namely Yale, Harvard, Columbia, Princeton, Rutgers and Cornell. Lo, where am I now? I am basking in the warmest kindness-invitation of Yale.
Socrates, the grandfather of philosophy, once said, “What I know is nothing.” I am devotedly trying to follow in his inimitable footsteps. At this point, perhaps you, my young friends, are tempted to accuse me of taking shelter under the blue-vast canopy of the Upanishadic lore. True, the Kena Upanishad says:
By him Brahman is comprehended who thinks he has not. By him Brahman is not comprehended who thinks he has. Brahman is not understood by those who say they understand Him. Brahman is understood by those who say that they do not understand Him.
To those of you who are not quite familiar with the Indian philosophy, this particular message of the Kena Upanishad may sound absurd. I would like to say, however, that the significance of this momentous message is otherwise. What Brahman is, is infinite Consciousness. The Vedic and Upanishadic seers of yore were wont to share with mankind their inner realisations that Brahman, the infinite Consciousness, is always in the process of transcending the limitless expanse of the beyond. Brahman’s Infinity, Eternity and Immortality are ever-evolving.
To come back to the university and the students, the profound thought of Adlai Stevenson flashes across my mind: "Men may be born free; they cannot be born wise, and it is the duty of the university to make the free wise."
Freedom and wisdom must always shake hands. If not, freedom will suffer from headache and wisdom from stomachache. O land of peerless freedom! I am positive that yours is the heart that cries for loftiest wisdom, too. God is showering His choicest Blessing on you. Before long, you will be crowned with unparalleled success.
‘God’s Dream-Boat and Man’s Life-Boat’. Today is the possessor of our Dream, tomorrow is the possessor of our Reality. What our earth-bound consciousness experiences is really our dream. What our heavenward consciousness realises is our Reality. Our Dream not only prepares us, but also offers itself to us as our solid preparation. Likewise, Reality not only illumines us, but also presents itself to us as our brightest Illumination.
Here I record the conversation between God’s Dream-Boat and Man’s Life-Boat.
Man’s Life-Boat: I am crying, struggling, striving, desiring and aspiring, O God’s Dream-Boat. What more is expected of me?
God’s Dream-Boat: Something more.
Man’s Life-Boat: I concentrate, I meditate, I contemplate. What else is left?
God’s Dream-Boat: Something more.
Man’s Life-Boat: I know I am imperfection incarnate. You are Perfection embodied, revealed and manifested. What else have I to know?
God’s Dream-Boat: Something more.
Man’s Life-Boat: I can only tell you that if I were you, all your longings would have had their due fulfilment in me by this time.
God’s Dream-Boat: O Man’s Life-Boat, I needed you. I need you. I shall forever need you. You have at long last seen in me your friend, true friend. Me you have won.
God is man’s Eternal Friend. When man approaches God, not as a beggar, but as a friend, he gets God sooner. He gets God in His sweetest form. We are not God's slaves. We are His children, His chosen children.
God’s Dream-Boat is the heavenly individuality of man's Life-Boat. Man’s Life-Boat is the earthly personality of God’s Dream-Boat. Man’s Life-Boat is sailing towards the Promised Land where Infinity plays, Eternity sings and Immortality dances. But where is this Promised Land? It is in the heart of Here and in the soul of Now. Human life is precious, priceless. The poet-soul in Emily Dickinson softly and unerringly tells the world:
I took one draught of life, I'll tell you what I paid, Precisely an existence — The market-price, they said.
What is existence? Existence is God’s Body. What is God’s Body? God’s Body is Infinity’s Life. What is Infinity’s Life? Infinity’s Life is God's Dream. What is God’s Dream? God’s Dream is His Transcendental Reality’s embodied inspiration and revealed aspiration.
We all must realise God. We must stand firm on this resolve. Ours must be the aspiration to explore the realm of the Spirit. Our inner urge should be insistent, nay, irresistible. Then the certainty of God-realisation will loom large before us on every side. A regular chart of divine duties must be drawn up by us, in which top priority must, by all manner of means, be given to meditation.
Let us work. Let us meditate. Our life-breath let us not waste. Death will give us enough rest, more than we need. Let us work, let us meditate, for our dedicated life-activities are unmistakably the supernal glories of God.
We know what our earthly activities are. It is high time for us to focus our soulful attention on God's activities. What does God do with His Life? He flows His Life through us. What does God do with His Peace? He comes with His Peace to us to transform our weaknesses into strengths. What does God do with His Joy? He gives us His Joy and tells us that His Joy is our Life-Boat's only Goal. What does God do with His Power? He gives us His Power to love the world, to brighten the face of the world, to perfect our responsibility to others, so that we can truly fulfil our heavenly responsibility on earthly soil.
Dear friends, you have many teachers. I have three, and no more. My teachers are Mind, Heart and Soul.
My mind tells me that
God is an Eternal Mystery.
My Heart tells me that
God is an Eternal Experience.
My Soul tells me that
God is an Eternal Achievement.
I end my talk with a fervent request to you:
Think of God.
You will see God standing behind you.
Pray to God.
You will see God standing in front of you.
Meditate on God.
You will see God seated inside you.
Devote yourself to God.
You will see God within, without, here and beyond.
Surrender yourself to God.
You will see God’s stupendous Pride in you.
Published in My Ivy League Leaves
The Heart-Tears of a God-Seeker
Sri Chinmoy offers spiritual meanings for the words submitted by his disciples in Kauai, Hawaii
There is a great difference between confidence and over-confidence. Over-confidence is of the mind and for the mind, whereas confidence is an inner light. With that inner light, we illumine our mind's darkness. So when we feel the light-ray inside our heart, that ray starts illumining the darkness of our mind. When we have confidence, we feel that God is not only with us and in us but also for us.
But when we are surcharged with over-confidence, at that time we do not need God. We do not need anybody else. We have to know the difference between real confidence and over-confidence. When we discern confidence in our outer life, it is all over-confidence and nothing else. But when we really have confidence in our heart, in our inner life, then it illumines everything that is dark in our life. Confidence is something that is extremely necessary, but we have to be careful in our outer life that this confidence is not over-confidence. Over-confidence is nothing short of destruction.
Without creativity,
No great soul
Can offer anything substantial
To mankind.
Detachment is immediate peace. Detachment is wisdom. We are not our creators. Somebody created us. When we can detach ourselves from any person or any object, then we get boundless joy. Detachment is the wisdom-light in us that tells us not to be affected by anything that happens. So many wrong thoughts are coming, so many things are happening in the family, so many things are going wrong in the world — if you can be detached from them, then you will not be affected.
Detachment is not an escape. Detachment is to say, "This is God's world. Let God take care of it. My only obligation is to please God in His own Way. He is the Creator; I am the creation. I can only be of real help to God, real service to God, by praying to Him."
When you try to remain detached, you have to feel that it is your wisdom-light that is coming to the fore. Detachment is not an escape from life. Detachment is a way to see or to feel that God knows that what is happening is for the ultimate good of mankind or for the ultimate good of Mother Earth.
If there is no determination,
Life is bound to be
A constant failure.
Devotion is the connecting link between the seeker's heart and God's Feet, and this connecting link is like a magnetic pull. Stronger than the strongest is this connecting link. When devotion is sincere, immediately the seeker can have fast, faster, fastest speed.
There are two kinds of warrior: one who conquers with a sword or a gun or some other weapon. That is a human warrior. The other is a divine warrior. This warrior does not conquer; he illumines with light. The divine warrior comes and sees darkness. Light never takes darkness as its enemy, whereas darkness takes light as its enemy. As soon as light, in the form of a divine warrior, stands in front of darkness, light will say, "Oh, my little brother is full of doubt and fear and so many other undivine things. Let me bring water and wash him and make him clean and beautiful." So the divine warrior is always trying to make others as good as himself because he knows he is representing God. But the human warrior will say, "Let me kill that person! He has different views from me. Why should I accept his views? They are all wrong!"
The human way is to destroy; the divine way is to sympathise with our younger brothers and sisters. Darkness is nothing but the younger brother of light. Always there is light, even inside darkness. There is no darkness that does not have an iota of light inside it. The divine warrior thinks of light, more light, abundant light, infinite light. So he will stand in front of darkness and try to illumine it. In that way, he will fulfil God's Vision on earth. The human way is always to destroy. The divine way is to say, "What I am, I want you to be because I know I am representing God on earth and I would like you also to represent God on earth."
Ecstasy can be dynamic; ecstasy can be static. Dynamic ecstasy is what moves us forward, upward and inward. We all need dynamic ecstasy. Static ecstasy lives inside us and cannot be used either for the betterment of ourselves or humanity. Static ecstasy gives us tremendous satisfaction, but that satisfaction we do not need in order to manifest God's Light here on earth. For that, dynamic ecstasy is needed.
Inner surrender
Has an exquisite inner beauty
Which our outer eyes
Fail to notice.
God tells us that if we lose faith in Him, no harm, but if we lose faith in ourselves, we are finished; the game will be over. So we have to ask ourselves the question, "Who am I? Am I the thought that is entering into me in the form of doubt, in the form of fear, in the form of anxiety?"
If somebody tells you that your name is 'Anxiety', you will vehemently deny it. You will say, "No, my name is such-and-such. It has such a lofty spiritual meaning. My entire existence is flooded with light."
You will not identify yourself with the name 'Anxiety' at all. Nor will you identify yourself with your fears and doubts. At that time, you will separate yourself from these negative thoughts. In the spiritual life, always try to cultivate faith in yourself and in this way you will not identify yourself with any negative qualities. You have to know that when fear, doubt, anxieties and worries come, it is an attack. If anybody calls you by the name 'Worry', are you going to respond? No. But if anybody calls you by the name 'Faith', you will immediately say, "Yes, I am that, I am that, I am that. God has so much faith in me. I have so much faith in God."
In our ordinary human life, we may lose faith in God for two days or four days. Then we will say to ourselves, "This is God's vast Creation! Is He really useless? If He is useless, then He cannot be the Ruler of the world, the Governor of the world." And our faith in God is restored.
But when it comes to our faith in ourselves, all the stupid things that we have done in our lives come forward to destroy our joy. We lose faith in ourselves because twenty years ago perhaps we told a lie. Twenty years ago perhaps somebody asked me which direction to go in Augsburg and I showed him the wrong way! So all kinds of things happen in life. When we deal with our human faith, we are only digging up the past. We remind ourselves of how many bad things we have done. But divine faith is not like that. Divine faith is always going forward, forward, forward. We have to throw our human faith into divine faith. Then we shall be able to go forward.
Even the term 'human' faith is always mixed with doubt because we cannot separate faith from doubt, specially self-doubt. But when it is a matter of divine faith, as soon as we say the word 'divine', beauty comes into our life, light comes into our life. The divine is something beautiful, pure, absolutely glorious. When we say 'divine', immediately light comes to our mind; whereas, when we say 'human', it is always mixed with some negativity, some darkness.
On the human level, there is negativity inside everything and everyone. So when we are dealing with our own faith in ourselves, we have to constantly separate ourselves from doubt because doubt and faith go side by side.
Once we accept the spiritual life, we have to say, "I am of God, I am for God." If you can say this, then immediately you will have faith in yourself. Your faith automatically becomes divine and your anxieties, worries, fears and doubts will all disappear. If you are of God, then how can you be full of doubt?
Then there is another point: whatever you have suffered in your life, it is God who has experienced it in and through you. That same God is now telling you, "Only identify yourself with Me." If we can identify ourselves with God all the time, then all the divine qualities within us will be brought to the fore. Just say, "I am of God. I am for God." Then your doubts will become like a football and you will be able to kick them away. They will not be able to come near you.
If you are really for God, you will be like a deer running towards your Beloved Supreme. Who can prevent you from reaching Him? Our devoted qualities have to run towards God faster than the fastest. When you say, "I am of the Supreme," those little, little animals — doubts, worries and so forth — will all get frightened because they are afraid of light. We are afraid of darkness, but they are afraid of light. So always say, "I am of the Supreme. I am for the Supreme."
Unfortunately, we cannot maintain that feeling. When our old worries and anxieties come back into our minds, God disappears. At that time, we do not try to illumine those negative thoughts. We are helpless. In India, one Acharya used to say, by way of joke, "I am a divine warrior, but what can I do? I have a shield in one hand and a sword in the other. My hands are all occupied, so how can I fight?"
But fight we must. Our heart has to say, with all its affection, love, kindness, sweetness and fondness, that we are of God and we are for God. Then we will be able to maintain our feeling. Otherwise, if this idea comes from the mind, we will forget that we are of God and for God sooner than at once. It is our heart that has to say, "All the good qualities that God has given me I am offering to Him, and He will give me much, much more than before because I am of Him and I am for Him."
When we receive
Even an iota of Grace from Above,
We enter into a higher race
Of divine existence.
Gratitude is the shortest road
And fastest speed
To arrive at God's Palace.
There are a few things in life that have the speed but do not embody certainty. But when it comes to humility, humility has both speed and also assurance. Humility carries the speed and assurance for us to arrive at God's Palace sooner than at once.
Illumination is in the mind and of the mind. Illumination and realisation are two brothers; they are twins. They fulfil each other. The mind's illumination and the realisations of the central being go together. The word 'salvation' always gives us the feeling of Master and slave. Somebody infinitely higher than us is granting us salvation. But when it comes to illumination or realisation, then we feel that a dearer than the dearest Friend has come to our rescue. We feel, "I was in darkness, so my dearer than the dearest Friend, my Lord Beloved Supreme, has come to my rescue."
When we want salvation, we always see the difference between the higher and the lower. The higher part has come to save the lower part. But when it is a matter of illumination, at that time we have to feel that the One who has come to illumine us is our dearest Friend, our Eternity's dearest Friend. In the Christian world, we hear the word 'salvation', but we have to know that the meaning is completely different from 'illumination'. For our salvation, we invoke the Master, but in our illumination we already have the Master, God Himself, deep within.
The more we are immersed in our deep, deeper and deepest meditation, the sooner we shall see the unmistakable arrival of our Lord Beloved Supreme right in front of our earthly existence.
In the beginning, we have to imagine Infinity. Then we have to feel it, and afterwards we have to see it with our inner vision. When we can see Infinity in an atom, in a molecule, and feel the molecule is for us, then we shall know what Infinity is. For us to see a small drop inside an infinite ocean is easy because our mind tells us that easily a drop can be inside the ocean. The mind knows it is true.
But the heart's inner vision knows that it is always mutual: if we can be inside God, God also can be inside us. We know that the Infinite can easily house the finite, but our mind tells us that the finite cannot house the Infinite. Both the Infinite and the finite are nothing other than God the Beloved and His child. Inside God the Beloved, we can see His child, and inside the child, we have to see God the Beloved. It is a game. God tells us that whatever He is and whomever He is, we are also exactly the same. God is omniscient, omnipotent and omnipresent. He is everything. Whatever He has and whatever He is, we have and we are. It is like hide-and-seek. The Infinite is hiding and the finite is searching for it. Then, when the finite hides, the Infinite searches for it. So when we can see Infinity inside the finite the way we see the finite inside Infinity, then we become a real player in God's Cosmic Game.
Let us first talk about intuitive faculties. Some animals have more intuitive faculties than human beings. That does not mean that they are superior to human beings. No. Only they are more in tune with Mother Nature. Those who are more in tune with Mother Nature develop intuition. Through prayer and meditation, we can also develop intuition. And again, by loving Mother Earth, by loving a flower, loving a leaf, loving a tree, loving the water, loving Nature's beauty, we can develop intuition.
If you want to develop intuition through prayer and meditation, imagine that you are following a road that is longer than the longest. Imagine somebody is walking beside you and that person has a flashlight. When he starts using the flashlight, you see that the road is becoming shorter and shorter and shorter. Intuition brings the longest road right in front of you.
Sometimes when I ask what is happening in Germany or Russia or some other place, I do not know the details, but my intuition just brings a particular family or some individuals who are in need of my inner help right in front of me. So intuition can go to the farthest and, again, intuition can bring the farthest right in front of you.
But if it is difficult for you to develop intuition through prayer and meditation, only appreciate the beauty of the flowers, the beauty of the grass. If you can identify yourself with the beauty aspect of Nature, then you will develop intuition. That intuition is very, very pure, but it is limited.
If a spiritual person has intuition, his intuition is infinitely stronger than the intuition of those who do not pray and meditate. But I have to say, why should you pray and meditate in order to acquire intuition? You need only realisation. Realisation is a vaster than the vastest oneness. Intuition is not oneness. With your intuitive capacities, you will try to know what is happening somewhere else. Why do you have to know what is happening somewhere else when you have the capacity to become everything and everyone? That is realisation.
Awareness, on the other hand, is far inferior to intuition. We may be aware of something — a tree, for example — but we have no way to bring the beauty and purity of the tree to us. However, if you have intuition, you can inwardly go to where the tree is and enjoy the beauty and purity of the tree.
Intuition gives you an inner connecting link with the object. You can either go where it is or you can bring it right in front of your vision. For intuition, there is a connecting road, but awareness does not have a road.
Again, realisation goes far beyond intuition. When you have realisation, you see the tree with all its leaves and flowers and fruits right inside you. You do not have to go anywhere.
We may be aware of something, but we cannot bring it to us. Intuition can go there or intuition can bring the reality of that object to you. So intuition is infinitely more important than awareness.
We can be aware if somebody is very bad and we can be aware if somebody is very good. But simply by becoming aware of somebody's bad qualities, we cannot remove those bad qualities. We are aware of his bad deeds, but we are helpless; we cannot do anything. But if, by intuition, we know of somebody's bad qualities, then we will try to do something. Whether we will be successful or not, we will try to help him turn over a new leaf.
Again, if we have realisation, which is oneness, we will take it even more seriously. At that time, we will take it as our bounden duty to be of service to that person.
Each individual can have joy in the spiritual life provided he or she consciously and deliberately wants to become God's chosen instrument. God's chosen instrument is the perfect toy of God. If you can become a toy of God, then, like a fountain, you will have joy within and you will spread joy everywhere.
Light is everywhere. Light is even in darkest darkness. But we need Infinity's Light to transform the darkest darkness of ignorance-night.
There is not a single human being on earth who does not love. If one wants to make satisfactory progress, then one has to love oneself divinely at every moment. How do we love ourselves divinely? We love ourselves divinely when we feel that our earth-existence is for God to utilise. And that love must permeate our entire being.
When we sincerely feel
That we are nothingness incarnate,
Then God comes
And turns our nothingness
Into His Infinity's Fulness.
God-oneness means
Heaven-fulfilment
And earth-enlightenment.
One-pointedness is of paramount importance in the spiritual life. Let us say that I am looking at the five fingers on my right hand. I am not looking here and there; I am only looking at these five fingers. Then the question comes: how can I make my focus of concentration smaller and smaller? When I look with utmost one-pointedness, I will discard my thumb, I will discard this finger and that finger, until finally I am concentrating only on the tip of one finger. In order to achieve one-pointedness, you have to make the object as small as possible. The smaller the object, the easier it is to exercise your one-pointedness. When you make the biggest things very small, then you will make very fast progress.
One-pointedness you develop only by making the subject or object as small as possible. One-pointedness you cannot apply to vastness. Again, when you develop this capacity to concentrate on objects which are smaller than the smallest, tinier than the tiniest, it will become so easy for you to identify yourself with the vastness of the Reality. At that time, if you use your one-pointedness to reach your Beloved Supreme, you will see that He is coming towards you. Your one-pointedness will come into the category of contemplation.
Suppose you are looking at my Transcendental Photograph. Gradually, gradually you will try to look at the smallest portion possible. Only try to see the eyes. Then forget about two eyes and try to see only one eye. First you will see the whole face and then, gradually, gradually bring your focus to two eyes and then only one eye. When only one eye remains, feel that that one eye is entering into you and you are entering into that eye. Use your one-pointedness.
So again and again I am saying that for one-pointedness, make the vastness as small as possible, as tiny as possible. When you are successful in piercing through it, even if you are looking at the ocean itself, your one-pointedness will make the vastness disappear.
Every day, every hour, every minute, every second, we must develop the beauty and fragrance, light and delight of openness, so that God can act in and through us most satisfactorily in His own Way.
Plenitude is found inside solitude. If we can live inside solitude, we are bound to see plenitude; not only plenitude but infinitude. First dive deep within. Station yourself there. You will see that it is all solitude and, inside the solitude, you will see the plenitude. This plenitude shall grow and grow into infinitude.
To start with, remain inside the heart of solitude. There you will receive plenitude in abundant measure. From plenitude, you can go to infinitude. But start with solitude. Through your prayers and meditations, you will be able to enter into the realm of solitude.
There are two kinds of pride: the divine pride and the human pride. The human pride wants either to build the world or to destroy the world. But the divine pride never destroys. The divine pride will say, "Being God's child, I cannot destroy anything. I can only serve God in helping Him to build a better world. Whatever He intended to do with this world, this world as it is is not satisfying God. Therefore, I am praying to God to transform this world. I am praying to God to make each human being good, better, best. I am of God; I am for God. How can I destroy anything? I can only try with my inner beauty, my divine beauty, to make each and every human being better."
This kind of divine pride is absolutely essential for the betterment of the world.
The progress of our spiritual life can be measured only through our heart's ceaseless tears. Sometimes we say that we are not making any progress. Then what do we do? Some people give up. They feel that spirituality is a barren desert. I wish to say that, in order to make progress, we have to dig deep, deeper, deepest. We have no idea at what point the tears of our heart will spring up like a fountain.
Let us say that we have been making very good progress and all of a sudden our progress has come to a standstill. Whether it takes two hours or four hours or four days in a row, whatever amount of time is needed, we must cry and cry and cry. Many people give up the spiritual life when they see that they are not making any more progress. But they do not realise that progress can sometimes be made in a different way. Progress can be made either by pulling or pushing. You can try to pull the ocean of Light towards you, or you can push yourself towards the ocean of Light.
In this connection, I wish to narrate a humorous story. A man found that his sleep was disturbed. Days ran into weeks, weeks into months and months into years. Still he could not get proper rest at night. Every night he suffered from nightmares and then he could not go back to sleep. His nightmare was always the same. He would see a huge house. The house was always in darkness, but he felt that there was something inside the house; he was convinced that he would find a room that was flooded with light. Every night, in his nightmare, he approached the house carrying a little flashlight. Then he would struggle to open the door. Alas, each night he failed. His mind was fixed on the idea of pulling open the door. He felt that if he could only pull open the door, then he would be able to go inside the house. But he always tried and tried in vain. Then he would wake up from his nightmare.
Eventually, the man decided to visit a famous psychiatrist to receive treatment for his condition. He narrated his pathetic story to the psychiatrist. He felt that if he had to go on suffering in this way, he did not want to live on earth any more. The psychiatrist listened to the whole story and said, "All right, before you die, let me ask you a few questions. When you are standing at the door, do you see anything there that you have not told me, apart from the fact that the house is in darkness?"
"Yes," said the man, "on the door there is a small sign with one silly word — PUSH. However, I do not pay any attention to it. I know that only by pulling will the door open up."
The man's mind was focussed on the idea that if he pulled the door, it would open up, but, according to him, pushing was of no value at all.
Similarly, in the spiritual life, sometimes it happens that we cannot make any more progress. Why? We are trying to pull the ocean of Light towards us. But how can we pull the ocean? It is simply impossible. So we have to grab ourselves and push ourselves into the water. Then we will become the ocean of Light itself.
Many times I have said that one cannot make progress in the spiritual life by hook or by crook. I have said that spirituality is not a matter of pushing and pulling. Here I wish to qualify my statement. Spirituality is not a matter of pushing or pulling others aside in order to reach the goal.
Again in some ways, life is always a kind of push or pull. When it is safe to push, we should push. Unfortunately, we always try to pull something. That is the mistake we always make. We should not try to pull the infinite expanse towards us. No, we should push ourselves towards the infinite expanse.
When you want to make progress, just think of yourself as a mischievous monkey. Feel, "I am nothing but a monkey!" Then grab that naughty monkey and throw it into the water. Only in this case, the ocean does not contain water, so you do not have to be afraid. In the ocean of Light, you will see that so many Gods and Goddesses are waiting for you to receive you with utmost affection, love, sweetness and fondness.
When the time comes for us to enter into Infinity by pushing or throwing ourselves, we do not do it. We feel, "No, no, if I can pull Infinity towards me, then only will I make progress." Every human being suffers from this problem. Our progress stops when we try to pull the largest and heaviest object towards us. But our progress continues if we push ourselves or throw ourselves into the ocean. You have to feel, "I am a tiny drop. How can I bring the ocean into me? It is I who should enter into the ocean." That is the wisdom that you have to apply to yourself in order to make the fastest progress. Consciously push yourself into the water.
Progress is always made by taking ourselves to the superior, God, and not by bringing the superior into us. Just say to yourself, "Why should God come to me? Who am I? I should go to God."
If we know that God is in the adjacent room, it is we who should go to Him and not the reverse. Are we fools? If God is there, we have to run towards Him! By going to Him, we can please Him. True, He can come to us, but if He comes to us, we will not get the same joy. When we run to Him, we feel that we have done something. When we cut a mango into pieces and eat it, we get more joy than if somebody hands us a piece of mango. Always our action gives us more joy. Something more, if God comes to us, pride can enter into us. But if we go to God with our humility, with our love, with our fondness for Him, then we are safe.
If I am sitting somewhere and you come running towards me, I get much more joy as your spiritual Master than when I go to you. When I go to you, you may say, "Oh, now I have really become something! The Master has come to me." So instead of drawing something towards you, always go to the destination. The destination can come to you, but you will not get the same satisfaction. If you go to the destination, you will get infinitely more joy.
Purity of the mind
Expedites astonishingly
Our Godward journey.
Life has only one purpose: to know what the Goal is and then to throw oneself — body, vital, mind and heart, everything that you have and you are — into the Goal. Our purpose is to go up and also to dive deep within. If you want to go up or dive deep, what will you do? Either cultivate tears inside your heart or bring into your life the smiles of your soul. Either through tears or through smiles you can fulfil the purpose of your life.
The seven colours of the rainbow connect our aspiring hearts with the seven higher levels of consciousness, provided we can be in a meditative consciousness when we look at the rainbow.
In the outer world, we use the term 'self-giving'. In the inner world, we use the term 'God-becoming'. The more we give to humanity, the sooner we grow into our larger than the largest heart. In an ordinary sense, when we spend five minutes with someone, we feel that we have given them eternity. Then again, if we like or love someone and we stay with them for five hours, we feel that we have given only five seconds. This is our way of thinking. If we love someone, two hours becomes one minute and if we do not like someone, one minute seems like two hours.
So when we are in the physical or when we are in the mind, and we offer ourselves, we give an iota of our existence and immediately we feel that we have given the equivalent of one million dollars. But if we remain in our heart, we will feel that we have so much more to give, so much more to give — our love, our peace, our light, our bliss. We will feel that what we have given is next to nothing.
So when it is a matter of self-giving, when we are in the mental world, we feel that it is a waste of time. We feel that we are just wasting our energy. But when we are in our heart, we feel that we have much more to give. We feel that our self-giving can never come to an end. We say, "Let the person come again. I will give him more, more, more."
When you remain in the heart, self-giving has divine reality in it; it is inexhaustible. The qualities that you are offering — joy, love, goodwill, concern — are absolutely infinite. Anything divine you have in infinite measure, provided your self-giving comes from the heart. If it comes from the mind, you will give practically nothing, but you will feel that you have given everything. At that time, what is the use of self-giving?
When you give from the heart, you always feel, "I am a fool! I could have given much more, much more." Self-giving in the heart always unites us with vastness. Self-giving in the mind always binds us and binds us. It makes us miserable. We regret it because we feel that we have wasted our precious time. But when we give from the heart, we feel an endless supply of joy, light and so many other divine qualities.
So when you perform an act of self-giving, always feel that it is coming from the heart and not from the mind.
Love can be theoretical, but service always has to be practical. Sometimes we may say, "He is a practical man." That is not the meaning of the word 'practical' in this context. Here, 'practical' means to serve God in the way God wants us to serve Him.
If you want to know which one pleases God more, love or service, then I must say that love is good, but service is better. Love is an inner feeling. Service is also an inner feeling, but service manifests, whereas love identifies.
Identification is not enough. It must be followed by manifestation. If you want to do something for the world, love and service must go together, but God will appreciate your service more because you are doing something for Him that is tangible here, there and everywhere.
God-service means God's immediate manifestation on earth. Those who serve God are all the time creating something new, new — new for God on earth.
Silence increases our divine qualities and decreases our undivine qualities. Silence is God's language and that language we can learn only through our heart's tears; that language we can learn only through constant self-offering. At every moment we can increase the beauty, fragrance, light and delight of the divine within us by exercising the enormous power of silence. The power of silence is infinitely stronger than the power of sound in the spiritual life. Silence is the inner beauty for God-realisation and silence is the outer power for God-manifestation. If we have silence, faster than the fastest we can go to the farthest corners of the globe and do the needful.
Outwardly, simplicity is something most of us do not appreciate. When somebody is very simple, immediately our mind tells us that his simplicity is nothing short of stupidity. But in the inner world, simplicity is of paramount importance. If we have simplicity in our inner life, then we accelerate our Heavenward journey most strikingly.
Our prayer-life needs soulfulness. Our meditation-life needs soulfulness. Soulfulness has to be in everything that we do. If there is no soulfulness, we do not succeed. And if there is soulfulness, we are bound to succeed in all our activities.
In everything we need speed. Today's speed is taking us to a particular destination, but tomorrow's speed has to be faster. That speed will take us to another destination. Every day we must increase our speed to arrive at a specific destination.
Today's speed can take us to a particular destination, but with that same speed in the inner world, we will not be able to arrive at another destination. We have to increase our speed. And again, when we want to arrive at a new destination, we have to increase our speed once more.
In our outer life, we can run a marathon at a constant speed — a six-minute or seven-minute pace. Mile after mile you can go at the same speed. But in the inner world, each time you arrive at a new destination, you have to increase your speed in order to arrive at the following destination. Otherwise, you are not allowed to arrive at a new destination with your old speed.
Each time we have sweetness
In our thought,
God comes one step
Closer to us
Sweeter than the sweetest
Are the heart-tears
Of a God-seeker.
The vastness of the mind
Can purify and beautify
A seeker's life.
When we have zeal
In our dedicated service,
We enter into God's Heart
With a very special thrill.
Published in The Heart-Tears of a God-Seeker