Question: Do we need many lifetimes to obtain real illumination.

Sri Chinmoy: Certainly! In this world it will take you twenty-two years only to get your Master’s degree, which is only finite earthly wisdom. In the spiritual life we are crying for something infinite — infinite Peace, infinite Light, infinite Knowledge, infinite Wisdom, infinite Bliss. Naturally, these attainments will take a much longer time. But if one gets a genuine spiritual Master, he can expedite his progress. If a student has to swim across the sea of ignorance all alone, it will take him a very, very long time. But if there is a Master with a boat, the student enters into the boat and then travels much faster to the other shore.