Question: Is it better to hear the inner voice and pursue that single-mindedly or surrender to the collective aspiration of the Centre at times when there seems to be a conflict?

Sri Chinmoy: When there seems to be a conflict in your life of aspiration, it is always advisable to approach the Master. It is I who will be able to tell you whether your own inner voice is correct or whether the collective aspiration of the Centre is correct. Sometimes you may get a totally wrong voice. Again, sometimes the collective aspiration can be totally wrong and absurd. So it is not the collective aspiration that can play the role of the judge and it is not what you hear as the inner voice that can play the role of the judge, since you may not hear the message properly. Therefore, you cannot say that the message which you hear is the message of your inner voice, of your inner reality.

So, what should you do when there is a conflict between the collective aspiration and the message that you get from your inner existence? It is always advisable to ask me to say who is right in this matter. And when you get my message, you have to feel that it is absolutely the message of your own inner voice and that it is also the message of the soul of the collective aspiration. Inside the collective aspiration will be the real message of the divine and inside the inner voice there will also be the message of the divine reality. But this message can be found and recognised by me alone. In your case, in everybody’s case, if the individual is not sure, it is advisable for the seeker to wait for my message, for my guidance, for my assurance.

Sri Chinmoy, Dipti Nivas, Agni Press, 1976