Question: Guru, I had a young friend who died just six weeks ago, and the day before he died he told his father that he would die the next day, and he did. How could he know?

Sri Chinmoy: Why not? Is he not God’s child? At the time of death, if one thinks of God all the time, one may get the message from one’s own inner being. When my own mother was passing away, I happened to be at my uncle’s house, six miles away. My mother was suffering from goitre. Early in the morning she said, “This morning I am leaving the body. Where has Madal gone? Send for him.” Then a cousin of mine brought me the message and I came. She took my hand, then gave me a smile, her last smile. She left about a minute after I arrived, as if she had waited for me. Now I must be truthful. My mother was very, very spiritual, and used to practise the inner life in the strictest sense of the term. But about your friend, I must say that hundreds and thousands of people have known in advance when they were going to die. And for spiritual people it is very easy. They often know a few months in advance.