Question: Is liberation possible without the help of a living Master?¹³

Sri Chinmoy: It is quite possible for the seeker to achieve liberation without the help of a living Master. But it is advisable to have a Master if one values speed. If you can do something today with the help of someone else, why do you want to take three or four days in order to do it by yourself? We go to school and study with a teacher. Why? When we have a teacher, we are directed and guided in what we study. All the books that we study are available in the bookstore, but when the teacher says something is correct, then immediately we believe it. So the teacher expedites our study.

There is nothing wrong in taking help from someone. A spiritual Master is also God’s son. If my elder brother knows something, I have every right to ask my elder brother to teach me. Once I learn it, that knowledge becomes my own possession. At that time I am free to share with others the knowledge that I have acquired with his help. When it is a question of God-realisation, if someone says, “No, I don’t want to take any outer help, I will entirely depend on God and myself,” then that person has to know that his realisation will take thousands of years. But there is nothing wrong in this approach. He who realised God for the first time did not have a human teacher. God taught him directly. So, if the seeker is extremely sincere and if he wants to depend on direct inner guidance from God, he can. But he should know that his progress will be slow, very slow, and uncertain.