Question: How can you attain inner serenity and peace when you look around and see what goes on in the world: war, violence, poverty, hunger, drugs, death? How would you reach the inner peace?

Sri Chinmoy: Again I repeat: that is why there should be an inner hunger. If somebody is not satisfied with the outer world, then he wants to enter into, dive into the inner worlds. I have twenty or thirty disciples who once upon a time used to take drugs. They did many things wrong, but later on they found that it was not satisfying them. Then they felt the inner hunger. They were pinched with inner hunger and they came to me. They entered into the life of aspiration. When the outer world, the so-called outer world, fails us or disappoints us, at that time some of us become awakened. We say, “Let us see the other shore. Since this shore has disappointed us, now let us see what the other shore has to offer.”

Similarly, those students of mine wanted to enter into the inner world, to see if there was any Truth, any Light, any Fulfilment there. When they entered into the inner life, they found the answer. One has to see whether the outer life has satisfied him or not. If the outer life has not satisfied him, then naturally he will try to enter into the inner worlds. Then, what is inside has to come to the fore. If I cry for Light and dive deep within, then I see the Light. I grow into the Light. Then I try to offer it to mankind. Mankind receives the Light according to its own receptivity.