Question: Is it acceptable to offer the joy that one derives from one's outer life to God? For instance, my music, my songs — although they are not religious songs — or is it an offense? ⁴¹⁰

Sri Chinmoy: It is not at all an offense; on the contrary, you can please God most through your music. The songs need not be particularly spiritual. If you can sing spiritual songs, well and good, but if you sing ordinary songs with a soulful voice, then your soul will come to the fore at that time and your joy, the joy that you get when you are singing the song, if you offer it to God, God will be most pleased with you.

Now in your eyes, you are an infinitesimal portion of God. Each human being thinks that he is only the tiniest portion of the Infinite Ocean, a bubble. But in God’s sight, it is not like that. You may think of yourself as one individual. You may think that God has on earth infinite children but that you are not really one of His children. That is your idea. But God takes you as His very image, as His chosen instrument on earth. God takes you as His representative here on earth. Each individual God takes as His own representative, conscious or unconscious. God is conscious that He has sent you into the world as His representative, but you are not conscious. In order to become conscious, you have to realise God consciously, like me.

This is the difference between a realised person and an unrealised person. But in the case of God, He is most pleased with you because you have offered to Him what you have. God has given you a most remarkable voice, a soulful voice and you are offering God what He has given to you.

We cannot give to God anything more than He has given us. If He has given me a voice to sing, I will give Him my voice. If He has given me the dancing capacity, I will dance and please Him; if He has given me the capacity to write poems, then through poems, I shall please Him. He has given me this divine gift; it is I who have to offer what I have back to Him. He gives and I have to return it to Him. Nothing do we create on our own. He gave us everything and with our deepest gratitude, we are offering Him what He first gave. So what we have and what we are, what you are and what you have, if you can consciously give to God, God will be most pleased.

So in your case, I wish to say that with each song, each line you sing, if you can feel it as a dedication to God, no matter what song you are singing (it may not be spiritual; it may be romantic or anything else) but the very act of dedication purifies your song, illumines your inner life and your outer life. Then you become one with God. While singing on the radio, feel that you are singing to please God inside your admirers, inside the audience. Those who are seeing you or listening to you… please try to feel that you are pleasing the divinity in them, but that you are pleasing God at the same time in that way, you are killing two birds with one stone. You are pleasing your admirers and the audience, but you are pleasing the One who is dearest to you, who is God.

The most important thing in your life is to please Him in humanity. Then God is most pleased and each time you sing, please try to feel that you are offering each song, each line, as a flower or a garland of flowers to God, placing it at His feet. Then God will be most pleased. Now also He is pleased because your singing is the capacity, the talent He has given you and you are offering it back to Him. You surely are doing the absolutely right thing. Please continue it. And if you follow the spiritual path, you will develop an infinitely better voice, the inner voice, and you will please God infinitely more. I wish you to concentrate here, on this Centre, the throat. This Centre is called, in Sanskrit, the Vishuddha or Kanta Chakra. The Chakra is right here in the centre of the throat. If you can concentrate daily on it for about five minutes or ten minutes, you will notice an improvement in your voice.