Question: Does a person who has not practised Yoga have the same grade of unity with God after death as one who practises Yoga?
Sri Chinmoy: No. One who has practised Yoga will alone have eventually the conscious oneness with God. He will see God here on earth and there in heaven. My dear friend, just by leaving the body, one does not immediately go to God. For God-realisation, one has to be here on earth. It is mere foolishness to think that when we leave the body, we immediately fly to God. No! It is not like that. One has to realise Him here on earth. It is by listening to the dictates of the soul that one realises God here on earth. Otherwise people only need commit suicide in order to realise God after death. Anyone would be able to leave the world and fly to God.
Sri Chinmoy, Earth’s Cry Meets Heaven’s Smile, part 1, Aum Press, Puerto Rico, 1974