Question: What is self-realisation?

Sri Chinmoy: Self-realisation means self-discovery in the highest sense of the term. One realises one’s oneness with God — consciously. Now you have studied books and people have also told you that God is in everybody. But you have not realised God in your conscious life. When one is self-realised, one consciously knows what God is, what He looks like, what He wills. Those who have not realised God will say, “God may be like this, God may be like that” — it is all mental speculation. But when one achieves self-realisation, one remains in God’s Consciousness and one speaks to God face-to-face. He sees God both in the finite and in the Infinite; he sees God as personal and impersonal. In this case, it is not mental hallucination or imagination; it is direct reality. This reality is more authentic than my seeing you right now in front of me.