Question: How can we know our mission in the spiritual life?

Sri Chinmoy: It is very easy. Somebody within us knows what our mission on earth is, and he who knows has to be invoked to come to the fore. We can know our mission if every day we meditate on the Supreme or pray to the Supreme to bring our soul to the fore. The soul has to come to the fore to inspire us. I have written considerably. I have lectured considerably. I have composed many songs. I have painted thousands and thousands of paintings. How do I do all this? I bring to the fore my soul. The soul is all the time one with the Supreme. It is inside us like a seed under the ground. If we cultivate it, it germinates and becomes a small plant and eventually a huge banyan tree. In the case of the soul also, from deep within it has to come forward to manifest itself. The more we can bring the soul to the fore consciously, the sooner we can be aware of our mission.

Right now, we use our mind most of the time. We feel that the mind knows everything. But actually the mind knows next to nothing. Later we come to feel that the heart knows everything. But even the heart does not know everything. It is the soul that knows everything. The heart is always eager to listen to the soul, whereas the mind quite often does not want to listen. Because the heart tries to listen, it gets considerable light from the soul.

We can feel the presence of our heart. But inside the heart we have to feel that there is something else, the soul. If we can bring to the fore the soul — its consciousness, its vibration and all its capacities — then definitely we shall know what is our mission on earth.