Part VIII — Questions and answers: Marlboro College
Question: When you speak of someone seeking enlightenment, doesn't that imply that the person does not have it inside him? And how can one ever attain it by seeking it?
Sri Chinmoy: It is like this: I had something, but I have misplaced it. Suppose I had something precious in my room. It was I who had it and I who misplaced it, and now it is I who am searching for it. It has always been mine, but I do not know where it is. But when I begin searching for it, I know that after some time I will find it. Through constant seeking I will get back my inner wealth, which is illumination.
Sri Chinmoy, Fifty Freedom-Boats to One Golden Shore, part 1, Sri Chinmoy Centre, New York, 1974