Part VII — Questions and answers: Roosevelt University

Question: You said it is good to serve God. But is the only way to serve God to serve the God in other people?

Sri Chinmoy: Yes. But only if you pray and meditate will you feel that God is inside everybody, that He is a living Reality. You know that God is everywhere and in everything, true. But if you pray and meditate, then this mental belief becomes a real, living truth to you. At that time you consciously serve each person precisely because you know and feel that God is inside him.

If you do not see the Face of God, of Truth, of Light, then your physical mind will not be convinced of the value of the things that you are doing. Today you will serve someone and tomorrow you will say, "Oh, he is such a fool. He has no aspiration, nothing! Why should I serve him?" If you look at an individual without prayer and meditation, you will separate the man from the soul. But if you pray and meditate, then you will see the soul, the divinity inside that man, and you will try to bring to the fore that person's divinity. Otherwise, it will be impossible to bring to the fore the inner divinity of someone you are serving.

If you don't pray, if you don't meditate, then your work may not be dedicated service. And if it is not dedicated service, then it will not help you to make any spiritual progress. There are many people who work fifteen, sixteen hours a day. But their action is not dedicated service. They are only working mechanically to make money and take care of their outer responsibilities and so forth. But if you wish to really dedicate your life to God and mankind, then prayer and meditation must come first.