Question: Does Christmas, the way it is celebrated, elevate the consciousness in any way?

Sri Chinmoy: If it is a matter of spiritual consciousness, it does not elevate the consciousness. But if it is a matter of enthusiastic consciousness, vital consciousness, exuberant consciousness, it does help. Only at rare places, in some private homes where people are really devoted to Christ, there in those few places, the consciousness is elevated. On the whole, the decorations that you see in stores and on streets and so many other places do not at all elevate the consciousness. It is only a game, just like children playing. It helps to some extent in this respect, that when you have Christmas or some other special occasion, it takes away tension from the mind and strengthens the possibilities of the vital — not in a bad sense, in a good sense. In the vital some hope dawns and the tension of the mind goes away; that is in a good sense and it is a great blessing.