Question: Why do you come down to your disciples' level in order to help them?

Sri Chinmoy: It is not that I just come down to the level of my disciples. I go one step below their standard, because I want to place them on my shoulders. But they won’t sit on my shoulders. It is here very often that misunderstandings start. If we run after someone in order to give him something, that person will think that we are running because we have some motive. They feel that if they are on my shoulders they will be stuck and they won’t be able to climb up. They want to climb up on their own so that they can take the full credit. But they are fools if they think this because if they were able to climb up on their own, then why did they come to me?

The mother goes to the market and buys food, and then she asks her children to come and eat. If the children are wise they will say, “We are so lucky that we have such a good mother. She has gone all the way and brought us this food.” Otherwise they will say, “No. We need food, but we want to go out to eat.” This is what the disciples do. They want to go out to eat somewhere, because they have not been there before. Then on the way they see some candy and are tempted. So instead of getting the proper food they buy some junk and eat it and get an upset stomach.

You can feel that you are eating proper spiritual food provided that you feel that there is someone who is constantly expecting something from you. As an individual you get frustrated. But if you feel that there is someone who is constantly expecting something from you, you will give more importance to your life. If your boss is expecting something from you, you are bloated with human pride. And when you feel that somebody else who is superior to your boss is expecting something from you, then immediately you are nourished with a sense of divine pride. You are nourished only when you feel that your own heart of hearts needs you. His expectation means his oneness with you. His very need of you is his nourishment. Your Inner Pilot is the Supreme. Your Supreme and my Supreme are the same, but in my case, I have established my constant oneness with Him, while unfortunately in your case you have not done so. When I say “I”, immediately I feel that the Supreme is operating in and through me and I am operating in and through the Supreme. If you can go deep within, then you will also establish your oneness with the Supreme.

Right now, the concept of the Supreme operating in and through you is only a vague idea. When you think of God, you may think that He is in beautiful trees or on top of a mountain. Or perhaps you will say that God is inside a cave or the Pacific Ocean. If you think of God in this way, then at any moment He may disappear, and you will wonder where He has gone. But when you think of me, that question just does not arise. You know that I am in this house or at the store or some other place. When you think of God, you may try to imagine whether He is in Heaven or hell, but when you think of your Guru, you know where I am. I am something tangible. You will see me because I am on the physical, vital, mental, psychic and spiritual planes. You can visualise me immediately. That is why they say that if you go through the Master you are reaching the right place. It is much easier and safer to allow the Guru to go to God and bring God to you than to go to the Guru through God. If you go to God, the mind will doubt. If a child goes directly to the father and the father says, “I am your father,” the child may not believe it. He will say, “How do I know this?” But if his friends say, “This is your father,” then he will believe it.