Question: Are outer gestures important for aspiration to increase?

Sri Chinmoy: Some outer gestures are useful for seekers. You have put candles, incense and flowers in the meditation room to increase your aspiration. They will not increase my aspiration, for I have already realised God. If you are going to realise God tomorrow or in two years, then for you also, these outer things will have no value. These flowers, candles and incense have no value for realised souls or for seekers on the verge of realisation. But if you know that God-realisation is still a far cry, then these things will definitely increase your aspiration.

When you are in a very high spiritual mood and you fold your hands, you are not folding your hands to me or touching my feet. No, when you fold your hands you are bowing to your own aspiring self. Let us consider the body as two halves, a lower and a higher part. Your lower half wants to become one with the higher half. Although I represent both the higher and lower selves, just because of my realisation I am well-established in the higher world.

Unfortunately you are not yet well-established in the higher world. But even though I am in the higher world, if I take off my legs and only my upper portion remains, and then if I want to stand, I will not be able to. I need my lower part just as much as I need my higher part. I need them equally for illumination, I have to have constant communication and oneness between my higher and lower parts. When you fold your hands with an immediate inner feeling, your lower self is becoming one with your higher self. Then there is a continuous, sweet feeling, like a river flowing into the ocean.

The seeker is the river, and the Master is the ocean. The natural course of the river is to flow into the ocean. Then it will become the ocean. But if the river does not feel that it must merge with the ocean, then even if it sees the ocean it will take a wrong course or just meander aimlessly. The seeker has to feel that he is a river, and that the goal of the river is to flow the fastest and enter into the ocean. The seeker must recognise the necessity to enter into the Master. It should be with this kind of feeling that you fold your hands to meditate facing the disciples.

Tonight I selected some disciples who had good meditations. Do you think that I selected all those who had folded their hands during meditation? Far from it. There were only one or two who had folded their hands. There are many who have not folded their hands today whom I selected. Again there are many who were sitting in front of me folding their hands whom I did not select.

If you fold your hands soulfully, it will help you meditate better, but you don't have to do it at all. There are some who do not fold their hands soulfully, but only make their hands very stiff, as if they are going to press something together or break it. That kind of devotion is no devotion at all.

Some disciples feel as if they have one hundred dollars from their inner aspiration but their goal is one hundred and one. They need one dollar more in order to reach the destined goal. They feel that folding their hands helps because they know it may give them that last dollar they need to reach the goal. Others feel that they don't need to fold their hands. They feel that by increasing their aspiration they will automatically get the last dollar. They are right. But the first group feels that if there is something outwardly they can do which will immediately give them that one dollar more, they will do it.

Most fold their hands only when I turn towards them, and the rest of the time they do not fold their hands. There are some who are doing so not because I am looking at them, but because their inner being is telling them to fold their hands at that time. When I meditate on them, they feel that their aspiration has increased its intensity, it has now become greater, so they fold their hands. In this way they are doing it soulfully and spontaneously.

Otherwise, by folding your hands you can deceive yourself, you can deceive the friends around you for one day, two days, three days, two months or six months. Then your own sincerity will come forward. Something within you will pinch you and tell you either to fold your hands only when you are sincere and spiritual and when you feel it is necessary, or to stop folding your hands. Your own inner sincerity will enter you like a bullet and say you are deceiving yourself, you are deceiving others. But by deceiving, you are not getting real aspiration.

Again, just because you were folding your hands out of deception and now have realised your folly, that doesn't mean you should necessarily stop folding your hands. It is like curiosity. Some people enter into the spiritual life out of curiosity. They do not have sincere inspiration or aspiration, but out of curiosity they come to meetings and join the activities. Finally they see that their curiosity is getting them nowhere. The seekers around them have true aspiration, and they are gaining something inwardly and outwardly. At that time they want to stop their life of curiosity and they begin to sincerely aspire.

I often say that when you have to make a choice between idleness and ego, aggrandisement of ego is better than idleness. When you give importance to the ego, at least you start to do something. In the spiritual life also, if you fold your hands out of curiosity or even to show off, for two or three months you may do it. Then even if your own sincerity does not come forward, you may overhear two of your friends or enemies saying, "Oh, see what he does," and you will be embarrassed. If you are embarrassed, then you will stop it, or you will do it sincerely.

Today if you are waiting to get inspiration, or high aspiration, you don't have to fold your hands. When it comes from within, then you will fold your hands. That is absolutely the correct thing. If you are not getting aspiration for months and yet you fold your hands in a false way, somebody will come forward and criticise you. You will say, "How can he criticise me? It is beneath my dignity to be criticised by him or by her. Let me now do the right thing." To go through this process is one way to resolve the issue of folding hands. Of course, that is not the best way. The best way is to fold your hands only when it comes spontaneously from within.