Question: Could you please tell us the difference between hope and expectation?

Sri Chinmoy: Hope is something sweet and deep, and it exists in the Heart of our Lord Beloved Supreme. Expectation is something in the physical mind, in the vital, in the physical consciousness. Hope was born the day God created His Dream, but expectation is a creation of the human mind and vital.

When we hope for something but we do not get it, we do not become angry or frustrated, because there is a divine touch there. But with expectation, we use mostly the vital — the hungry vital or the dynamic vital. If we do not get what we want, if our expectation is not fulfilled, we become frustrated, angry and destructive.

Hope is something sweet, divine and encouraging. But expectation is something earth-bound and limiting that we have created inside our vital or inside our mind for our satisfaction or gratification.