Question: Is there any spiritual significance to the energy crises, wars and other problems the world is having now?

Sri Chinmoy: The divine forces are trying to bring Light into the world, but right now the world is run by the undivine forces. There is a great difference between the Supreme’s approval, the Supreme’s sanction and the Supreme’s tolerance. The Supreme has created us and He has given us very limited freedom. But we are using that freedom in a very undivine way. Right now, we are all acting like mad elephants, and He is just tolerating us. The Supreme does not want us to behave this way; He does not want hostility, conflicts, fighting and quarrelling between nations, but He has given us limited freedom and we are doing these things. But a day will come when the Supreme will not tolerate anything.

There is no spiritual significance in the world upheaval in the sense that from this something very spiritual, divine or magnificent will come about. It is we who are creating that kind of suffering. Sometimes on rare occasions suffering helps us in purifying our life. But the present problems are being created by silly, undeveloped, obscure, impure people. We are suffering and we shall suffer more because of our own ignorance.

It is true that we can take everything as spiritual; everything as God’s Will. If we are seekers, then we can console ourselves in this way. But why should it be God’s Will for us to quarrel and fight and kill each other? This is not God’s Will, it is our will, and He is just tolerating us.

Seekers must be very careful. They must not resort to violence even in their thoughts or ideas. Even in their minds they must not think ill of anybody. To think ill of somebody in the mental world is to kill that person and deliberately pull down his consciousness.