Part III: Questions and answers

Question: Guru, you once said that if you come two minutes late to God, then He will not even open the door for you. This makes me unhappy.

Sri Chinmoy: Why do you think that you have come late to God? Just because you have only recently joined our Centre, you may think that you have come here late. But this is not correct. When you come, that is your time — not when the Centre was inaugurated.

Everybody has a special hour of his own. When the hour strikes for you, that is your time. If the hour strikes for somebody else two years earlier, then that is his time. Inwardly you will know when your hour has struck. Let us say that fifteen years ago you inwardly felt a very strong pull toward the spiritual life; you felt that without God, you could not last on earth even for a fleeting second. If you had that kind of aspiration but did not go to any spiritual Master or follow any path, it means that fifteen years you have wasted. Therefore, God will be displeased with you. He will say, "I gave you a golden chance to come out of ignorance, but you did not value it."

But in your case, you don't have to feel at all sorry, because God did not give you that intense aspiration fifteen years ago. But now God has given you the aspiration. Now God has knocked at your door and your time has come. Before you were sleeping, but now God wants you to get up. If you say, "Don't disturb me, don't bother me, I want to sleep," then God will be displeased with you. But you are not sleeping, so you should not feel at all sorry. The time has dawned for you and you have awakened. But if the time comes and you neglect it, if you refuse to accept it, then you are making a very serious mistake.

So do not worry. You have done absolutely the right thing. If I have accepted someone, then it is the proper time for him. Do not feel depressed or deserted. You have God's infinite Love and Blessings. If two or three years ago He did not ask you to do something, it is not your fault. You are listening to the inner request of the Supreme at this time, so you are doing the right thing. Don't feel at all depressed or sorry, That applies to all of you. It is only the one who comes late who will feel that he has missed the boat.

Now you are in the Boat of the Supreme, so you are safe; you are bound to reach the Golden Shore. But on the way, if you become depressed or doubtful and you jump out of the Boat, then again you will fall into the sea of ignorance. There are quite a few who have come and gone. But in comparison to the number of people who have stayed with us, the number who have left is next to nothing. I have been extremely careful right from the beginning. If I had wanted to, by this time I could have had thousands of disciples. But I am very selective. As soon as people hear our standard, they find it too difficult. Even our outer standard is difficult. If people find our path very difficult, it is all right; God wants us to follow this path.