Question: How can we have a patriotic feeling for our country when we are not one hundred percent behind the government?

Sri Chinmoy: One does not have to be one hundred percent behind the government in order to become a patriot. We have to know that it is not the government that we want to govern our country; it is the collective aspiration that will guide the country. If the government fails in fulfilling our aspiration, then we shall not look up to the government to guide us. It is the real in us that will guide the nation. By dint of fate, some individuals in the government are ruling the body of the country. But they are not ruling the heart of the country. We are given ample opportunities to illumine the fate of the country. When people in authority misuse their power, eventually they are dethroned. History bears witness to this fact; it bears witness to the fact that hundreds of kings, potentates, presidents and statesmen have all had to come down from the highest height because of their misuse of power.

On your part as a seeker you have to create aspiration and inspiration in those of your countrymen who do not subscribe to the views of the government. It is not that you are rebelling against the government, but only that you have seen a higher light and you are offering your higher light in a spiritual way. You are offering it, not with any animosity or antagonistic feeling, but with the higher thought that you can better the consciousness of your country, and with that you are embarking on this new divine project.