Question: Is it possible for anyone to live in vast expansion of mind, or is this only possible for a realised soul?

Sri Chinmoy: An aspirant can experience vast expansion of mind for a few minutes when he is in a very high, deep meditation. But only the realised soul can have this vast expanse of the mind constantly. We are making a mistake, however, when we use the words 'expansion of mind'. When the mind expands into vastness, there is no mind, there is no form. In the mind there is always limitation. When we experience the vast expanse, at that time we have gone beyond the domain of the mind. When we go beyond the mind we feel that the mind has expanded, but we have actually entered into the expansion of our soul's peace. We feel we are experiencing the expansion of the mind, but it is the transcendence of the mind that we are experiencing.

Only the realised soul can enter into the vast expanse of Light, Consciousness, Peace and Bliss and stay there indefinitely or permanently. For the ordinary aspirant or seeker, this is not possible. An advanced student can remain there for ten or fifteen minutes at most. But again I wish to say this is not the expansion of the mind, but an experience of something far beyond the mind. It is only when we come back from the highest level of Consciousness that we try to understand everything with the help of the mind. That is because right now the mind is the highest part of our ordinary human consciousness. When we want to expand our consciousness, our physical reality, we have to enter into the soul. The soul, not the mind, has the power to expand our consciousness.