Question: To start meditation, do you discipline yourself through will or do you joyfully start?

Sri Chinmoy: The soul is a divine portion of God and is all joy and cheerfulness. Now, if you start your meditation through discipline and keep your body very tight and straight, as if a monkey who is full of evil thoughts is trying to bite or pinch you, it is wrong. By doing this you become afraid and you only keep yourself tense. What you should do when you meditate is to allow yourself to be relaxed, keeping the spinal cord erect. The best way is to meditate in the lotus position, but if you cannot do this, then just sit on a chair.

God is all Love and Joy. The most effective way to please God and to become one with God is to approach Him through Love. And where there is Love, there is Joy. To go to my Father I do not have to cut off my hands or arms to show how self-disciplined I am. That is no discipline at all. Discipline comes through spontaneous love. When we allow our divine qualities to come to the fore, automatically the soul takes care of our outer life. We just have to go deep within and from there we shall have to bring out the soul’s poise. When the soul's poise comes to the fore, automatically the restless outer being becomes calm and quiet. So please try to meditate always with inner joy.