Question: Can you give me some advice as to how to best continue meditating if I can't come back frequently to this Centre?

Sri Chinmoy: You have come for the first time, and have meditated here for a few minutes. If you feel that you can follow our path — the path of love, devotion and surrender — then I advise you to take home some of my writings, especially Food for the Soul and My Lord's Secrets Revealed. If you read them, you will have an idea of my path. If you have spiritual friends in your university, then try to invite them to your house, preferably once a week, to meditate with you. Or if it is not possible to hold meditations at your house, then you can go to your dearest friend's house and meditate there. If you have meditated a little, then you are not a beginner. If it is possible, meditate early in the morning by looking at my Transcendental picture. Ten minutes is more than enough. And in the evening, if you can, also meditate for ten minutes. Only look at the picture and try to identify yourself with my highest Transcendental Consciousness. Those who are my students and disciples do this kind of meditation. In your case, if you try for one week only to concentrate and meditate on the picture, you will get inner messages as to what to do and what not to do.

If you can come here from time to time, it will be most important and helpful in your spiritual life. Or you can do something else. Here there are quite a few disciples. If you can just make an immediate friendship with some of them, they will be able to keep in touch with you and you will be in touch with them. They will tell you about our activities. Every week there is something new happening. In this way you will have a family feeling in your spiritual life. Each aspirant must have a family feeling. As you have your human family with a father, mother, sister and brother; so also in the spiritual life there must be a spiritual family. Then we can grow together. So, if you can make friends with some of the disciples here, you will get additional inspiration from your friends. What you need right now is inspiration, so that every day you will stick to your meditation. You will get inspiration from having some friends who are on this path and who come to meditate with me regularly and devotedly.

What is most important is to meditate on my picture, without having any thoughts. Please try to establish your oneness with my Transcendental Consciousness. Try to look at the picture and try to listen to the messages it will give you. In this way you will make very fast and satisfactory progress.

I am telling you all this, assuming that you want to follow our path. If you want to follow some other path, then it is not at all necessary for you to meditate on my picture. But if you want inspiration, then I wish to tell you that my disciples will be able to help you. They can inspire others in spite of their having a different path. If you want to follow our path, please meditate on my picture and read my writings; and if you are not sure that this is your path, then what you need right now is constant inspiration. In that case, the disciples here can be of real help to you.