Question: There are many different spiritual paths to reach the one Reality. What is the difference between these paths and do they all go to the same point?

Sri Chinmoy: If the paths are real, then they lead to the same destination. It is like a school. A school has hundreds of students. Suppose ten or twenty students walk along one road to come to the school. Again, there are a few students who will walk along another road to come to the same school. So there are many roads, but the school remains the same.

But you have to know that some students are more advanced than others. Some will go to kindergarten and some will go to college or university. Again, the kindergarten student will one day graduate and go to elementary school, high school and college and eventually he will get his Master's degree or Ph.D. So today's goal may not be tomorrow's goal. In the beginning, the seeker aims at a particular goal. Then he wants to achieve a higher goal, grow into a higher goal. So collectively, all individuals are coming to the same goal according to their receptivity and capacity. If one's capacity right now is the high school capacity, then he is coming to the high school. If his capacity is for college, then he is going to college. And no matter what level he goes to, there are many of his standard who will come to the same school. Many will come to the high school; many will come to the college. But the goal for the seekers of one height will be one particular thing, and for the seekers of another standard there will be another goal.