Question: Mother Teresa's path was very austere. I am wondering whether that austerity was needed for her to be so successful with her charity work.

Sri Chinmoy: From the highest spiritual point of view, austerity is not needed. Austerity is like self-mortification. God does not ask us to mortify ourselves in order to come close to Him; it is not necessary to do so. But again, Mother Teresa’s view of what constitutes austerity and our view of what constitutes austerity may be totally different. According to our standard, we may call her life austere, but she will use the term “natural.” We say, “You do not see movies. You do not wear nice clothes and eat good food. You deny even the basic necessities in your life.” But she will say, “I do not take these things as basic necessities. To me, they are extravagant; they are unimportant.” For her, wearing simple clothes and eating the same kind of food for months and months is natural. For us it may seem austere, but she will say, “No, that way of life has become natural for me.” So who is to judge what is natural and what is unnatural? If, by following her way of life, which is natural to her, she is making the fastest progress, who are we to criticise her?

Similarly, we can be criticised for leading a pleasure-life. In my case, because of my knee pain, I am getting massaged. Somebody may say, “What is he doing? Like a king or emperor he is getting massaged two or three times a day!” But for me this knee massage is absolutely necessary so that I can get joy from walking a little. If people who are leading more austere lives want to find fault with me, easily they can. But if getting massaged and taking Western vitamins is not lowering my consciousness, if I am not descending by doing this, then I feel it is perfectly all right. In Mother Teresa’s case also, if she was not torturing her body or lowering her consciousness by leading an austere life, if she was making progress, then there is nothing wrong with that lifestyle.

We may say that austerity is not needed to realise God. We can utilise modern conveniences and so forth. Mother Teresa and her Sisters, on the other hand, will say that modern conveniences are an extra coat that they have to carry on their journey. Whatever point of view you follow, the most important thing is to make the fastest progress. If someone can make fastest progress on the strength of his or her austerity, fine! And if I can make the fastest progress by following a different lifestyle, then I will do that. I know my way is not the only way. I cannot say that there is no other way to realise God. No, my way is suitable for me, and another way is suitable for someone else. If we are each arriving at the goal by following our own way, then only a fool would criticise us, for our sole aim is to arrive at the destination.

There are many paths. By caring for lepers and people with AIDS and other illnesses, Mother Teresa’s Sisters are doing the right thing. Again, our way is to pray to God most sincerely to cure the sick. One approach is the way of service, and the other is the way of prayer. We cannot say that their way is wrong, and they cannot say that our way is wrong.