Question: Should we meditate on various subjects?

Sri Chinmoy: It depends on the individual. You as an individual will meditate upon one thing and I as an individual will meditate upon something else. Again, today you may meditate upon peace and tomorrow you may meditate upon joy. Suppose that today in your office you had some difficulties with your colleagues and your mind is agitated and restless. Naturally you will want to meditate on peace. Then tomorrow, if you see that you are not able to feel joy either in yourself or in others, you will meditate on joy.

So today your subject can be peace, tomorrow it can be joy and the day after tomorrow it can be love. Every day you can change the subject of your meditation. Again, you can continue meditating for days, weeks, months and years on the same subject because at every moment you are increasing your capacity and receptivity. Today you may be satisfied with just an iota of peace, but tomorrow you will cry for abundant peace and the day after you will cry for infinite peace. And if you are praying and meditating for infinite peace, naturally it will take you more than one day to achieve it.

Even though it is possible to separate these different subjects or qualities, ultimately they are all one. If you have peace, then you will also have joy; if you have joy, then you will also have peace. I can separate my body into its different parts and speak about my eye, my nose and so forth; or I can take my body as a single entity. Similarly, peace, joy, love and all the other divine qualities can be separated, but ultimately they lead the seeker to the same destination, which we call satisfaction.