Question: Could you speak about the need for individuals to defend themselves?¹⁶⁰

Sri Chinmoy: Before you defend yourself you have to know whether you ought to defend yourself. If you do something wrong, it is a mistake to defend or justify yourself. You have to pray for forgiveness to the Supreme inside the individual who has been the victim of your wrong action. But if you are doing something right, it is a different matter. If you are attacked, you should always try to be calm, quiet and tranquil within. Peace is the greatest strength. If you have inner peace, then you have a lion’s strength.

Spirituality is not the same thing as stupidity. There is no wisdom in surrendering to circumstances and saying, “I am helpless. What can I do?” If you yourself have the power to take action, there is no wisdom in remaining silent and waiting for the person who is harming you or exploiting you to reap his karma. Somebody has deceived you or harmed you, and God has awakened you so that you are aware of it. Now God wants to use you as His instrument to prevent this person from ruining your divine possibilities and, at the same time, to prevent this person from ruining his own divine possibilities by continuing to commit wrong actions. So God wants you to defend yourself; it is your bounden duty to do so.

If you remain silent, the other person will go on exploiting you. You will be continually at his mercy and your own sense of justice will disappear. You have to see the truth as it is, on its own level, and to utilise the truth in its own way. When a new divine thought dawns, you have to use it to build a castle of truth. This is called the sincere approach to reality. Sometimes ignorance cleverly will enter your mind and tell you to wait, since Eternity is at your disposal. If you listen to ignorance, you are not defending truth. Truth needs immediate recognition and acceptance. You have to accept the truth and try to manifest the truth. You have to live the divine Truth for only in this way can you justify your own existence and acknowledge your own divine birthright.