Question: What is the best way to establish joy in every part of the being?²⁰⁶

Sri Chinmoy: The best way to establish joy in every part of our being is by feeling constant gratitude to the One who is responsible for our having accepted the spiritual life. At every second we have to remember what we were before we became consciously spiritual. No matter how far away the Goal still is, we can easily see the distance we have already covered.

We can offer gratitude to God, or to our spiritual teacher, or to our path; we can even offer gratitude to our own good qualities or to the inner cry that started us on our spiritual journey. Whatever we offer gratitude to, it ultimately goes to the Source, to the One who has inspired us to see a higher reality and run towards the Goal. We offer gratitude to the Source because it has created in us an inner urge to return to it and seek fulfilment there. And gratitude in its various forms gives us total joy in every part of our being.