Question: I always felt it was selfish to look for salvation. I thought that this would come of itself if one did the right thing.²²⁴

Sri Chinmoy: You are absolutely right. Salvation will come in its own way, at the chosen hour, if you do the right thing. And what is the right thing? The right thing is to pray, to concentrate, to meditate. If you climb up a tree, then you get the fruit. But if you do not climb up, then the fruit will always remain out of reach. In the spiritual life when we climb up, we see that we do not have to struggle all the way to the top. As soon as we climb up a little way, God’s Grace descends.

Getting salvation is like getting a salary. You work at the United Nations. On a specified day your salary is bound to come. But that is because you have played your part; you have come to work every day. Similarly, if you do something for God, for mankind, then salvation will come. If you live a life of aspiration instead of a life of desire, if you live a life of dedication and devotion, then salvation will definitely come. It is not by saying, “Give me salvation, give me salvation,” that you will get it. Salvation does not come that way. But if you lead a spiritual life, a life of dedication and devotion, then certainly you will get salvation at God’s choice Hour.