Question: What can we do to bring perfection to godless people in the world?²²⁵

Sri Chinmoy: We are living in a godless world. What can we do to bring truth and light to earth? We have to start with ourselves. If we focus our attention on the physical plane, immediately we see that on the physical plane we have lethargy and we mix with ignorance. Then, if we focus our attention on the vital plane, we see that our vital is like a hungry wolf that wants to devour the world. Julius Caesar said, “I came, I saw, I conquered.” Our vital says, “I came, I saw and I became. I came and saw imperfection and then I became one with it here in the world of imperfection.”

When we concentrate on the mind, we see that it is constantly doubting; it is doubting the reality within us and also the reality around us. This moment our mind says that somebody is a good person, the next moment it says the same person is very bad and the following moment it is unable to decide whether that person is good or bad. The mind is always uncertain and confused.

We also have a heart. This heart, on the strength of its inseparable oneness with the Absolute, can become all Divinity. But right now this heart is all insecurity; it is singing the song of insecurity. But this same heart, on the strength of its oneness-capacity, can become one with the Universal Heart.

When we focus our attention on ourself, we see tremendous imperfection; we see a tremendous need for perfection-light. Even though the world may be much more imperfect than we are, as long as we have even an iota of imperfection, we will not be in a position to teach others. A schoolteacher who has more knowledge than his students can teach them history or geography or arithmetic, even though he does not have the highest degree. But in the spiritual life we are making a terrible mistake if we try to teach others God-realisation without being illumined ourselves. Here we are dealing with the life-principle of the individual. God-realisation is a different kind of subject from geography and history; it involves the student’s entire life.

So when we see a godless attitude in someone, we have to be aware of our own capacity or incapacity. If we can perfect ourselves on the strength of our inner cry, our love of truth and light, then we, as individuals, will no longer belong to the world of imperfection. Then, if somebody else can do the same, the world will be blessed with two divine souls, two divine instruments of God. Today you become perfect, tomorrow he becomes perfect and the next day I become perfect. In this way it progresses from one to many and the whole world becomes perfect.

When we, as individuals, become good, divine and perfect, the world around us sooner or later becomes perfect. For the light that we have will not remain inside us; it will have its own spontaneous means of self-expression. In this way the world around us is gradually transformed and illumined. The outer world is not only outside us; it is also inside us — it is in our mind, in our vital, in our body, in our heart. When we become perfect within, the world without also becomes perfect.