Question: Soon many more people will come to your path. How can we be very good brothers and sisters to them?

Sri Chinmoy: There are two ways to approach the younger members of the family. In your physical family, you were born before your sister. As the older sister, you can take one of two approaches. Whatever good things you learned from your parents, you can teach her and teach her, outwardly and inwardly, with your love and affection. The other approach is to say, “O my God, she will take away everything that I have! Now I shall have to share my parents’ affection and love with her.” If you become jealous of your younger sister, you ruin everything. At every moment you torture her, because you think that as she grows up you will have to share everything and give her half, always half. This is the negative approach.

Again, the positive approach is to say, “The time came when I got what I was supposed to get from my parents. They showed me affection and love. All the good things that they had, they gave to me. Now, whatever good things I have learnt from my parents, whatever good things I wanted to have from them, I will give to the ones who are coming after me.”

God is our Father. From God came the spiritual Masters and Yogis. From the Highest, Affection and Love gradually, gradually came to the spiritual Masters. The positive approach is that from God the spiritual Masters received Love, and from the Masters their disciples got it. Some people started following the spiritual Masters before others. The disciples who come to a spiritual Master first receive all the good qualities. Then they can give these good qualities to the new ones. Unfortunately, on the human level, insecurity may immediately come into our life. Then we say, “O my God, if I tell these newcomers everything that I know, then they will perhaps surpass me!” At that time ego comes to the fore and we bind ourselves.

From God, everything went to the spiritual Masters; and from the spiritual Masters, it came to us. Now, all the good things we have gained from the Master we can give to the world. Then there will be a new creation. Light is descending, descending, descending, unless it is blocked. As the Ganges is coming down, down, down from the Himalayas, the water is flowing and the land is becoming fertile. It continues to flow, unless it is blocked.

How can you become a very good spiritual brother or sister to the newcomers? Only remember that from the highest plane light is descending and descending. When the Supreme created the spiritual Masters, He did not become jealous or afraid. He did not say, “One day My Creation will become more powerful, and then I will not remain the Supreme.” No! When He created spiritual Masters and Yogis, He knew that they were His extensions, and they were going to help Him. Like that, my disciples have to feel that they are only the extension or expansion of my life. Then they will get joy.

How can you serve the future generation, the people who will be coming to our path in two years or three years? Only feel that the more you give, the more you can give. This applies to your life, to everybody’s life, when you talk about your Master. You are enthusiastic when visitors come. You tell them what has happened here in New York. Most sincerely when you tell them, you expand yourself. But some disciples are afraid of sharing news. They say, “If others come to know, then nothing will be secret.” They feel, “If I tell others, my strength will go away.” That is absurd!

I gave one European boy a spiritual name, and he did not tell others for a month. He wanted it to be something secret. Everybody was calling him by his old name, because he did not want to tell his spiritual name. Here also, some people are afraid that if they tell good news, then they are not keeping it a top secret. They feel that they are cherishing the most precious jewel. Again, others will say, “The more I can give with joy, the more I receive.” That is absolutely true, because from the joy they are giving, the joy of the newcomers is coming back to them. Already they have joy. Then they give fifty per cent of their joy to the newcomers, and the newcomers in turn give them one hundred per cent of their joy. Joy comes from giving.

Alas, when visitors come to New York, there are disciples in the local area who either forget to speak with them or do not take the trouble of speaking with them. Again, some disciples will be bubbling with joy while they are giving news. Still others will speak as part of their service; they feel that it is their duty, their bounden duty. Some tell good news to show off. They say, “Oh, you were not here, but I saw it. I knew this, I knew that!” These individuals make no progress. But there are people who are telling good news to visitors with such joy, love and concern. Their friends have come, and they have such love, such concern for those friends. They say, “I have got the mango and now I am sharing with you, sharing with you.”

We have to see the motive behind people’s actions. One person is showing off, while another person is offering good news out of sheer concern, because his friend was in Russia or some other distant country and was not able to be here. If you share out of real concern, because something inspiring has helped you and you know that now it is bound to help others as well, then you are doing absolutely the right thing.