Question: Does seeing the Supreme in the Master bring the disciple closer to the Supreme within himself?

Sri Chinmoy: The Supreme is now inside you in tiny form, in essence. The full manifestation of the Supreme is like a fully blossomed lotus. Inside you the Supreme is like a bud that has not blossomed, but in my case it has fully blossomed. When you see the flower fully blossomed, then immediately you will say, "Oh, then I also have this." You will look at the blossom inside your Master and gradually you will see that petal by petal it is blossoming inside you as well. Once you have seen the lotus in the Master, it becomes infinitely easier for your own lotus to blossom.

Arjuna saw this lotus in Krishna. But Arjuna could not maintain this vision, so he asked Krishna to show him a second time. Krishna insulted him. He said, "If you had faith in me, then you would have maintained the vision." What Krishna showed to him was his celestial Form. I have shown a similar form to three or four of my disciples, but they could not maintain it.

Strangely enough, one person who was a psychiatrist saw it, but his pride did not allow him to maintain it. He saw it on the strength of his utmost surrender and devotion. Then he wrote me such a pathetic letter. He said, "I know what you are, but I am a teacher. People come and touch my feet. They come to me for advice. When I am in the heart and the soul, I know what you are and what I am. I am a tiny drop and you are the ocean itself. But when I am in the mind, I think only that there are many who have come and touched my feet, so how can I come and touch your feet."