AUM — Vol.II-4, No. 3, 27 March 1977

Picture

Compassion-Illumination

— photo by Sarama

Students, devotees and disciples1

I would like, with your kind permission, to say a few words on students, devotees and disciples, and on Swamis, Masters and Gurus.

We all know that in the spiritual life, in the inner life, there are students, but who are these students? These students are those who read spiritual, religious, philosophical books and who attend lectures and classes by professors, philosophers and spiritual figures. Now, one cannot expect that these students will live the inner life, the life of the Spirit. What they do and what they say comes mostly from the mind, not from the heart. They belong to all schools, to all teachers, professors, philosophers and spiritual Masters. Unfortunately, they do not care for inner aspiration, inner awakening and inner spiritual realisation. A bit of mental satisfaction concerning the inner life and the spiritual life is enough, more than enough, for the students.

Devotees need not or may not have a particular spiritual guide or Guru. They can be admirers or adorers of a good many Masters at a time. They can also pray to many cosmic gods to help them in their day-to-day life. But unfortunately, they do not care for a personal spiritual guide, a Guru. Devotees try to follow the advice of many Masters in their inner life, but they do not have a permanent relationship with any particular spiritual teacher. They try to follow every spiritual Master. Unfortunately, this is not the correct approach to spirituality. One should not try to please all the Masters in the world. What one should try to do is learn or acquire everything that one individual Master has.

In the spiritual life, in the inner life, there is only one thing that is required, and that is Self-realisation or Self-discovery. If one has realised his own highest Self, then he has realised God, because God is the highest part inside each human being. The devotee is not loyal to any particular Master, and no particular Master is responsible for the devotee’s spiritual progress and illumination. The devotee cannot expect much from any particular spiritual Master, and the spiritual Master does not expect anything worthwhile from the devotee. Devotees can be said to be followers of quite a few Masters at a time.

Now we deal with disciples. A real, true disciple is the very breath of his spiritual Master. The disciple must feel that his Guru is the largest and most conscious part of his inner life as well as his outer life. Through the disciple the Guru sees, and through the Guru the disciple sees. For a real, dedicated, selfless disciple the Master is fully responsible at every moment. He has made a solemn promise to the Supreme that he will guide his real disciples, he will shape them, mould them and bring them to their destined Goal. Unless and until he has done that, he has not fulfilled his mission here on earth. Throughout Eternity the true disciples and the Master will remain faithful to each other.

In India we use the term lila, the divine Game. In the cosmic Game the Guru takes a special role to fulfil the Divine, and the disciple consciously serves the Guru unreservedly, to fulfil him in his mission. The disciple knows that in fulfilling the Guru he is fulfilling the Supreme Himself, for when the disciple enters into his highest consciousness he sees and feels that at each and every moment the Guru breathes in the same breath as the Supreme. The Guru will not and cannot do anything that is against the Will of the Supreme and, at the same time, he can do anything and everything for his disciple if so is the Will of the Supreme. Dearer than the dearest and sweeter than the sweetest is a true disciple to his Guru.

Now I would like to say a few words about the Swamis, Masters and Gurus. In India anybody is called a Swami who wears ochre clothes, shaves his head or adds ‘ananda’ to his name. Anybody who adds ‘ananda’, which means joy or delight, can be called a Swami. A Swami is supposed to renounce desires, attachments and earthly bondage, but whether he actually renounces these things or not is a matter between him and God. In the garb of the Swamihood, many people pass for holy men who are not even sincere aspirants. Unfortunately, there are millions of Swamis in India and all over the world who do not have even an iota of higher experiences, not to speak of Self-realisation or God-realisation. Of course, they too have their place in the divine Game. There are students who need this kind of teacher and who are greatly benefited by their presence. We have to see the capacity and sincerity of the aspirant as well as of the Swami. If an unrealised Swami tries to be the spiritual guide of a great aspirant, then needless to say, the seeker will drown in the sea of frustration.

Now the Masters. Master is a very varied and vast term. We can speak of Masters like Ramakrishna, Krishna, Buddha or Christ, who are all Masters of Humanity. But nowadays we use the term Master to mean any spiritual person with minor realisation, partial realisation or even with no realisation. But these so-called Masters, who are available now all over the world, cannot illumine the great mass of humanity. Each of these Masters belongs to a particular type of aspirant. If a sincere aspirant expects liberation or God-realisation from these Masters, then I must say that ninety-nine times out of hundred the disciple’s aspiration will end in frustration because most of these Masters do not have that capacity. Also, they do not accept their disciples as intimately as a real Guru does. Very often they work with the theory of mass production; they care for quantity and not for quality. If they have a great following around them, they are satisfied; they feel that their purpose is served.

Now finally we come to the Gurus. A Guru is a constant beggar. He goes to the Supreme with folded hands and says, “You have made me the messenger between earth and Heaven. You want me to work for You and for You alone, so please give me Your infinite Peace, Light, Bliss and Power.” The Supreme grants his prayer. Then he goes to his disciples with folded hands and prays to them, “Please give me your sufferings, your ignorance, your limitations and your death. Give me all that you have and all that you are.” This is his most ardent prayer to his disciples. Both times he is a beggar. He is fully responsible to the Supreme for what he does for his disciples and, at the same time, he is fully responsible to the disciples for what he does for them.

The Guru is the bridge between the disciple and God, the connecting link between the disciple and God, the hyphen between the disciple and God. God manifests himself directly and integrally through a real Guru for his disciples, and the disciples have every right to ask of the Guru what they need in their inner and spiritual life for their self-illumination and self-fulfilment. True disciples must offer what they have and what they are to the Guru at every moment. When the disciple reaches the highest, attains the deepest and feels the farthest in himself, when he attains to Self-realisation and becomes absolutely one with his Guru in his outer and inner consciousness, he then discovers the secret of secrets: he, the Guru and the Supreme are one.

San Juan Sri Chinmoy Centre, 26 July 1967↩

Questions and answers

Sri Chinmoy: Please meditate for one minute and then tell me what is the most difficult thing for you to accomplish or conquer in your life, except God-realisation. God-realisation you are aiming at, but right now it is out of the question. But if you have jealousy, doubt, etc., please tell me. The answer I give will be applicable especially to you. The following questions were asked by disciples of the Blue Centre on 11 February 1977.

_Question:_ My lethargy.

Sri Chinmoy: As soon as you feel that you are lethargic you should imagine fire all around you. Just imagine that fire is blazing all around you, and immediately you will get up, you will run, you will do the needful with utmost speed.

_Question:_ Surrender.

Sri Chinmoy: First think of a tiny drop of water, and then throw that tiny drop into the sea. When you do that, you will not be able to see the drop any longer. You will see the sea itself. When you think of yourself, you do not want to surrender, or you find it difficult to surrender, because you feel that if you do, you will no longer exist. But the actual thing that happens when the drop enters into the sea is that it becomes one with the sea. When you think of yourself, think of yourself as a drop, and when you look at my transcendental picture, think of it as the ocean. This moment you are a tiny drop, the next moment you are the ocean. This moment you are outside, tiny, alone and helpless, and the next moment you are one with the vast ocean.

_Question:_ Talking too much.

Sri Chinmoy: Like spiritual father, like spiritual daughter. But in my case, I am a divine thief. If I talk too much, no harm; I can draw from the cosmic energy. I just talk, talk, talk, then I steal energy from where it is unlimited. But you cannot become an expert thief like me, so there are several things you can do. If you know how many hours you are talking, just try to minimise it by fifteen minutes every week. Another way is to count how many times you are talking unnecessarily, just count. A third way is this. When you talk, please feel that you are buying some rubbish, which you will not use. Always think that way when you are talking unnecessarily. Feel you are buying something which is rubbish, meaningless, useless. You are talking and the other person is talking — action and reaction — and it is all meaningless and useless. One of my disciples used to talk like anything, so our President, Dulal, discovered his own method for dealing with this problem. He said to her, “Each time you talk to Guru or anybody for a long time, feel that you are making a long-distance telephone call. Then, when the phone bill arrives, you will be careful not to make that same mistake again.” If you imagine that you are making a long-distance telephone call, you will not talk so much because you will think that at the end of the month you will have to pay an exorbitant bill to the telephone company. These are effective ways of talking less, on a very practical level.

_Question:_ I am too sensitive. My feelings get hurt too easily.

Sri Chinmoy: When somebody says something to you and you are hurt, your forgiveness-power is infinitely more powerful than the attack you have received. If someone has attacked you, you think of your own weapon, and pay him back. You have to take the insult and give him back the real punishment, which is forgiveness. If you also insult the person, you are fighting back on the same level, and no one knows who will win. You will be like soldiers, infantry, fighting. If a plane drops a bomb from above, what can the poor infantry do? So when someone attacks you, remember your forgiveness-power. Then immediately go and drop your forgiveness-bomb. It is the most powerful weapon in God’s creation. If you do that, those people will not be able to attack you because you have weakened them like anything with your forgiveness-bomb.

_Question:_ I find it difficult to have emotional contact with my daughter.

Sri Chinmoy: Please think of yourself when you were of her age. Try to see if you were also unruly, or see whether you had the same difficulties, the same shortcomings that you find difficult to put up with in your daughter. When you were her age if you also had them, then feel yourself as a larger part of her existence. Once you did something, and now your daughter is doing it. When you did it, your parents had to put up with it, and now you have to put up with it in your daughter. But if you say you were not like that when you were her age, then look around at your friends and neighbours and you will see that their children are infinitely worse than your daughter. Then you will thank God. If you were the same when you were her age, then let your compassion come to the fore. If you were not of her type, don’t worry. Just compare her with other children of her age. Look around and you will see many, many children of other parents who are very undivine, very hostile, and then you will have the consolation that at least you do not have to start from their level. Then you will have some consolation, some joy, and this is your strength. With this strength you will be able to forgive your daughter and with new courage, new inspiration, you will be able to work with her.

_Question:_ Passing my tests at school.

Sri Chinmoy: Why? You don’t like to study?

Disciple: I study, but I get nervous and then I forget.

Sri Chinmoy: All right. From now on, when you go to study, before you open the book, think of me. Think of me for two or three minutes and then think that you know much more than that particular book can teach you. This is not pride, this is real wisdom. I definitely have more wisdom than any book can have, so if you become one with me, you will also have wisdom, which is far more powerful than knowledge. The next thing you will do is feel that you have studied the book, because you have thought of me for a few minutes. I have studied all books because of my oneness with God; my soul has studied all books. Because I have realised God there is nothing I have not done. So you think of me, and with your aspiration you become one with me, with my knowledge.

Once you have studied something, automatically it becomes easier for you to learn it again. So before you read a book, just think of me and think that you have read it already. You are not fooling yourself because first you have thought of me and become one with me, and my soul has already studied the book. Through your oneness you have also studied it. Right now when you study, you become weak and you feel that the book is like a roaring lion. But instead, think that you are more powerful than the book and the book is up to you to study. Always think of yourself as much stronger than the book. When fear comes, then you become nervous, but when you feel stronger than the book, you become the master of the book. If you feel that you have read it once, you will become stronger than the book itself. The book was an opponent but now it has become weaker than you because you have become one with me. So always think of me before you study, and you will do well.

_Question:_ Fear.

Sri Chinmoy: Why are you afraid? We are afraid of something because we feel that that person is not of us or for us. If we think that we are one with that person, and that person is one with us, then we are not afraid of him. Look at your hand. Your hand has strength. Now look at your forehead or your nose. Their strength is less than the strength of your hand, but they are not afraid of the hand because they know they belong to the same body; they are one. If your hand wanted to box your nose, it could do it, but your hand will not do it because it knows that it is one with the nose. So when you think of others, immediately remember your own body with all its different parts, and see how peacefully they stay together. One part of your body is not afraid of another part. Your hands will not deliberately do anything undivine to your nose. If you can feel oneness with others in this way, you will not be afraid. Always think of your oneness with the rest of the world. As the limbs of your body are working together, so also is the world-body working together. Think of that, and you will not be afraid of others.

_Question:_ How can I keep the Beauty of the Supreme with me with the highest purity possible?

Sri Chinmoy: While breathing in, with each breath try to repeat “Supreme” slowly seven times, and again seven times while breathing out. Inside you there are seven higher worlds and seven lower worlds. When you repeat “Supreme” while breathing in, feel that you are going into the seven higher worlds inside you. Once you have reached the seven higher worlds you will find solid power. When you breathe out, think of the seven lower worlds within you and try to throw the strength of the higher worlds into the lower worlds. Accumulate everything in the higher worlds and then, while saying “Supreme, Supreme, Supreme ...” when you are breathing out, enter into the lower worlds with peace, light and bliss to purify the lower worlds. First go up, then enter into the lower worlds where it is all ignorance and impurity. If you can purify the lower worlds after having reached the heights, you do not have to worry at all. The Beauty of the Supreme will always remain intact.

_Question:_ Ever since I began to try to meditate, after a few minutes of meditating I get a strange feeling, almost like tension in my head, and sometimes it is very distracting. 3

Sri Chinmoy: In that case please feel that you do not have a head or a forehead; only feel that you have a heart. Try to focus all your attention on your heart. You belong to the heart; that is where your consciousness is, not in the head. Deliberately try to concentrate on your heart, not on anything else. You can even keep a mirror in front of you, and look at your own heart that way if you find it difficult to concentrate inwardly on your heart. Another thing you can do is look at my picture and, instead of looking at my third eye, look at my heart. Either concentrate on your own heart, with or without a mirror, or look at my picture and feel my heart — whichever way pleases you. You have this tension because you are meditating in the wrong place. You are meditating inside the mind, which is not advisable on our path.

These questions were asked by disciples of Sri Chinmoy's Green Centre on 11 February 1977.↩

_Question:_ How can I control my thoughts?

Sri Chinmoy: If these thoughts are not good thoughts, if they are not divine, if they are unhealthy, there are two ways to control them. One way is to feel that there is a room inside your mind, and naturally the room has a door. It is your room, so you can stand outside the door and not allow any thought to come in. You can keep the mind room under lock and key, and stand at the door. Since it is your room, who can enter without your permission? But if you leave the door open, anybody can come in, and once they are inside it is difficult for you to throw them out. So you have to prevent them from coming in. The other way is this: when a thought comes that is not pure, good or divine, immediately repeat the word “Supreme” very fast. The Supreme is my Guru, your Guru, everybody’s Guru. All those who have accepted our path must know that the Supreme is the real Guru. So repeat “Supreme” very fast, and each time you use the word “Supreme,” please feel that you are creating a snake that will coil around the undivine thought and strangle it. If jealousy comes, say “Supreme” very fast, and you will see that around the jealous thought is a coil which will strangle the jealousy. Both ways are very effective. You can use whichever way satisfies you most.

_Question:_ After meditating I see blue spots. What does that mean?

Sri Chinmoy: Very good. When you see blue light, it is very good. Blue represents infinity and real spirituality. It is a very good thing; it means that you are getting special Grace and Blessings from God. All the colours have their qualities. Blue is infinity; green is new life; red is divine power. It is fine to see these colours, or to see something else. If you see some divine beings or images or feel some divine presence, that is very good. But if you do not see those things, do not feel disappointed. Feel that God is preparing you to see Him and feel Him.

_Question:_ What does gold light symbolise?

Sri Chinmoy: Gold has two meanings. In the highest plane it means manifestation of the Highest. But when the gold touches the earth consciousness, the colour changes; it does not remain pure gold. Then we call it half manifestation. In the transcendental Height it is pure manifestation of the spirit, but when it touches the earth, it is half manifestation. Usually we do not see gold here as I have seen it. When I ask the disciples to bring me gold to paint with here in America, it is not real gold. Your gold colour is different from the gold colour I see in India or in the inner world. If it is real gold colour, it is divine manifestation.

_Question:_ What is the Supreme?

Sri Chinmoy: It is up to the individual to define Him. If you want the Supreme to be infinite Light, infinite Peace, infinite Bliss, or some other formless quality, then He is that. But you may also define Him with form. You have seen children who are extremely beautiful, but you have to feel that He is infinitely more beautiful than the most beautiful child. It is up to you to decide the way you want to see Him: as infinite Peace, infinite Light, infinite Bliss, or as a being more beautiful than the most beautiful child. Or you can see Him in both ways, as you can see both water and ice: with form it is ice, and without form it is water. You can enjoy both, or whichever one pleases you more. The Supreme is God. I like the term “Supreme,” but you can call it by any name that pleases you. The Supreme is still the Supreme, no matter what name you use.

_Question:_ What is God-realisation, and can I attain it in this lifetime?

Sri Chinmoy: God-realisation means conscious, constant and inseparable oneness with God. You have to know that it is conscious. When you pray and meditate, that is your conscious approach to God. You may not attain oneness, but you are consciously trying to receive Him at that time. Usually when you think of someone, oneness is not there, but when oneness is there, you get tremendous delight. God-realisation has to be conscious, constant and inseparable oneness with the Highest. Now, about the second part of your question. It is quite possible to realise God in one incarnation, but you have to know how sincere you are, how close you have become to the Master inwardly. On the strength of our inner cry, aspiration and oneness we realise God. If our inner vessel is large enough, naturally we can receive God’s Love, Blessing, Divinity and everything in boundless measure. But if our receptivity is not large enough, we cannot receive in boundless measure. It entirely depends on the strength of the disciple’s inner cry and on the receptivity which he has cultivated during his meditation and prayer.

_Question:_ The fourth day after I started meditating I felt that my body was lifting and I was looking down on myself from the ceiling of my room.

Sri Chinmoy: What happened is that for a few seconds your soul left your body and you identified with the soul. Your physical consciousness remained below your soul-reality. Right now you do not see your soul-reality. The divinity which your soul embodies you do not see. But when you become consciously one with the soul-reality you will see it. What you experienced is very good. For a few seconds you identified with the soul-reality and not the body-reality. When you go one step further and bring the soul-reality into the body-reality, that is illumination.

_Question:_ When I meditate I feel a sensation in the heart centre, and throughout the day I feel it. I don't know what it is.

Sri Chinmoy: To feel that kind of sensation is very good. It means that your body, vital and mind have become one with the heart’s prayer. At that time the body is not thinking of eating or sleeping, the vital is not thinking of jumping, the mind is not thinking of doubting. When the body becomes one, when the vital becomes one, when the mind becomes one with the heart’s cry, yon feel that sensation. It is very good. At that time the body does not want to sleep, the vital does not want to jump, the mind does not want to doubt. At that time all of the being is supporting the heart. It is not an actual physical sensation you are getting, but a kind of subtle joy, delight.

Story

Trishanku

There was once a King named Trishanku who was very beautiful to look at. He had a strong desire to go to Heaven with his physical body, so he went to his family priest, Vashishtha, and told him about this desire. Trishanku begged Vashishtha to create for him a special mountain so that he could walk right up to Heaven.

Vashishtha said to him, “You fool, nobody can do that. With the physical body you cannot go to Heaven. It is impossible. Give up this desire. It is the height of stupidity.”

Trishanku felt sad and miserable. He left his kingdom on foot to look for another Master who would be kind enough to fulfil his desire. One day he came upon Vashishtha’s sons. He said to them, “Your father could not help me, but I am sure you have more spiritual power. You are practising austerities, while your father is now old and does not practise spirituality anymore. I am not criticising your father, but please, please help me. Please grant me this boon: I want to go to Heaven with this physical body of mine.”

Vashishtha’s sons became angry at Trishanku. They said, “If Father discouraged you, if Father dissuaded you from this desire, we will never fulfil it. It is impossible! What the father says has to be carried out by the sons. We will not help you in any way, you fool. Now allow us to meditate peacefully.” Then one of Vashishtha’s sons cursed Trishanku. He made the King’s face ugly and took away his royal stature. From then on he had to become a caretaker; he could no longer remain a king.

Now Trishanku felt more miserable than ever. His Guru had not helped him, and not only had his Guru’s sons not helped him but they had been rude and ruthless to him. But he went on walking until he came to a cottage owned by the sage Vishwamitra. He told Vishwamitra his sad story and prayed to Vishwamitra to help him. Since Vishwamitra and Vashishtha were always at daggers drawn, Vishwamitra was very kind to Trishanku when he heard that Vashishtha had been unkind to him. Vishwamitra said, “I shall definitely help you. I will use all my spiritual and occult power to enable you to go to Heaven with your physical body, but I do not want to waste my power in transforming your face once again.”

So Vishwamitra used all his power and took Trishanku to Heaven bodily. But when the King arrived in Heaven, some of the cosmic gods, especially Indra, became terribly jealous of him. “You are a mortal,” they said. “How can you be here with your physical body? How can you break the cosmic Law?” And they threw him out of Heaven.

When they threw Trishanku out, it took a little time for him to fall to earth again. While he was descending, midway between Heaven and earth he cried out, “Vishwamitra, you took me to Heaven, but the gods have thrown me out. What are you going to do?”

Vishwamitra said, “Wait, wait! I am coming to save you!” With his occult power Vishwamitra kept Trishanku suspended in mid-air between Heaven and earth. Then Vishwamitra became furious with the cosmic gods. He said, “I used all my occult power to take him to Heaven; now the cosmic gods are jealous of him. I will fight against Indra and all the cosmic gods. I shall meditate and get more occult power and spiritual power to fight against them.”

Vishwamitra meditated for many, many years and mustered all his occult power and spiritual power. Then he said, “All right, if Brahma can create the universe, I too can create a universe,” and he created another world with stars, a sun, and planets, only for Trishanku to live in.

As soon as Vishwamitra created a new world for Trishanku, the cosmic gods again became jealous. They said to the sage, “Why have you made him another world? He doesn’t have to have another world. You demolish it and we shall allow him to remain in Heaven.”

Vishwamitra said, “Even if you allow him to remain in Heaven peacefully, I shall keep my world safe. Now you are promising that you will allow him to stay in Heaven, but I know that as soon as I destroy my own world, you will throw him out again. Then again I will have to meditate for many years to get occult power and spiritual power to help him.”

The cosmic gods said, “All right, we agree that he can stay either in our Heaven or in your Heaven. But we have only one request, and that is that while he stays in your Heaven, he should hang in mid-air with his head towards the earth and his legs towards Heaven.”

Vishwamitra said, “Oh, that is nothing to him. From now on his legs will remain upward and his head downward.”

So poor Trishanku stayed upside down in Vishwamitra’s Heaven, and enjoyed Vishwamitra’s new creation.

Commentary:

Nowadays we can go to the moon and to many distant places. There is no occult power or spiritual power needed for us to go and come back. Astronauts have the power of modern science; modern science takes them and brings them back. Trishanku’s Heaven is not the Heaven where souls go, but it is a vital region near the moon. We can go to the moon world and come back with the power of our scientific knowledge, but poor Trishanku went with occult power, and he is still hanging there with his head down and his legs up.

We learn something very significant from this story. When the cosmic gods, whom we appreciate, admire and adore, see a mortal become immortal or get tremendous occult power, spiritual power or any power, in the beginning they do not want to allow him to surpass them. But if that mortal really surpasses them in spite of their efforts, then they have no scope for their jealousy, and they reluctantly allow him to be immortal.

It is like a kite. In the beginning the man flying the kite holds the string, and the kite flies the way the man wants it to. He will not allow the kite to go beyond the reach of the string. The kite is his possession; it is under his jurisdiction. But sometimes the string breaks and the kite flies away. At first the owner feels sad that the kite has escaped from his control. But afterwards he gets tremendous joy when he sees that his kite has gone so high, into the universal Beyond, and he appreciates the capacity of the kite.

Similarly, the cosmic gods try to keep human beings always under their feet. But when a mortal human being does surpass them, the cosmic gods try to take the credit. At first they block human beings who are under them from going beyond them. But then, like earthly parents who see that their children have gone far beyond them, they become happy and proud. As in the ordinary world, in the spiritual world our meanness, jealousy and insecurity may come to an end if we see that somebody has really surpassed us. Instead of being jealous then, the gods say, “Oh, I saw him, I helped him. It was with my help that he was able to become so great.”

United Nations meditation-flowers

United Nations, 18 January 1977

United Nations meditation-flowers

The seeker in me says, “I wish to see God.” But do I not know that God is continually looking at me?

The seeker in me says, “I wish to love God.” But do I not know that God is continually loving me?

The seeker in me says, “I wish to give God my life’s best achievement: surrender.” But do I not know that God has already given me His Eternity’s best achievement: oneness?

Seeing is a two-way experience. Loving is a two-way realisation. Giving is a two-way perfection.

Experience makes us infinite. Realisation makes us eternal. Perfection makes us immortal.

Infinite is dream. Eternal is reality. Immortal is progress.

Dream is God the cosmic Seed. Reality is God the cosmic Fruit. Progress is God the universal and transcendental Tree.

The core of India's Light

[Continued from previous issue.]

52.

Anitya

Impermanent

The feeling of the earth-bound reality’s impermanence awakens the aspiring heart and purifies the searching mind.

53.

Anṛṭa

Falsehood

Falsehood wants to show us how far we are away from God. Truth tells us not only how close we are to God but also that we are in the process of becoming God the transcendental Reality.

54.

Anugraha

Grace

Only the vision-eye of the heart can see God’s miracle-power: Grace.

55.

Anurāga

Intense devotion

There is no other way to make conscious and constant progress in the spiritual life except to offer your intense devotion constantly to the Pilot Supreme within you.

56.

Anusmaraṇa

Constant remembrance of

His constant remembrance of God made him see the present capacity of Heaven and the future possibility of earth.

57.

Anutāpa

Remorse

Not to feel remorse after you have done something wrong is to go back to your previous life: the animal kingdom.

58.

Apah

Water

Water is consciousness. Consciousness is the connecting link between Heaven and earth. Heaven tells the seeker where God is. Earth tells the seeker how he can become another God.

59.

Apamāna

Disrespect, disgrace

If there is no oneness within, then the elephant of disrespect will move around and destroy earth’s aspiring and illumining beauty.

[To be continued in next issue.]

To-morrow's dawn

[Continued from previous issue. ]

50.

Our straying thoughts tell us where we live; we live inside the insecurity-cave. Our adamantine will tells us what we are: we are all God-representatives on earth.

51.

You do not have to understand; just believe. You do not have to believe; just keep your eyes wide open.

52.

In the spiritual life when we are bereft of purity, we are lost. And when we are bereft of faith, we are totally lost.

53.

In the spiritual life, fearlessness not only expedites our journey, but also brings our goal close to us.

54.

How to overcome destructive criticism?

Just love a little more.

That’s all.

55.

How long can we remain separated from each other, O God the Compassion? Let us be friends once again!

56.

I am happy because I have a heart of love.

I am happy because I have a mind of trust.

I am happy because I have a life of gratitude.

57.

My prayer tells me that I can eventually become. My meditation tells me that I eternally am.

58.

Being a universal lover is simply being embraced by the Transcendental Beloved Supreme.

/[To be continued in next issue.

]/

Tributes

City of Philadelphia

CITY OF PHILADELPHIA

FRANK L. RIZZO

MAYOR

January 4, 1977

Dear Sri Chinmoy:

On behalf of the City of Philadelphia, I wish to congratulate you on the completion of your 300th book, entitled Aspiration-Tree.

I also wish to thank you for your participation in the American Bicentennial through the Liberty Torch Runners and The Sacred Fire Bicentennial Group.

As you know, the Liberty Torch Runners passed through Philadelphia on their 360 mile relay-run from New York to Washington and their historic 9,000 mile, 50 state relay-run. The flaming torch carried by the runners symbolized the rekindling of the spiritual values which so deeply motivated our Founding Fathers.

Similarly, The Sacred Fire Bicentennial Group performed their inspiring music and plays throughout historic Philadelphia at such places as Christ Church, Carpenter's Hall, Independence Hall and Valley Forge.

Finally, I wish to thank you for your dedicated efforts at the United Nations. Philadelphia, "The City of Brotherly Love", was the vision of William Penn; you, as director of the United Nations Meditation Group are striving to expand this vision to world-wide dimensions.

Sincerely,

FRANK L. RIZZO

State of New York

STATE OF NEW YORK

OFFICE OF THE LIEUTENANT GOERNOR

ALBANY 12224

MARY ANNE KRUPSAK

LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR

March 7, 1977

Mr. Sri Chinmoy

c/o Mr. James V. Miccio

1617 New Haven Avenue

Millford, Connecticut 06480

Dear Mr. Chinmoy:

It is my great pleasure to congratulate you upon completion of your three hundredth book since coming to the United States in 1964. This surely is an unprecedented accomplishment in so few years.

I also must commend you for creating the Liberty Torch Run at which it was my pleasure to light the Torch in Battery Park. I am sure that the journey was as much an inspirational event for all who took part as it was, indeed, for me.

With best wishes,

Sincerely,

Mary Anne Krupsak

Songs

Ecstasy

```

What is Peace?

Fulfilment-ecstasy.

What is Light?

Truth-ecstasy.

What is Delight?

Love-ecstasy.

What is Perfection?

God-ecstasy.

```

Chalre rabi bhai

```

/Chalre rabi bhai/

/Chalre shashi bon/

/Chalre sabai hriday bane/

/Nitya anukkhan/

Come, Sun, my brother dear,

Come, Moon, my sister sweet,

Let us all go into the garden-light of our oneness-heart.

Let us all live for all Eternity there.

```

From:Sri Chinmoy,AUM — Vol.II-4, No. 3, 27 March 1977, Vishma Press, 1977
Sourced from https://srichinmoylibrary.com/aum_118