_Interviewer:_ How did your family fit into the Indian social scene?

Sri Chinmoy: They perfectly fit with the social life because our spirituality does not exclude life; it accepts life. But we feel that life as such is full of suffering, full of darkness and ignorance. So we pray and meditate and try to bring light into our system from above so that we can transform our suffering into joy and our darkness into light. We do not reject the world. If we reject the world, then how are we going to transform it? If I see that something in front of me is dirty or filthy, if I have love for that thing, then I will not cast it aside. I will transform it. So, spirituality means the acceptance of life with all its suffering, darkness and ignorance and the transformation of these things.

From:Sri Chinmoy,The doubt-world, Agni Press, 1977
Sourced from https://srichinmoylibrary.com/dw