Question: Is dedication the same thing as meditation?

Sri Chinmoy: When you are giving something or helping people, that is not necessarily dedication. Dedication means feeling my conscious presence. While you are doing your work, if at that time you feel my conscious presence, that is called dedication. That kind of dedication is a form of meditation. But sometimes, because of your own ego, you want to help somebody — you may feel that you have some capacity to inspire this person — but you may not be able to see my presence inside him. At that time, you have to know that you are only aggrandising your ego by feeling that you have more inner wealth than the other person. But if you are doing something and, at the same time, if you are feeling my presence in the work itself, then that dedication is real meditation.

From:Sri Chinmoy,The hour of meditation, Agni Press, 1977
Sourced from https://srichinmoylibrary.com/hm