The inner world and the outer world

Part I — Discourse

The inner world and the outer world

The inner world feeds me. The outer world announces me.

In the inner world I am all aspiration. In the outer world I am all revelation. What is aspiration? Aspiration is a soulful cry of my eternal life. What is revelation? Revelation is a fruitful smile of my immortal soul.

In the inner world I know that I eternally am. In the outer world I know that I constantly can. I am eternally God's instrument. This is what I know in the inner world. I can serve God, please God and fulfil God in His own Way. This is what I know in the outer world.

In the inner world I try to see God's Height, His transcendental Height. In the outer world I try to see God's Length, His boundless Length.

In the inner world I try to enter into God's Golden Boat. Out of His infinite Bounty He allows me to be in His Boat. In the outer world God carries me and pilots me to His Reality Shore, at His choice Hour. This also He does out of His infinite Bounty.

There comes a time when my inner world and my outer world become inseparably one. At that time I feel that my reality and God's Reality are inseparably one, that my reality's height and God's Reality's Height are inseparably one, that my vision-world and God's Vision-World are inseparably one. At that time I as a seeker become one with my Master, I as a dreamer become one with my reality, I as a divine lover become one with my Supreme Beloved.

In my inner world I need to love my outer world more, in a divine way. In my outer world I need to listen to my inner world more, in a soulful way. If I do not feel the need for my inner world, my aspiration-world, then I shall not be able to understand my outer world. My outer world's determination, manifestation, perfection and satisfaction entirely depend on my inner world's peace, harmony and oneness.

25 October 1978

Columbia University

Part II — Interview on "The Other Hour" Wrvr-Fm radio

Donna Halper: You are with "The Other Hour," and with our theme song we are actually on the air, through the Grace of God. I'm Donna Halper. You never know what you are going to hear on "The Other Hour," but what you are going to hear tonight is a little bit different and a little bit unique. We have a very, very great person, with whom you are probably familiar if you are into music at all. He's been the spiritual Master of a number of major musicians, and is also a great philosopher and teacher, and a musician himself. Of course, I am talking about Sri Chinmoy, who is our guest in the studio tonight. You can call in and speak with him a little bit later. I think before we do anything else. Sri Chinmoy would you like to play some music for us? I believe this is connected with meditation. Am I correct Guru? Music for meditation.

Donna Halper: Wow! How would you like to do that for the whole rest of the show? God is that beautiful! We have a whole group of engineers who are saying that's nice, seriously. For our audience the instrument which he is playing is called the esraj. I'd like to ask you now what is the purpose of this music when you are meditating? What is the effect it is supposed to have on a person while he is meditating?

Donna Halper: In other words, to hear music helps one to become more in tune with God. How does it do this? If I were an atheist and I heard that music, I don't know if I would think about God, but I know that I would feel very relaxed and peaceful. Would you say that that feeling means being closer to God?

Donna Halper: But don't people come to you looking to find out what God is?

Donna Halper: So the person who believes in music, for instance, or the person who is very, very into something, like playing an instrument- that's a form of religion, too?

Donna Halper: Sri Chinmoy, when people come to you, what are they usually hoping to find?

Donna Halper: Do you give them that?

Donna Halper: There are so many people seeking, trying to find out about religion. They don't feel satisfied with organised religion, let us say, so they come to you. How would they know whether or not you are the right spiritual Master for them?

Donna Halper: What about the person who comes to you and is very sceptical? Will you also be a friend to that person?

Donna Halper: We're talking about music and meditation and religion. To continue on the subject of religion, Guru, there are so many people claiming to be Gurus these days, there are so many people claiming to be Messiahs, claiming to have the right answer. How can a person who is serious about this, tell who is a real spiritual Master and who is not?

Donna Halper: So the person who claims that he has the magic answer is probably not a person who should be taken seriously?

Donna Halper: If someone comes to you and decides that you are the person he would like to study with, what does he have to do?

Donna Halper: We read in the paper about various movements which are very austere, where the men and women are not allowed to associate with each other. They are not allowed to eat meat and they pretty much just stay inside and meditate all the time. Is this the kind of life that your disciples live?

Donna Halper: In addition to meditation, do your disciples practise any chanting or anything of that nature?

Donna Halper: What I am wondering about, as far as meditation goes (and I am sure there are a number of other people interested in this as well), is this: what is the difference between what we might call secular meditation — that is, just going off someplace in the country where it is nice and quiet, and thinking peaceful thoughts — and the meditation that you do with that kind of music and things of that nature? Is there any difference between the two, or are both just steps along the same way?

Donna Halper: Do you tell your students how to meditate, or are they free to choose for themselves the best way?

Donna Halper: For the person who is just by himself and really would like to meditate, is there a way that he can get into it without going to a school or to a teacher and learning how?

Donna Halper: Now you are raising a question. I can hear people out there saying, "That's great, to sit there and think good thoughts and things like that. But what about when you are in the middle of the material life and everything is going wrong and it has been a bad day at the office and your boss just yelled at you and so forth and so on. How do you get the good thoughts in your mind at a time like that?"

Donna Halper: I think there is a tremendous precedent for that. If I remember correctly, in the Bible it says that the best time to pray is in the morning, because you start out your day thinking about spiritual things, and that carries you through the rest of the day. So what you are saying is not really very different from what we call Western religion.

Donna Halper: When a person becomes more involved in spirituality, this would lead to, let us say, he is becoming less tied to things like prejudices. So he wouldn't have any feelings against any race or any creed or anything like this. People who are caught up in prejudicial thoughts, have they turned away from God, or do they just not understand God, or what?

Donna Halper: So if a person becomes involved in meditation, the more he meditates and the more he understands about God, will he get more understanding of the world as well?

Donna Halper: You get a lot of students, I gather, who would be considered middle class, in that they are products of pretty much the average American home. When they come to you, do they stay, or do you find that they regard meditation as a kind of interesting fad and, after a while, get tired of it?

Donna Halper: I understand. While we are talking to Sri Chinmoy, if you have any question you would like to ask him, you can call in. If you would like to speak with Sri Chinmoy and ask him some questions on meditation, on Yoga, or on life in general, please call. What you are listening to is "The Other Hour" here on WRVR.

Donna Halper: So it seems like you are saying you give the student that which you feel he wants to receive.

Donna Halper: Now we're going to accept calls from our listening audience. Here's our first call. Good evening. You are on the air.

Donna Halper: Interesting question. Astral projection, leaving the body. Can people actually do this?

Sri Chinmoy: People can do this, but it is advisable to have a teacher who is well qualified in this adventure. Otherwise, it can be a very dangerous thing. It is like learning to drive a car. One needs a teacher in the beginning. If someone tries to learn driving by himself, he is very likely to have an accident.

Donna Halper: What can a teacher teach one about leaving the body?

_Caller:_ I would like to ask the Guru what kind of mental attitude one should have in learning to play music.

Donna Halper: So spiritual music is music that makes you think more about God?

Caller: I'd like to know how much discipline is required to master meditation.

Donna Halper: How does one discipline one's life? What does one have to do?

Donna Halper: Does a person have to go away somewhere? Does he have to go to an ashram or a synagogue in order to be successful at meditating?

_Caller:_ How can I contact Sri Chinmoy or become his student?

_Caller:_ I would like to ask if he feels that a person should refrain from physical and sexual intercourse if he wants to develop his meditation. In other words, does that take anything away from spiritual development?

Donna Halper: What are some of the other things that one would have to give up in order to make progress in meditation?

Donna Halper: When one does this then one becomes better at meditation, is that right?

_Caller:_ I was wondering if you are going to play more music and, if the music is recorded, where we could buy it.

_Caller:_ If you belong to a specific religious group, is it contradictory to meditate? Does meditation have one specific religion, or can anyone of any religion meditate?

Donna Halper: So whether you call God by the name Allah or Buddha or Vishnu or whatever, meditation is the same?

Donna Halper: So meditation is kind of like an addition to the religious belief that you already have.

Donna Halper: Now that you mention it, isn't there some form of meditation in every religion? They may not call it meditation, but don't all religions have some sort of meditation?

_Caller:_ If someone was a failure at self-discipline in meditation and other aspects of life, what is the most sincere prayer that kind of person could make to God for guidance in meditation?

Donna Halper: Is it possible that a person could not be ready to meditate at one time, and yet at another time be ready to meditate?

Donna Halper: So the person on the phone should just keep on trying, and ultimately...

Donna Halper: So in meditation you have to practise?

_Caller:_ Does Sri Chinmoy feel that meditation has really done anything for the musicians he has dealt with, and has it helped their music?

Sri Chinmoy: According to my inner vision, it has definitely changed them. In the outer life, anyone who knows them can be the judge.

Donna Halper: How do you think it changed them?

Sri Chinmoy: They have intensified their inner cry. Their cry for God, for Truth, for Light has immensely increased. Also, they have simplified and purified their outer life to some extent. They have definitely made progress in the spiritual life.

Donna Halper: Do you think it helped their music in any way?

Sri Chinmoy: Yes, it has inspired their creative capacities and it has made their music better in whatever way they wanted.

Donna Halper: How about their attitudes towards what they did before — drugs and alcohol and things like that?

Sri Chinmoy: They have given up these things.

Donna Halper: They still refrain from all those things?

_Caller:_ I'd like to know if it is possible to be used as an instrument in an intimate relationship with somebody.

Donna Halper: Can you also be an instrument of God in a relationship with another human being? Let's say there is a person who is addicted to drugs. Do you believe that God can perhaps bring someone — just an ordinary person — into the life of that person to make him better?

Donna Halper: So on a personal basis, then, our relationships are not an accident? We don't just randomly find each other, but the people who find each other are finding each other because God wants them to find each other?

_Caller:_ If an ignorant person who hasn't had any realisation is confronted with a situation of great physical danger, what kind of prayer could a person make to God at that critical moment? Sudden death happens to people in an aeroplane or on the streets at times.

Sri Chinmoy: We are all God's children. The parents are always full of love, even for a naughty boy who does not listen to them. When this naughty child at times runs into difficulty, he runs to his parents to help him. Will the parents discard him at that time? No, the parents will immediately embrace him and say, "At long last, my son, you have come to me for help." Similarly, God's help is always there provided we have a sincere cry.

Donna Halper: So the person who has been against religion or thought religion was silly or did not want to get involved in religion, if at a moment of danger that person reaches out to God, God will answer him?

Sri Chinmoy: Definitely He will answer, but in His own Way, of course.

Donna Halper: He will accept the sincerity of this person?

_Caller:_ Do you believe that God is in the mind?

Donna Halper: So you are saying that the person who thinks in a positive way, the person who thinks in a way that is honest and sincere and concerned about all the people in the world, that person is using the mind in a spiritual way?

Sri Chinmoy: Yes.

Caller: But they say that God is a jealous God.

Donna Halper: That's a very good religious point. What about when they say that God is a jealous God?

Sri Chinmoy: God is jealous only for those who have not experienced God the Supreme Beloved, God the Eternal Compassion, God the Eternal Friend.

Donna Halper: So you are saying that God is a friend?

Donna Halper: The person who accepts the Bible as the word of God, is that person mistaken to think that the Bible is totally true in everything it says?

Donna Halper: Sri Chinmoy will play another selection at the end of the program. I could listen to your music all day, I really could. Why is that music so relaxing? I've heard music before, but it didn't relax me as much as that music. Is there something special about your music?

Part III — Questions and answers

Question: What is the main contributing factor to your faith, and how is it different from other faiths?

If somebody follows our path, then he tries to develop or bring to the fore his inner love, spiritual love. Unlike human love, which binds, divine love expands and illumines our consciousness within and without.

When we offer devotion, what we are offering is our one-pointed devotion to the Supreme, the Inner Pilot within us. In our ordinary human life, what we call devotion is nothing short of ignorant attachment. But divine devotion is something totally different. Here we are offering ourselves to the right cause, to the divine within us, so that we can grow into a sea of Peace, Light and Bliss.

The surrender that we try to achieve on our path is not the surrender of a slave to his master. The slave is always afraid of the master. He feels that if he doesn't satisfy the master, then the master will do him some injury. There is always a sense of fear in the heart and mind of the slave. But in the spiritual life, when the seeker surrenders to his inner divinity, to the Supreme within him, he feels that he is surrendering to his own highest and most illumined existence. He is surrendering to his own highest part, to his highest height and inmost light.

Question: You call us ”seekers”! What has been lost?

Question: What are the advantages of surrendering to the personal Master as opposed to surrendering to the impersonal, to the Spirit itself?

If the disciple sees or feels Light, abundant Light, in his Master, then he can claim it as his very own on the strength of his oneness with his Master. At that time, the disciple has to feel that this Light is something which he himself already had, and which the Master is only bringing to the fore. It was his own possession, his own treasure; but he misplaced it, and it was covered over with ignorance. Now the Master, with his boundless Light and concern, has entered into the disciple's ignorance and kindled there the flame of aspiration, bringing Light into his entire being.

The Master, in both his personal and impersonal aspect, is one reality. What actually happens is this. When a disciple comes to the human Master, he sees Peace, Light and Bliss according to his own capacity or receptivity. The higher and the deeper he goes, the more he feels that the Peace, Light and Bliss that he wants, he can get from the Master. He feels that his Master is a direct channel from the Highest; his Master represents, for him, God on earth.

When we stand in front of the sea, it looks quite vast. The length and breadth of the sea is beyond our ability to grasp as a whole. So what we do is touch with our hands or our feet just a little water. The moment we touch the water, the consciousness of the water enters into our being. Then we feel the capacity and the quality of the boundless sea. Similarly, when the disciple stands in front of his own Master and sees or feels the Master's Light, this represents the highest Truth for him. So, if a seeker sees his Master as infinite, as perfect, then he can make faster progress than otherwise, because he has an ideal before him. The Light that he sees in the Master offers him a glimpse of the Highest, the Infinite. At that time, the distinction between the personal Master and the impersonal Master, between personality and impersonality, disappears for him. He does not see the Master as a human being with a human body. He does not see the Master's physical as such. What he sees goes far, far beyond the Master's personal form; it cannot be grasped by the physical mind. He sees the Master as a part of the infinite Light or Truth for which he has been searching for millennia.

For a particular seeker, there is only one Master. That Master may or may not be in the physical; but he is not the physical as such. He is in Eternity's transcendental Spirit, infinite Peace, infinite Light and infinite Bliss. A Master of the highest order can and must embody this Peace, Light and Bliss. If we say that any human being, although he is a Master with millions and billions of disciples, is God, then it will be a mistake. God is within us, in each individual. But the real Master, the absolutely highest and the most perfect Master, is both on earth and in Heaven. He is not the physical form, but He is inside the physical.

Question: How do you explain the fall of man?

Each human being here has both doubt and faith. The moment he uses his doubt-instrument he feels that everything in his life is circumscribed. His progress comes to a standstill. But when he uses the other instrument, faith, he feels that he is flying up to the highest plane of consciousness and singing the song of the ever-transcending Beyond.

Question: Would you comment on the point made in the Bible that if you don't pray to Jesus Christ, you will be damned, and that only through Christ can you get salvation?

There have been many spiritual Masters of the highest order on earth. The Christ was not the only one. Before him was the Buddha, and before the Buddha was Sri Krishna. A number of spiritual Masters of the very highest order have walked on earth. Recently there were Sri Ramakrishna and Sri Aurobindo. But if you believe that particular teaching of the Bible, it is up to you. If you believe it, prepare yourself divinely so that you can immediately go to Heaven, or prepare yourself to take your punishment.

Question: How does one recognise a true living Master?

Question: How can one bring about harmony in his being when there are conflicting movements within?

Question: Before I became a disciple, I donated my body tissue to a tissue bank — like a hospital where you can donate organs of your body when you die. Should I try to get out of that obligation?

Question: My present feeling is that it doesn't make any difference to me.

Sri Chinmoy: It is a matter of individual opinion. In India, a body is burned for purification. In the West it is usually buried. My feeling is that the body has to be purified to the end. As long as it is a physical body, the need for purification remains, and as long as the body as such remains, it must get a chance for purification. For this, Agni, the Fire-God, is invoked.

Question: Several times during my working day I take a moment to offer gratitude to you. Is there any special way I should do this?

Question: What can I do if I tend to fall asleep during meditation and other spiritual activities?

Then you have to ask, "Has Guru given me outer permission to miss this activity just because I have worked?" At the press, when they work overnight sometimes I tell them that they don't have to come to meditation. If I say this, then I take full responsibility, and I will definitely give them the fruits of the meditation that they otherwise would have had. But if you do not have my permission, then you will still get the fruits of your previous dedicated action. But for the meditation you have missed you will get nothing. For your sleeping I will not be responsible, because I have not made any commitment to you. You will say you were tired; I will say you were lethargic. Here is the proof. It takes only a second for you to approach me and ask me whether you should miss the meditation. Then I will make a commitment and the problem is solved.

There are various ways to keep yourself awake when you are sleepy. Do japa as fast as possible. Wash your eyes, nose and ears with cold water. Pinch yourself again and again. Stand up and keep your eyes open. A little physical discomfort is nothing in comparison to what you will get in return: Peace, Bliss and Light. The problem lies with your sincerity. If you are sincere, you will value everything properly.

Some people meditate for half an hour and then they feel that they are in a position to relax — watch television, read comic books and so on. They have meditated for half an hour, but they don't realise that perhaps this half hour has only taken them to the starting point. When one is not realised, one has to be very, very careful. So if you have worked extremely hard and you are unable to meditate with your normal intensity, then after you have meditated for half an hour you can read some of my writings. Or, if you are at home, you can listen to my music or look at my paintings. Your Guru has quite a few things to offer. I have written poems, I have composed songs — hundreds of things I have done.

Question: What three qualities are most needed for survival on our spiritual path?

God has brought you into this world from the soul's world, and He has given you the opportunity to manifest Him. There are still countless souls in the soul's region, but He has given you the golden opportunity to serve Him and manifest Him here on earth. And He has shown you the light. When you look around, you see that your old friends are still wallowing in the sea of ignorance. But you have entered in the spiritual life and have really become something. You can easily offer Him your gratitude heart for what He has already done for you, for it is not by virtue of your own will that you have entered into the spiritual life. Just think of what you were before you accepted our path and what you have become now. Immediately you will see the difference between night and day and you will be so happy. Again, you will see that the day can also become bright, brighter, brightest. Now it is dawn. Soon it will be proper morning. Then the brilliant noon will come. The earthly day is followed by night but the inner day does not have any night. There is only the infinite effulgence of ever-increasing Light. After the inner dawn comes the eternal, infinite Day that is filled with infinite Light and Delight. Now you are entering into this eternal Day. What you have already become you know, and that is satisfying to you. Now you can say that you want to become something even more. So God has given you something to become constantly, and that is your gratitude heart.

Every day count the petals of your gratitude-heart and open another petal. If you want to name the petals, they are simplicity, sincerity, purity, humility and so on. Constantly offer your heart of gratitude. That is the only quality that will help everyone solve his problems and also run the fastest. Gratitude embodies all the divine qualities in God's creation. If we are grateful, it is enough. When a child offers a smile to his parents, it is his gratitude-heart coming to the fore. Sometimes, when adults smile at a spiritual Master, they may not know the actual reason for their smile. But I wish to say that it is their gratitude-heart coming to the fore. Yesterday, Databir's mother came to the meeting. I was smiling at her and all of a sudden she smiled back. Databir asked her, "What do you feel?" She said, "I don't know. I just smiled." Actually, all of a sudden her soul came to the fore and offered its qualities, but she did not know it. She thought it was just a smile. I smiled at her, so she smiled at me.