Question: How can I increase my patriotism?

Sri Chinmoy: You can increase your patriotism by increasing your heart-power. Think of yourself as a climber who can climb up a tree. You know how to climb up the tree, but your little brother does not know how to climb. You climb up the tree and pluck a few mangoes from the top, and then you come down because you see that your younger brother does not know how to climb up. He is at the foot of the tree looking for a mango and expecting your return. He is eagerly waiting for you so that he can get a few mangoes from you.

You can climb up inwardly with your spiritual feeling and get a little peace, light and bliss. But then you see that your countrymen — your little brothers and sisters — need that peace, light and bliss in order to feed themselves, so you share it with them as much as you can.

You can increase your patriotism only by loving your countrymen more. If there are people who want to have the thing that you have received and achieved on a higher plane, if you bring it down and distribute it to them, that means that you love your countrymen. You have given what you have to those who really want and need it, but who are not in a position to get it by themselves.

From:Sri Chinmoy,I love my country: Purity's Body, Agni Press, 1975
Sourced from https://srichinmoylibrary.com/lmc