Oneness-Reality and Perfection-Divinity

Part I — Discourses

My Lord Supreme1

My Lord Supreme does not want to know what I have done for Him. He just wants to know how I am. I tell Him that I am perfectly all right and perfectly happy. Immediately He becomes exceedingly happy. He tells me that my happiness is everything to Him. When I am happy, He does not need anything else from me; I have given Him everything.

My Lord Supreme does not want to know if I see anything in Him. He just wants me to dive deep within; and if I see anything sweet, pure and divine in the inmost recesses of my heart, then that is more than enough to Him. He tells me that if I can see anything divine in the depth of my own heart, then I have seen everything inside Him. I have seen His illumining Vision and fulfilling Reality.

My Lord Supreme does not want to know how much I know. He just wants me to become His oneness-companion. He tells me that if I become inseparably one with His Compassion-Light and Satisfaction-Delight, then immediately I shall know everything. At that time, the past, present and future will open their doors to me.

My Lord Supreme does not want me to prove to Him how much I love Him. He just tells me to cry inwardly and soulfully and to smile outwardly and unreservedly. My inner cry and my outer smile are more than enough to inundate His Divinity within and His Divinity without with my love.

OR 1. Pace College, White Plains, New York, 4 May 1977↩

A seeker's resolution, revolution and evolution2

The seeker's first friend is resolution. Resolution is his intimate friend. Revolution is the seeker's second friend. This friend is also an intimate friend and undoubtedly a good friend as well. Finally, the seeker gets evolution as his friend. Evolution is the seeker's birthless and deathless friend.

A seeker's resolution-friend is in the idea-world. A seeker's revolution-friend is in the ideal-world. A seeker's evolution-friend is in the reality-world.

A seeker's thinking and searching mind likes resolution-flames. A seeker's challenging and dynamic vital likes revolution-fire. A seeker's crying and sacrificing heart likes evolution-glow.

The seeker's thinking and searching mind thinks that it can conquer ignorance-night. Indeed, this is an absurd idea. Nevertheless, this effort is a forward, upward and inward movement.

The seeker's challenging and dynamic vital feels that it can easily conquer ignorance-sea. Indeed, this is nothing short of impossibility. Nevertheless, this effort is a forward, upward and inward movement.

The seeker's crying and sacrificing heart knows perfectly well that it can never conquer ignorance. Only God, the Author of all Good, can conquer ignorance in him, through him and for him. At that time, and only at that time, will it be possible for the crying and sacrificing heart to see the face of transformation and illumination.

The seeker's resolution, revolution and evolution have discovered that life is a continuous struggle. It is a struggle between what the seeker has and what the seeker has not. What the seeker has is frustration-possession. He wants to possess, but he finds that his possessions are nothing short of frustration to him. They are a heavy load that he has to carry. When he wants to run fast, faster, fastest towards the ultimate Goal, he discovers that he is possessed and bound by his possessions. What the seeker has not is renunciation-light, dedication-light, love-light, devotion-light, surrender-light, oneness-light and perfection-light.

Resolution is in the inner world. Revolution is in the outer world. Evolution is in both the outer world and the inner world. First, the seeker resolves to become a good and perfect instrument; but still he is at the mercy of his own difficulties, shortcomings and weaknesses. Then there comes a time when he revolts against his own reality, which is ignorance, and he feels an indomitable urge to fight against it. Finally there comes a time when the seeker wants to make progress both in the inner world and in the outer world. At that time, what he needs is necessity. But necessity is not enough. He has to go one step further and get the message of opportunity. Opportunity has to knock at the seeker's heart-door; then only can necessity be fulfilled. Again, opportunity is not enough. Opportunity has to be helped by Divinity's Reality. When God's Hour strikes, only then is opportunity effective. Before that time, it is of no avail.

When, in the course of evolution, God's Hour strikes, the seeker finally sees, feels and grows into his own inner mounting flame. He sees that God, his Almighty Father, is both his starting point and his Goal. He sees that God is in him, guiding him and running with him, teaching him how to run along Eternity's Road in order to reach Infinity's Light and Immortality's Delight.

OR 2. State University of New York, Buffalo, New York, 14 May 1977↩

A seeker3

A seeker is at once a giver and a receiver. A seeker gives his inspiration. How does he give? He gives soulfully. Why does he give? He gives because he feels that he has to establish his oneness-heart here, there and everywhere in order to get boundless joy and satisfaction in life.

A seeker receives. What does he receive? He receives love from above. How does he receive? He receives devotedly. Why does he receive? He receives precisely because he wants to increase his capacity, both inner and outer, so that he can become a better, more fulfilling instrument in God's creation.

A seeker is an earth-lover. He is also a Heaven-lover. He loves the suffering and bleeding heart of earth. He loves the smiling soul of Heaven.

A seeker loves man. He loves man because he sees that, like him, each individual is struggling, struggling. Since other human beings are sailing in the same boat as he is, he feels that it is his bounden duty to sympathise with his fellow beings.

A seeker loves God. He loves God because God is always more than willing to shower His choicest Blessings upon His creation, because God wants to inundate each human being with His boundless Compassion and fathomless Love and Concern.

A seeker is a representative. He represents earth, and he represents Heaven. He carries earth's excruciating pangs to Heaven, and he brings down Heaven's Light and Delight in boundless measure to earth. A seeker is humanity's representative to Divinity and Divinity's promise and assurance to humanity.

A seeker is his body's representative. He is also his soul's representative. He enters into the soul and tells the soul that he and his body are ready to enter into the field of manifestation and manifest the soul's light here on earth. He comes to the physical body and tells the body that he and his soul are now more than willing to help the body-consciousness realise the highest transcendental Consciousness.

A seeker is humanity's progress when humanity aspires. A seeker is humanity's success when humanity desires. But a seeker feels in the inmost recesses of his heart that a day will dawn when he will not have to carry humanity's desire-life, for there will be no desire-life then, only aspiration-life. Then, with his heart's ceaseless delight he will carry humanity's progress alone to the higher worlds.

Success belongs to the ordinary world. Progress belongs to the inner world or the higher world. But Divinity does not and cannot expect a life of progress from humanity all at once. It knows perfectly well that humanity has to start with the message of success first. Then, eventually, humanity will have a higher goal: progress. Success is the satisfaction that does not last, because it is easily thwarted by others' achievements. But progress has no competitor, no rival, since it is part and parcel of man's inner cry.

A seeker climbs slowly, steadily and unerringly. He is a flower that blossoms petal by petal. When this flower is fully blossomed, it is all satisfaction, satisfaction in perfection.

A seeker and his Beloved Supreme sail in the same boat. This boat is the Supreme's Silence-Victory-Boat, which is sailing towards the Sound-Reality-Shore.

The seeker says to the Supreme, his Beloved Lord, "Lord, I am giving You what I have: my heart's inner cry." The Lord says to the seeker, "My child, I am giving you what I am. I am your Source, I am your self-same Divinity's Reality. In you, through you, I fulfil My birthless Vision and My deathless Reality. My creation and My Vision are inseparable, but My creation is not always aware of My Vision, whereas My Vision is always aware of My creation. My child, you are the creation and I am the Vision. In Vision, what looms large is creation; and in creation, what looms large is Vision, My Vision. My Vision and My creation shall eternally remain inseparable."

OR 3. Fredonia State College, Fredonia, New York, 15 May 1977, 2 pm↩

Oneness-reality and perfection-divinity4

Oneness-reality and perfection-divinity are two paths to the Supreme. A seeker can accept either the way of oneness-reality or the way of perfection-divinity, or he can try both; for they both lead to the self-same Goal.

When the seeker wants to walk along the road of oneness-reality, he starts with simplicity. He tries to simplify his life. Then there comes a time when he feels that his simplicity is not enough. For in spite of his simplicity, he may make mistakes. Again, although he commits Himalayan blunders, he will still make progress. But if he is not sincere, then he will not be able to make any progress. Therefore, he has to become sincere. With his sincerity he makes considerable progress and gets joy from both the inner world and the outer world.

Then there comes a time when the seeker sees and feels that even his sincerity is not enough. In spite of his sincerity, he can still make mistakes, and he may not have the necessary determination to rectify his mistakes. So in addition to his sincerity, what he needs is determination. With his determination he will always try to stop doing the wrong thing, start doing the right thing and continue doing the right thing. Simplicity is not enough. Sincerity is not enough. What the seeker needs at this stage of his evolving consciousness is determination. Determination is of paramount importance.

The seeker makes satisfactory progress with his determination. But there comes a time when he sees that his determination is mainly in the vital plane. It is principally in the domain of the dynamic vital, if not the aggressive vital. Sometimes with his determination he builds something; then in no time he breaks it. So the seeker feels that determination is not enough. Inside his determination something else has to loom large, and that thing is purity. If he has purity, then his heart will be able to receive the message from above. He will be able to act like a divine child. A child is a flower that is blossoming petal by petal in the heart of his parents. A childlike purity always obeys the inner voice, and if one obeys the inner voice, then one can never commit mistakes. So determination is not enough. Purity is of paramount importance for the seeker to make considerable progress. If his heart is pure, if his very existence is pure, then he is able to make most satisfactory progress.

But, at times, purity is not used properly, divinely and supremely. At times, a pure person may be afraid of the world. He sees the animal creation all around, so he is frightened to death. He feels that these human animals will devour him; therefore a pure person at times wants to enter into the Himalayan caves. He does not want to remain in society, for he fears that the society-tiger will devour him. Again, a pure person, unless and until he is perfect, may cherish a sense of superiority. He may look down upon those who are impure, and he may not want to be in the company of impure people. He may want to shun society as such in order to maintain his own purity. So purity is not enough. He needs something more than purity. He needs oneness.

Oneness can be limited or complete. If oneness is limited, then satisfaction is also limited. If oneness is partial, then naturally satisfaction will be partial. Oneness can be conditional or unconditional. The seeker can establish his oneness with the Lord Supreme on the strength of their mutual give and take. He will give his aspiration cry, the inner mounting flame, and in return he will expect something infinitely more meaningful, fruitful and valuable from above-that is, God's infinite Bounty, infinite Light and infinite Delight. When the seeker has his conditional oneness, he cannot be truly happy. He can be truly happy only when he establishes his complete and unconditional oneness. Only when he establishes his oneness with the Inner Pilot soulfully, devotedly, unreservedly and unconditionally does he become truly happy. And happiness is satisfaction. The road of unconditional oneness eventually leads the seeker to the world of Delight, boundless Delight, where the seeker-lover becomes inseparably one with the Beloved, the Source.

The other road that the seeker may follow is the road of perfection-divinity. When the seeker wants to walk along the road of perfection-divinity, he starts with imagination. He imagines God's Reality. He imagines God with attributes and without attributes, God with form and God without form. But sometimes he may fall prey to false mental fascination. He may be assailed at times by doubts and think that he is building castles in the air. Therefore, he feels that his imagination is not enough. What he needs is inspiration. With his inspiration he will dive deep within. He will fly above. He will march and run forward. He is inspired to do something, to become something.

Inspiration has very limited capacity. In order to do something or become something divinely and supremely, inspiration is not enough. One must needs have aspiration. When the seeker aspires, he feels that he has to climb up or reach a certain destination. He sees that now he is at the starting point, whereas the goal is somewhere else. He feels that there is a yawning gulf between his present existence-reality and the ultimate Goal which he is aiming at. So he climbs up the aspiration-tree, which is tall, taller, tallest. When he aspires sincerely, soulfully and unconditionally, he reaches a lofty height.

But his aspiration is not enough. He knows that he has to go through aspiration, but aspiration is not enough. He feels that he must have realisation. He feels that realisation will be able to solve all his problems, because wherever realisation is, the Ultimate Truth is also there. Once he realises the Ultimate Truth, there will be no starting point and no final Goal. It will all be one. Realisation and the Ultimate Truth cannot be separated from each other or from the one who has realised the Truth. The realisation and the seeker who has realised are inseparably one. Therefore, the seeker longs for realisation. Only realisation, his self-discovery, will be able to solve his life's problems, that have caused so much suffering for him from time immemorial.

At last the seeker realises God. He is happy. His progress has been unimaginable. But there comes a time when he feels the insufficiency of his own realisation. As an individual, he is one with God. But when he looks around, he sees that there are millions and billions of his fellow beings -- brothers and sisters of his -- who are not yet realised. He sees clearly that he is eating most delicious food while these others are starving. In the inner world they are poverty-stricken. His heart of oneness-realisation feels miserable. So he wants to go one step farther. He wants to reveal to the hungry humanity the truth, the light and the delight that he embodies. This is not a desire to display his achievements but a supreme necessity, an inner urge. His Inner Pilot compels him to bring forward what he has within in order to show the world that, like him, each individual is entitled to realise the Highest. He does not want to eat the realisation-fruit alone. This realisation-fruit has to be eaten by all those who sincerely long for it. So realisation is not enough. Revelation is also a supreme necessity.

The God-realised soul reveals what he has so that others can get inspiration, aspiration and realisation. He reveals without what he has within. He feels that his divinity can be revealed on any plane -- on a higher plane, on a lower plane, anywhere. But unless it has its proper roots, it cannot last for long; it cannot be the achievement of Mother-Earth for Eternity. Therefore, his revelation is not enough. He needs manifestation. Once something is manifested here on earth, it becomes the permanent possession of Mother-Earth. Once divinity, reality or any divine qualities are properly manifested, then they are permanent. They become part and parcel of Mother-Earth. They become the possession of humanity's aspiration. So the God-realised seeker tries to manifest. And when he manifests, he feels his complete oneness with the Absolute Pilot and becomes the perfect instrument of Divinity's Perfection. Being a perfect instrument of his Beloved Supreme, the seeker tries to manifest the divinity with which he has been entrusted.

Here the oneness-reality becomes one with the perfection-divinity. When one becomes perfect, one automatically becomes one with the supreme Reality, the Source. When one has established one's inseparable, unconditional oneness with the Source, then one is bound to become perfect. These are the two roads, the road of oneness and the road of perfection. Eventually they join, and at that time the seeker reaches the highest Height and the deepest Depth, and becomes the perfect instrument of the Supreme Pilot here on earth and there in Heaven.

OR 4. Buffalo State College, Buffalo, New York, 15 May 1977, 8 pm↩

Part II — Inauguration of the Green Centre

5. Inauguration of the Green Centre5

I was extremely delighted to learn that when some of you were meditating in front of my picture the other day you saw green light around the picture. At that time you did not know that we were going to call your group the Green Centre. Your minds did not know, but your souls definitely knew. That is why you saw the green light.

Now I wish to say a few words about the colour green. Green, from the spiritual point of view, signifies newness. It is newness in life, in action, in speech. It is newness in everything that we do or anything that we grow into that eventually will lead us to inseparable oneness with the Absolute Supreme.

Newness invites, welcomes and challenges the seeker in us and, at the same time, promises us that at every moment we can make considerable progress. Progress means a forward, upward and inward movement. Ours is the philosophy of constant, continuous and soulful progress. Progress is our satisfaction, and inside satisfaction will be the perfection of our nature, the perfection of our lives, the perfection of our realisation.

We are all God's divine and chosen children. From God's universal and transcendental Vision we have all come into existence. What is a child? A child is he who remains in the heart and who acts in and through the heart. His is always the philosophy of newness. It is the child in us who grows, progresses, achieves and fulfils. So green signifies a childlike heart that is all the time embracing newness and continuously making progress. If we want to make continuous progress, then newness at every moment must dawn upon our devoted heads and in our aspiring hearts. Only then, on the strength of our childlike heart and our conscious oneness with newness, can we grow into the ever-transcending Perfection and Satisfaction and reach the Golden Shore of the ever-transcending Beyond.

So from now on, when you ask yourself what you are, immediately try to feel that you are newness. Tomorrow's golden dawn is your name. Your soul-reality, your very existence, is the newness of the golden dawn.

The past has not given us what we actually want, what we are longing for -- that is to say, God-realisation, which is conscious and inseparable oneness with our Beloved Supreme. We can expect to get God-realisation not from yesterday but from today or from the tomorrow that is growing in the immediacy of today. This does not mean that we must discard the past, if it was good; the quintessence of the past we shall keep. If we have done something divine, soulful, loving or self-giving, then the quintessence of that past experience we shall try to embody. But the millions of mistakes that we have made, the many undivine things that we have done-these we have to totally obliterate from our minds. The past is dust. It is the golden future which is growing and glowing in the heart of today, and it is this golden future that we shall welcome.

All of you will kindly come to the meetings every week. Your regularity and punctuality are of paramount importance. Most of you are students. You know the difference between good students and bad students. If you are good students, which I am sure that you are, then you become all joy to your teacher. I happen to be your spiritual teacher, but I am not like an ordinary teacher. I am like a private tutor. A teacher examines you and if you do well, you pass if you do not do well, then you fail. But a private tutor gives you special help so that definitely you will pass the examination. I am your private tutor who will help you and teach you so that you can transform your ignorance-sea into the sea of wisdom-light. Our mutual co-operation and trust will bring about your fastest progress, and it will definitely give infinite joy to the Real in you, our Beloved Supreme, who is my Guru and also your Guru. The Supreme is the eternal Teacher.

With a soulful hope I am inaugurating our Green Centre today. It is my fervent wish and prayer to the Absolute Supreme that our sincere self-giving efforts, our inner cry and our soulful life on earth will be crowned with divine success and supreme progress. This divine success and supreme progress we shall place soulfully, unreservedly and unconditionally at the Feet of our Beloved Supreme.

5. On 4 February 1977 Sri Chinmoy inaugurated a new Centre in the New York area. This is a transcription of what he said to the group of about 25 seekers who wished to become members of the new Green Centre.↩

Part III -- Questions from the Blue Centre[^6-14]

[^6-14]: 6-14. These questions were asked by disciples of Sri Chinmoy’s Blue Centre on 11 February 1977.

6. Introduction

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 or whatever, please tell me. The answer I give will be applicable especially to you.

Question: 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. 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. You do not want to surrender or you find it difficult to surrender because you feel that if you do, then you will no longer exist. But what 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 a tiny drop — outside, 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. When you are talking unnecessarily, always feel that you are buying something which is 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 too much, 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 can imagine that you are making a long-distance telephone call, you will not talk so much because at the end of the month you will have an exorbitant bill. These are practical ways to reduce your talking.

Question: I am too sensitive. My feelings get hurt too easily.

Sri Chinmoy: When somebody says something to you and you are hurt, you have to know that your forgiveness power is infinitely more powerful than the attack you have received. If someone has attacked you, just 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, it means that you are fighting back on the same level; and no one knows who will win. It is like infantry soldiers fighting. But if a plane drops a bomb from above, the poor infantry is lost. 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 will have weakened them 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 her age. Try to see if you were also unruly or whether you had the same difficulties and 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. If you were not like that when you were her age, then look around at your friends and neighbours. You will see that their children are infinitely worse than your daughter. Then you will thank God. So 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, just compare her with other children of her age. Look around and you will see many, many children who are very undivine, very hostile. 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 will be your strength. With this strength you will be able to forgive your daughter and with new courage and inspiration you will be able to work with her.

Question: Passing my tests at school.

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

Questionner: 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, just 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, and this is far more powerful than knowledge. Next, try to feel that you have studied the book because you have thought of me for a few minutes. 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. Then, you also will have studied the book. 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 feel that the book is like a roaring lion. But instead, think that you are more powerful than the book. 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, then 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 someone because we feel that that person is not of us or for us. If we think that we are one with someone 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 nose. Its strength is less than the strength of your hand, but it is not afraid of the hand because it knows they both 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 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 do it 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 them. Accumulate everything in the higher worlds and then, when you are breathing out and saying "Supreme, Supreme, Supreme... ," 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 with you.

Part III — Question and answers

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

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.

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 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 for those on our path.

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. Once they are inside it is difficult for you to throw them out, so you have to prevent them from coming in in the first place. The other way is this: when a thought comes that is not pure, good or divine, then 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. Each colour has a special quality. Blue is Infinity; green is new life; red is divine Power. It is fine to see these colours or to see some divine beings or images or to feel some divine presence. But if you do not see those things, do not feel disappointed. Feel that God is preparing you to see Him and feel Him alone.

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 I do not see that colour gold here. 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 Him by any name that pleases you. The Supreme is still the Supreme no matter what name you use.

Question: Can I attain God-realisation in this lifetime?

Sri Chinmoy: It is quite possible to realise God in one incarnation. But you have to know how sincere you are and 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, then naturally we can receive God's Love, Blessings, 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. You identified with the soul, while 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 with 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 your 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 doubting. When the body, vital and mind become one with the heart's cry, you feel that sensation it is very good. The body does not want to sleep, the vital does not want to jump, the mind does not want to doubt; all of the being is supporting the heart. It is not an actual physical sensation you are getting but a kind of subtle joy and delight.

General questions and answers

Question: What is the best way for a disciple to offer to you the unpleasant or undivine forces in his consciousness that he wishes to be rid of?

Sri Chinmoy: There are two ways to offer me these unpleasant forces. One way is to have intense fear or hatred of them. Either you will be afraid of those forces or you will hate them with utmost intensity. After that, if you see that these forces still are not leaving you, then just grab them and throw them into me.

If you are afraid of them, you will always be careful; you will be conscious of why and how they attack you. When these forces attack, they attack the physical mind first. Then they come to the vital, then to the gross physical. Once somebody has hurt you, then you will remember your suffering and you will always try to be on the alert. If necessity demands, you will think of the severe torture you have gone through. Either by constantly remembering the suffering that the unpleasant forces have caused you, or by hating them, you will be able to get rid of them. You will hate only the undivine forces, not the person who embodies them or who has become a victim to them. The forces you can hate, but not the person who has the wrong forces, because he may have many good forces, too. After all, he is also a child of God. Slowly and steadily he will also become perfect one day.

The other way is this: when undivine forces come, please feel that you are a child and that each unpleasant force is like a grain of sand. When your body is full of sand, you have to wash it, cleanse it. Since you are a child, either you do not have the capacity or you do not have the willingness to clean your body. But you know that you have a spiritual father who is more than ready to clean and purify you. When a child sees that his body is full of sand, he runs towards his mother or his father. Then, it is only a matter of a few seconds or minutes before he becomes pure and clean again. After a few days, he may again become covered with sand; so again he will run to the right person. Gradually, as he becomes mature, his father and mother will tell him, "My son, don't do this. Don't play with dirt. You don't want to be dirty and impure all the time. Try to remain clean and pure." The child listens eventually. He does not play with mud, clay and sand forever. So these are the two most effective ways to get rid of the unpleasant forces that assail you or any human being.

Question: When a disciple who has been with you for many years becomes old and leaves the body, what will happen to his soul?

Sri Chinmoy: There are disciples and disciples. There are good disciples and bad disciples who have stayed with me for many years. Good disciples will be treated in a special way. I can give you an example. Two excellent disciples of mine passed away not long ago. One is Agni, the other is Ananta. They were precious, most precious jewels in our spiritual family.

Each real spiritual Master has a plane of consciousness or a kingdom — whatever you want to call it — in the soul's region. Your Guru also has a place. You can call it a divine kingdom. Only the real Masters have it. It is like having two houses. Here I have one house, and I can easily have another one in Puerto Rico, India, California or somewhere else. So, in the soul's region, I have got a very vast kingdom. There are already some disciples there from my previous incarnation, as well as some of my soulfully sincere admirers, great devotees and excellent disciples from this incarnation. Ananta and Agni, who were both extremely good disciples, are also there. Every day their souls come to me, or I go to them to feed them. And what they do, no disciples on earth do, or will do. Ananta always holds my divine banner and marches in the inner world, and Agni always claps when he sees me. They are always proclaiming our victory, the victory of the Supreme, in the inner world.

Again, there were some useless disciples who have also died in the past few years. I accepted them as disciples, but they were useless; their souls are not yet really good. You may say, "How can a soul be bad?" But when the soul mixes with the vital and is dominated by the vital, then it has a strong impression of the hungry vital, the wolf-like consciousness, the lower, animal consciousness. When this predominates, the poor soul literally hides. So there are some disciples who were with us for six or seven years, who are not in my own soul's realm. They see me in the soul's region; they see my height, and they blame me for everything. They say, "How is it that you didn't help me or prevent me from doing undivine things so that I could also go to a very high place?" I literally begged those disciples not to mix with ignorance and do undivine things, but they did not listen to me. Now who is the loser? If I repeatedly beg you not to do something, and if you do it anyway, then it is your fault, not mine. These people who were really useless disciples accuse me of not helping them or saving them when they lived in the vital while they were on earth. Even now they are moving through the vital worlds to the soul's region. But the soul is weak and the vital accuses me. So how can these disciples remain in the plane where Ananta and Agni are? Impossible!

Some of these disciples are already desperately trying to come back into this world. But I know that when they come back, they are not going to accept the spiritual life again immediately. Here on earth they have already exploited the divine Compassion which I embody. Once you exploit the divine Compassion, which I have brought down in infinite measure, you do not get it again so easily. Otherwise the next time, again, it will not be valued. In this world, everything has to be valued; otherwise, people will squander it. Then he who has given it finds that he has just been wasting his time and effort. The father leaves behind a large sum of money and, if the son is not wise enough, he squanders the money and becomes a beggar. At that time, his father has every right to feel that his son did not deserve his generous gift.

God's Hour has struck for all those who are my disciples, but some of them — many of them — are exploiting my compassion, love and blessings. What will happen to them? They will have to wait for God's Hour to strike again for them at another time. It may take one hundred years, two hundred years, four hundred years or more; but if they reincarnate in six or ten years, they are definitely not going to accept the spiritual life. They will go through lower vital animal life for many years, for it is not the Will of the Supreme to grant them this kind of opportunity again soon. God deals in and through us all with infinite Compassion. But this infinite Compassion is not going to knock at their door again immediately, because if it does, they will only disregard it and exploit it again. For them, there is something called eternal time.

It is better not to deal with a spiritual Master at all than to exploit his concern and compassion. In our strict Indian philosophy it is said that once you have seen light, if you consciously go back to darkness, then the divine retribution is unimaginable. But if you remain in darkness and have no idea of what light is, no sense of light at all, then your suffering is not so bad. For an ordinary person in the vital world or the physical world, who has not accepted the spiritual life, darkness is what he has and what he is. For him, retribution is very little. Like a child who is totally ignorant, he does not know that there is something called knowledge or wisdom. When he grows up, he becomes a man of knowledge. Then his whole inner being will eventually be flooded with wisdom. But after seeing light, if he goes back to ignorance and speaks ill of light or says there is no such thing as light, who is fooling whom? If somebody says the world is all darkness and there is no such thing as the sun, the sun will continue to do its duty. By saying that there is no such thing, one cannot destroy the existence of the sun.

To come back to your question, what will happen after death entirely depends on what kind of disciples they are. If they are extremely good, then it is a golden opportunity for them to go to a real Heaven. But those unfortunate disciples who are a real burden here cannot be a burden there, for there they will have no place. If you are running a big factory here in California and somebody has badly dissatisfied you, then if you go to some other state and open another factory, are you going to give a chance to that same person? Never! You will say, "Enough. I have suffered much from you in California. I am not going to let you bother me here." In my case also, souls that have not received light, that have created many problems, that have cast a slur on our spiritual mission, will never, never be given a chance in other worlds. If one person has dissatisfied me unthinkably here, then why should I give that person another chance there? I will not give it.

Good disciples here on earth will make boundless progress. And there in Heaven they will be of constant help to the Supreme in me. As here they help, there also in a different way, they will serve the Supreme in me. The bad ones, wherever they go, will be equally bad, so they will not be given a chance there. The good ones will continue embodying me and manifesting the mission, and the bad ones will go their own way.

Question: I would like to raise the essence of my spirit beyond this universe, to the highest plateau attainable. I would also like to join my spirit with the essence and the meaning of life. I am looking for the meaning of life.

Sri Chinmoy: There are two lives. One is our ordinary earth-bound life, which lasts for sixty, seventy or eighty years. Afterwards, we enter into the world of death where we take a short rest or a long rest, depending on God's Will, and again come back into the world-arena. Then again, there is the eternal Life. I believe you are referring to the eternal Life, the Life that is universal, the Life that is immortal. If you would like to embody that eternal and immortal Life here on earth, then you have to do so entirely in the realm of consciousness. As a seeker, you will try to embody the universal Consciousness consciously inside you. Inside the universal Consciousness you will be able to feel the eternal and immortal Life. Life-even the eternal, immortal Life-has to be embodied by something. In order to embody the eternal Life in your consciousness, or to have a free access to the eternal Life, you have to become consciously aware of your consciousness, which connects the finite and the Infinite. When we have the aspiration to raise our consciousness to the highest possible height, then we have to know what our first and foremost need or choice is. Our foremost need here is constant awareness of our aspiring consciousness.

Question: Sir, I have done some reading, and I have come across terms that I am sure you know. One is 'Kundalini', and the other is 'Siddhi'. I am wondering what these two terms mean. I don't seem to understand them.

Sri Chinmoy: Kundalini is a process of yoga. Yoga means conscious union with God. Inside our subtle body there are six major psychic centres. When we open these centres, we get occult powers. The process that we follow in order to open them is called kundalini, or kundalini yoga. The other Sanskrit word you are mentioning is siddhi. It means spiritual power or spiritual attainments. When you get this spiritual power, you can use it according to your sweet will. You can call it spiritual power or occult power. Many people practise kundalini yoga in order to achieve occult powers. If you can open up any psychic centre, you can get the powers that are hidden inside that centre.

Question: Sometimes I feel very confused. When I concentrate and go deeper, I feel it is all for a purpose; it is all part of a movement. I sense a calmness somewhere deep inside. Is this a good thing, or am I deceiving myself?

Sri Chinmoy: No, you are not deceiving yourself. It is absolutely true that we belong to the universal Reality. It is like a tree. A tree has a trunk, it has branches, it has flowers and leaves. If I am a leaf, I still know that I belong to the source, the tree; and along with me I know there are countless other leaves and countless flowers. We have a big family of leaves, flowers, fruits and branches; but the family is all part of the cosmic tree. There are countless souls growing on this tree. Each soul is destined to do something special for the Absolute Supreme. The movement that you see or feel within you is the cosmic movement that each seeker eventually has to see and feel for he himself has chosen to take a conscious part in this Cosmic Game.

Question: What will it be like when divinity is more manifested?

Sri Chinmoy: Treachery will go away, first of all. Then, people will think more of one another and less of themselves, as a spiritual Master does. I can meditate all the time for myself, but I don't do that. Instead, I concentrate on my disciples; I help them and others who want and need my light. In this way I serve them, and I get joy. As long as I am of service, I am fulfilling my role on earth. But right now, it is not like that with everybody. When divinity is more manifested, people will offer themselves more for the cause of others than for themselves. Now you will say, "If one is not realised, how can he help others?" But you can help, according to your own achievement. Always we have to be of service to those who need us. When divinity is more manifested, each one will offer himself to the service of mankind and each one will have something to receive which he has not yet manifested.

Question: Is the Krishna mantra effective?

Sri Chinmoy: Yes, if you have faith in it. Whatever you have faith in is effective. Again, even if you do not have faith in a particular Master, he may be able to direct many to the goal nevertheless.

Question: Can you explain God-consciousness?

Sri Chinmoy: We cannot express or explain these higher states of consciousness. Go deep within and feel and experience. It is not a matter of explanation but of realisation. One's highest experience can never be expressed in words. As soon as you have to explain, you have to come down, and in order to convince, you have to come down further.

Question: How can we overcome anger?

Sri Chinmoy: We have to know what we get from anger: frustration, depression and destruction. We have come into the world to transform it. If we see something wrong, we have to transform it. But by breaking, we cannot build. Gradual transformation is the way. Take anger as a thief. If we know that somebody is a thief, we will not want to let the thief enter into us and steal all our love and other inner wealth. Our guard is our aspiration. When anger assails us, we have to cry inwardly for deeper aspiration. If we can immediately aspire, the guard will come to our rescue, and we will be able to save our most precious jewel, love, from anger the thief.

Question: If one is short, is it to make one humble?

Sri Chinmoy: Very often, when one is deprived of something, he becomes haughty. Hostile forces attack. For a time he may feel sad and miserable, but humility does not come. Humiliation does not bring humility. Many short people are very rude and arrogant.

Question: Why is it so hard to surrender?

Sri Chinmoy: Because man has not yet understood the real meaning of spiritual surrender. Human surrender we know, and it shocks us. But human and divine surrender are two totally different things. In ordinary surrender, we see that we lose our individuality and personality. But in the spiritual life, it is totally different. In the spiritual life we see an ocean and a tiny drop. When the drop merges with the ocean, with our third eye we see that the drop has become the ocean itself.

Notes

On 4 February 1977 Sri Chinmoy inaugurated a new Centre in the New York area. Following is a transcription of what he said to the group of about 25 seekers who wished to become members of the new Green Centre.

The following questions were asked by disciples of Sri Chinmoy's Blue Centre on 11 February 1977.

General questions and answers

The following questions were answered on 2 March 1977 at Rockland County Community College in Suffern, New York.

From:Sri Chinmoy,Oneness-Reality and Perfection-Divinity, Agni Press, 1983
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