Question: If you are trying to operate an enterprise or a Centre, how can you avoid letting your own consciousness be affected by what goes on?

Sri Chinmoy: Do not think of yourself as the owner or the manager or the boss. You will be affected if you think you are the boss, the owner, the proprietor. But if you can sincerely feel, “My Guru is the boss” or “The Supreme is the Boss,” then you will not be affected. Just say to yourself, “I am only a worker and an observer. My business is to report to my superior. When I report sincerely to my superior, to my Guru, my role is over. My role is not to judge or criticise or punish others. My role is only to send the message to my Guru.”

Unfortunately, you are affected because you are taking part in what is going on. You are saying, “He has done something very wrong; she has misbehaved.” Do not allow your mind to scold or criticise others. Only feel that an incident has taken place, and that incident you are reporting to your Guru. That is your job. Then let your Guru take care of it. If you feel that as the owner or manager, you have to enter into others’ misdeeds or problems, then your consciousness will be affected.

Your business is only to send the message to me, and not to hold it. When you hold that person’s misdeed in your mind, then you start judging the person. First you harbour; then you judge; then you give your arbitration by scolding the person. But if you do not allow yourself to keep the incident in your mind, then you are safe. When you see that someone has done something wrong, just feel that you have touched ink. Then what will you do? You will immediately run and wash yourself. Each time you see somebody’s imperfection, before you are identified completely with the situation, before the ink can stain the palm of your hand, just go and wash yourself by giving the message to me.

You are the owner and the manager. But just because you are the owner and the manager, do not think of yourself as a judge. There is somebody to do that job for you, and that is your Guru. If you did not have a Guru, then this question would not arise. You would be the owner, you would be in charge of everything, and you would fire the workers at your sweet will. Other restaurant owners and managers have no superior. Once they become the owners, who can lord it over them? They can fire people; they can do everything they want. But you have taken somebody as your superior, so that superior should make the decisions for you. Then your problem is over. You have to make yourself feel that you are just another worker. The other two titles — ‘owner’ and ‘manager’ — just forget! Tell yourself, “I am a worker and an observer.” More than that if you become, then today you will have a headache and tomorrow you will have a heart attack!

This is exactly what I do when problems arise: I give them to the Supreme. Again, sometimes the Supreme will say, “You deal with it.” Similarly, many times I tell you people when you make complaints, “You deal with it. I will take your side, whatever you say.” When I get all the problems and complaints from the disciples, I refer them to the Supreme; I do not keep them. But sometimes He tells me, “No, you have to deal with it.” Then I deal with it. Otherwise, all the millions of problems that I have got over the years, do you think I could have solved? I would have died long ago! But I gave them to my Boss, the Supreme. I said, “You take them.” Occasionally He will tell me, “No, this one you deal with. I have faith in you.” So I do it. But otherwise, if I had been brave enough or stupid enough to take upon myself all the problems that I have had over the years, if I had tried to solve them, I would not have remained on earth.

From:Sri Chinmoy,Sri Chinmoy answers, part 15, Agni Press, 1999
Sourced from https://srichinmoylibrary.com/sca_15