Sri Chinmoy answers, part 12

Part I

Question: Does disobedience arise from our lack of oneness with the Supreme in you?

Question: Guru, if we or other disciples of yours are disobedient, is it wrong not to tell you outwardly?

Again, if somebody who is my disciple is doing something seriously wrong and you know about it, then you have to tell me immediately. The American theory is: “It is none of my business.” But the spiritual theory is: “Since we are all sailing in the same boat to the Golden Shore, my business is your business and your business is my business.” Otherwise, if one of your spiritual brothers or sisters is doing something seriously wrong and you keep that person’s secret, a real catastrophe will take place. If you know that someone is in the emotional world, for example, you should inform me immediately. Otherwise, it starts with a headache, but from a headache it becomes cancer. And then it is too late.

Since you are a disciple of mine, the same thing applies when you yourself are doing something wrong. Disobedience is like rolling down a hill. One day you do something wrong, and it is only a small mistake. But you go on, go on, and the disobedience becomes bigger and bigger. Then suddenly you see that you are going down, down, down the hill so fast! At that time, when you are falling uncontrollably, it becomes a serious problem for me. But if you had informed me in the beginning, the problem would have been so much easier to deal with.

When some women disciples get a very serious type of feminine disease, sometimes they are afraid of telling me. They act as if they have done something wrong or committed a crime. Six months or a year later, when the disease has become serious and they feel it will kill them, only then do they tell me. Is this not disobedience? When there is something seriously wrong inside their bodies, should they not tell me immediately? But they tell me only when the situation becomes critical.

I am not saying that doctors cannot help. I see so many doctors about my knee problem! They may be failing and failing, but I know that God has given these doctors a special capacity, and they have cured so many people. But since you people have accepted me as your spiritual Master, you have to feel that I am also your doctor, only I operate in a different way from an ordinary doctor.

So you should never be afraid of telling me about your problems. By being afraid of the Master, the disciple can never become close. Only if the disciple tells the Master his weaknesses and allows the Master to become one with his weaknesses will the disciple become closer than the closest to the Master. At that time, the Master can come to the disciple’s rescue like a roaring lion.

When people speak to me privately or write letters to me about their failures or weaknesses, I never scold them. I am all sympathy, all compassion, all concern, all affection. If somebody is suffering from some kind of mental problem, vital problem, emotional problem or any other kind of problem, I see his weakness as my own, and immediately I forgive him. Not only do I forgive that person, but I take immediate action. Inwardly I act and sometimes outwardly I also tell the person what to do. If the individual really wants to be cured, then I am all for him. But I am all for him only on one condition: that he is ready to change his life.

After a few days, a few months or a few years of disobedience, some disciples form the habit of regular disobedience. Why? Because they feel it is accepted! Since they feel it is accepted, disobedience becomes their obedience. No matter how disobedient a disciple is, in most cases I do not believe in justice. Justice comes only when I know there is no other way to make the disciple realise the seriousness of his misbehaviour. When I see that the situation is becoming simply impossible, then I have no choice but to be strict. I come with an iron rod only when nothing else has succeeded and I am absolutely helpless, more helpless than the individual who is doing the wrong thing. But when I come with an iron rod, I rarely succeed. If I threaten to throw someone off the path if he does not stop misbehaving, that person may change his life after a month or a year. But otherwise, there is only revolt, hostility and fear.

God cannot conquer us with fear. True, He can take our life away; He can kill us if we do something wrong. If God is angry with us, then definitely He can make us suffer. But that kind of punishment will not conquer us. With our last breath we will say, “God is cruel! God is undivine!” It is only with love that we can be conquered. The Master has to conquer the disciple’s heart with love, and the disciple has to conquer the Master’s heart with love. Everything else will fail. America is strong and it can threaten to drop the atom bomb on me. I am helpless, so I will surrender, but there is no love in my surrender. But if America comes with compassion and her other good qualities, then America will conquer my heart.

Question: How can we feel that our obedience is spontaneous and joyful rather than forced?

Although we do get a kind of happiness when we are identifying with the mind and doing what the mind tells us to do, that kind of happiness is not real joy. When the mind is asking us to do something, very often it is creating millions of doubts in us. This moment it tells us to do one thing, and the next moment it hesitates and tells us to do something else. This moment it tells us to have faith in our spiritual life, and we are happy with our faith. The next moment it creates doubts in us and we get happiness by doubting our spiritual life. In so many clever ways it is possible to get spontaneous happiness by identifying with the mind’s jugglery — by doubting God one moment and having faith in God the next moment — but this will never give us real joy.

So we have to use our wisdom and see what we should identify with and claim as our real boss: the mind or the heart. At one moment the mind-boss tells us to do something, but the next moment it comes to us with doubt and hesitation. And while we are doubting and hesitating, the mind is somewhere else, enjoying our doubt and hesitation. In no way is it giving us determination or helping us at all. On the other hand, the heart is not only telling us to do the right thing but, at the same time, it is helping us do the right thing, the thing that will expedite our spiritual journey and bring God’s Hour closer. So it is by identifying with the heart and listening to the heart that we can get real spontaneous joy.

Question: What happens in the inner world and also in the outer world when we disobey the Supreme in you?

There are so many types of disobedience. If I tell my ‘best disciple’ to come at a certain hour and he comes late, that kind of disobedience is not very serious. When there is outer disobedience, God is more lenient and He forgives quickly. But when there is inner disobedience, God does not forgive so quickly. Very often He has to use His Justice-Power, because inner disobedience is almost an incurable disease. But eventually that disease has to be cured.

Question: Sometimes when you ask me to do things, I do them, but definitely I could be a little more enthusiastic about it. How can I cultivate enthusiastic obedience?

Question: Does obedience always begin in the mind?

Question: I have a bad habit of always being late for everything. I feel that I have the capacity to be on time, but somehow I do not give it enough attention. How can I make myself feel that it is important to be on time?

It is a question of how much you value your Guru’s happiness. You say, “I am making my Guru happy by doing this and that for him.” That is true, but ours is the philosophy of self-transcendence. You are satisfied with the fact that you are making me happy by doing the things that I am asking. But if you do these things sooner, then you will be able to make me happier. If you have the capacity to do something sooner than at once, why should you delay?

We believe in joy, but joy is a matter of degree. You say, “If I do this, Guru will be happy. If I do something else, he will be happier. If I do a different thing entirely, he will be the happiest.” So what do you do? You do the thing that will make me the happiest. Similarly, you have to feel, “If I do something at seven o’clock, Guru will be happy. If I do it at six-thirty, Guru will be happier. If I do it at six o’clock, he will be the happiest.” In that case, the degree is what matters. So if you value my happiest smile or my highest pride in you, then definitely you will do what I ask faster than the fastest. Otherwise, you can say, “I am satisfied as long as he is proud of me.” But if you want to compare how happy I am or how proud of you I am when you do something quickly rather than slowly, then you have to know that there is no comparison.

In India, some students say, “As long as I can get 33 out of 100, I have passed my examination.” If they get that silly passing grade, they are happy. Others will cry if they do not get 100 out of 100; even 99 is not enough for them. So if you want to be satisfied with the passing mark, what can I do? Again, if you are dying for the highest mark, absolutely 100 out of 100, what can prevent you from getting it? It is only your own lack of eagerness. When you get 100 out of 100, not only will your teacher be proud of you, but you also will be so proud of yourself.

Part II

Do not be afraid of me, but be identified with my sufferings

In the spiritual life, if you really want to make your Master happy, you must not be afraid of your Master — no, no, no! The Master has not come into the world to strike people. That was for Julius Caesar, Alexander and all those military people. But sometimes I scold you as a last resort. In the Bhagavad Gita, before the Kurukshetra battle, how Sri Krishna begged and begged the Kauravas only to give five villages to the Pandavas! The Kauravas had the kingdom, but they would not give up those five villages. Three or four times Sri Krishna went to the Kauravas’ palace, but they would not listen to him. They said, “Without a fight, we shall not give to the Pandavas even the quantity of sand or mud that will fit through the eye of a needle.” A needle is long but the eye is tiny. How much can pass through that tiny hole? Then Sri Krishna felt that the situation was hopeless and said, “War is needed.” The war was a last resort.

Here also, as a last resort, I scold you people. Otherwise, I plead with you, with your heart, with your mind, with your vital, with your physical. So to all my disciples I am saying, do not be afraid of me, but be identified with my sufferings. To be afraid of me is a stupid, useless approach. To be identified with my sadness, with my tears, is absolutely the right approach.

Part III

Mrs. Darshanika Guruge: I brought with me a textbook my husband has used to teach Hinduism, and I have some questions regarding that.

Mrs. Guruge: My question is about karma. How does it fit in with _advaita_ Vedantism? They don't believe in karma.

In exactly the same way, God can protect us. Many, many things we do wrong, but sometimes our Beloved Father Supreme breaks His own Cosmic Law and saves us. At these times, our Father wants to play the role of God the Forgiveness, either because we have done something good for Him or because He feels there is hope that we will eventually become good children of His. He says, “Now they have done something wrong, something horrible, but in the future they will not do this kind of thing.” Or He may say, “Over the years many, many times they have prayed for My Victory or done various things to make Me happy. So let Me show My Forgiveness.” But again, if He sees that there is really no hope, that we are really bad people and shall continue to do the wrong thing, then He will say, “No, you have to abide by the Cosmic Law. You have done something wrong, so you have to pay the penalty.”

At times, not only does the Supreme show His infinite Compassion and Forgiveness, but spiritual Masters who represent Him also do the same. It is true that the Supreme is the ocean and the spiritual Master is just a tiny drop. But the tiny drop totally identifies with the infinite ocean and knows its oneness with the ocean. And this tiny drop has been ordained by the ocean itself to be of help to those who are unfortunately not yet even drops.

So the law of karma is a most complicated thing, and there are no hard and fast rules. According to the strict law of karma, if we do something wrong, we will be punished. Again, if we do something very good, the law of karma says we will be rewarded. Unfortunately, we expect the results in the twinkling of an eye. But we have forgotten all the bad things that we have done in addition to that one good thing. Before doing one very good thing, before making what we consider a supreme sacrifice, perhaps we have done many wrong things. That is why we are not getting the results of our divine action. God is using our one good deed to nullify all the terrible things, worse than the worst, that we have done over the years. We say, “God has no eyes, God has no ears.” But actually God is showing us boundless Compassion by putting our one little good deed on the same footing as all our bad deeds. In this way He is saving us from so much karmic suffering.

Mrs. Irina Malikova: Mine is not a question. I just wanted to thank you for everything you have done. I had a very nice experience with my surgery. Normally I should have been afraid, because it was major surgery, but to my own and everybody's surprise, I was so sure about everything that I did not feel nervous. The doctors said they had never seen a patient with so little anxiety about his health. It was not a question of my victory. It is just that I physically felt your presence in the surgery room, and that helped me a lot.

Sometimes when I know the date of an operation, I do not even need to know the exact hour. If someone is close to me, even if he notifies me a month in advance, I can promise to take care of it. And my promise will definitely be fulfilled. At the time of the operation, my physical mind may not even be aware that it is taking place, but I have many, many inner representatives who will act on my behalf. One of my inner beings will keep my promise for me.

But in your case, it was totally different. I did not depend on my inner beings; I was directly involved one hundred per cent. The day before the operation I called you, and also that morning I called you.

Before your experience, I was dealing with the father of one of my disciples. Her whole family — mother, father and brother — are also my disciples, and they are very devoted to me. The mother has such love for me. And she had such faith that I would do everything for her husband, although at the same time she was fully prepared for him to go to the other world. At the time, the doctors gave him two weeks to live, but even now he is still in this world! About a week ago he drove himself to the hospital. The doctors said, “What! How can you drive?” But he did drive. Then, two days ago, he even walked to the hospital, which is nearby. Just a few weeks ago he was not doing well at all. But God was kind to him, really kind.

Faith is needed. And if the person in whom you have faith has the capacity, then anything is possible. Sri Aurobindo said, “If you have faith in anything, that thing will work.” No matter how serious the problem, some spiritual Masters will simply say to their disciples, “Take a little mustard oil.” There is nothing magical about mustard oil. The Master is only seeing how much faith you have in him. If you take the mustard oil devotedly and feel that it will cure you, then it will do the needful. The Master does not separate himself from his utterance. He is inside that mustard oil, and in and through the mustard oil he will cure you. Again, sometimes he will tell you to go to the doctor.

In my case, I always say, “Take coconut water.” For each and every problem I say, “Take coconut water.” Doctors are bound to laugh at me! From a scientific point of view, they will say that coconut water has nothing to do with this kind of disease or that kind of disease. But I know coconut water is my medicine, and if the patient has faith in my coconut water, then it will perform miracles. It is a matter of faith. As long as you have faith, you will be cured.

Again, the Master may have the capacity to cure the disciple’s disease, and the disciple may have implicit faith in the Master’s capacity, but there is a third party. The Supreme may say, “No, for various reasons I do not want that person to live.” A spiritual Master is implicitly one with God’s Will all the time, but because he is in the physical, which is full of suffering, sometimes he identifies with earth. If somebody who is supposed to die is very devoted to me, I tell the Supreme all the good things that this person has done for me and for the Supreme over the years. Then, at the last minute I beg: “Can he not stay on earth for a few more months or a few more years?” At that time God may agree to a little extension — five or ten years. Again, He may not. But if I see that the Supreme is really serious about someone going to the other world, then I will be the last person to beg Him, “Can You give an extension?” No, no, I will never dare to say something like that! I cannot do that. If someone who is near and dear to me is about to die, and if I see that the Supreme will be disturbed if I start crying and lamenting, then I will be the last person to ask for an extension.

Because spiritual Masters are here on earth, sometimes they act in a human way. My little dog Kanu and I were so fond of one another. During his last year he wanted only to be with me. He even wanted to sleep with me. If I picked him up and put him near my heart, he would get up to go and sleep at my feet. He was always at my feet. So many times I knew that he was gone, absolutely gone, but when I would bring him downstairs, he would again open his eyes. O God! The Supreme is very wise. He did not want me to see my Kanu’s passing. So, twelve or thirteen days after I left New York for our Christmas holiday, the Supreme brought Kanu to the other world. When Kanu died, I was crying for days and days, shedding bitter tears. On the one hand, the Supreme was laughing. On the other hand, so powerfully He was consoling me.

Under ordinary circumstances, if the Supreme sees that in my human way I am very affectionate towards someone or something, then He not only forgives my stupid affection or attachment but even enjoys it. But if things go contrary to my human hopes or desires, then immediately I become one with the Will of the Supreme. Although the human in me is crying, the divine in me remains detached and happy.

All spiritual Masters are like this. When one of Sri Ramakrishna’s devotees passed away — he was not even a real disciple — Sri Ramakrishna suffered tremendously. But when he saw the soul of that person very happily flying up like a bird, Sri Ramakrishna started clapping. Before that, he was insane with grief. But when he saw how happy the soul was, he also became very happy.

So there is a great difference between Sri Ramakrishna and an ordinary person. An ordinary person might cry and blame God for years. But Sri Ramakrishna completely identified with God’s Will. Sometimes Sri Ramakrishna would fight for someone. Although he knew that ultimately he would happily accept the Will of the Supreme, in the beginning he would let the human in him come to the fore because he wanted to be one with earth. Otherwise, he could have just remained in the Himalayan caves and said, “I have realised God. Who cares for the world!” I also have realised God, so I could do the same thing. But God is asking me to live in the world and be of service to Him here in the West, so I am here.

Part IV

Question: If people do not consciously pray or meditate, but they use their heart to love humanity as it is, can they also get inner messages that way?

If one makes unconditional surrender, then he is on his way to God-realisation. Let him practise unconditional surrender; then he is bound to realise God. The height of unconditional surrender is “Let Thy Will be done.” That is the ultimate height of meditation and prayer. They lead to the same goal. If one is having a good meditation, will he say, “Let my own will be done”? No! Precisely because he has gone deep within, he will say, “God, tell me what I should do, and I will do it.” Prayer, with folded hands, also says, “God, tell me what I should do.” One goes deep within and says, “God, tell me what I should do.” The other looks up and says, “Please, please tell me what I am supposed to do.” Both meditation and prayer are saying the same thing. One goes deep inside, and the other looks up. One climbs up the tree, and the other is at the foot of the tree, looking up.

Part V

Question: When chosen instruments fail, does the choice withdraw and go to others?

Question: In the inner world, does everybody know who you are?

Question: What does delight look like?

Question: Will a disciple's love ever equal the Master's love for the disciple?

Question: What is the best way to bring new life into each new day?

Question: Should we expect to be attacked by weaknesses we pray to overcome?

Question: Where does your sweeter than the sweetest sweetness come from?

My sweetness comes from the beauty of my universal heart and the fragrance of my transcendental soul.

Question: Will America recognise and fulfil you while you are here on earth?

Question: What do your multi-day races contribute to the world?

Question: How can I quickly regain my inner and outer strength after a multi-day race?

Question: How can one be a superior yet still maintain a child's heart?

Question: How can we maintain our gratitude even when we are tired?

Question: What pleases you most: when we invoke you or enter into you, or both?

Question: Do good intentions count in God's Eyes, even if not carried out?

Question: Do you ever get bored?

Question: What is the best way to deal with different people daily?

Question: Would you please explain the divine game of praying?

In our outer life, we do not feel that the game itself is joy. The importance of the game is only in the results. If we win, then only we get joy. That is a totally mistaken idea. When we pray, we should feel that the prayer itself is joy. We are praying to God Himself. We should be so grateful to God that He has given us the capacity to pray to Him. God says to us, “I want to play with you, My child. But I want you to play happily and self-givingly.”

Question: How can I become yours eternally?

Part VI

Interviewer: Sri Chinmoy, the runners who are your students talked a lot about meditation, your philosophy and how that helps their running. What do you tell them to help them find the strength they need to go on day after day and run 16 hours a day?

When we take the next step, then we tell God, “We would like to please You cheerfully, eagerly plus unconditionally.” If He wants me at this moment to converse with Him, I will do it happily, gladly and proudly. The next moment if He asks me to play tennis, I will gladly play tennis. Then, the following moment, if He asks me to do something else, that I will also do, happily and proudly. Ultimately we would like to do everything for God unconditionally. We shall not set any condition: “God, if You give me this, then I shall do that for You.” That is not our philosophy. We tell God, “We shall give You happily and self-givingly what You want from us. To please You in Your own Way we came into the world.” This is our philosophy.

Interviewer: I am curious about what happens on the day-to-day level.

Interviewer: The one time I did my longest race, ten miles, I remember it was a little bit of an emotional roller coaster. After perhaps three miles I thought, "This is great! I can run 26 miles. I can do a marathon." And then after six miles I thought, "Oh my gosh, my knees are going to ache; my feet hurt. I'm totally exhausted!" I just went up and down. What would you tell your disciples to help them deal with the low part?

Interviewer: What makes sports and athleticism such an important part of spirituality for you?

The body, vital and mind each have a special role to play in our lives. If the vital is not dynamic, then we shall be lethargic. We have to be dynamic with our vital, not aggressive. Then we have to be mentally pure. We have to have pure and illumining thoughts in our mind and not indulge in doubt. Otherwise, one moment I will say that you are a very bad woman. Then the next moment I will tell myself, “What right do I have to say that? She is a very good woman.” So, this moment you are very, very good, but before you leave here, my mind can say that you are very bad. Now look at this! Who am I? Am I in a position to judge whether you are good or bad? No! But I am in a position to offer you good thoughts, kind thoughts.

Part VII

Question: Guru, have all the people who used to meditate for hours and hours in previous lives reincarnated?

Question: Are they consciously meditating now, or are they more involved in modern life?

Sri Chinmoy: Some of them have not turned to modern life. They are still in India and other Eastern countries, where they are praying and meditating. Again, some wanted to enlarge their experiences and go slowly in their spiritual life. That is why they are now in America and other Western places. Others felt that whatever they had already received was more than enough, so now they could take incarnation in the West. And some, even after achieving partial God-realisation, felt that science is better than spirituality! Their theory is that if science does something great, immediately millions of people will get the benefit. They do not realise that in one second the goodwill of a spiritual Master can affect thousands and millions of people.

I am here cutting jokes with you, but in one second I can send a little bit of goodwill with my occult power and spiritual power, and it will immediately spread. Science cannot do that. That is why Swami Vivekananda and others used to say, “From the top of the Himalayas if a spiritual Master sends goodwill for a few seconds, it will cover the length and breadth of the whole world.” Science can drop the atom bomb, but only one or two towns it can destroy. The world is so vast. How many atom bombs will be needed to destroy the whole world? But in the inner world, in a few seconds goodwill immediately enters into the souls of millions and millions of human beings.

This is one hundred per cent true, but you have to come to the level where you can see it and feel it. There are many, many things which we cannot prove to others unless they come to that level. A nurse will know the capacity of a doctor, but what do I know about medicine? Spiritual Masters have attained a certain height. As soon as they send goodwill from that height, it spreads everywhere. Sri Ramana Maharshi used to say that in one second he sent his goodwill and it covered the whole world. He was not imagining this, and he was not fooling himself.

I know that even when I am relaxing with my disciples, if I send goodwill, in a few seconds it goes to everyone, no matter how many souls are alive on earth. And if you are of a different standard, and you want to send goodwill to the other world, immediately it goes to the other world also.

Just yesterday the newspaper was showing the surface of Mars. I was reading the newspaper in a relaxed way when I saw it. It was not my mental hallucination, but while looking at the photograph for perhaps a minute, I was seeing so many beings! Still man has not landed there, but the picture had been taken. This planet looks like such a beautiful place, with greenery, like the surface of the earth. When I concentrated from my porch, believe me, how many beings were voraciously eating my light! ‘Voraciously’ is the right word.

Was this my imagination? Sri Ramakrishna would say no, this was not imagination; it was absolutely true. Sri Aurobindo would say it was absolutely true. But ask somebody else, an ordinary man, and he will say it was my mental hallucination; it was worse than imagination. Whom to believe? When I am concentrating, I am seeing something, just as I am seeing you here. If somebody else says, “No, he did not see anything,” then what am I going to do? Let that person be satisfied by saying that I did not see anything.

Question: Are those beings on Mars consciously aspiring?

Question: What kind of beings are these? Are they all on the inner plane? Do they have physical bodies?

Question: They can just travel to the earth?

Question: You have said that earth is the place where souls can make progress. So how is their prayer aiding these beings on other planets?

Question: What do these beings do? Do they have a lifespan? We have a physical lifespan. Are they immortal? Do they live forever?

Question: Were these beings disturbed when the spacecraft landed?

Question: Will that happen in the future? Will man go there eventually?

Question: So people will not physically live there?

Part VIII

Question: It takes a very long time, a lot of effort and a lot of money to go on mountain-climbing trips. Is it really worth all the time, effort and money, or would it be better to do something else with our resources?

Recently one of our Swiss disciples, after swimming the English Channel, went on to do cycling and running all the way to Paris. If you look at her, who would ever imagine she could do this kind of thing?

Question: I don't think that money is really the problem. It's just that sometimes I feel miserable when there are other projects that I cannot participate in. Because I'm concentrating on climbing, I don't do some other things.

“Best disciple”: Guru, I don’t like the cold.

Sri Chinmoy: He does not like the cold, and somebody else will not like something else!

“Best disciple”: I’m also scared of heights.

Sri Chinmoy: You have to see how many people are able to do this. Each thing has such significance in life, individually and collectively: swimming, climbing, running. Look at what a wonderful job our Peace Run has done! Thousands and millions of people know about us because of the Peace Run. In the Peace Run you can invite thousands of people to participate, and everyone will be all oneness-enthusiasm. That is one way, the collective way, and it is a tremendous manifestation. But for other types of manifestation, individually some people have to come forward. When it is a matter of climbing, even if some people have oneness, will they dare to make the attempt? Everything that we achieve is recorded in our minds and hearts.