Question: Whenever I have to perform, I become nervous and I end up performing badly. Is there anything I can do about this?

Sri Chinmoy: Feel that you are not performing in front of fifty people. Just think that there is only one person listening to you and imagine that that person is an idiot. No matter how badly you sing, no matter how bad your throat is, just think that that person is infinitely inferior to you. Or think that he is a child of only two years old. This is the human way. But the divine way is to see immediately the Supreme before you. If you see the Supreme and feel that you also are the Supreme, then how can one Supreme be afraid of the other Supreme? There is only one Supreme. If you bow down to the Supreme inside each individual in the audience, then immediately you become one with each individual. Then you will not be afraid. Because you do not feel your oneness, you are afraid. But if you are one, then you don’t feel afraid. This is the divine way. In Jamaica, West Indies, someone once told me a funny story. “We went to a conference and the lecturer stood up and said, ‘Ladies and gentlemen, two persons were supposed to deliver the speech. It was all decided. But my best friend has disappeared, so I am going now in search of him’. God had told him that He would inspire him and that he should not be afraid. But when he came up to the stage, God was not visible anymore. So he forgot everything and said, ‘This is unfair. My friend has deserted me, so I am going to look for him’. He left the platform.”

From:Sri Chinmoy,Sri Chinmoy speaks, part 4, Agni Press, 1976
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