Question: I would like to know how all disciplines such as diet fit in with spirituality. It seems to me that if God is in everything, then if we just keep our thoughts on God we shouldn't need anything else.

Sri Chinmoy: God is in everything, true. God is in a tiger and in a snake, but that doesn't mean that I will go and stand in front of a tiger or a snake, for I know that I will be devoured or bitten. Since God is Omnipresent, He is in everything. He is in desire and in aspiration. God is in everything, but I have to use my common sense. I feel that sooner or later I will be frustrated. Then I see that my frustration is immediately followed by destruction. So I have to search for the God who is in aspiration. When I aspire, I get abundant Peace, Light and Bliss. It is like drinking water. Why do we drink pure water instead of dirty, impure water? Both are water, but when we use our wisdom we see that we should drink the pure water.

We have come into the world to make progress, but if we do not use our wisdom in our day-to-day life, then we will make no progress. Success is a form of experience and failure is also a form of experience in life. Both success and failure we offer at the Feet of God. But since God Himself is transcending His own Realisation, we feel that the more we can consciously make progress, the more we are achieving, revealing and manifesting the Truth. If there is no quest, what kind of life will we lead? In spite of knowing this, most of the time we quarrel, we fight, we strangle, we do everything that is undivine. But since we know that God is everything, why do we not lead a divine life?

To a spiritual person, the very concept of God is divine. He is divine, He is immortal and He is all Compassion. If we think of God as Satan, as a destructive force, then we are totally lost. So for a spiritual seeker, the very idea of God is Benevolence, Compassion and Light. We have to know which aspect of God we want. God is in everything, true. God is in destruction and God is in imperfection. But being seekers of the infinite Truth, we will care for the God who is all Compassion, who is all Illumination.

We know that everybody wants satisfaction, but it depends on how the individual soul is satisfied. A thief is satisfied after he has committed a theft. A seeker is satisfied only after he has realised God, the highest Truth. But the thing that I need for satisfaction you may not need. So you are right in achieving something to satisfy yourself and I am perfectly right in achieving something to satisfy my own needs.

From:Sri Chinmoy,The soul's evolution, Agni Press, 1976
Sourced from https://srichinmoylibrary.com/se