_Student:_ Some thinkers have allowed the possibility of complete enlightenment and release while here on earth, while others say that the final release from karmic bondage comes only with death. What is your feeling on this?

Sri Chinmoy: From the highest spiritual point of view, we have to attain illumination here on earth; we cannot attain illumination in the higher worlds. If I do bad things all throughout my life and think of God or pray to God only at the last moment, I cannot expect to achieve illumination in the other world. When it is time for me to leave the body, I will not be able to enter into a very high state of consciousness. While I am alive I have to achieve illumination, liberation or realisation through prayer, meditation and right action. If someone does not attain something while in the physical body, he will not be able to get it after he leaves the body. The Buddha, the Christ and all the spiritual Masters realised God here on earth. It is in the physical that we have to achieve and embody the highest states of consciousness. The body is like a temple. Inside some temples, unfortunately, there is no shrine, no living God-consciousness. But inside the body-temple of those who have attained liberation and realisation are the most beautiful shrines. It is absurd to think that someone will attain the highest realisation or get illumination after he has left the body if he has not achieved it during his life on earth. God has to be seen, felt and realised here on earth.

From:Sri Chinmoy,A seeker's heart-songs, Agni Press, 1994
Sourced from https://srichinmoylibrary.com/shs