Question: I have read that man is greater than the cosmic gods because he can realise God. Is this true?

Sri Chinmoy: Liberation or self-realisation can be had only by a human being. When a soul enters into a human being, it starts making progress. In the process of evolution, the individual becomes fully liberated and fully realised. But the gods do not have that opportunity. They live in the vital world, the higher vital world, and from there they operate. So unless and until they enter into a human form and go through the process of evolution, they cannot have the self-realisation or liberation that we human beings have. We have to know that there is nothing greater than self-realisation. This means that we have crossed the sea of ignorance and death. That is why we say that man is greater than the gods. Man gets self-realisation whereas the so-called gods who are in the vital plane do not care for it.

From:Sri Chinmoy,Secrets of the inner world, Agni Press, 1980
Sourced from https://srichinmoylibrary.com/siw