Part III — Selfless service

Question: When you ask us to do selfless service, sometimes we seem to have things to do on the outside. Are we consciously creating burdens on the outside so that we don't have to work for the Centre?

Sri Chinmoy: It entirely depends on your sincerity. If you are one hundred per cent sincere, then God gives you the opportunity to work for Him and takes away your worldly problems. If we want to cry for Him and to please Him every second of our life, is it not His bounden duty at that time to keep our path clear? But we are not so desperately in need of God. We feel that there should be a compromise between God and the earthly life.

But there can be no compromise in the spiritual life. In the beginning of your spiritual life you may want to go very slowly, like an Indian bullock cart. Because you are afraid of your mother or your father or somebody else in your family, you go slowly, slowly, slowly. But a day comes when you are no longer afraid of the members of your family and then there should be no compromise. You are not afraid of the world; only you are afraid of your own self. At that time if you don't do the right thing, if God does not come first in life, then you are doomed.

If you can do the right thing, then you will run very fast. But it entirely depends on how sincerely you need God. Worldly problems arise because your necessity for God is not strong enough. Today you see problems, real problems, in your family. But tomorrow, when your own aspiration increases, you will just laugh at these so-called problems. The same difficulties may arise and will arise, but you will laugh at them. The deeper you go and the more intense your aspiration becomes, the easier it becomes to solve your worldly problems. When you become one hundred per cent spiritual, I tell you, no matter how many problems you have — even ten or twenty problems a day — you will laugh at them. You will think that solving them is just like drinking water. You just have to get a glass and turn on the water in the sink. It is so easy! Why? Because you have a tremendous thirst which you have to quench. Just because you are extremely thirsty, your thirst compels you to go immediately and get water.

Very often among some of the disciples, I have seen that their worldly life comes first. Many of them are busy with their own achievement or with their own work. Think of what you would say if I were to ask you what you have done for our mission. But even if you don't care for the mission, at least care for your own aspiration. Actually you cannot separate your aspiration from the mission, for I am in both aspiration and manifestation. If you don't care for the manifestation, I won't find fault with you. But I shall find fault with you if you do not have aspiration, because that should come first. And if you really aspire, then you won't be able to separate manifestation from aspiration. But if you do want to separate aspiration from manifestation, and unfortunately some disciples do, then I wish to say that you can stay here with your aspiration, but you must prove to me that you are aspiring. Your face will be the proof of your aspiration.

From:Sri Chinmoy,Selfless service-light, Agni Press, 1977
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