God is everywhere, but you have to know your standard. If God is in everybody, then why come to the meditation hall? At this time you could have gone to a bar. God is also inside the people who are drinking there. But you don’t go there because you know that in comparison this is a better place. So you have to be very wise. Birds of a feather flock together. Now you have entered into the spiritual life. Our standard is much higher, infinitely higher, than those people, so you cannot mix with them. At the same time you should not hate them. It is just that you cannot treasure some of the qualities they have. God is having a particular experience inside them, and God is telling us not to have that same experience.
We can learn from others’ deception, and we can learn from our own diligence. When we are alert, we learn a few things, and when we are not alert, we learn a few other things. When we are alert, we don’t learn anything from our failures, or so-called trouble. When we are alert and very diligent, we go from light to more light. But when you mix with people who are not aspiring consciously and deliberately, then you enter into ignorance. We are in darkness, and from darkness we try to come to light. From light we can go to more light and abundant light. When we mix with spiritual people, we go from light to higher light. So in the future, only mix with other spiritual seekers.From:Sri Chinmoy,Transformation of the ego, Agni Press, 1977
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