Question: Why are people getting worse instead of better?
Sri Chinmoy: I hear this question often from elderly people, but I have to be very frank. Has there been any time on earth when there was no conflict, no fighting, no war? From the very beginning of civilisation there has been fighting. At the start of the Mahabharata period they were fighting and later, in the time of the Greek and Roman civilisations, there was also constant fighting. Conflict has always existed on earth.Our remote forefathers stayed in the forests and jungles. They used to hunt and fight. They did everything like the animals. Spiritually we have evolved from the animal kingdom, but still we are fighting, quarrelling and killing. We feel that the world is getting worse. We hear from our parents, from our friends, from our relatives and from the newspapers that the world is about to break into pieces. But actually it is not like that. The world is not getting worse and, at the same time, the world is not going to be destroyed. The atom bomb, the hydrogen bomb, all the bombs can be used; but the entire universe can never be destroyed or broken into pieces. People say that destruction took place in the past. They say that Atlantis was totally destroyed. Yes, some parts of the world were destroyed, but not the entire world.
Just yesterday we were talking about your mother. Your mother knows how to swim well, but you do not know how. You are afraid of the waves. Your mother will immediately jump into the water. Inside the waves she becomes one with the ocean, so she has no fear. But you will be terribly afraid that the waves will take you away. You will be scared to death because you feel that if you jump into the waves, you will die.
On the surface big waves are surging, but when you go deep inside the water, you see that it is all calm, quiet and tranquil, absolutely tranquil. The world is like the ocean. People think that if they enter into the world, then the world will devour them. They see the world from the outside, with their human eyes, and they are horror-struck. From a distance the world looks very bad, ugly and dirty. But the moment we go deep within, we see only one person and that is God. If the reality in everyone is God, then the outer things that we see can never be disturbing.
Nothing is actually getting worse. The outer situation may be bad, the world-consciousness may be low, but the consciousness of some individuals is going up. If we see God in His multiple creation, then we have to feel that the world is progressing. The real progress is inside, and this progress gradually comes to the fore. So if we see the totality of the entire world, we will not say that it is getting worse. No, the world is aspiring. One corner, perhaps, may want to fight, quarrel, damage and destroy, but the inner consciousness of the entire world cannot go downward. It cannot go downward because God Himself is pushing the earth-consciousness upward. If God is pushing us towards the light, then eventually we have to see the light. Right now we are like unruly elephants running to this side and that side. But a day will dawn when we shall become like very faithful and devoted dogs. We shall follow the lead of God.
When you enter into the world of conflict, you feel sad and disturbed. But you must go deep inside it. There you will find much peace, much joy, much light. Then you should try to bring these inner qualities to the fore and give them to the world. At that time you will see that the world is not bad; it was your wrong understanding that made you feel that the world was bad.
If you do not know how to deal with the world, then the world is very bad. The world-ocean is very bad for you right now because now you do not know how to swim well. But for those who have realised Truth, Peace, Light and Bliss in infinite measure, the world is not an object of fear or terror. For them the world is a happy challenge. Let us face the challenge and enter into the waves. There we shall feel our true identity. With a little insight we see that it is all oneness, all joy.
