Part V

Question: How can we work on three or four projects simultaneously and do them well?⁵

Sri Chinmoy: Always you have to divide your time. Nobody can do four things at once, but you can do four things in the course of a day. Every day, early in the morning, I meditate. Then I sing quite a few songs or I play them on the flute. Then I take exercise for half an hour or so. After taking exercise, I practise the cello, the esraj and some other instruments. Then again I take some more exercise. After that, I read a few spiritual books or I read some books containing idioms or phrases or dictionary words and note them down. I find spirituality in everything. And at the same time, I am doing many inner things.

Every day I do physical exercise, mental exercise and psychic exercise along with my prayer and meditation. From a quarter to three, or some nights just after two o’clock, if I am fresh, I go on, go on, go on, doing my inner and outer work. I have so many things to do. If I have ten things to do and I neglect any of them, I feel miserable. So I try to do them all. Sometimes I pay more attention to one particular item. I may play the cello for a longer time than I play the viola, but still I do play the viola.

We have to do everything during the span of the day. But we have to give each project our one-pointed concentration. While we are doing one thing, quite often we are thinking of something else. When I am playing on the cello, if I start thinking of my esraj, then I will not accomplish anything. While you are doing one thing, if you are thinking of the other nine things that you are supposed to do, your full concentration is not there. Those other things you have to do, true, but the thought of those things must not enter your mind.

While you are doing something, you have to feel that that thing is the only thing that exists in your outer life. Of course, in your inner life, you will always continue with your aspiration and dedication, but in your outer life, you must not think of another thing. If you are writing an article for a magazine, at that time do not think of your office work. One-pointed determination you must keep for the thing that you are doing. Once it is finished, you can think of something else. Time will help you. But you have to do each thing in its own time.