Question: Is there anything we can do to create harmony? You have given us so many answers. Is there another answer you can give?

Sri Chinmoy: Who wants to live in the basement if one can stay on the topmost floor? On the physical plane, a building can have God knows how many floors, but always there is something called the basement. From the spiritual point of view I use the term ‘abysmal abyss’. When we do not have harmony, we remain in the abysmal abyss. It is all darkness: screaming, fighting, wrestling, strangling, boxing, kicking!

Lack of harmony comes when I feel that I know how to do something better than you. Lack of harmony is the song and dance of superiority. Because everybody feels superior, disharmony at every moment is entering into our lives. But what is this feeling of superiority if not a feeling of inferiority expressed in a clever way?

It is only because we are so inferior to God that we are constantly finding fault with God. We say, “I know better than God! God does not understand my situation! God does not see when I do good things; He sees only when I do bad things!” Like this we are always criticising God. If one is really superior, it is beneath his dignity to come down and quarrel with others. God is infinitely superior to us, but does He come down and fight with us? No!

When children argue with their mother, the mother acts as if she knows nothing. The child may have gone only to primary school or high school and the mother perhaps has a high degree from the university. But the child thinks he knows much more than the mother and he is telling the mother all kinds of stupid things. Inwardly the mother is crying and praying to God to give the child illumination, but outwardly she is saying, “Oh, you are right; I am so stupid. I am learning from you.”

Similarly, even if we know perfectly well that so-and-so is absolutely wrong, we have to be wise and remain silent. Eventually, the other person will see the light. But if we are all the time fighting and quarrelling, we will only destroy our subtle nerves, which are needed to expedite our spiritual journey. So if we use our wisdom, automatically self-effacement comes. Self-effacement is the easiest and the most effective way to establish harmony. One thing we can do is practise japa, repeating, “Self-effacement, self-effacement, self-effacement.” If we do this japa, we walk on pavement that is sunlit, and we reach our destination.