Part III

SCA 360-365. On 14 December 1998, at the University of Hawaii's Thomas Jefferson Hall, Sri Chinmoy answered these questions during a disciple gathering.

Question: Is there only a certain amount of progress that a soul can make in a particular life?

Sri Chinmoy: If you do not have a teacher and you entirely depend on yourself, then everything has a limit. But when you take help from someone or from your soul, then you go beyond that limit. When you depend on yourself, you can progress only so far. When you take help from your soul, you can go farther. Again, if you take help from your soul, God will definitely come into your soul and lift you. But if you take help from a teacher, you can go even farther and higher.

The progress of the physical, vital and mind is limited when they depend on themselves. If the vital or mind takes help from the soul, then it increases its capacity. Here I am taking exercise, and Unmilan is helping me. If Unmilan is not available, even then there are quite a few things I am able to do. But because he is helping me, he is strengthening me. If I did not get help from him, I would be able to lift only twenty or thirty pounds.

If you entirely depend on the physical body, vital or mind, then everything is limited. You cannot go beyond that limit. But if you take help from your soul or from God or from a spiritual Master, then your progress becomes unlimited. There is no fixed rule at that time. If you depend on a higher force, you can go beyond.