Question: Does the New Millennium mean something for everybody on earth or just for those who are using a particular calendar?

Sri Chinmoy: The New Millennium is meant for everybody. When the light descends, it is like the morning sun, it is for everybody. No matter how bad we are, no matter how good we are, we receive the same light. The sun is for everybody, irrespective of our character. But then comes the question of our receptivity. Some will get up early in the morning, look at the rising sun and pray and meditate. Naturally they will get much more benefit, while others will enjoy their sleep. Again, there will be people who will be praying or doing things, but without caring for the sun’s arrival.

Similarly, when the New Millennium starts, it is bringing new hope, new promise. But we have to know how wide we can keep our heart’s door open to the light. The light is descending, but we have to cultivate receptivity. According to our receptivity, we are going to receive blessings from the New Millennium. Exactly like the sun, it is for all. But if one country or one individual is more receptive than the rest, then naturally that country or that person will receive much more.

Newness is definitely going to descend from Above with the arrival of the New Millennium. But it may be difficult to separate the oldness from the newness because we are so tied to our oldness. When newness appears, we may not value it. Since we are not familiar with it, we may take it as something very strange and we may not take as much help as we should from the newness.

Again, the calendar will say that the New Millennium is not in the year 2000; it is in the following year, 2001. But for me, the New Millennium has already started. The New Year’s Message that I gave is not only for the year 2000. It applies to the following year as well, or even to quite a few more years. This time God’s Hour has seriously struck. Sometimes in a theatre, a bell rings to indicate the end of the intermission. After three minutes it rings again, and after that nobody is allowed to come inside. In our spiritual life also, the warning may come once and then it may come again. But at times there is no second warning. Therefore, as soon as the first warning comes, we have to wake up. We must not wait for the second warning to arrive. We must wake up and run, run, run. We must run to the class to study.