California concert and lecture tour

//In late September and early October 1978 Sri Chinmoy gave a series of lectures and concerts at universities in California. During his short tour he received keys to the cities of Los Angeles and San José, as well as several Mayoral Proclamations, honours from the universities, and an award from //Runner’s World// magazine. Sri Chinmoy’s lectures and the awards appear below.//

Our departing friends, our lasting friends and our everlasting friends¹

Our departing friends are anxiety and worry, defeat and disappointment, darkness and ignorance.

Anxiety and worry we call our friends precisely because we unconsciously cherish them. It is the height of folly, but we do cherish them. We cherish them, therefore they are our friends.

Defeat and disappointment surround our departing friends. Defeat and disappointment shatter our being; nevertheless we cherish them unconsciously.

Darkness envelopes us, ignorance constantly assails us. We wallow in the pleasures of ignorance. As long as they are with us we cherish them, we call them our friends. But there comes a time when darkness and ignorance disappear. By virtue of our aspiration or inner cry we liberate ourselves from these so-called friends: anxiety, worry, defeat, disappointment, darkness and ignorance.

Our lasting friends are hope, determination, faith, personal effort, aspiration and realisation.

Hope is not mere wishful thinking. It is the precursor of a new dawn. This new dawn slowly, steadily and unerringly comes to the fore, and eventually grows into reality’s existence.

Determination is of paramount importance. Each time we are determined we expedite our journey. In the battlefield of life with determination we march fast, very fast, toward our destined goal.

Faith constantly reminds us of our perennial Source. Faith constantly makes us feel that we are of the Absolute and for the Absolute.

Personal effort is of paramount importance. Unless and until we give to the world at large what we have and what we are, we cannot grow into the all-widening and all-embracing Reality which we call the universal Consciousness of the transcendental Height. This personal effort is also founded upon the unconditional Compassion of the Supreme. What we call effort in reality is a result of the Supreme’s Grace, which rains constantly on our devoted head and our surrendered heart.

Aspiration is our inner cry. This cry, unlike the desire-cry, constantly reminds us of our own highest height. We cry for the loftiest height, cry for boundless peace, light and bliss. There is a constant hunger within us to transcend ourselves, to go beyond the reality which we have already achieved.

Realisation is our oneness with the Infinite. To become one with our perennial Source is our soul’s goal. Here we feel at every moment that we are of the One and for the many. God the Creator manifests Himself in us and through us, and we try our utmost to become constant and unconditional instruments of our Beloved Supreme.

Perfection is our everlasting friend. Perfection is an ever-transcending Reality. Perfection is satisfaction. This satisfaction is constantly flowing in and through our aspiring heart, devoted life and surrendered oneness with the Supreme Pilot. When we try to perfect ourselves within and without, at every moment we see a new dawn before us and within us. It beckons us to the supreme Reality which is more than willing to lead us, guide us, shape us and mould us into the immortal Reality.

I have only one need²

I have only one need: oneness, oneness, oneness. Oneness with the animal consciousness do I need? No, never. Oneness with the human consciousness do I need? No, never. Oneness with the divine Consciousness do I need? Yes, forever.

Why do I not want to have oneness with the animal consciousness? I do not want it because the animal consciousness is all destruction. Why do I not want to have oneness with the human consciousness? I do not want it because the human consciousness is all division. Why do I want to have oneness with the divine Consciousness? I want it because the divine Consciousness is all satisfaction.

Oneness, oneness, oneness. Oneness with the temptation-life I do not want, precisely because temptation is frustration. Oneness with the earth-bound life I do not want, for earth-bound life is nothing short of limitation. Oneness with the heaven-free life I want, for the heaven-free life is Eternity’s Peace, Infinity’s Bliss and Immortality’s Life.

Oneness, oneness, oneness. O my Beloved Supreme, I have only one need: oneness. I shall be happy if my oneness-need is fulfilled. I shall be equally happy if my oneness-need is not fulfilled. I shall be happy even if it is not fulfilled, for the very quest, the very longing for oneness with You, with my Source, gives me abundant joy, boundless joy, infinite joy. Let me have this quenchless thirst, a thirst for conscious and constant oneness with you. O my Beloved Supreme, even if You do not fulfil my oneness-quest, no harm. Just allow the flame of longing for oneness with You to burn in me forever and forever.

In the inner world all I have is You. In the outer world all I need is You. May my inner world and my outer world become one, for in their oneness I shall achieve satisfaction, which is perfection itself. Oneness, oneness, oneness.

Self-transcendence³

What do we long for? We long for self-transcendence. And what do we actually need? We need self-transcendence. In ordinary life ordinary human beings desire something, but at the same time they do not need it. Again, they need something, but they do not desire it.

Here we are all seekers. We all need self-transcendence, and at the same time we fervently long for it. Self-transcendence brings us the message of happiness. We are happy when we fulfil ourselves in our own way. But when we fulfil ourselves in God’s own way, then we are infinitely more happy. We fulfil our self-imposed duty and thereby we derive joy. But there is something called God-ordained duty. When we fulfil our God-ordained duty we get joy in boundless measure.

Happiness is in our self-giving. We give what we are. What we are is our aspiration, inner cry, and what we give is our dedication-life. It is in self-giving that we grow into God. Self-giving is the precursor of God-becoming.

Self-transcendence gives us joy in boundless measure. When we transcend ourselves, we do not compete with others. We compete only with ourselves, with our previous achievements. And each time we surpass our previous achievements we get joy. We do not compete with the rest of the world, but at every moment we compete with ourselves.

We measure our doubting mind. We measure our sacrificing heart. How far we are away from the doubting mind, or how much we have illumined our doubting mind, or how much we have cultivated receptivity in the inmost recesses of our heart, we try to measure. At every moment we transcend ourselves by measuring the capacity that we already have.

There are quite a few adequate ways to transcend ourselves, but the two main ways are the humility-way and the awareness-way. We try to cultivate humility, true humility, soulful humility. It is through our humility that we acquire the power of receptivity. When we have the power of receptivity, Peace, Light and Bliss in boundless measure descend from above, and with no difficulty we can embody these divine attributes.

We have to be aware of our Source. Our Source is flooded with Light and Delight. When we are tempted to do something undivine, if we can be aware of our Source, which is all Light and Delight, we get the inner message and thus prevent our misdeeds. We feel that it is beneath our dignity to wallow in the pleasures of ignorance; it is beneath our dignity to swim in the sea of darkness. This is what we get from our constant awareness, and this is the only way we can establish a free access to our own divinity, to our own highest delight.

Either we can walk along the way of true humility, or we can walk along the way of awareness in order to transcend ourselves. Transcendence is satisfaction; satisfaction and perfection are the observe and reverse of the same coin. If we become perfect, then we are happy. At the same time, when we are happy, soulfully happy, we can grow into fruitful perfection.

Where do I live?⁴

I live. Where do I live? I live in my heart. I live in my heart-muscle. I live in my heart-cave. I live in my heart-room. I live in my heart-home. I live in my heart-palace. I live in my heart-universe.

When I live inside my heart-muscle, I go back to the stone age; I embody my stone-consciousness.

When I live inside my heart-cave, I sing only one song day in and day out. I sing the song of I-ness: I, my, mine.

When I live inside my heart-room, at times I open my windows and see the world around me, but I am afraid of welcoming the world. I am afraid that whomever I allow to come in may be an intruder; therefore, I do not allow anybody to enter into my heart-room.

When I live inside my heart-home, I allow the members of my immediate family and my friends to come inside. Together we play, together we mix, together we throw ourselves into multifarious activities. But my heart-home is only for my near and dear ones.

When I live inside my heart-palace, I welcome only big celebrities, famous people, great personalities. I welcome them, I invite them to come into my heart-palace to receive some inspiration-light to offer to their many admirers and followers.

Finally, when I live inside my heart-universe, I see the Face of my Beloved Supreme. I feel His presence constantly. Out of His boundless Bounty He appears before me. Him I see with my human eyes; Him I feel with my human heart. I ask my Lord Supreme to grant me His constant Blessings. He says that He has already granted me His Blessings infinite. He tells me to give Him what I have and what I am devotedly, soulfully, unreservedly and unconditionally. I give Him what I have and what I am: ignorance. He, out of His infinite Compassion, gives me what He has and what He is: Delight in infinite measure.

Music⁵

Music is inspiration, soulful inspiration. It inspires the human in us. Music is manifestation, fruitful manifestation. It manifests the divine in us. Music is satisfaction, supreme satisfaction. It satisfies the Pilot Supreme in us.

The human musician plays in order to become great. The divine musician becomes good first and then plays divinely, while soulfully and unconditionally offering the results to the Beloved Supreme. The Supreme Musician does not play in order to become great. The Supreme Musician does not have to become good in order to play. But the Supreme Musician at once embodies the universal sound-music and the transcendental Silence-Music.

God the Supreme Music feeds the aspiration-heart of the seeker-musician. God the Supreme Musician illumines the dedication-life of the seeker-musician. The soulful prayer of a seeker-musician and his music-world are the same thing: his soulful music is his soulful prayer. His fruitful meditation is another name for his fruitful music.

The music of the unaspiring musician and God’s Compassion-flood are inseparable. The music of the aspiring and surrendered seeker-musician and God’s Satisfaction-Delight are always interchangeable.

Message

During a concert given by Sri Chinmoy and his disciples at San Francisco State University, Mr. L. L. Mehrotra, Consul-General of India in California and Sri Chinmoy’s former boss at the Indian Consulate in New York City, spontaneously offered the following most special message.

Reverend Sri Chinmoy, his devoted disciples and my brothers and sisters of America, I feel very humble at this moment. Whereas all my life and career it has been my ambition to mingle with the dust, Sri Chinmoy is trying to seek a place for me in the skies. I would therefore be one of the most ungrateful persons on the earth if I did not interrupt this programme if only to express my gratitude. My heart is very heavy with that sentiment.

I have known Sri Chinmoy as Chinmoy Ghose now for several years, and “Ghose” means resonance. Sri Chinmoy the resonant will always reverberate in our hearts with his eternal message. He brings to you a spiritual tradition which sprang up and flourished in the mountain-vastness of the Himalayas several thousands of years ago and which is carried across the seven seas by Everest-streams and rivers. Sri Chinmoy is part and parcel of that eternal Stream. Sri Chinmoy belongs to that stream of thought and sentiment which has shown us the Light for ages. He recited a verse from the Upanishads a little while ago: Tamaso mā jyotir gamaya, “Lead me from darkness to Light”; Mṛtyor mā amṛtaṁ gamaya, “Lead me from death to Immortality.” May I say that while we mortals pray for that Immortality, Sri Chinmoy is part of that Immortality.

I consider those blessed who sit in his presence and who seek his presence, and I know that even after I and you and everyone is gone, his voice and his message will be with us, for that is the Message Supreme to which I bow.

Thank you very much.

Proclamation

City Of Berkeley
OFFICE OF THE MAYOR

WARREN WIDENER
MAYOR

PROCLAMATION

SRI CHINMOY DAY

WHEREAS, Sri Chinmoy heads an international spiritual organization with centers in some 60 cities around the world and presently serves as Director of the United Nations Meditation Group conducting meditation for U.N. delegates and staff and delivers the monthly Dag Hammarskjold Lecture Series; and

WHEREAS, Sri Chinmoy has met with a number of world figures in his efforts to introduce the practice of meditation as an inner approach to world peace — including the late Pope Paul VI (who awarded him the Papal Medallion), Presidents Eldjarn of Iceland and Childers of Ireland, Prime Minister Desai of India and numerous U.S. senators and congressmen, as well as a variety of state and local officials; and

WHEREAS, these particular involvements are typical of his unselfish attitude and his concern about the welfare of others; and

WHEREAS, Sri Chinmoy has expressed his inner realizations not only through his literature and music, but through his paintings and thus will soon celebrate the anniversary of the completion of his one hundred thousandth painting.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that I, Warren Widener, Mayor of the City of Berkeley, do hereby proclaim Wednesday, September 27, 1978 as

SRI CHINMOY DAY

in Berkeley to commemorate the occasion of Sri Chinmoy's lecture and concert presentation at the University of California this date.

Warren Widener
Mayor

City of Berkeley
September 27, 1978

Letter

PETE WILSON
MAYOR

September 27, 1978

Sri Chinmoy
2438-16th Avenue
San Francisco, California 94116

Dear Mr. Chinmoy:

I am pleased to welcome you to San Diego as part of your California tour of major universities, for a fall concert and lecture series September 27 through October 6th.

Amide your full schedule, I hope that you will find some time to explore the magic of our city. San Diegans are proud of their city, rich in a splendid heritage spanning more than 200 years, and proud of a city that is, at the same time, young with the spirit of progress and achievement.

Again, I join with the people of my city in welcoming you to San Diego. And I congratulate you for your excellent efforts to establish a peaceful and brotherly human society. I share your hope for peace for all mankind.

Sincerely,

PETE WILSON

Proclamation

Proclamation

Issued by the Mayor

City of Sacramento

SRI CHINMOY DAY

WHEREAS, Sri Chinmoy is the Director of the United Nations Meditation Group; and

WHEREAS, as head of a Non-Governmental Organization, he conducts weekly meditations for United Nations delegates and staff and delivers the monthly Dag Hammarskjold Lecture Series;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, Phillip L. Isenberg, Mayor of the City of Sacramento, do hereby proclaim September 29, 1978 as SRI CHINMOY DAY in honor of his visit to Sacramento.

ISSUED this 28th day of September, 1978

PHILLIP L. ISENBERG
MAYOR

Award

Runner’s world magazine

Distinguished Service Award

SRI CHINMOY

For dedicated service
to
humanity through
the promotion of running

September 28, 1978

Proclamation

Office of the Mayor
STOCKTON, CALIFORNIA

Proclamation

WHEREAS, The City of Stockton wishes to express its honor upon the official visit of Sri Chinmoy, a native of India, who arrived in 1964 in the United States of America and since has founded 60 centers where meditation and other spiritual skills are taught; and

WHEREAS, Sri Chinmoy, as Director of the United Nations Meditation Group and a well known spiritual leader, will present a fall lecture and concert tour encompassing California's major universities September 27 through October 6, 1978, including Stockton; and

WHEREAS, Sri Chinmoy's teachings, books, watercolors and drawings, and his musical performances have provided many with spiritual guidance and aesthetic enjoyment; and

WHEREAS, His many followers and admirers will participate in his many California tours, including the one in Stockton.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, ARNOLD I. RUE, as Mayor of the City of Stockton do hereby proclaim Friday, September 29, 1978 as

"SRI CHINMOY DAY IN STOCKTON"

and urge the citizens of the City of Stockton to attend the lecture scheduled for September 29.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the City of Stockton to be affixed this 25th day of September, Nineteen Hundred and Seventy-Eight

ARNOLD I. RUE
Mayor of the City of Stockton

Certificate

PACIFIC SCHOOL OF RELIGION

TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:

This is to certify that in view of his creative achievements in ecumenical religious interpretation and in behalf of humanity

SRI CHINMOY

has been appointed an Honorary Visiting Scholar at Pacific School of Religion.

A. Durwood Foster
Dean

John von Rohr
Interim President

October 5, 1978

Acknowledgement

COUNCIL OF PRESIDENTS

ASSOCIATED STUDENTS OF STANFORD UNIVERSITY
205 TRESIDDER MEMORIAL UNION, STANFORD, CALIFORNIA 94305

5 October 1978

The Associated Students are pleased and honored to have Sri Chinmoy among us tonight. No one of us can gauge the effect that you have had on the Stanford community over the years; whether deeply familiar or newly exposed to your teachings and music, everybody present will leave this hall a little better for the experience.

We thank Sri Chinmoy for his generosity and good will, and we heartily welcome him back to our home at any point in the future.

Andrew Neil Goldenkranz
ASSU Council of Presidents

Acknowledgement

STANFORD UNIVERSITY
STANFORD, CALIFORNIA 94305

DEPARTMENT OF MUSIC

To SRI CHINMOY, composer, singer, performer on many instruments, poet, painter, spiritual leader:

On behalf of the Department of Music, Stanford University, I offer you welcome at the culmination of your tour of California universities and colleges. Your presence on the campus is appreciated in recognition of your accomplishments in service to the world community and of your embodiment of the oneness of music with other creative manifestationS of our common humanity.

Edward E. Golbry
Lecturer in Music

Jasmine-heart

Expectation

To expect is to believe in a miracle.

Expectation is another name for the desire-mind in action.

Expectation prepares our hearts and sculptures our lives.

Expectation is an imagination-boat, an imagination-boatman, imagination-sea and imagination-shore. Expectation is the beginning of reality’s dawn.

Expectation is the foundation of a better existence.

The human in us loves expectation. The divine in us loves dedication.

Expectation is nobody’s monopoly. Even the lower than the lowest can expect to reach the highest star.

Necessity

Yesterday I knew how to multiply necessities. Today I know how to minimise necessities.

Yesterday necessity was my great friend. Today simplicity is my good friend.

Yesterday my desire-necessity made me the obscure man. Today my aspiration-necessity has made me the obvious angel.

God’s Compassion-Height was my yesterday’s necessity. God’s Justice-Light is my today’s necessity.

Yesterday my earth-desiring necessities appreciated God the indulgent Grandfather. Today my Heaven-longing necessities admire God the disciplinary Father.

Three wise necessities in the spiritual life: God-Compassion, God-Protection, God-Satisfaction.

Two wiser necessities: God-Protection and God-Satisfaction.

One wisest necessity: God-Satisfaction.

God’s Necessity was man’s divine aspiration. God’s Necessity is man’s supreme realisation. God’s Necessity will be man’s total and perfect Perfection.

Leader

Indeed, a leader is a ladder.

Indeed, a leader is he who lifts his followers up, and not he who pushes his followers down.

A leader must know that his followers are with him precisely because he is unreservedly for them.

A leader must learn how to multiply his capacities lovingly and completely in his followers.

An illumining thought precedes the leader’s vision-eye. A fulfilling action succeeds his reality-life.

A supreme leader is he who has the dreamer’s eyes and the doer’s hands.

A true leader’s true properties are: an open mind and an open heart.

Discovery

My mind discovers the truth so that it can successfully lead the world.

My heart discovers the truth so that it can divinely grow.

Human discovery is to know unmistakably what I have.

Divine discovery is to realise happily what I can easily give.

Indeed, an inventor is a self-giver. Indeed, a discoverer is a self-seeker.

Columbus discovered America’s body. I am trying to discover America’s unlimited inner strength.

Relaxation

Relaxation is self-expansion.

Relaxation is receptivity-efficiency.

To relax is to gloriously enter into the heart-door of the Beyond.

Relaxation sings with perfection-birds and dances with satisfaction-angels.

Relaxation knows no impossibility’s laughter.

Relaxation knows only inevitability’s smile.

When man in God relaxes, God in man immediately enhances.

Two teachers

I teach God how to starve in me.

God teaches me how to serve Him in humanity.

I teach God the art of flattery so that He can direct it toward me.

God teaches me archery to that I can pierce the veil of ignorance.

I teach God unconditionally hundreds of ways of deception.

God teaches me sleeplessly the secrets of Perfection.

God tells me not to think too much. If I do so, He says, I shall unmistakably sink. I tell God that if He ever cares for a cup of inconscience-drink, then I am all ready. He can get it from me for the asking.

Questions and answers

The following questions were asked in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico, on 16 September 1978.

Question: How can we know our mission in the spiritual life?

Sri Chinmoy: It is very easy. We can know our mission if every day we pray to the Supreme or meditate on the Supreme to bring to the fore our soul. The soul has to come to the fore to inspire us. I have written considerably, I have spoken considerably, I have composed songs, I have painted thousands and thousands of paintings. How do I do all this? I bring to the fore my soul. The soul is all the time one with the Supreme. It is inside us like a seed under the ground. If we cultivate it, it germinates and becomes a small plant. Then it becomes a tree, a huge banyan tree. From inside, it comes out. In the case of the soul also, from deep within it has to come forward to manifest itself. The more we can bring the soul to the fore consciously, the sooner we can be aware of our mission.

Right now we use our mind most of the time. We feel that the mind knows everything, but actually the mind knows next to nothing. Later we come to feel that the heart knows everything, but the heart does not know everything. The soul knows everything. The heart is always eager to listen to the soul, whereas the mind does not want to listen. Quite often the mind does not listen. But the heart tries to listen; therefore, the heart gets considerable light from the soul. We feel the presence of our heart. Inside the heart we have to feel that there is something else, the soul. If we can bring to the fore the soul — its consciousness, its vibration and all its capacities — then definitely we shall know what is our mission on earth.

Somebody within us knows what our mission on earth is, and he who knows has to be invoked to come to the fore. I know a little bit more than you know. That is why you are asking me, and then I am answering. Again, the Supreme knows infinitely more than I do, so I ask Him.

Question: Guru, a lady had an experience where you made the sign of the cross on her forehead. You baptised and spoke to her daughter, then rose up. Was this a real experience from you?

Sri Chinmoy: One of my inner beings has given her this experience. You call it baptism. We call it, in our Indian way, initiation. This initiation is done in many ways. When it is done on the forehead it means that we bring the inner vision forward. We do not have to move around here and there in search of light. Light is inside us, but somebody has to bring it forward. For that we need a teacher. The forehead is the place where light abides. One of my inner beings inwardly has blessed them, since they have an inner cry to follow our path. It was all done in the inner worlds.

Question: We just lost our baby, and we were questioning ourselves why the baby, in the span of one week, came to earth and then left.

Sri Chinmoy: There is no hard and fast rule about this. It can be your karma, it can be your wife’s karma, or it can be the soul’s immediate decision. It may be that in a previous incarnation it was decided by the Supreme that this would happen, or else the soul decided, as soon as it saw the ignorance of the world. Sometimes the soul comes into the world quite unprepared. Then, as soon as it comes, it sees the ignorance of the world and is frightened to death. Then it goes away. These are the two main reasons. But since you are following our path, the thing to do is to surrender to the Will of the Supreme. That is the best. If it is because of your past karma or your wife’s karma, if you have done something wrong, then it will be nullified. And if the soul of the child decided, and it is not your karma or her karma, then the only thing to do is to surrender. If the soul has decided to stay in Heaven for a few more years, let us surrender to the Will of the Supreme in the soul.

If you surrender to the Will of the Supreme, then you are doing absolutely the right thing. Not what has happened, but how we have accepted it is of paramount importance right now. If you have accepted it cheerfully and soulfully, because this is the decision approved by the Supreme, then everything is perfect. Otherwise, you may have a child, but if you are not following the Will of the Supreme, then it will be a terrible mistake. What has happened is for your best and for your wife’s best. It is not a loss if you offer the child to the Supreme. He came and he has gone back to the soul’s world, where he will remain with the Supreme.

Question: One lady, when she meditates on your transcendental picture, sees it grow bigger, then smaller, change hues and take on a physical presence.

Sri Chinmoy: Many, many people have had this experience from my transcendental picture. It is my subtle body. When I become one with the transcendental Consciousness, that Consciousness can take the smallest form and, at the same time, a larger than the largest form. And if my inner being wants to bring my subtle body forward, then this subtle body appears absolutely tangible.

Question: She says she sees violet colour a lot.

Sri Chinmoy: Violet is her own colour; it is one of her principle colours. Each individual has one or two colours of their own manifestation. Her soul wants to manifest with the violet colour.

Question: I used to go to a resting place where I can talk to myself and see myself, and where I have two people, a man and a woman. I have never seen their faces, I don't know them, but I can talk to them although they cannot talk to me. When I ask them questions, they answer me with a pencil, or with signs, or by doing something with the body. Since three months ago I have had the feeling that the man is you. But since I started to meditate I can't go to this place anymore.

Sri Chinmoy: In your previous incarnation you were closely connected with a spiritual Master. Not in this incarnation, but in a previous incarnation. The man and woman were your teachers. Now your teachers are not in the physical world, but they are trying to lead you towards me. Once they are convinced that you will run towards God on this path, then they will be satisfied. This is an experience that started from your previous incarnation. They were your teachers and mentors, and they are leading you towards me. It is a connection from your previous incarnation.

Question: Can you say that love is the only law in the whole universe?

Sri Chinmoy: Love is the only law. We can call it ‘law’, we can call it ‘love’, we can call it ‘oneness’. A judge or a scientist will say ‘law’, but a seeker will say it is all love, and a spiritual Master will say it is all oneness. It depends on the person. A seeker will say that love is holding the universe. A person who has realised God will say that oneness is holding the universe. An ordinary human being will say it is laws that hold the universe. If you break the laws, then there will be chaos. If everyone abides by the laws, then there will be no disharmony, no conflicts, no quarrels, no fights. But when we go one step ahead, when we become seekers, then we say that if I really love you, and you really love me, then there will be no disharmony, no conflict at all. Again, if we go still farther, deeper or higher, we see that if I am one with you and you are one with me, then there can be no conflict, only perfection. It depends on the individual’s spiritual growth. First comes law, then comes love, then comes oneness.

Question: I want to be in the spiritual life only.

Sri Chinmoy: You want to be in the spiritual life only, but where? In the Himalayan caves, or in the world-arena? Real spiritual life means carrying our Beloved Supreme inside our heart. When you go to the office, when you go to the supermarket, you can carry the Supreme inside your heart and inside your mind. At every moment you can try to manifest the Supreme.

At this moment, by holding meditation I am fulfilling the Supreme. Next moment, by playing tennis I am pleasing the Supreme. Right now I am answering your questions, and half an hour ago we had a very good, soulful meditation. In all these different ways the Supreme is being manifested. You also can manifest the Supreme in many different activities, but you have to surrender to His Will. God wants you, like me, to manifest Him through a life of action. Each time you get a thought, are you offering it to the Supreme? If the answer is yes, then you are doing the right thing. Whether it is a bad, undivine thought or a good, divine thought, if you can offer it to the Supreme, then you are doing the right thing.

For each action there is a thought, there is an idea, there is an ideal. If you are doing it soulfully, devotedly, unreservedly and unconditionally, then you are more than perfect. You don’t have to live in a particular place in order to be spiritual. You have just meditated. That is wonderful. Now if you have to go to the school or to some other place, you can carry your spiritual consciousness. Your soulful consciousness you can take into all your outer activities. Otherwise, you may sit in front of your shrine for hours thinking of your friends, your enemies, or some incidents. That is just a waste of time. Inside your heart what is going on, inside your heart who is there — these are the things that make you spiritual or unspiritual. You can be closeted alone in your room, but millions of thoughts and ideas will enter into your mind. Nobody is there; you are net talking to anybody, and nobody is talking to you, but you and your mind are constantly talking to each other.

It does not matter where you are, but what are you keeping inside your heart. If you are keeping good thoughts, divine thoughts, illumining thoughts, fulfilling thoughts inside your heart, you are doing the right thing. If you are carrying me inside your heart as the oneness-representative of God, then you are doing the right thing. You don’t have to go anywhere. While walking, while talking, while eating, while running, while studying, if you can feel God’s presence, then you are doing absolutely the right thing, the spiritual thing. Otherwise, no matter what you do, no matter where you go, you will not be satisfied. Always please try to fulfil the Supreme inside your heart. This is His Creation. He has sent you, He has sent all of us, to fulfil Him, to please Him on earth in His own way.

Question: Does intuition come about from having previous incarnations?

Sri Chinmoy: Everybody has previous incarnations, but very few people have developed intuition. It is not that. It is something that you have to acquire, either in this incarnation or in a previous incarnation, or in a future incarnation. You will not get it because you have had 30, 40, 50 or 100 incarnations. It is like a university degree. If I have not studied, no matter how many incarnations I take, I will not automatically get it. Intuition is a subject that you have to study. In one of your incarnations you have to study it well and learn it.

Question: I feel a strange vibration in my neck. First there is joy, and then this vibration. What is that?

Sri Chinmoy: If you feel joy when you feel this vibration, then it is a good vibration. If you are getting joy, then definitely it is good. Anything that gives you joy, innocent joy, pure joy, is good. When you get a vibration which encourages you, inspires you, that means it is a good thing that is happening inside you, very good, encouraging and illumining.

Question: What can I do to have that experience more?

Sri Chinmoy: Strengthen your prayer; pray more. You also have to be physically a little bit stronger. Otherwise, you will not be able to develop more receptivity. In your case you have to be physically stronger. Otherwise, when more light, abundant light, descends from above, it will be very difficult for you to hold it. So first your physical body has to be strong enough to receive the light from above.

Question: I was helping a person by telling him he needed peace in his life. Was I wrong? Was I walking on treacherous ground?

Sri Chinmoy: No, you gave him sound advice. Your advice was quite legitimate, good advice.

Question: Are the inner bodies composed of spiritual energy? I feel within me several bodies, and sometimes they clash in their will.

Sri Chinmoy: Each person has three bodies: the physical, the subtle and the causal. In the causal body everything is in seed form. The subtle body is inside the physical, and it can take any form it wants to. The physical body you all know. It may happen that the physical body is revolting against the subtle physical. The subtle physical may be putting pressure upon the physical to do the right thing, to lead a pure life, to lead a divine life, and the physical is not doing it. At that time the person may feel a clash.

Question: What can he do to get them unified?

Sri Chinmoy: Through prayer and meditation you can unify them. The subtle body is always ready to inspire the physical, and the causal is always inspiring and inspiring. The physical has to go through some rigorous discipline. Then only will there be perfect harmony among the physical, the subtle physical and the causal bodies.

Question: When he is able to achieve this will he be also a Guru like you?

Sri Chinmoy: Why does he want to become a Guru like me? Is he a fool? I will be the happiest person if he realises God, believe me! But I know that being a Guru is not an easy task. If he wants to become a Guru, I will be more than happy, but I will think that he is a fool.

Question: I feel that I don't know how to receive prasad [food blessed by the spiritual Master] properly.⁷

Sri Chinmoy: When you come to me for prasad there are two things you should try to do. One thing is to feel utmost humility. From head to foot you should feel that you are all humility. Feel that you are swimming in the sea of humility. The next thing is to imagine your heart, which means receptivity, and feel that it is like an elastic band. If you pull it, it will expand. As soon as you come near me, first become all humility. When I give you prasad, you will receive it with utmost humility. Then immediately feel that your heart has become wider and larger.

It is not just an orange or a banana that I give you, but a living portion of my compassion-light. Prasad is my compassion-light, and inside that compassion-light is the illumining reality. The blessingful, illumining reality is inside my compassion-light. In order to receive the thing that I am offering, you will immediately expand your heart. It has to be received with a wide heart and with utmost humility. This is absolutely the correct way for you and for everybody to receive prasad from me.

Question: I am not sure that I know how to feel humble.

Sri Chinmoy: It is very easy. I have asked you and your husband to open up a Divine Enterprise, a flower store. That is your field. You will be an expert in taking care of flowers and plants with a delicate, subtle and soulful touch. You are happy and you are proud that you have the capacity. Now immediately think of Kanan. If you are sincere, then you will acknowledge the fact that Kanan definitely knows more than you do with regard to plants, because he has been in that line for so many years. I am not discouraging you; I am not saying that you are not good at all. You are good, very good, in your field. But if you look around at other florists, will you be able to say that you are by far the best? No. Kanan will surpass you and there will be many thousands of florists who will far surpass Kanan. So in any field on the earth-plane if you do well and pride enters into you and you find it difficult to be humble, just look around to see if there is anybody who does far better than you. You will immediately find that there are many, many, many who surpass you. Then your pride will go away.

Again, you can think of your capacity a few years ago, before you joined our path. Five years ago you were not as spiritual as you are now. Think of your present spiritual progress and then think of your ordinary life of five or six years ago. In you are both the lower self, or let us say the desire-life, and the higher self, which is the aspiration-life. Now you are consciously in the aspiration-life, but at that time you were in the desire-life. Just think of your own desire-life of five years ago. How many desires you had! Countless ordinary human desires you had. Now you are in the aspiration-world, which is infinitely higher than the desire-world. Try to imagine or identify yourself for a fleeting second with what you were and what you have become. If you become identified with what you were, then immediately you become humble because of what you have become. If you become one with your old desire-life, then the desire-life surrenders to the aspiration-life and feels humble because the aspiration-life is far superior to the desire-life.

Now you are in the aspiration-world, but your goal is realisation. You don’t want to stay only with aspiration. From aspiration you have to go forward. Realisation is a far cry right now. You know that it will take time. Your goal is far, very far, but you have the intense cry to reach the goal. If you can imagine that the goal is at the top of the mountain and you are sitting at the foot of the mountain, then automatically you become humble, because you have to go so far to reach your goal. Again, you can take humility as a sincere feeling of oneness with anything that you are going to become in the future. You won’t be proud, but you will try to become one with the goal itself before you reach the goal. Before you reach the top of the mountain, try to feel that the top of the mountain is welcoming you. Your soul is already there, your heart is already there; only your body is not there, your vital is not there, your mind is not there. In that way you will not be discouraged.

Sometimes we become very haughty and proud; we are assailed by ego. Again, sometimes we think very ill of ourselves. We go from one extreme to another. This moment we feel that we can break and build the world with our ego-power, and the next moment we feel that we don’t have the energy even to budge an inch. We feel that we are hopeless, we are absolutely the most useless person on earth. Then frustration kills us. This moment ego takes us very high, like a balloon, but the next moment it bursts. The frustration-dragon comes and immediately devours us. We don’t want to be carried by the ego-balloon, which will burst, and we don’t want to allow ourselves to be devoured by the frustration-dragon. So what shall we do? We shall increase our oneness, our inner confidence and assurance. These are the things that will help us to reach our goal.

Question: I would like to ask you how you experience God when you meditate?⁸

Sri Chinmoy: There is no set rule. When I experience God it can be His personal aspect or it can be His impersonal aspect. Sometimes I see Him, feel Him and divinely enjoy Him as infinite Bliss. Sometimes I see Him and talk to Him the way I talk to an individual, but He appears to me with His divine attributes. He is infinitely more beautiful at that time than the most beautiful child that you have seen on earth. Sometimes He appears in the form of infinite Peace, sometimes as an Eternal Child playing inside my heart’s garden. There are many ways that I experience my Beloved Supreme.

Question: Is it possible to reach a form of realisation from a very straight background? It is difficult, hard to try to stay with it. Is it possible, although it is difficult?

Sri Chinmoy: God is not the sole monopoly of an individual or of some selected individuals. If somebody has an inner cry, a sincere cry, then sooner or later, at God’s choice Hour, that particular person is bound to realise God and reach the highest Height. God’s Compassion-Light can easily nullify one’s deplorable background. If one has a sincere inner cry, then definitely he will be able to realise God, no matter what his or her background is, or how much difficulty he has gone through in life before he accepted the spiritual life. It entirely depends on how sincerely one needs God. If he sincerely needs God, then eventually in his spiritual march he will definitely realise God.

Question: Why is there some pain when the third eye starts to open?

Sri Chinmoy: That means you are trying to pull beyond your capacity. Sometimes when we try to pull something beyond our capacity we get pain. In the spiritual life there should be no pulling or pushing, but a natural and spontaneous flow. Meditation should be like a river flowing into the sea. There should be a natural flow, no pulling, no pushing, no coercing, no strenuous effort. Progress should be made in a very natural, spontaneous way. Then there will be no pain in the forehead near the third eye area.

Question: I have been meditating on and off for a couple of years, but a few months ago I did some Hatha Yoga and shortly afterwards I experienced pain in the third eye area. I don't want it, but at the same time I don't want to get rid of it. It helps me become conscious of everything I am doing, yet I feel confused about it. I was wondering if you could suggest anything.

Sri Chinmoy: If we invite pain or invoke pain to make us conscious of God’s Reality, then our progress will be very slow. God is all Bliss. He does not want us to cut off our limbs to prove to Him how much we care for Him. He will say, “Children, you are fools. I am all-loving. You should come to Me with all your heart’s love, not through your body’s pain.” God does not want to torture us. It is our own ignorance and wrong forces, and the hostile forces all around us that like to torture us. In order to reach God we should not create pain or invite pain. It is through constant love that we should approach God. As a child runs toward His parents — cheerfully and lovingly — even so each individual seeker should run toward the Eternal Father — cheerfully, lovingly, unreservedly and unconditionally — not through deliberate invitation of suffering. That will be a very long and unhealthy process, and it may lead the seeker very far astray.

Question: During meditation I find I have feelings of stress in the area of the solar plexus — sometimes a spasm or contraction. Should I continue meditating?

Sri Chinmoy: Before you meditate, you should concentrate on the compassion aspect of God, or the protection aspect. Since you experience pain, it is good to invoke God’s protection-power so that you can continue with your meditation and enjoy the bliss of your meditation. It is helpful to meditate or concentrate for a few minutes first on protection. Then God’s inner forces will protect you, and you can continue your regular meditation as long as you want to.

Question: Some Masters teach that you should hold your spine erect. Is that always necessary?

Sri Chinmoy: In the beginning it is necessary. When one becomes a very advanced seeker it is not necessary. At that time one can do excellent meditation while lying down, while running, while jumping, at any moment. When one is advanced one does not have to maintain any particular posture. But in the beginning it is much better for the proper circulation of the breath to sit with spine erect. Once your consciousness goes far beyond the domain of the mind, it will not be necessary. Once you can go beyond the confusion of the mental world, you can take any posture. You can meditate anywhere and any way you want to. But in the beginning it is really advisable to sit with your spine erect.

Question: Guru, I noticed that some of your disciples are married, and others are single and celibate. I was wondering if you could comment on how a person decides whether to do his sadhana in partnership or alone?

Sri Chinmoy: Either the seeker has to dive deep within to get the inner message or the seeker asks his spiritual Master to decide on the strength of the Master’s oneness with the Supreme. There is no hard and fast rule that everybody should get married or everybody should not get married. In some cases the seekers make faster progress if they get married. In come cases it is simply impossible for them to make any progress if they get married. Their progress immediately comes to a standstill. It is the soul’s need that the seeker must fulfil. Sometimes it is necessary; sometimes it is not necessary. Sometimes when two people join together, all their capacities are doubled. In the tug-of-war if two persons are pulling together on one side, naturally their strength will be greater than the strength of either one alone. But again, if they are not pulling together, if they are only fighting against each other all the time, then they just destroy themselves.

Some spiritual Masters, like Sri Ramakrishna, used to advise most of the seekers not to get married. They felt that if you are not married, half the battle you have won. But again, Sri Ramakrishna’s dearest disciple, from the spiritual point of view, was Brahmananda. When Brahmananda got married, Sri Ramakrishna was quite happy. When his wife had a child, Sri Ramakrishna was extremely happy. But when the child died, Sri Ramakrishna started dancing with joy. He knew that it was necessary for Brahmananda to go through that experience for a few years. But in the case of Vivekananda, his mother and his relatives tried so hard to make him get married, but Sri Ramakrishna stood vehemently against it inwardly and outwardly. Sri Ramakrishna’s two main disciples were Vivekananda and Brahmananda. In one case he approved of marriage, and in one case he stood against it.

Question: I would like to lead a spiritual life, and my husband would too. But he doesn't know which path to follow, and this is causing a lot of confusion as far as he is concerned. How can we know which path we should follow, and who our Guru is?

Sri Chinmoy: It is fairly easy to know who your Guru is if you are destined to accept spiritual life and a Master. When you go to a shop there are quite a few things available, and you make your choice. I am a spiritual Master, and there are quite a few other spiritual Masters available. You please visit them. You will find that you have a kind of inner affinity for one particular Master. You can be the judge. You can vote inwardly for the Master who gives you the utmost joy, and then accept him as your Master. If you see three or four individuals, give them marks. The one who acquires the highest mark is bound to be your teacher. The marks depend on a kind of inner feeling which is established between the Master and the seeker. You are the only one who is in a position to judge the Masters. The Master who gives you immediate joy or boundless joy is destined to be your Master. It is very easy to know.

Question: Why don't people have awareness of their soul while living, as much as between one lifetime and another?

Sri Chinmoy: This world is the physical world. Inside the physical body is the soul. It is like a bird inside a cage. If the bird is outside the cage, it can fly, it can do anything it wants to. But when it is inside the cage it cannot function the way it wants to. Very limited scope it has, unless the owner of the bird allows the bird to come to the fore, to come outside the cage.

In the soul’s world the soul can function most powerfully, because there is no obstruction. But here in the physical world there is constant obstruction. Here we are wallowing in the pleasures of ignorance, and the soul has to tolerate it to some extent. The soul does not approve of our shortcomings but, being compassionate, it tolerates them. But when the soul is in its own world, it enjoys freedom. There it does not have to wait for our stupid human life. There it enjoys full freedom.

If we pray and meditate, we can become fully aware of the soul’s divine activities. The more we pray soulfully, the sooner we will become aware of the soul’s divine activities. The soul constantly listens to the dictates of its Supreme Pilot, but for us this is almost impossible. Only when we become spiritually conscious, will we become automatically conscious of the soul’s activities in the inner world.

Question: If you feel you have a sincere desire, how do you deal with the parts or aspects of yourself that you feel may not be sincere?

Sri Chinmoy: A part of your being is sincere and a part is not sincere. From the spiritual point of view the part that is not cooperating or not siding with the aspiration-life is insincere. You want to get something from the desire-world or in the desire-world. But something is holding you back and telling you that the fulfilment of desire will only take you away from peace, joy and bliss which you are already getting. The sincere part of you wants only God, truth, light, peace and bliss.

In the desire-world if you want something, you try to get it with your intense effort. You throw your heart and soul into getting it, as they say. But if something is telling you, “Don’t throw your heart and soul into this. It will only create more problems for you,” then it is the soul that is coming to the fore and pleading with you not to throw yourself into the desire-world. Again it may happen that although you have desires, sometimes laziness comes in and tells you it is not worthwhile to fulfil them. So you will be the judge. If you have the intense desire to do something, and the next moment something tells you it is not worthwhile, that is not the soul’s dictate. It is only your lethargy that is standing in your way. Only if it comes from the very depth of your heart, from the depth of your being, then the soul is warning you not to dive into the sea of ignorance.

Question: I had the feeling last week that you were thinking about me, and I saw you smiling, and found myself smiling like you. Is that possible?

Sri Chinmoy: It is quite possible. Your inner being can easily identify itself with one of my inner beings. Since my inner beings know what I am doing, the way I smile, and so on, your inner being can easily see it or learn of it from my inner beings. It is quite possible. It is not your mental hallucination.

The core of India's light

//[Continued from previous issue]//

Diksha

Initiation

Initiation is divinely meaningful and supremely fruitful. During initiation the crying heart of the disciple says to the Master, “I need you badly.” The loving heart of the Master says to the disciple, “I shall not only love you unreservedly, but also give to you unconditionally.”

Dikshaka

One who initiates

The one who initiates knows where his realisation is coming from. He knows also to whom he is offering it. His realisation is coming from his Father Transcendental and going to his brother, who is crying to be a conscious part of the universal Reality.

Gayatri

The sacred mantra from the Rig Veda, addressed to the sun

If the seeker soulfully recites the Gayatri mantra in the morning and the evening, illumination is bound to take place in the seeker’s confusion-mind infinitely sooner than his own expectation.

Ghasha

Sound

The outer sound confuses the human mind. The inner sound awakens the human heart.

Hahakara

Lamentation

Lamentation indefinitely delays not only our God-realisation but also our life-elevating preparation.

Havisa

As an offering

When we give to God as an offering both our desire-life and our aspiration-life, God tells us that the offering of our desire-life helps us run towards Him, and the offering of our aspiration-life helps Him run toward us.

Haya

Horse

In the Vedas the horse signifies sacrifice — sacrifice of our life-energising power and God-manifesting light.

Hiranya

Golden

The Golden Shore of the Beyond will always remain a far cry unless and until we not only believe in the supreme secret of self-giving but also practise it at every moment.

Iccha-mrtyu

Death by an act of will

Aspiration for an immortal life so that God can be manifested is infinitely more meaningful, fruitful and praiseworthy than death by an act of will.

Iccha-sakati

Will-power

Will-power reaches the goal not because it is the possessor of an adamantine heart, but because it is the boundless lover of an illumining and fulfilling goal.

No will-power, no success. No will-power, no progress. For success, be careful and be brave. For progress, be conscious and be self-giving.

[To be continued in next issue]

Prayer-harvest

1

My Lord Supreme,

do take away only three things from me: yesterday’s failure-night, today’s doubt-cloud and tomorrow’s death-surrender.

2

My Lord Supreme,

since Your Compassion-Sun I cannot claim, I do not deserve and I cannot even earn, will You not give me the capacity at least to receive Your Compassion-Sun devotedly and unreservedly?

3

My Lord Supreme,

do give me the capacity to feel that my self-effort can succeed only when Your God-Grace precedes.

4

My Lord Supreme,

may Your inner Voice awaken me and inspire me and Your outer Choice perfect me and fulfil You in Your own way.

5

My Lord Supreme,

may Your inner Silence-Beauty bless me and Your outer Sound-Duty love me.

Meeting between Sri Chinmoy and senor Arturo Carrion

President of the Organising Committee for the Eighth Pan American Games

Sri Chinmoy: It is so kind of you to see us.

Senor Carrion: It’s a real pleasure to have you with us.

Sri Chinmoy: I have been hearing all about this great adventure, as I call it, inner and outer.

Senor Carrion: Yes, it is a great adventure, and it is a unique experience for me. I don’t know if you know that I am not a sports administrator myself. I am in the banking field; that is my line. So I have to change my hats every morning and every afternoon from the bank to the Organising Committee. For me it is a great challenge and a great experience. It’s a wonderful opportunity to do something for the young people of Puerto Rico, whom I cherish very much.

Sri Chinmoy: It is a most noble task to help the young people. Health is of paramount importance. If our health is good, then we can think of doing something great and achieving something important.

Senor Carrion: I think that is the motivation behind all of our staff's work. They are very enthusiastic, very motivated, because they are making a contribution to the young people of Puerto Rico. Nobody will become rich by working for the Organising Committee. As a matter of fact, most of them have a very strict economic situation because they are not making a big salary at all. But they do give their whole selves to the work, which is very encouraging.

Sri Chinmoy: And most inspiring. Speed and strength — right from the dawn of creation God has inspired us with speed and strength. If we are really strong, both inwardly and outwardly, then we do not quarrel and fight with others, for we are confident, we are secure. God is omnipotent; He is stronger than the strongest, but does He fight with us? No. And He is also fastest in everything. If we can become strong from the spiritual point of view, strong and fast, then we can have a better society. Now the Puerto Ricans have accepted this challenge. And it is not only the Puerto Ricans who are getting the benefit, but all those who will be participating. All will get the same message, the same spirit, the same opportunity and the same achievement.

Senor Carrion: This is really what is behind our work. I understand that you have been quite a promoter and participator in sports.

Sri Chinmoy: I have been inspiring my students and others all over the world to participate in sports, for I feel that the contribution of the body is of paramount importance. If the body fails, everything fails. Early in the morning when we want to pray, if we have a stomach upset or a headache, then the whole day is often ruined. In the spiritual life and in every walk of life, if the body fails, we cannot do anything properly. So I have been inspiring my students to run, to ride, to be active in sports. In the New York City Marathon this year over 150 disciples of mine will participate. Although they will be nowhere near the world standard, just for the sake of the body — to have better health and a dynamic approach to life — they will participate.

Senor Carrion: I have been told that you were once a decathlon champion.

Sri Chinmoy: According to the Indian standard I was quite good. I was a decathlon champion and one of the fastest runners in the area where I lived. But according to the world standard I was nowhere. Still, I encourage and inspire my students by my own participation, past and present. In my youth I was also a volleyball instructor and captain of the football [soccer_] team. _Senor Carrion: Are you still teaching?

Sri Chinmoy: Now I teach concentration, meditation and spiritual philosophy. I feel that the physical and the spiritual must go side by side. The inner life and the outer life must go together. In the outer life alone we cannot go very far. And again, with only the inner life we cannot achieve everything. There should be a synthesis of the two — the inner and the outer. The inner man and the outer man must go together. The good that we have within, we shall try to bring into our outer life. And our outer capacities we shall use to enhance our inner life. If we have a good thought, we try to bring this good thought to the fore and share it with others. And if we have a bad thought, our outer dynamic strength can help us to destroy it immediately. Otherwise it will be detrimental to ourselves as well as to others.

Senor Carrion: You maintain yourself in good shape, I can see.

Sri Chinmoy: Yes, I run and play tennis. I run every morning between 4 and 6, and I play tennis during the day.

Senor Carrion: What kind of distance do you run in the morning?

Sri Chinmoy: I run several miles, but slower than the slowest. I go at turtle speed in long distance. In my youth I used to run short distance, 100, 200, 400 metres. And of course, for the decathlon, I had to run 1500 metres. But I was a sprinter. Then shot put, discus, javelin, pole vault, all those I had to do, and I still do them during the summer months. But to keep the body in good condition I run long distance all year round. The other morning I was running near my home in New York and a gentleman saw me and said, “Man, you are not a long distance runner, you are a sprinter!” He could tell by my style.

Senor Carrion: You will be playing tennis with Serrati this afternoon. Serrati used to be quite an athlete in his own time. Actually, I am a basketball player. I have not played in the last two or three years, for obvious reasons, but I used to play some basketball. I am very short for basketball standards, but I used to play with Serrati. He is a bit older than I am, but we played about 8 or 10 months ago where our kids get together, and he was still in very good shape. I couldn’t hold out as long as he did. So he should be a very good tennis player.

Sri Chinmoy: I have been playing only for one year and three or four months. I never played tennis in my youth. But I have been practising very seriously since I began.

Senor Carrion: Serrati is also a natural athlete, like you.

Sri Chinmoy: Do you run?

Senor Carrion: I hate it! Now I like to play golf. I have noticed something interesting: You can take a baseball player who has played baseball for a long time and never touched a golf club, and he can beat you in six months. It’s because they have the natural coordination of the game. They can take up tennis and the same thing happens. And people like me, we have to start learning how to coordinate first and how to play later. But you athletes have the coordination built in. I tell you, practising sports and exercising is something that everybody should do.

Sri Chinmoy: Everybody should do it, no matter how old the individual is. There are sports, there are physical activities for everyone.

Senor Carrion: Let me give you some of our material. We have a set of posters here. These are the official posters of the Games. This is a Taino colour. The Taino is an Indian who is indigenous to Puerto Rico. And of course this is the torch, done by one of the foremost artists in Puerto Rico. It is a set of four posters — red, blue, green and black, plus this one, a commercial version of the Taino colour. It is a line drawing, for reducing at will. You can see it here smaller, and it does not suffer. But this poster has a meaning to it. When the athletes come in from the deep sea to the shallower sea, to the foam, to the beaches, the first land they touch in Puerto Rico is this green. Then at the competition they find the emblem of the Games, with the torch and the vision of peace. Then as they go out, they go the same way they came in, the lighter green of the pasture, then our beaches, foam, light ocean and then the deep ocean away from the competition. They come in from the ocean to the foam to the sun. And then they go out the same way. And the bird of peace is symbolised in the torch.

Sri Chinmoy: Thank you. It is so kind of you. About two months ago I was in Greece, and I visited the Olympic stadium.

Aide: There was something else that we had mentioned that might be possible. It was something that will be done in the Olympic Winter Games — holding meditation in the morning for the athletes.

Senor Carrion: I have to check with Olympic regulations. But if they don’t have any problem, I don’t. The Olympic regulations are very funny, to say the least. We have already prepared a place for ecumenical services, but I don’t know about meditation. I have to look into the Olympic rules, but if there is no problem there, I think it is a good idea. Excellent.

Sri Chinmoy: We feel that everybody knows the importance of concentration. If an athlete can pray or meditate or concentrate for a couple of minutes in the morning, then it adds to his concentration at the time of competition. As soon as they lose their concentration, they lose everything. When they have perfect concentration, they do their best. At Lake Placid they will have a special chapel for the athletes. I will hold meditation there.

Senor Carrion: If you are doing it in Lake Placid, there is no reason why you couldn’t do it here. So I would guess that there is no problem.

Sri Chinmoy: I pray to the Heavenly Father to shower His choice blessings upon your most devoted heart for the improvement of your country and your countrymen. If I can be of any service to your countrymen at any time, I shall be most happy. But the fact that you are doing and will be doing so much for your country and countrymen is giving me tremendous joy, inspiration, satisfaction and delight. We are God’s children, no matter who does what. Countless people will be benefited from your encouragement and self-giving sacrifice. For that I am extremely proud of you and grateful to you. I have come to this part of the world many, many times. As a matter of fact, I was accepted as a spiritual Master by Puerto Rico first, many years ago. Since then I have been serving the soul and the body of Puerto Rico according to my capacity. I love your country with my heart’s tremendous gratitude.

Senor Carrion: Thank you very much. (_Presenting Sri Chinmoy with a T-shirt_) This is the mascot of the games — coqui. Coqui is indigenous to Puerto Rico. We also have a mascot for each of the sports. The coqui is very hard to catch. It jumps very quickly.

Who is stronger?

There was once a great devotee of Lord Vishnu, a spiritual singer and poet named Surdas, who was blind from infancy. He had six brothers. All his brothers died while fighting a battle against the Muslims, and although Surdas was totally blind, he went in search of the corpses of his brothers. While searching, he fell into a well in which there was no water.

For six days Surdas was caught inside the well. During this time he repeated the name of Krishna, the Avatar of Lord Vishnu, over and over again. At the end of six days Lord Vishnu himself appeared, and with his occult power lifted Surdas out of the well. Lord Vishnu also granted Surdas vision so that he would be able to see everything in a normal way.

For a few days Surdas was extremely happy. Then he began to feel miserable because he saw that the earth is full of ugliness, that people are quarrelling, fighting and hating each other, and that most human beings are in a low consciousness. Finally he said to Lord Vishnu, “O Lord Vishnu, I don’t want to see these things anymore. Please take away my vision so that I am blind once more. When I didn’t see human ignorance so vividly, I was very happy and peaceful. Please make me blind so that I can be happy again.” Lord Vishnu granted his prayer, and once again Surdas became blind.

Surdas had many good friends and relatives, and when he would compose most soulful songs there was always someone who was kind enough to write down the words and music for him. One day he got very high inspiration and he began calling out for one of his stenographers, but no stenographer was available.

Suddenly Surdas felt the presence of someone and said, “Please tell me who you are. Announce your name.” But the person wouldn’t answer. Since Surdas very strongly felt somebody’s presence, he grabbed the person’s body, but immediately it vanished from his grasp.

Surdas said, “I know, my Lord, it is you who have come to me. You have the power to snatch yourself away from my grasp. Physically you are stronger than me; that is why I cannot catch you on the physical plane. But let me see if you are spiritually stronger than me, my heart. Let me see if even for a fleeting second you can go away from my heart. This is my challenge. Spiritually you are not stronger than me, because of the heart that you have given me. You will not be able to leave my heart even for a fleeting second.”

And Surdas was right. Lord Vishnu could never escape from the loving heart of his devotee Surdas.

Songs

O marathon runner

O marathon runner,
God the Smiler-Winner,
Bondage-body’s supreme vict’ry
Challenged life’s summit glory.
You claim today for ev’ry day
In the Captain’s cosmic oneness-play.

Run and become

Run and become.
Become and run.
Run to succeed in the outer world.
Become to proceed in the inner world.