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The soul’s compassion-sky blesses the heart’s aspiration-cry.

— photo by Sarama

Philosophy, religion and yoga¹

Philosophy is man’s conscious association with God.
Religion is man’s conscious and close union with God.
Yoga is man’s conscious, close and constant oneness with God.

Philosophy sees the wisdom in Truth.
Religion realises the code of life with Truth.
Yoga becomes the delight for Truth.

Philosophy ascends from the seeking mind.
Religion ascends from the crying heart.
Yoga ascends and descends: ascends for the discovery of the Silence-world, descends for the mastery of the sound-world.

Philosophy unmistakably tells the world about its stupendous vision.
Religion unreservedly tells the world about its momentous mission.
Yoga unconditionally tells the world about its auspicious perfection.

Philosophy inspires us to become great.
Religion inspires us to become good.
Yoga inspires us to become perfect.

Philosophy teaches and teaches.
Religion preaches and then practises.
Yoga practises and practises.

Philosophy is brave. It likes to understand the higher world.
Religion is wise. It likes to acknowledge the outer world.
Yoga is positive. It likes to accept the higher, the outer and the inner world.

Philosophy gets untold joy in guiding the world.
Religion gets boundless joy in conquering the world.
Yoga gets spontaneous joy in serving the world.

Philosophy is often the mind capacity.
Religion is often the heart capacity.
Yoga is always the God capacity.

The United Nations’ philosophy is to please all the countries.
The United Nations’ religion is to help all the countries that are abiding by the Truth.
The United Nations’ Yoga is to turn the entire world into a peaceful and soulful oneness-home.

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To-morrow's dawn

//[Continued from previous issues]//

246.

Why do I believe in science? I believe in science because it is for man in God. Why do I believe in spirituality? I believe in spirituality because it is for God in man.

247.

Science wants to know God the creation. Spirituality wants to know God the Vision. And I wish to know God the Compassion.

248.

The confluence of science and spirituality is inevitable, for science loves man — the outer man, and spirituality loves man — the inner man.

249.

Science says: “Poverty and suffering, get out of the world-house.” Spirituality says: “Aspiration, come inside the world-home.”

250.

Science says to man: “I shall always give you.” Spirituality says to man: “I shall always liberate you.”

251.

My science teacher asks me to speculate and experiment. My spirituality teacher asks me to experience and realise.

252.

O Heaven-freedom, I do not know where you are. O earth-bondage, I do not want to know where you are.

253.

Your personality is responsible for your popularity. Your popularity is responsible for your manifestation of God-Beauty on earth.

Questions and answers

Question: Indian religion teaches reincarnation, the ultimate goal being the union of the soul with God. The Bible teaches that if one is good, he goes to Heaven; if one is bad, he goes to Hell. And also, of course, about resurrection. Is there a meeting of the ways between reincarnation and resurrection?

Sri Chinmoy: Let me deal separately with the two ideas. First, the Christian idea of Heaven and Hell says that if we do good things on earth, we shall go to Heaven; if we do bad things, we shall go to Hell. Actually, there is no such physical place as Heaven or Hell. If you imagine Hell to be a physical place where you are perpetually tortured, then you are mistaken. The experiences of Heaven and Hell are in our inner consciousness. What we call Heaven is, in the world of consciousness, a state of Bliss, continuous, all-fulfilling Bliss. Both Heaven and Hell are in our consciousness and nowhere else. When we deviate from the path of truth, we enter into the room of ignorance, which we can call Hell. When we live in the light of Truth, follow the path of Truth, then our consciousness will be in Heaven. Both Heaven and Hell are inside us in our inmost consciousness.

Now let us come to resurrection, the concept that the dead will come to life again. What does it mean, if not reincarnation? It does not mean that all human beings who have died after living on earth for a certain number of years will suddenly come into life again as they were when they died. To me it means that the souls who are not aspiring in this incarnation will have to aspire sooner or later in another incarnation. Today on earth there are millions and billions of people who are inwardly sleeping. They do not feel the necessity of making inner progress. Each soul who is not aspiring is the equivalent of a dead soul. The Supreme wants each soul to be awakened from the inner sleep which is like death.

As you mentioned, the Eastern idea is that through reincarnation each soul will ultimately reach God. Reincarnation is an opportunity; it is a golden opportunity for us to realise God. In each incarnation we are learning and unlearning: learning the message of Truth, Divinity and Immortality; and unlearning the lessons of ignorance, imperfection and limitation. Each incarnation is an opportunity to throw aside the past, the past that has not fulfilled us, the past that still lingers on in our consciousness and obstructs our onward journey. Each time we reincarnate, each time we come into this world, ignorance attacks us. But slowly, steadily, consciously or unconsciously we are casting ignorance away from us or trying to transform ignorance into divine wisdom.

In the process of reincarnation we are evolving. We came to the human kingdom from the animal kingdom, and long before that we were in the plant kingdom. Even before that we were in the stone kingdom. We have been in many different forms. Now we have evolved to the human level. At the human level the reasoning mind functions for the first time, and here the individual consciousness awakens greatly. Each human incarnation is a stepping stone towards the ultimate Truth. But that does not mean that in each human incarnation you are necessarily going to make very fast progress or that you will be aspiring for the Highest. It may happen that in one incarnation you are aspiring to be spiritual, but in the next incarnation you will try to be a famous artist or poet instead of caring primarily for true spirituality. This does not necessarily mean that you have fallen. No, you are only marking time and gaining another kind of experience. If the soul wants the spiritual life, the inner life, it tries to make you aspire to realise God in this life. But the soul may meet with very limited success in this life, and in your next incarnation you may totally forget about your higher goal. You may take to painting or writing novels, or just trying to be successful in the outer world. The soul may not be able to make you hear its message as you did in the previous life.

But there comes a time in the process of reincarnation and spiritual evolution, inner evolution, when you will throw aside every ordinary thing and begin to care only for God-Realisation. But this takes time. It cannot be done in only one incarnation. In the process of evolution, slowly and steadily you come close to God; you unveil your own inner divinity. The two processes go together; you unveil your own inner divinity and you bring into your outer life the highest transcendental Truth and Divinity.

Eastern thought and Western thought can easily be brought together and amalgamated. According to Eastern thought, we are progressing from light to more light, then to abundant light and finally to infinite Light. This is all happening through the process of reincarnation and the soul’s evolution. In Western thought we have Heaven, Hell and resurrection. But these concepts are not really opposed to the Eastern ones. After all, what is Hell really? It is the torture of imperfection and ignorance, darkness and bondage. When we are spiritually asleep the impurity, ugliness and darkness of the whole world enters into us and becomes ours. This sleep is the sleep of inconscience, not the ordinary sleep which we enjoy every night for eight hours. It is the sleep of the inconscient, limited, obscure, unlit individual. From the Eastern point of view we are progressing from this darkness to light, and finally we attain infinite Light. From the Western point of view, if we are good — that is to say, God-oriented — we will ultimately awaken from the sleep of death and be resurrected into the Glory of God where it is all effulgent Light. We will be reborn into a glorious, exalted state where we will bask eternally in the Light of Heaven. So there is no serious difference between these two points of view. Ultimately, when we go deep within, these two ideas follow the same spiritual principle and lead us to the same Goal. We are only misled by the words reincarnation and resurrection, but the inner meaning of the two is the same.

Question: Please explain to me the difference between Master, Guru and Swami.

Sri Chinmoy: If you want me to put them in an order, the Guru comes first, then comes the Master, then come the Swamis. The Guru is one who has realised God, and who has been authorised by God to accept disciples and help them in their spiritual life. He has been authorised by the Supreme; you can say that he is acting under the direct orders of God. The Guru comes first because he has become one with God. If he is a real Guru, he cannot do anything of his own free will, whereas the Masters may take liberties. The ordinary Masters do not have direct contact with the Supreme. However, they do have minor or partial or even high realisations, and with these they try to help others. But they do not and cannot say to an individual, “I will give you Self-realisation.” The Master himself does not have complete Self-realisation, so he cannot make such promises.

After the Masters come the Swamis. Swami Vivekananda himself used to say that in India Swamis grow like mushrooms. If you go to India, you will see hundreds of them, but most of them do not have any real spirituality. They wear orange robes and call themselves Swamis, but they are only deceiving humanity. At the same time, a Swami can be a realised soul. If he is a realised soul, he can easily play the part of a Guru for his disciples. Generally the Swamis are still in the making spiritually, and some of the Masters also. But in the case of a real Guru, fortunately he has achieved his own realisation.

In my case, I am not in the making; I am made. I have achieved my realisation in previous lifetimes, and perfected it in this life. Now I have to fulfil the Supreme’s command to me by helping others to reach Him.

Question: How can a seeker learn to smile with the soul?

Sri Chinmoy: First you have to make friends with the soul. If you become friends with your soul, naturally you can get something from your friend. If he is the possessor of something which you appreciate, then naturally your friend will share it with you. But if you don’t make friends with a person, then how can you expect anything from him? So if you want to smile the way the soul smiles, then the only thing to do is to become acquainted with the soul, make friends with the soul. Then the soul will gladly help you to smile.

Question: Sometimes when I am at work I feel a kind of mental heaviness or dissatisfaction. It is not depression, but I feel if I can invoke the quality of delight, it will be so much nicer on the job.

Sri Chinmoy: It is not actually delight that you need, it is only dynamism. What you unfortunately lack is dynamism. Your soul and your body do not receive dynamism. If you can let dynamism enter into your physical body, then you will not have a feeling of depression or heaviness. Please invoke the soul’s will physically and vitally. Then there will be no heaviness, no frustration, no depression.

Question: Guru, to what extent does eating affect our consciousness?

Sri Chinmoy: To a great extent, both how you eat and what you eat affect your consciousness. If you are a voracious eater, then forget about spirituality. If one’s body is very heavy, one’s consciousness will be heavy, and one’s aspiration-flame will not be able to climb up to the Highest. Of course, this does not apply to spiritual Masters. Also, as a seeker, one should not eat meat.

Question: When we have an attack of some sort, is there any way that we can know whether it is coming from within ourselves or from outside, and is it important for us to know?

Sri Chinmoy: It is not important for you to know at this present stage. An attack is an attack. From inside or from outside the result is the same. It is like getting a cold. For various reasons you can get a cold: you have exposed yourself to cold, you have been working too hard, or you have not been eating the proper foods. There are many reasons why you may get a cold, but the result is the same, and the cure is the same. Again, if you don’t want to suffer from colds, then you will do all the things that will save you from the attack of colds. You will be careful in every way.

If you are a beginner in the spiritual life, if you are still not far advanced, when an attack comes, what do you do? Whether it is from outside or from inside is immaterial. You just throw it into the Supreme or look at your Guru’s picture. That is the best thing. You are like a child. If a child is attacked, he just runs toward his father for protection. He knows that if he stays a longer time where he is being attacked, he will only be killed. So he runs to the one who is more than eager to help him. So if you get an attack, just run to your Guru for protection.

Question: Can real spiritual friendship help one's progress?

Sri Chinmoy: Certainly, if it is real. If there are two students studying together, and one is excellent while one is poor, then the one who is an excellent student will help the poor one just because they are good friends. In the spiritual life if one person is really aspiring, if one seeker has greater aspiration than his friend, if they are really good friends, then the superior one can easily be of help. If two individuals have established a feeling of oneness and closeness, then the aspiration of one can easily be of help to the other. But friendship has to be sincere, not just hidden rivalry.

Question: I'm wondering what it is that makes the years of being a disciple seem sort of like a dream, and the time before that seem more real? Some of the experiences just seem too fantastic to be real; they seem like a dream. And life before being a disciple seems tangible, real.

Sri Chinmoy: To be a sincere spiritual seeker means that you are dealing with infinite possibilities. The hope-world of the past, the expectation-world of the past has been transformed into reality, and now you are living in the vision-world of the present. The vision of Divinity, the vision of Infinity, the vision of Immortality are all around. Inside each thought we are dealing with infinite possibilities and potentialities. These ideas and ideals are overwhelming to your mind because they are the message of universal Reality. You need the physical body — arms, legs, head — to exist in the physical world. But when you deal with the spiritual worlds, if your arms and legs are not there, you don’t even know. You enter into realities where your physical attributes do not exist. There you are dealing with intuition, inner vision and consciousness. When you are in the aspiration-world, this vision will take you far beyond your necessity, far beyond the familiar everyday world. So you are entering into another plane of existence which has not yet become familiar to you.

Question: Is there any significance as to when your disciples' souls came to earth? When disciples were born, was there any special significance?

Sri Chinmoy: There is a great significance to when the disciple was born and at which place the soul has taken human incarnation, not from the astrological point of view but from the pure spiritual point of view. Astrology, horoscopes, stars — they have their own way of judging the fate of the soul. But from the highest spiritual point of view there is tremendous significance in the circumstances in which the soul takes incarnation. But the most significant event takes place when the soul finds its Eternal Friend in the Guru’s soul.

Each soul comes into the world to do something special. Each soul is like a soldier, a divine soldier. The divine soldier can achieve the utmost, fulfil the Supreme to the utmost, only when the soldier has a commander-in-chief. If the soldier works under the direct guidance of the commander, then his mission — the manifestation of that particular human being who embodies the soul — is infinitely more successful, because the commander-in-chief can tell the soldier what is the right thing to do. If the individual soul wants to work, it will work like a tiny drop, with the capacity of a tiny drop. But if it works under the strict guidance of the commander-in-chief, with the assistance of all the forces at his command, then it will have the capacity of the entire ocean. The commander-in-chief is the Guru, who is in touch with the Absolute Supreme and represents the Absolute Supreme on earth. Each individual soul sees it and realises it according to the soul’s own evolution.

So first the individual soul makes a promise to the Absolute Supreme that it will do something really good, divine, illumining and fulfilling. And in order to fulfil that promise it needs constant guidance, encouragement, inspiration and help either directly from the Absolute Supreme or from the spiritual Master, who plays the role of the spiritual commander-in-chief, encouraging the individual soldier’s soul to fight against ignorance in the battlefield of life. The Master not only encourages the soul to fight, but also gives the soul constant support and capacity for the victory. And the victory is to become consciously and constantly aware of the Source, the Absolute Supreme. When the soul becomes inseparably, constantly, consciously aware of its Source, it becomes very easy for the individual to become part and parcel of the infinite Reality and to manifest the infinite Reality on earth.

So if the soul has reincarnated at a time and in a place where it will be able to get the guidance of a real Guru, it is a tremendous blessing. Very significant.

Question: Lately I've been thinking about how to make the inspiration-bird my constant friend, and to be receptive and aware of it all the time.

Sri Chinmoy: Whether the seeker is a poet or an artist or a musician, in any field, if the individual wants to achieve something, he needs inspiration. Inspiration, like imagination, is a world of its own. In that world some people really have free access, while others knock at the door, and at times the door opens, and at times it does not. Just now I was telling you about the soldier and the commander. If you can take inspiration as the soldier and aspiration as the commander, if you can please the higher authority, automatically the lower authority will be pleased with you. Aspiration is infinitely more powerful, meaningful and fruitful than inspiration. So if you can constantly aspire, then automatically inspiration-bird will come.

Question: How can I light the fire of aspiration?

Sri Chinmoy: The easiest way to kindle the flame of your aspiration is through dedicated selfless-service. This selfless-service has to be constant and spontaneous. When you are doing something for yourself or for someone else, you have to feel that you are serving the Supreme. When you are doing something for yourself, you have to feel that you are serving the better part, the higher part, the nobler part, the more fulfilling part, the more illumining part inside you. At each moment you have to feel that you are a dedicated server. In this way your flame of aspiration will go higher.

Who aspires? He who feels that there is something higher, deeper, vaster, more profound than what he has right now. Who serves? If you say that the inferior serves the superior, that is only true in the outer world. A slave or a servant, you may say, serves the master because the master is superior. That may be true in the ordinary human world. But in the inner world we see a different thing. We see that the aspirant is serving his own best part inside himself. He is trying to serve the highest portion within himself. When you, as an aspirant, serve your highest, your best part, it is not only for the sake of inner Peace, Light and Bliss, but it is in order to become totally one with that highest part. The earthly servant’s role is over when he gets his money. He never dares to think of becoming the master one day. It is beyond his imagination. But when you are serving your highest part as an aspirant, you have to feel at every moment that you are growing into that highest part inside you and that you will ultimately become consciously one with your own highest part.

So in order to kindle the flame of your aspiration, try to feel that your life is a life of dedication. If one has a Master, it should be dedicated to the Master. Now that you have a Master, you have to feel that each moment of yours has to be consciously dedicated to your Master, and then to your spiritual family. Your heart’s temple is here. So in every way — through thought, through action, through your own service, mentally, vitally and physically you have to feel that you are an object of dedication to be used by God and by God’s children. If you can feel at every moment that you are ready to serve the aspiring ones, the ones who are seated in the same Boat as you are, in the Boat of the Supreme, only then will you be able to feel that your aspiration-flame is at every moment burning bright, brighter, brightest.

The core of India's light

//[Continued from previous issues]//

Lila

Cosmic play

The cosmic play is composed of two realities: a birthless cry and a deathless smile.

Lobha

Greed

When we feed our disproportionate greed, once more we immediately become perfect members of the animal kingdom.

Mada

Pride

Pride destroys the human in us, delays the divine in us and disappoints the Supreme in us.

Madhura

Pure emotion

The pure emotion-bridge that exists between the divine lover and the Supreme Beloved is a sleepless, breathless reality which has another name: Perfection-Immortality.

Mahapurusa

The Lord Supreme

Yesterday the Lord Supreme said to me, “My child, I want you to be the dust of My Feet.”

Today the Lord Supreme says to me, “My child, I want you to be the flower of My Heart.”

Tomorrow the Lord Supreme will say to me, “My child, I want you to be the crown of My Head.”

Maharaja

Emperor

When I am an outer emperor I cry for possession.

When I am an inner emperor I cry for renunciation.

When I am the Supreme Emperor I cry neither for possession nor for renunciation, because I am all satisfaction with or without possession and renunciation.

Mahima

Glory

My life’s morning glories are beautiful. This is what I have discovered.

My life’s evening glories are fruitful. This is what I have invented.

[to be continued]

Poetry

//[The poems on the following pages are translations of Bengali songs written by Sri Chinmoy. The first line of the Bengali is transliterated.]//

Ai ai ai ai bela jai bela jai

O come, come!
Time is fast passing by.
Every twilight we shall proceed
Towards the Unknowable.

Alor plaban chaudike mor

The flood of Supreme Light
Is all around me,
The flood of Supreme Light.
In a twinkling the bondage of attachment
Will be totally smashed.

Amar jiban amar maran

My life and my death are the
Affection-Shower
Of my Lord Supreme.
My life and my death implore constantly
The Vision-Glance of my Lord Supreme.

Amar puta samarpaner

I hear the melodious sound
Of Your great Compassion-Music
In my soulful, sacred Surrender-life.

Amar shire amar bojha

I shall carry my burden
On my own head.
With my self-love
I shall bind myself.

Andhiyar basanar bedanate

In the sufferings of dark desire
I worship You all day and night.
You never, O cruel One, shed tears in silence
In the depth of my heart
And bind me in Your Heart.

Ar katokal raibe ma chup

How long, Mother, will you remain silent?
Kindle the flame of aspiration
In the depth of my heart.
Destroy the heat of desires.
Show me Your universal Form.

Asha tari chalo

O hope-boat, carry me along
With your consciousness-sail
To the great silence-bound shore.

Asim amai base bhalo

The Infinite loves me,
The finite loves me.
In no heart do I ever see
Sordid darkness

Barai bhalo lage tomar kripar ankhi

I deeply love Your Compassion-Eye.
Therefore, I soulfully place my head
At Your Feet divine.

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Songs

A moment's love

A moment's truth
Can and shall make the world beautiful.

A moment’s peace
Can and shall save the world.

A moment’s love
Can and shall make the world perfect.

Ami habo hiya jogi

/Ami habo hiya jogi/
/Paramananda magi/
/Nahi habo ama bhogi/
/Nahi habo kabhu rogi/

I shall be the yogi of my heart.
I implore transcendental delight.
No longer shall I enjoy ignorance.
No more shall I be subject to earthly ailments.