Part I: Wisdom-kingdom by ignorance-king

1.

God is descending.
Man lost his umbrella.
The ant-heart devoured the
Elephant-Eye.

2.

He ran away.
Beauty smiled.
The skies ascended.

3.

Death is life.
Love won.
Earth is green again.

4.

Who scolded you?
Even God is afraid of your stupidity.
Perfection finally destroyed everybody's goal.

5.

God is the Eternal Child.
Ignorance-sea jumps and dances around.
Love is a universal passport.

6.

Truth starved.
Earth forgot to study.
The life-dreamer snored.

7.

Don't tell me that he is a liar.
God has run short of His Compassion-Eyes.
I think I have already eaten.

8.

Doubt touched Fear's feet.
Heaven neglected
The universal desire-flames.
Manifestation brutally insulted
Revelation.
Poor Revelation was hiding
Between
The pool of aspiration
The river of frustration.

9.

Down he fell from Heaven.
Fear tortured his heart.
Pride smashed his head.
God smiled and danced.
Once more He became.

10.

Can you see?
I know what I mean.
The monkey disowns its tail.

11.

Heaven assails.
The donkey carries the burden.
Falsehood-emperor opens his eyes.

12.

Peace,
My sweet sister,
I thought of thinking of you.

13.

Love,
My sweet sister,
I never understand your messages.

14.

Joy,
My sweet sister,
Why do you have to hide your heart all the time?

15.

I know who God is,
But I do not know who I am.

Since you know who God is, I wish to tell you that you are another God and since you do not know who you are, you are another ass.

16.

God, I have defeated You at least in one thing.

Unlike You, I am always unkind to You.

Son, I don't accept My defeat.

On the contrary, it is I who defeat you every day.

Am I not extremely unkind and brutally cruel to you by not fulfilling your countless desires?

So, Son, I was, I am and I shall remain the eternal Winner.

17.

What is wisdom?

The Smile of the Beyond.

What is ignorance?

My immediate expectation of human perfection.

18.

I have tried.

I know it.

I have worked.

Man knows it.

I have failed.

God knows it.

19.

God, I hate to beg You like a dog all the time.

Son, I hate to tempt you with a lifeless bone all the time.

God, when will You stop tempting me?

The moment your life of insincerity stops.

The moment your life of inner cry begins.

The moment you stop advertising yourself.

20.

God, I know why You do not care for me.

You do not care for me because I am a man.

I think it is unfair. I think it is disgusting.

God, I know why You do not care for me.

You do not care for me because I am a woman.

I must tell You that I really do not know how You dare to ignore me.

There is always a veil between God's Intention and man's realisation.

There is always a bridge between man's love for God and God's surrender to man.

21.

O God, I don't understand politics at all, and at the same time, I wish to remain millions of miles away from politics.

But I have a prayer to You. Please, please give me the strength to appreciate and admire the politicians.

Son, granted.

22.

December, 1973

God, I wish to know Your own opinion about the Watergate business.

Son, the business has just started. Therefore, I do not know where, when and how it will end. Without the least possible hesitation, I can tell you that the beginning of Watergate is either blessed or cursed with a deathless life.

23.

His mind is lost in the unknowable God.

His heart is lost in the unknown God.

And he himself is lost in the known God.

Part II: Aphorisms

1.

Who is God?

God is the Eternal Lover.

2.

Who is God?

God is the Eternal Child.

3.

Where is God?

God is inside my morning-eyes
And my evening-feet.

4.

How old is God?

God is three years old on earth
And three thousand years old in Heaven.

5.

How tall is God?

God is as tall as my necessity's demand.

6.

Does God smile?

Not now. But before He created the universe He used to.

7.

How fat is God?

God is as fat as man's countless desires.

8.

Does God cry?

Yes, God cries.

He cries not only openly but also constantly.

9.

Does God walk?

Yes, He does.
He walks with the help of man's mind.

10.

Does God run?

Yes, He does.

He runs with the help of man's heart.

11.

Does God fly?

Yes, He does.

He flies with the help of man's eyes.

12.

Does God ever sing?

Yes, He does. He knows only two songs:

The Song of Aspiration and
The Song of Perfection.

13.

Does God ever dance?

Yes, He does.

He dances when He loses to His children in His Cosmic Game.

14.

Do you want to love only God all the time?

"Yes."

Then just forget to love your unreal self: Ignorance.

15.

Do you want to devote yourself only to God?

"Yes."

Then do not devote yourself to your unreal existence: Bondage.

16.

Do you want to surrender your entire life only to God?

"Yes."

Then do not surrender to your unreal realisation: Doubt.

17.

Is God satisfied with the world?

God the Compassion-Surrender says: Yes.

God the Perfection-Master says: No.

18.

When does God think of you?

God thinks of you when you stop mixing with your friends: fear, doubt and insecurity.

19.

/God is always so busy. When does He get the time to eat?/

Unlike us, God eats all the time
And unlike ours, His food is man's infinite ignorance and man's eternal ingratitude.

Part III — San Juan Centre: Questions on God

//The following questions on God [Part III to VII] were asked of Sri Chinmoy by his disciples at several of his Centres.//

Question: What does God think of me?

Sri Chinmoy: God thinks of you as a bud with infinite potentialities, infinite possibilities and infinite realities.

Question: Does God have a family like me?

Sri Chinmoy: Yes, God has. Your wife's name is Maria. God's Wife has three names: Compassion, Patience and Perfection. God and His Wife have only one son and one daughter. Their daughter's name is Blossoming Faith. Their son's name is Soaring Courage.

Question: What does God want from me?

Sri Chinmoy: God wants you to think only of God. If you find it difficult, then God wants you to think only of yourself and not to think of others' achievements and imperfections.

Question: God the Unmanifest is Eternal. Is God's manifestation also eternal?

Sri Chinmoy: God's Compassion-manifestation is not always eternal. At times He uses His Justice-Light. But His Illumination-manifestation is always eternal. In your case, I clearly see that God is playing the Game of His Illumination-manifestation.

Question: Do you think that God is pleased with my inner progress?

Sri Chinmoy: God is pleased with your soulful sincerity. He wants you to please Him with your inner progress too. Try, you certainly can.

Question: What does God think about music?

Sri Chinmoy: I tell you a supreme secret: music is God's Soul. And His Soul is infinitely more beautiful than the rising sun. Therefore God has every reason to be fond of His Soul.

Question: When will God give me the real comprehension of my life?

Sri Chinmoy: When you most kindly give Him a chance, God will unreservedly give you the real comprehension of life.

Question: Can God be realised in one lifetime?

Sri Chinmoy: Yes, one can realise God in one lifetime provided he grows into a deer-disciple and gets a lion-Master.

Question [from a three year old]: Where is God?

Sri Chinmoy: God is inside your mother's heart and inside your father's eyes.

Question: Who is the best friend of God?

Sri Chinmoy: The best friend of God is your heart's constant cry. Again, the best friend of your heart's cry is God.

Question: Who, where and how is God?

Sri Chinmoy: Who is God? God is your eternal Host. Where is God? He is inside your immediate necessity. How is God? God is fine. This is what I have heard from His Compassion and Forgiveness and I am passing it on to you.

Question: Does God have to deal with our bad and good actions?

Sri Chinmoy: Who else will or can deal with our good and bad actions if not God? But if we invoke God to deal with our good actions, then He transforms them into better actions. If we invoke God to deal with our bad actions, then He transforms them into good actions. But if we don't want Him to deal with our actions, He does not mind. He just watches us amusedly and indefinitely. As you know, God has good manners. He does not want to be an intruder.

Question: Why did God bring me here?

Sri Chinmoy: God brought you into the world just to enjoy Himself divinely, eternally and supremely through you.

Question: Why did God create this mess?

Sri Chinmoy: God did not create this mess. It is your own Temptation-Queen and your Destruction-King who have created this mess.

Question: How can God stand me?

Sri Chinmoy: God can stand you as long as you are willing to swim in the sea of His Compassion.

Question: Why is man God's Himalayan blunder?

Sri Chinmoy: On the contrary, man's dark and wild ingratitude to God's constant Love and Compassion is man's Himalayan blunder.

Question: Is God as crazy as I am?

Sri Chinmoy: Unfortunately, God does not have any equal either on earth or in Heaven. Therefore He is infinitely crazier than you. His Compassion-craziness beggars description. Don't feel sorry. Like you, we all have been badly defeated by God in everything.

Question: How can I know that God is happy with me?

Sri Chinmoy: If you are happy with yourself inside your aspiring, devoted and surrendered heart, then rest assured that God is extremely happy with you.

Question: Does God love me equally with my imperfections?

Sri Chinmoy: The mother loves her son in spite of his imperfections. How is it that God the all-loving Father, will find it difficult to love you? No, He loves you and your imperfections. He considers your teeming imperfections as His very own. He will have no peace of mind unless and until He has transformed your teeming imperfections into His glowing Perfection.

Question: Does God ever get tired of my discontent?

Sri Chinmoy: God never gets tired of your discontent. But on rare occasions, His Wisdom-Justice gets a little bit tired of His Compassion. Dear Ashpriha, God feels miserable that still He has not been able to make you happy.

Question: When will God enter into me?

Sri Chinmoy: God has already entered into you. It is you who are afraid of entering into Him lovingly, devotedly and fully. Just try to enter into Him. As your sweet little child, Mahendra, enters into your open arms and loving heart, even so God expects you to run and enter into His open Arms and loving Heart.

Question: How far is God from me?

Sri Chinmoy: God is as far as your eyes can see. God is as near as your heart can feel. See not, just feel and become.

Question: What will God tell me when I see Him for the first time?

Sri Chinmoy: God will tell you, "My son, I was so sorry to learn that you lost your love-passport. But now I am exceedingly happy that you have found it."

Question: What does God think of my wild ignorance?

Sri Chinmoy: According to God, your ignorance is His unfinished Building of light and Delight.

Question: Does God always choose fishermen to be His helpers?

Sri Chinmoy: Not exactly so. God asked His beloved son Christ to choose the fisherman to assist him in his revelation and manifestation. God asked His son Chinmoy to choose some hippie-men and the unloved men to assist him in his revelation and manifestation.

Question: How does God want me to increase my love for Him?

Sri Chinmoy: In order to increase your love for God, God wants you to feel that He loves you constantly, unreservedly and unconditionally.

Question: Does God waste His time as much as I do?

Sri Chinmoy: God has two solid reasons for not wasting His time as you quite often do. The first reason is that He has not yet learned this fine art! The second is that He cannot afford to pay the exorbitant fee to the teacher, ignorance, as you do!

Question: How does God manage to put up with my ego?

Sri Chinmoy: To you, your ego is a Himalayan burden. To God, your ego is a golden opportunity for expanding and illumining the Consciousness of His ever-transcending Beyond.

Question: What gives God the greatest joy?

Sri Chinmoy: God gets the greatest joy when you ask your mind to unlearn, when you ask your heart to feel and when you ask your aspiring life to grow into His very Image of Perfection-Sun.

Question: How do I thank God?

Sri Chinmoy: You don't have to thank God. Just feel that without God you are feebler than the tiniest ant and with God you are mightier than the mightiest roaring lion. This very feeling of yours will arouse your gratitude-dawn from its age-long slumber.

Question: How does God feel when I get mad at Him?

Sri Chinmoy: When you get angry with God, God sees clearly that the Dawn of His universal Perfection-Sun will indefinitely be delayed.

Question: Does God have a sound? If He has one, can we understand it?

Sri Chinmoy: Yes, God has a sound and it is called the Soundless Sound. This Soundless Sound constantly reverberates in the inmost recesses of every human heart. This Soundless Sound is precisely what God has and what He is. You don't and can't understand this Sound. Today you hear this Sound and tomorrow you see that you simply can't escape growing into its omnipresent, omniscient and omnipotent Reality.

Part IV — New York Centre: Questions on God

Question: Does God have free will?

Sri Chinmoy: God the eternal Compassion has no free will of His own. God the supreme Perfection has nothing but free will. God's free will in the aspiring souls is His life-immortalising transcendental Gift.

Question: Does God know me personally?

Sri Chinmoy: Yes, God knows you personally. Do you know why? Here is the simple reason: just because you know His divine representative on earth, personally and soulfully.

Question: When will I see God?

Sri Chinmoy: When you live in your soul you see God all the time. When you live in your heart you feel God all the time. But when you live in the mind, in the vital and in the physical, you neither see nor feel God. You want to know when you will see God. I wish to tell you that you will be able to see God with your naked eyes only when you have become an unconditionally surrendered seeker of the Supreme and when you have made this unconditional surrender of yours a permanent reality.

Question: How can I give God constant joy?

Sri Chinmoy: You can give God constant joy when you are absolutely determined to be nothing but His Football, His Flute and His Song.

Question: How can I remember God all day?

Sri Chinmoy: You can remember God all day if you discover the supreme truth that except God-realisation there is nothing on earth worth achieving or worth becoming.

Question: When was God most pleased with man?

Sri Chinmoy: God was most pleased with man when he desired. God is most pleased with man when he aspires. God will be most pleased with man when he unconditionally surrenders.

Question: Does God mind when I think mainly of you and rarely of Him?

Sri Chinmoy: God does not mind when you think mainly of me and rarely of Him because my existence-reality is His Feet. How can the Heart-God be displeased when somebody is climbing up to Him on the ladder of His Compassion-Feet?

When you see a father and a child together, if you start appreciating the beauty of the child and admiring the divine qualities of the child, the father does not become jealous. On the contrary, he becomes so proud of his son who is being admired because he feels that the child is absolutely his achievement.

Question: How can I get God to do everything for me?

Sri Chinmoy: You can get God to do everything for you when every breath of yours embodies soulful gratitude.

Question: When will I be a good girl?

Sri Chinmoy: You can easily be a good girl when you say to God, "God, I am giving You all my jealousies, doubts, fears and insecurities for good. I have treasured them for a long time. I am no longer fond of them. I shall be glad if You kindly accept these gifts from me."

Question: Is God our Mother or our Father?

Sri Chinmoy: God is both our Mother and our Father. God assumes the role of the Mother to fulfil us when we cry, try and surrender. God assumes the role of the Father to fulfil us when we search, struggle and strive.

Question: How can I make sure God hears everything I want to tell Him?

Sri Chinmoy: You can be certain of the fact that God hears everything you want to tell Him if you can empty your mind, purify your heart, energise your vital and surrender your body-consciousness before you speak to God.

Question: Does God see anything but Himself?

Sri Chinmoy: To be sure, God sees everything as Himself, right from the loftiest perfection-height to the most abysmal imperfection-depth. But one thing we all must know: when God sails His Dream-Boat between the shores of Infinity and Eternity, He expects everything from humanity's soul. But when He smilingly stands on the Reality-Shore, He does not expect anything from humanity's body.

Question: What quality pleases God the most?

Sri Chinmoy: When it is a matter of man's pleasing God, man's conscious, constant and inseparable feeling of oneness with God pleases Him most. When it is a matter of God's pleasing Himself, His Sound in Silence pleases Him most.

Question: How can I know God's Will all the time?

Sri Chinmoy: You can know God's Will all the time if you learn how to cry like a soulful child, smile like the glorious morning and flow like a murmuring river.

Question: How can I keep God in my heart all night?

Sri Chinmoy: You can keep God in your heart all night if you hear from me the supreme secret that for a genuine seeker like you, there is no night and there can be no night. It is all day, eternal day. And the seeker in you is the constant revelation and manifestation of that eternal day.

Question: How can I get God to answer my prayers?

Sri Chinmoy: You can get God to answer all your prayers if you just tell God soulfully that you are tired of steering your life-boat all by yourself and that you would like Him to give you a hand. I assure you that out of His infinite Bounty not only will God steer your life-boat for you, but also He will bring the Reality-Shore much nearer.

Question: Can God ever refuse a sincere cry?

Sri Chinmoy: No, God can never refuse a sincere cry. Do you want to know why? The simple reason is that He has not yet acquired the capacity to climb up the tree of indifference.

Question: Is God ever stubborn?

Sri Chinmoy: God is not stubborn. Had He been stubborn, He would have used His Justice-Power all the time and not His Compassion-Height and Forgiveness-Light.

Question: Why does God want me to come to Him through love?

Sri Chinmoy: God wants you to come to Him through love because He loves you constantly and because He knows that the path of love is the shortest way for you and for everyone to reach Him.

Question: Why does God make some people mean?

Sri Chinmoy: God does not make anybody mean, but what actually happens is this: there are some people who feel that their meanness has the capacity to take away some of the godliness of others. Of course, what we call meanness in them, they call their justice-weapon.

Question: God, I would like to know how I can stay on the path of surrender?

Sri Chinmoy: You can stay on the path of surrender until you reach your ultimate goal if you can make your mind feel that there is no other way to God-realisation which is as illumined and effective as the way of surrender.

Question: Why did God seem to ignore me before I met my Guru?

Sri Chinmoy: God did not ignore you before you met your Guru. He just prepared you silently, inwardly, lovingly, steadily, unerringly and unconditionally to meet your Guru at His choice Hour so that you could offer Him your soul's treasure: promise, and your heart's treasure: surrender.

Question: How can we have more intense love for God?

Sri Chinmoy: You can have more intense love for God by looking at the incense stick and the burning candle and observing how at every moment they are preparing themselves for their total extinction in the heart of the highest height.

Question: How do I know if I am on the right path to God?

Sri Chinmoy: You have three friends inside your heart. Their names are sincerity, purity and intensity. Ask any one of them if you are on the right path to God. I assure you, you will get an immediate reply

Question: Is God ever tired of my prayers?

Sri Chinmoy: God is never tired of your prayers. On the contrary, He often wonders why your prayers are so short-lived and not soulful. Only a long-lived and soulful prayer can have free access to God's Palace of Light and Truth.

Question: How can I become worthy of being God's friend?

Sri Chinmoy: You can become worthy of being God's friend if you dare to write God's biography: Infinite Life and the immortal Love of the Absolute.

Question: What does God's Smile feel like?

Sri Chinmoy: We feel that God's Smile is the illumination-flood of a thousand suns all at once.

Question: Where is God's Laughter?

Sri Chinmoy: God's Laughter shines in man's ignorance-pride and God's own Expectation-light.

Question: Does God ever lose His temper?

Sri Chinmoy: John-God may at times lose his temper when his Jane-Goddess fails to fulfil his express desires. But God the Supreme does not lose His temper, for His divine Authority has the capacity to please Him in His own Way sooner than at once.

Question: What does God think when we fail?

Sri Chinmoy: When we fail, God tells us, "My sweet children, your case is not hopeless. Your disease is not incurable. And you are not past correction." God further tells us, "My sweet children, you are My only hope. In you is the fulfilment-seed of My ultimate Promise. For you is My Infinity's and Eternity's All."

Question: Why does God have so much Compassion?

Sri Chinmoy: God has so much Compassion because He feels that only by using His Compassion can He bring people out of the temptation-snare. If He does not use Compassion, then man will always remain ignorant, imperfect, unillumined and unfulfilled.

Question: Is God ever shy of anyone?

Sri Chinmoy: God is not shy of anyone. Shyness is an undivine quality. Being Supremely divine, how can God have any undivine qualities?

Question: Where is God in suffering?

Sri Chinmoy: If I ask God, "God, where are You in suffering?" God will immediately answer, "My son, I didn't create suffering. Why do you want Me to be in your suffering? I am not responsible for your suffering. It is you who have created suffering for yourself, it is your ignorance that has created it. Again, I wish to say that I am ready to be in your suffering provided you do not create suffering again and again for yourself."

Question: What does God's Compassion feel like to God?

Sri Chinmoy: To God His Compassion is His highest achievement. When He uses this achievement on earth, He maintains His sense of duality, His highest Height and the lowest depth. When He uses this highest achievement of His in Heaven, He maintains His unity of what He has and is. What He has is Infinity's Light; what He is is Eternity's Delight.

Question: When during my life was God closest to me?

Sri Chinmoy: God was closest to you during your life five years ago, the day your Guru blessed you from his Transcendental Consciousness and took full responsibility for your inner life and outer life, assuring your soul and your entire being that he would without fail carry them to the highest Heights of the ever-transcending Beyond.

Question: How can I feel God during my work?

Sri Chinmoy: You can feel God during your work if you do not separate your work from your meditation. Work is manifestation meditation is realisation. So don't try to separate your realisation from your manifestation. Then you can easily feel God during your work.

Question: What does God's Bliss feel like?

Sri Chinmoy: God's Bliss feels like the Oneness, divine Oneness, that constantly grows and flows, and flows and grows. It grows to reach the Height, the highest Height, and it flows to reach the farthest corner of the Universe.

Question: Are there any gardens in Heaven?

Sri Chinmoy: Yes, there are many gardens in Heaven, and the most famous garden in Heaven is called Nandan Kanan. And the most beautiful flower is called parijat. I wish to tell you that, as there are gardens in Heaven, so also is there a garden in God's Heart; and the name of this garden is Kanan, the ever-blossoming gratitude.

Question: God, why are you so nice to me?

Sri Chinmoy: God never appreciates the idea of owing anything to anyone. God is extremely nice to you precisely because you are extremely nice to Him. Your presence gives Him abundant joy, just as His Presence gives you abundant joy.

Question: What does God do with His Vital?

Sri Chinmoy: Early in the morning God asks His Vital-horse to go and play with His Heart-deer. In the evening He asks His Vital-horse to eat with His Soul-lion. Now in the morning, God's Heart-deer inspires His vital-horse to run the fastest and reach the farthest Goal. And in the evening, God's Soul-lion inspires His Vital-horse to devour the universal ignorance so that God can manifest His immortal and supreme Love upon earth.

Question: Does God ever get dirty?

Sri Chinmoy: God never gets dirty because His all-illumining light is dirt-proof.

Question: Why does God hide from Himself?

Sri Chinmoy: God hides from Himself so that He can get ever-increasing joy from seeking for Himself.

Question: Why are some people closer to God than others?

Sri Chinmoy: God loves all His children equally, but some of His children are infinitely more devoted than others. Naturally, on the strength of their devotedness, constant love and conscious surrender, they become much closer to God than others. God's Love is like the sunlight. Sunlight is for everyone, but if someone wants to use more sunlight than someone else, naturally he will get more benefit. He who surrenders himself more to God gets the opportunity to use Him more. And how does God give him this opportunity? Just by making that person closer to Him.

Question: Does God like speed or patience more?

Sri Chinmoy: When God's Hour strikes, He loves speed more. And when the Hour has not yet struck, He loves patience more. In your case God's Hour has struck, so you should do away with your patience.

Question: When does God show us what work we must do?

Sri Chinmoy: God shows us what work we must do if we can soulfully promise to Him that our work will be nothing but an extension of His divine Manifestation. Then He is bound to show us our work. But if our work is an expansion of our ego, God does not recognise us; at that time we are nothing but strangers to Him.

Question: Does God consider it important for the aspirant to understand his past in order to be free of his unconscious enslavement to its influence?

Sri Chinmoy: God does not consider it at all important for the aspirant to know all about his past before he can free himself from his unconscious connection with it. On the contrary, it is not advisable to understand one's past. Understanding is an act of the mind. This understanding is of no avail in the inner world. Feeling is of great importance, and oneness-reality is of paramount importance, for feeling and oneness are the products of the heart. If we want to free ourselves from the fetters of the past, we shall not enter into the past, for the past is still unlit, obscure and impure. We have to march forward to where there is hope, light, assurance and promise. Eventually we shall bring into the past the divine wealth of the future to transform and illumine the past. We can take the past as our own home. If we do not go out and work and get a salary, how are we going to survive? Similarly, we go out of the past, enter into the future and bring back with us the wealth of the future once we have received it. Not by staying in the past can we solve the problems of the past, but by going beyond and transcending the experiences of the past we can illumine the heart of the past and fulfil the life of the past. When the future illumines the past, the Hour of God dawns for the present, and inside the Hour of God man hears the message of God's eternal Now: the message of man's continuous self-transcendence and God's supreme Satisfaction.

Question: Why can God change His mind?

Sri Chinmoy: God is all Freedom. He has every right to change His mind provided He knows that this change is going to be an improvement, a better accomplishment and a more fulfilling manifestation of Light on earth. When you change your mind it is because your mind is restless and it cannot achieve anything substantial. But when God changes His mind He proves to Himself and others that His Capacity is endless.

Question: How can I see myself as God sees me?

Sri Chinmoy: God sees you as another God. If you want to see yourself as another God, just become one. In order to become one, abnegate your little 'i' and claim your big "I".

Question: Is God lonely?

Sri Chinmoy: Yes, God is lonely when people consciously and deliberately do not want to participate in His cosmic Game. He is lonely when nobody sails in His Dream-boat to reach His Golden Shore. He is lonely when He sees that nobody attempts to be His eternal friend. He is lonely when He sees that earthly beings do not want to become as divine and supreme as He is.

Question: God is one but His earthly manifestations are many. How does a Japanese soul reconcile itself aesthetically with an Indian God?

Sri Chinmoy: Poor God! Let us not confine Him either to India or to Japan. Since God's Beauty is all-pervading, a Japanese soul will not be denied the opportunity to appreciate, admire and grow into God, the ever-increasing Beauty.

Question: How can we purify evil while walking along the path to God?

Sri Chinmoy: We can purify evil just by making friends with the universal purity. And to make friends with the universal purity we have to give up all that we have and all that we are. Right now what we have is unwillingness and what we are is a mass of ignorance.

Question: When am I pleasing God?

Sri Chinmoy: You are pleasing God when you feed your inner cry and when you fulfil the soulful wishes of your daughter, Vela.

Question: Why does God like to play hide and seek?

Sri Chinmoy: God says that He likes to play hide and seek because it is the only way that He can know how much love He has for Himself and how much love man has for Him.

Question: Is there any limit to God's Forgiveness?

Sri Chinmoy: As there is no limit to man's ignorance, even so there is no limit to God's Forgiveness. Man's infinite ignorance can come to an end the day man becomes sincerity's intensity and intensity's sincerity. Sincerity's intensity and intensity's sincerity can be found only in cheerful and constant self-offering to the Will of the Inner Pilot.

Question: When will we all see God?

Sri Chinmoy: We all have seen God; what we are trying to do now is consciously reveal God and soulfully manifest God.

Question: What is God's favourite food?

Sri Chinmoy: God's favourite food is man's constant and soulful smile.

Question: Why does God have so much Compassion that He has to suffer so much for man?

Sri Chinmoy: The best friend of the worst suffering of man is God's Compassion. God and His Compassion are inseparable. God finds that of all His weapons the Compassion-weapon is the only one that can eventually transform human suffering into divine Bliss; therefore, he uses His Compassion-commander to fight against the commander of suffering, ignorance. The soldiers that obey the commander of Compassion are concern, patience and forgiveness. The soldiers that fight for the commander of suffering are lethargy, darkness and impurity.

Question: How can I open my heart of gratitude to God?

Sri Chinmoy: You can open your heart of gratitude to God just by repeating the word gratitude as you breathe in and out.

Question: Does God ever doubt?

Sri Chinmoy: God does not doubt. God never doubts because His Light is all-illumining and all-fulfilling. There can be no doubt in illumination, and there can be no doubt in fulfilment.

Question: How can I be God's child and how can I be God's soldier?

Sri Chinmoy: You can be God's child if you know how to offer a cry of gratitude to God inside your heart. You can be God's soldier if you know how to offer a smile of fortitude to God inside your soul. Try, you can and you will succeed.

Question: What is the easiest way to make God love me?

Sri Chinmoy: The easiest way to make God love you is to make your mind feel that it is God's business to perfect His entire creation and it is your business to grow into a garland of gratitude to God's ever-illumining Life and ever-fulfilling Will. In your case, God does love you, but where is your heart to feel it? Where is your mind to think of it?

Question: Does God like everything that everyone does?

Sri Chinmoy: Let us take God as the supreme Singer. In the morning He sings, in the afternoon He judges his musical talents and in the evening He makes His Song absolutely perfect. God is the Singer, God is the Judge and God is the Perfection-Lover. When God the Perfection-Lover has played His role, He likes everything that He does. God being everything and everybody, ultimately He is bound to like everything that everybody does.

Part V — Connecticut Centre: questions on God

Question: What is God's most favourite colour?

Sri Chinmoy: God's most favourite colour is not always the same. He is like a child. This moment he likes one thing, the next moment He likes something else. So God, being the eternal Child, will choose red as His most favourite colour, and the following moment blue. His favourite colour is constantly changing.

Question: What is God's favourite musical instrument?

Sri Chinmoy: God's favourite musical instrument is the one that you like best. You represent God, so the instrument that you like best is God's favourite instrument. God in you is ready to play the instrument that you like best. Because he is an eternal musician and you have come to represent Him, the musical instrument that you like best, he has to like best. What is your instrument? Trumpet? Then God definitely likes the trumpet most. You blow His victory. The trumpet signifies victory.

Question: Does God laugh when we laugh?

Sri Chinmoy: God always does the same as we do. If we laugh, God will laugh provided the laughter is coming from our heart and not from anywhere else. If we cry, God will cry with us. If we smile, God will smile with us. Anything that comes from the heart will be responded to by God, followed by God and simultaneously done by God Himself.

Question: Does God like girls or boys better?

Sri Chinmoy: Whoever is the most obedient. If at this moment the girl is most obedient to God, God likes the girl. If the girl obeys the Father God, then naturally God likes the daughter. But if both son and daughter are equally obedient to God, then God cannot make any discrimination; He loves them equally. We have to know who listens to the Father more, the daughter or the son. So the individual son or daughter must get his or her answer from God according to his or her obedience. Otherwise, God is very impartial. He has to be impartial. He has created both son and daughter. If He takes one side then He becomes partial. If the boys feel the daughters are closer to me, rest assured that the girls listen to me more than the boys. If the girls feel that boys are closer to me, they have to feel that the boys are more obedient.

I am your spiritual Father; God is our Infinite and Eternal Father. If you listen to me, whether you are a boy or a girl, you become closer to me. If you don't listen to me, whether you are a boy or a girl is immaterial to me. Still the game is played. He or she who listens is God's favourite.

Question: Why does God allow so much antagonism between different spiritual Masters?

Sri Chinmoy: Between spiritual Masters God allows everything. Just because God allows this to happen it still exists on earth. Some people are even worse than us; they quarrel and fight more than we do. So you see, if God allows you to do something and He also allows somebody else to do the same thing, you cannot blame the other person. It is only a matter of degrees. You may doubt God once in six months, the other fellow may doubt God every second. If you say that you have never doubted God in this incarnation, then I will answer that you have made a mistake. Let us say that you have done something out of jealousy. You may not direct your jealousy to other Masters, but you may direct your jealousy to your brother or sister disciples. You are using the same weapon, jeaousy, only you are aiming at a particular person and he is aiming back at you. So I will ask, "Why does God allow others as well as myself to remain imperfect?" The day that I can say that I am perfect, I will say to God, "You have made a mistake. You have made me perfect and still all those other people are imperfect." Why does God allow this? The answer is that the power of His Compassion is infinitely more powerful than His Justice. This is the only answer.

Question: Does God feel physical pain?

Sri Chinmoy: Definitely. Although He is above and beyond the physical, He feels physical pain, for He has become one with the physical. He is in the physical, He is in the subtle, He is everywhere. If He lives in the physical, then naturally He feels pain. People thought that the plant did not have any feelings. Now scientists have discovered feelings in the plant and they can even show how the plants quarrel and fight as we do. So naturally God is there. When we attack someone on the physical plane, we suffer; and because He is within our suffering, God suffers. But at the same time, He is beyond our suffering. For us it is not like that. Each time we get a blow, we stay in the suffering. But in God's case, he is inside the house and He can come out of the house at any time. He knows how to open the door. But we are like children: we don't know how to open the door and we don't know how to close the door. God is like the elderly person who escapes with His wisdom. If He does not want to use His wisdom, he can stay and play with us and He can be bound. The moment He enters into us and enjoys our game, He enters into our ignorance, although He has the capacity to come out at any moment.

God feels physical pain as you do. To be very frank, God feels pain much more than we do because He identifies with our physical, vital, mental, our entire being. This is God in His human aspect. In this personal aspect He suffers from our pain. He enjoys everything that we do in our own way. He is in our life of pleasure. He is in our life of limitation and imperfection. The personal God suffers and becomes everything in life.

But God in His impersonal aspect does not feel anything. He is not at all attached to our suffering. He only transforms and liberates us with the conscious awareness and assistance of the personal. Without the assistance of the personal God, humans would not make any satisfactory progress on earth.

We have to consciously cooperate with the divine dispensation, with the human God. God takes the help of certain human beings so that He can transform the human into the divine. As long as He remains in human beings and identifies Himself with the human, He does feel pain as you do, infinitely more than you do.

Question: Does God ever play tricks on me just for fun?

Sri Chinmoy: Just for fun, God will play tricks on you — if you enjoy it. If you don't enjoy it, if you are a dry intellectual human being, God may come in front of you but you won't be interested. If you enjoy jokes, He enjoys jokes. But if you do not enjoy them, He won't bother us, for God is a perfect gentleman. If you enjoy jokes and want to play a trick, naturally He will play tit for tat. If you do something, He will do the same. If you offer love and devotion, then immediately He will become your slave. So if you enjoy tricks and want to play tricks, then He will want to play tricks.

Question: Will God always please me?

Sri Chinmoy: If you give God the chance, He is bound to please you. If you don't give Him the chance, how is He going to please you? As an individual, if you feel that you alone can please yourself, there is no purpose for God. But if you feel that God is your own, not only will He be able to fulfil you, He will also feel that it is His bounden duty to fulfil you. He is bound to please you twenty-four hours a day if you will only give Him the chance He is like a beggar, an eternal beggar. He is begging you to give Him the chance to please you.

Question: Guru, why does God make it so difficult for the seeker who aspires to realise God?

Sri Chinmoy: He has not made it difficult for sincere seekers. For the sincere seeker the road is very short, but for the doubtful seeker, the road is very long. This moment you feel that God is very kind to you, then the next moment you get a blow and feel some pain so you lose faith. Some unconscious part of you asks, "O God, why are you so cruel to me? This morning I did my meditation well. How is it that my body has been made to suffer?"

At that time you can say, "I know others may have infinitely more serious problems than I. God is so kind to me and it is only out of infinite kindness and compassion that my suffering was not infinitely worse."

Once you change your attitude towards God, immediately the road becomes easier. If you have pain, immediately you can see that this pain is absolutely nothing; then the pain goes away. But when you have a little pain and ask why God has allowed you to suffer, then the pain will remain. At that time you have to change your attitude. Whenever there is suffering, immediately you have to feel that it could have been infinitely worse.

Who has done this actually? Not God. It is the hostile forces that come and attack in the form of disease and suffering. We have to tell them, "We don't need you, we don't want you, we want only God."

When hostile forces attack us, unconsciously we cherish our suffering. Otherwise, they would not be able to last for a long time.

The road is long only for those who do not want to walk along the path in a proper way. If you feel that something is good, show all your gratitude. If you feel in your mind that something is bad deplorable, feel immediately that it could have been infinitely worse. Feel that it is out of God's infinite Love and Compassion that He has not allowed the attack to come to you. If you have this kind of attitude, the road becomes very, very easy.

Question: Does God get angry?

Sri Chinmoy: No, God does not get angry. Our way of anger and God's way of anger are totally different. God's anger is His divine dispensation. When He sees that His love does not work, then He uses His force. The mother shows love and affection to her child, but when the child does not listen, the mother becomes very angry. Her impulse is to harm the child, to punish it.

There is a great difference between human anger and God's divine dispensation of His Justice. In God's case it is not at all that kind of human anger. His anger is a kind of divine justice; we can say it is a secret pretense when He shows anger. At times He feels that He has to use divine force so that His children can be perfected.

The seeker makes a mistake when he gets angry. If we see anger in the personal aspect of God, that is necessary. He wants to have perfection, and if He can show it in very powerful, destructive anger, if by that He can change you, then He will use it. He wants perfection from you. If Love cannot transform you, then naturally He will use His Force, His Power. If we feel His Power in the physical, we can take it as anger. But if we are in the soul, we will see that it is not anger. He is only energising us, bringing forward our determination by using His divine, adamantine Will.

Question: Why does God choose a particular soul to be an Avatar?

Sri Chinmoy: God sees the soul. He has given capacity to the soul so that everybody has the possibility of working for Him. Now those souls who are meant to be Avatars are, fortunately or unfortunately, of a different mould from ordinary souls. Everybody will eventually become spiritually realised; everybody has to realise God. But we see that here on earth there is a commander-in-chief with his soldiers. The soldiers fight together to bring about victory. There are many soldiers, but the commander is only one. Today there may be one commander and tomorrow another, but at one time there will be only one commander. All the soldiers cannot be leaders at once. Always the soldiers work together and under the guidance of the commander they win the victory.

Now how does God choose? God chooses in this way: God has the vision; His is the eternal vision that sees the possibility. He not only sees but also gives the possibility. He creates the possibility in some souls to represent Him. God feels that He wants to create some paintings. He paints in different ways in order to please Himself more. That is to say, one painting He wants to be excellent and charming. He feels that if the other ones are just neat and nice, He will be satisfied. But with one of His creations He wants to reach the Highest.

It is as if He has kept in front of Him a few ladders. He tells one of His children, "I want you to climb up this ladder. This is the highest." And to another, "Here is a ladder which is a little shorter. If you can climb this much I will be happy with you." And to a third person he gives an even shorter ladder and says, "If you climb up this much, I will be very happy."

God is equally satisfied with the Avatar if the Avatar is extremely devoted and surrendered and with the disciple of the Avatar if he is extremely devoted and surrendered. In a play somebody may take the role of the king and someone else becomes a servant. If the king plays his role most satisfactorily, the audience is satisfied. Again, if the servant plays his role well, the audience is so happy that it admires him like anything. At that time, the audience will never say, "Oh, he is playing the role of a servant; even though he played extremely well, we won't admire him." Instead, they will see it as a play, with the actors playing their respective roles. In God's universal Creation, God wants everybody to take part. One will be a king, one will be a servant, one will be a minister. If you play your role well and I play mine, God is satisfied. This is how God maintains His cosmic Game. Here each one of us represents God in a different form while playing in the cosmic Game. God will be satisfied, God is satisfied with each and everyone, provided he or she does her share. They need not be an Avatar. If the seeker becomes unconditionally surrendered to God, God will be pleased.

Part VI — San Francisco Centre: Questions on God

Question: How come I don't see God any more?

Sri Chinmoy: You don't see God any more because you feel that you are sufficient unto yourself. Since there is no room left inside your heart for God to live, how can you see Him? You see someone who is either within you or without you. In your case you have kept both your inner eyes and your outer eyes shut. Naturally you don't see Him, you can't see Him.

Question: What is God's favourite flower?

Sri Chinmoy: God's favourite flower is gratitude. Unlike other flowers, this flower grows only in our heart's garden. The sooner we claim God as our very own, the sooner it offers its fragrance.

Question: Guru, when you speak to God, do you speak in English or Bengali?

Sri Chinmoy: This is a very good question. I speak to God not only in English and Bengali but in many languages. Our discussion can be in Bengali, in English, in any language. There are many languages I do not know at all, which my physical mind is not aware of. But it has happened that I have talked to God in those languages as well. To tell you the truth, God and I quite often speak without using earthly languages. Instead, we use Light, which is our divine medium to converse with each other.

Question: Can we ever hear God laugh?

Sri Chinmoy: Certainly, we can hear God laugh. Because He laughs at His own creation, He maintains his sanity. If He had not laughed at His creation, by this time He would have gone crazy!

Question: Does God talk to the trees?

Sri Chinmoy: Yes, God talks to the trees. "Tree" signifies aspiration. Its height is its aspiration and its foot represents solid foundation. In earth-consciousness the tree has its foundation; it strives to grow up into Heaven's Height.

Question: How can a soul tune itself more quickly, more purposefully and more consistently with the harmony of the Supreme?

Sri Chinmoy: The soul can tune itself to the harmony of the Supreme provided the soul is constantly conscious of its promise to the absolute Supreme. What is its promise? Its promise is God-revelation and God-manifestation on earth. God-revelation is necessary for earth's inspiration and aspiration. God-manifestation is necessary for Heaven-realisation and Heaven-perfection on earth.

Question: What is God's phone number?

Sri Chinmoy: God's phone number is 123-4567. "One" represents Creator. "Two" represents Creator and creation. "Three" represents God in His three aspects: Creator, Preserver and Transformer. "Four" represents God in His four directions: East, West, North, South. "Five" represents the five human senses: sight, sound, smell, taste and touch. "Six" represents six centres, the six chakras inside us: Muladhara, Svadhisthana, Manipura, Anahata, Vishuddha and Ajna. Sahasrara is not counted because it is not inside the body proper, but inside the brain. "Seven" represents the seven higher worlds and seven lower worlds. If the seeker is not aspiring, he sees God in the seven lower worlds. If the seeker is aspiring, he sees God in the seven higher worlds so that he can cherish Him, treasure Him and claim Him as his very own.

Question: What is God's favourite sport?

Sri Chinmoy: God's favourite sport is constant self-giving to those who need Him, as well as to those who do not consciously and deliberately need Him.

Question: Who is God's Father?

Sri Chinmoy: First of all let us know who God is. God is He who is the sole object of our love. He has become the sole object of our love because He is His own Source. His Father, who is He Himself, is infinite Compassion. In our case, we cannot be both the journey and the goal. In His case, He is both the Journey and the Goal. When he is the journey, He is the Son; when He is the Goal, He is the Father. God the Son is infinite Love. God the Father is infinite Compassion.

Question: Does God wear glasses?

Sri Chinmoy: God doesn't wear glasses. Why? You know glasses are made by human hands. He finds human achievements are quite inefficient. Since he already has one eye which is always at His disposal to see the past, present and future at His sweet Will, He doesn't need any earthly implement to add to His infinite capacity. His third eye is more than enough, so he doesn't have to wear glasses.

Question: What is God's favourite season?

Sri Chinmoy: God's favourite season is spring, when new hope, new life and new creation dawn. What God always wants from Himself is transcendence. This He can do only when He exercises new hope, new life and new creation constantly.

Question: How does God sing?

Sri Chinmoy: God sings cheerfully and mournfully. He sings cheerfully when He sees that we are going to learn His songs and then sing them to inspire humanity and then create new aspiration in humanity. He sings mournfully when humanity has given up all hope and has made friends with dire despair, when humanity learns the song of self-destruction and when humanity does not learn the song of self-perfection from Him.

Part VII — West Coast Centres: Questions on God

Question: Does God have as much trouble meditating as I do?

Sri Chinmoy: Certainly, God has as much trouble meditating as you do. Perhaps He has more trouble. Why? Because He has concern for His creation, for His child. He feels that it is His fault that He has not been able to create a better creation. God is a perfect gentleman. Unlike us, He admits whenever He does something wrong. One of His most glaring mistakes, He secretly tells me, is this: He asks me why He has chosen me to be your teacher, I who am so incapable in manifesting Him! God is experiencing difficulty in you during your meditation and He is having difficulty in trying to manifest Himself in and through me. In that case, you are not the only culprit; I too belong to your boat. Then at this point let us be clever. The boat needs a boatman. Who is the boatman if not God Himself?

Question: Does God ever get nervous?

Sri Chinmoy: God does not get nervous because, unlike us, He is too smart. He knows that nervousness never pays. He does only the thing that satisfies Him well. There are quite a few things that really enchant Him: straightforwardness, determined will and love for all. Since God has these qualities in boundless measure how can He be and why should He be nervous of anybody or anything?

Question: Does God own a car?

Sri Chinmoy: Yes, God has not only one car but two cars. One is in Heaven, one is on earth. In Heaven the roads are quite spacious; therefore, He drives at an incredible speed and He does not get into an accident. Here on earth the roads are all dark, dingy and narrow; therefore, he is very careful and cautious in driving, since He wants to avoid any kind of accident. In Heaven, while driving, His Delight-capacity makes friends with Immortality's Light. On earth His Wisdom-capacity sits at the foot of Immortality's Life-Tree.

Question: Does God have a special way of conversing with children?

Sri Chinmoy: Yes, God has a special way of conversing with children. He tells children that they are not mere children, they are His best friends, they are His best instruments. He plies His boat between their dreaming eyes and smiling heart. His way of conversing with children is to make them feel they are His real, eternal friends and that He and they are eternally equal.

Question: Does God hear everything we are thinking?

Sri Chinmoy: Yes, He does. If He doesn't watch our thoughts, if He doesn't hear from His divine ear or from the cosmic gods what we are thinking and what we are doing, how can He remain our eternal boss!

Question: What's God's favourite instrument?

Sri Chinmoy: God's favourite instrument is not a man-made instrument. It is His own eternal instrument: man. That means all of us. It is in and through us that He pleases Himself in an inimitable way.

Question: Does God ever rest?

Sri Chinmoy: Unlike us, God doesn't believe in the theory of rest. He has discovered something great. He feels that constant change of work is the perfect enjoyment of supreme rest.

1.

I taught God how to think.
God taught me how to love.
We are both very good teachers
But very poor students.