Author's dedication

I dedicate this book to my Savyasachi, Chetana, Ranjana and Sumedha. They have graciously and sincerely told me that my command of English surpasses theirs. To tell the truth, the words in this book have tremendously enriched my own vocabulary. I do hope that this book of amusement will inspire some of my disciple-readers who want to increase their vocabulary and sail in the same boat as we are in. The two brothers and the kind readers have all one Soul, one Role and one Goal: “Smile and learn, learn and smile.”

101 Inadvertently

Madal: Chinmoy, what shall I do when people inadvertently offend me?

Chinmoy: Madal, my simple suggestion to you is that when anyone offends you unintentionally, forgive him. And when anyone speaks ill of you intentionally, try to perfect him if you can.

102 Inane

Madal: Chinmoy, is he not inane who thinks that God loves even an atheist?

Chinmoy: Madal, you think that one is silly and lacking in sense if he thinks that God loves even an atheist. But I wish to assure you that even a stark atheist can never escape the boundaries of God’s Love. Never!

103 Incarcerate

Madal: Chinmoy, when we speak ill of God, do the cosmic forces incarcerate our inner beings and inhibit their spiritual freedom?

Chinmoy: Madal, when we speak ill of God, the cosmic forces do not imprison our inner beings. What actually happens when we speak ill of God is that we imprison God in the prison cell of our own ceaseless ignorance.

104 Incongruous

Madal: Chinmoy, my life is short, but my desires are as long as an endless train. My life and my desires are an incongruous pair.

Chinmoy: Madal, since you feel that your life and your desires are not harmonious in character, why not replace your long train of desires with a long train of aspiration? I assure you, God will flood your life with inner and outer harmony.

105 Indigent

Madal: Chinmoy, when will India end its existence as an indigent country?

Chinmoy: Madal, India will no longer be poverty-stricken only at God’s choice Hour. Perhaps that Hour is fast approaching.

106 Injunction

Madal: Chinmoy, I live in a hostile neighbourhood. The people there flatly defy injunctions which come from the city authorities.

Chinmoy: Madal, if your neighbours defy court orders, then you can go to the inner Supreme Court. I am sure the Supreme Justice of the inner court will listen to your plea. Just try it once.

107 Insipid

Madal: Chinmoy, what makes our human life so insipid?

Chinmoy: Madal, it is our unawareness of God’s Presence in all our activities that makes our lives dull, uninteresting and uninspiring.

108 Intransigent

Madal: Chinmoy, alas, I have an intransigent vital.

Chinmoy: Madal, don’t feel sad. Aspire more devotedly, more soulfully and more unconditionally. Then you won’t have to suffer from your stubborn and resisting nature. One thing I must tell you: you have a most sincere heart.

109 Intrepid

Madal: Chinmoy, be frank with me, please. Among your disciples, who are more intrepid, the boys or the girls?

Chinmoy: Madal, rest assured, I am not a stranger to frankness. When it is a matter of conquering the depression-dragon, my boy disciples are more fearless than my girl disciples. But when it is a matter of surrendering to the divine Will quickly and cheerfully, my girl disciples are more courageous than my boy disciples.

110 Jocose

Madal: Chinmoy, I wish to be a circus clown so that I can always inspire people to be jocose.

Chinmoy: Madal, a circus clown is funny and playful in public, but in private his life may swim in the sea of tears. If you want to be merry and cheerful within as well as without, then think and feel that you are only four years old, and not forty.

111 Judicious

Madal: Chinmoy, is it judicious on my part not to sleep at all, but to meditate all day and night so that I can realise God in a few months’ time?

Chinmoy: Madal, be _wise_; don’t be a fool. At your present state of spiritual development your body needs at least seven hours of sleep each night. If you deny the body its legitimate demands, then long before you reach God, death will reach you and clasp its arms around you.

112 Juncture

Madal: Chinmoy, how is it that there are some people on earth who do not think of God even at the most crucial juncture of their existence — when they are about to leave this world for the other shore?

Chinmoy: Madal, they do not think of God at that critical moment because their ignorance makes them feel that God is a stranger to them.

113 Ken

Madal: Chinmoy, please be sincere: what is beyond your ken?

Chinmoy: Madal, I am totally sincere. Man’s feeling of unworthiness is beyond my range of knowledge.

114 Laconic

Madal: Chinmoy, sometimes your answers to spiritual questions are laconic and sometimes they are not. Why is it so?

Chinmoy: Madal, usually when the audience is very receptive, my answers are not brief at all. It depends on the magnetic pull of the questioner — that is to say, the sincere necessity of the questioner. If the questioner is sincere and the audience is receptive, my answer can never be brief, for God has kindly given me a few most delicious fruits to share with others. These fruits are Peace, Light and Bliss, which I am always ready to give to others in abundant measure.

115 Lugubrious

Madal: Chinmoy, there are some spiritual Masters who constantly think of and talk about their ex-disciples. Is this not a lugubrious pastime for them?

Chinmoy: Madal, it is true that it may be sad or overly mournful when the spiritual Masters talk of their ex-disciples. But one thing you do not know and perhaps will never know is that the souls of the ex-disciples cannot and do not leave the Masters so easily. That is why the sincere concern and compassion of the Masters extend to their ex-disciples.

116 Magnanimity

Madal: Chinmoy, how can I have a heart of magnanimity? At times I am so mean.

Chinmoy: Madal, you can have a heart of generosity and nobility if you consciously join yourself with God’s Heart and feel that His infinite children are all your children.

117 Maudlin

Madal: Chinmoy, do you subscribe to the common view that women are always maudlin?

Chinmoy: No, Madal, I don’t. Women are not always tearfully emotional and sentimental. But women almost always are insecurity incarnate, and men are almost always impurity incarnate.

118 Mellifluous

Madal: Chinmoy, I am extremely happy when you play the flute, but your harmonium does not have mellifluous tones at all.

Chinmoy: Madal, I don’t disagree with you. True, my harmonium does not have sweetly flowing tones, but it has been my most faithful friend. This childhood friend of mine is dearer than the dearest and sweeter than the sweetest to me.

119 Miscreant

Madal: Chinmoy, I have a friend who is nothing but a miscreant. How can I get rid of him?

Chinmoy: Madal, since he is your friend, you can advise the evildoer to meditate on God daily for at least four hours. After hearing your suggestion, he himself will leave you.

120 Moribund

Madal: Chinmoy, do you concur with me when I say that all religions are moribund?

Chinmoy: Madal, I do not agree with you. Religions and the leaders of all religions are quite alive. It is our human faith in religion that is dying, and we are already seeing the results of this deplorable state. But Yoga will come to the rescue of all people, whether they have faith in religion or not. Yoga will show them a most significant road that will lead them directly to God-realisation, even if they do not care for any specific religion or even for religion itself.

121 Mulct

Madal: Chinmoy, very often I am mulcted of all my money by my deceitful friends. What shall I do with such friends?

Chinmoy: Madal, those who extract money from you by fraud or deceit can never be your friends. But you have one Friend who will never cheat you, and that Friend is God.

122 Niggardly

Madal: Chinmoy, can a niggardly disciple be well-liked by you?

Chinmoy: Madal, certainly a stingy disciple can be well-liked by me if he has some good and divine qualities which compensate for this bad quality.

123 Nomad

Madal: Chinmoy, some of the Indian swamis live like nomads. Do you approve of this way of life?

Chinmoy: Madal, you are right. Some of the Indian swamis have no permanent home and are constant wanderers. But who am I to approve or disapprove of their conduct? I can only say that I shall never sail in their boat.

124 Nugatory

Madal: Chinmoy, is there anything on earth which is always nugatory?

Chinmoy: Yes, Madal, from the spiritual point of view, earthly success is of no real value.

125 Obdurate

Madal: Chinmoy, who gave me this obdurate vital?

Chinmoy: Madal, nobody gave you an obstinate vital. It was you who wanted it and accepted it from the ocean of ignorance. Again, it is you who can get rid of it if you just jump into the ocean of Light.

126 Objurgatory

Madal: Chinmoy, are you ever objurgatory when you deal with your spiritual children?

Chinmoy: Yes, Madal, sometimes I am. But to tell you the truth, my spiritual children are so fond of me that they don’t mind my vehemently reproachful voice and my imperious nature. I am trying hard to be more loving and more sympathetic.

127 Obstreperous

Madal: Chinmoy, it is said that God is extremely fond of children. To me, all children seem obstreperous. Hence, I literally hate them. Do you care for children?

Chinmoy: Madal, I do care for children. I like them, I love them, I adore them. You hate unruly, boisterous children and my budding disciples hate their unruly thoughts. So you and my disciples can be in the same boat sailing towards the same destination — nowhere.

128 Onerous

Madal: Chinmoy, why do I feel that my life is an onerous duty?

Chinmoy: Madal, you feel your life is a burdensome obligation because you do not appreciate the beauty of duty and the greatness of responsibility.

129 Ostentatious

Madal: Chinmoy, what do you do with your ostentatious disciples?

Chinmoy: Madal, I love my disciples who are given to pretentious display. I bless them and try to perfect them.

130 Paragon

Madal: Chinmoy, who is the paragon of perfection in the spiritual life?

Chinmoy: Madal, in the spiritual life an unconditionally selfless seeker is the ideal model of perfection.

131 Parsimonious

Madal: Chinmoy, in your inner life you are most generous. I am glad that you are not parsimonious in your outer life either.

Chinmoy: Madal, God has not made me miserly in the least, for He knows well that if I cherish that kind of attitude, my disciples will be totally embarrassed and disheartened.

132 Peccadillo

Madal: Chinmoy, do you consider your disciples’ peccadillos as your own?

Chinmoy: Yes, Madal, I do, and I always shall accept their trifling faults as my own, for my disciples are, after all, my own extended consciousness.

133 Peremptory

Madal: Chinmoy, does God use a peremptory tone of voice when He deals with the hostile forces?

Chinmoy: Yes, Madal, He does, for only His imperative and imperious commands can silence and transform the hostile forces.

134 Perfidious

Madal: Chinmoy, tell me, what is most perfidious in our human nature?

Chinmoy: Madal, self-doubt is the most treacherous and deceitful thing in our human nature.

135 Perfunctory

Madal: Chinmoy, every day, being very busy, I meditate for fifteen minutes in a rather perfunctory manner. I wonder if my soul forgives me.

Chinmoy: Madal, your soul will forgive you, but a day will come when you will not be able to forgive yourself. If you meditate in a hasty and superficial way, your God-Realisation will always remain a far cry.

136 Periphery

Madal: Chinmoy, what do you do with the disciples who are on the periphery of your spiritual circle?

Chinmoy: Madal, I try to give those unfortunate disciples inner capacity and outer opportunity so that they do not remain on the external boundary but enter into and become members of my inner circle.

137 Perspicacity

Madal: Chinmoy, I wish to be a great writer; therefore, I need some perspicacity in my imagination.

Chinmoy: Madal, just knock soulfully at the door of aspiration. Once the door of aspiration is opened, you will find keenness of perception and insight in your imagination and fulfilment in your literary manifestation.

138 Pithy

Madal: Chinmoy, please give me a bit of pithy advice.

Chinmoy: Madal, here is my advice, short yet full of meaning: “Love God, serve man.”

139 Placid

Madal: Chinmoy, my mind and confusion are intimate friends. Will I ever have a placid mind in this lifetime?

Chinmoy: Madal, don’t speak like a fool. You will, before long, have a calm and still mind. Your life of illumination is fast approaching.

140 Plethora

Madal: Chinmoy, today’s America enjoys a plethora of material wealth. Can you tell me what will be its fate tomorrow?

Chinmoy: Madal, I clearly foresee America’s future fate. It will also enjoy a superabundance of spiritual wealth.

141 Polemic

Madal: Chinmoy, my intellectual mind likes philosophical polemic. Do you also have the same type of mind?

Chinmoy: Madal, fortunately God has not blessed me with an intellectual mind. I really find it most difficult to appreciate any argument or controversial debate. Simplicity satisfies my heart. My heart tries to satisfy God without the aid of the mind. Who knows, perhaps one day my heart will really and truly satisfy God.

142 Poltroon

Madal: Chinmoy, who is the better of the two — an aggressive friend or a friend who is a shameless poltroon?

Chinmoy: Madal, to me an aggressive person and a wretched coward belong in the same boat. I warn you not to have any unnecessary connection with either of the two.

143 Potpourri

Madal: Chinmoy, it seems to me that human life is a potpourri of fear, doubt, anxiety, worry, depression and frustration.

Chinmoy: Madal, it seems to me that human life is a mixture of opportunity, achievement and progress.

144 Pragmatic

Madal: Chinmoy, does God forgive the spiritual Masters who are not at all pragmatic?

Chinmoy: Madal, God does forgive the spiritual Masters who are not practical. If you need any proof, then in me you will find radiant proof.

145 Preponderate

Madal: Chinmoy, it seems to me that I have a few divine qualities. Please tell me, according to you, which quality in me preponderates?

Chinmoy: Madal, your true loving surrender to God’s Will outweighs your other divine qualities.

146 Pristine

Madal: Chinmoy, is there anything on earth that can forever retain its pristine beauty?

Chinmoy: Yes, Madal, our soulful gratitude to God can forever remain unspoiled and uncorrupted.

147 Procrastinate

Madal: Chinmoy, why do some spiritual Masters procrastinate? Why do they not give away all their spiritual wealth to their disciples immediately?

Chinmoy: Madal, you are wrong. The spiritual Masters do not delay in offering their inner wealth to their disciples. It is the disciples’ lack of receptivity and unconscious unwillingness that are responsible for this sad delay on the part of the spiritual Masters.

148 Prognosticate

Madal: Chinmoy, can you prognosticate my future by looking at my palm?

Chinmoy: Madal, I can easily predict your future without looking at your palm: you are bound to realise God either in this incarnation or in a future incarnation.

149 Propinquity

Madal: Chinmoy, is physical propinquity to one’s Guru a blessing or a misfortune?

Chinmoy: Madal, if the disciple uses his nearness to his Guru properly, then it is a stupendous blessing. If nearness is not properly used, then it is a true misfortune — the beginning of the disciple’s downfall through jealousy, vanity, doubt and insecurity.

150 Protean

Madal: Chinmoy, is it true that a Yogi has a protean body? Can he even assume the form of an animal?

Chinmoy: Yes, Madal, a Yogi can readily assume different forms at his sweet will. But you have to know that only a third-class Yogi enjoys assuming the form of an animal, whereas a first-class Yogi enjoys the divine life in a human body.