The inner message of the United Nations¹

The outer message of the United Nations is Peace. The inner message of the United Nations is Love. The inmost message of the United Nations is Oneness. Peace we feel. Love we become. Oneness we manifest.

The United Nations has a mind, a heart and a soul. Its mind tries to offer flowing Peace. Its heart tries to offer glowing Love. Its soul tries to offer fulfilling Oneness. In the near future, a day will dawn when the message of the United Nations will be absorbing to the child, elevating to the common man, thought provoking to the highly educated and inspiring to the seeker.

Each delegate is a force. Each representative is a force. Each nation is a force. The source of this force is a particular will. This will can be either the Divine Will or the human will. The human will wants to be with the world and in the world only on one condition: that it will be able to gain supremacy over others and maintain this supremacy. The Divine Will wants to be in the world, with the world and for the world without expecting anything from the world. The human will, at most, tolerates the world. The Divine Will constantly wants to liberate and fulfil the world. The human will wants to control and lead the world. The Divine Will wants to transform, glorify and immortalise the world. The human will in us needs the soul’s expanding and illumining purity. The Divine Will in us wants the Goal’s blossoming divinity.

The League of Nations was a dream-seed. The United Nations is a reality-plant. The aspiring and serving life of man’s universal oneness will be the eternity-tree.

In his address to the United Nations in October 1965, Pope Paul VI said:

The goal of the United Nations lies not only in thinking together, but in thinking alike. Each individual has every right to love his nation; but he must also dedicate himself in order to immortalise his nation’s relationships, inner and outer, with the rest of mankind, so that all can run together for the universal good of humanity.

In the words of Pope John XXIII:

All nations together can build a temple. All nations together can make a shrine. All nations together can worship a Deity. At the entrance of the temple, the Divine Protection shall smile. Upon the shrine in the temple, the Supreme illumination shall smile. Within the heart of the Deity, the Absolute Perfection shall smile.

Here at the United Nations, what I feel is an inner voyage. In its inner voyage, the United Nations has to brave many temptations and setbacks. As we all know, defeats and failures are mere steppingstones in our onward march to perfection. At the end of its voyage, there is every possibility that the United Nations will be the last word in human perfection. And then the United Nations can easily bloom in excellence and stand at the pinnacle of Divine Enlightenment.

Salvation, liberation and realisation²

I wish to give a very short talk on salvation, liberation and realisation.

Salvation is God-discovery. Liberation is God-achievement. Realisation is God-fulfilment.

A man with salvation, a man with liberation, a man with realisation: what they are and what they are not. What they are is Reality’s smile; what they are not is unreality’s cry.

God’s pure Compassion gives the seeker salvation. God’s sweet Love grants the seeker liberation. God’s proud, divine Oneness with the seeker gives him realisation.

In the Western world, salvation is everything. In the Eastern world, especially in India, liberation is really something, but realisation is everything. Many a seeker, before he achieves salvation, feels that his father in Heaven is all for him. This is his hope; this is his dream. But after he has achieved salvation, he knows this as a reality. A seeker, before he achieves liberation, feels that the Truth abides somewhere — not in front of him, but in an unknowable place. After he has achieved liberation, he feels that God the Light was only unknown, and now He has become fully known. Before the seeker attains realisation, he feels that God is here, there, in everything. He feels God’s Presence everywhere, but he does not see God face-to-face. After he has realised God, his feeling is transformed into seeing. He sees God face-to-face as he would see any individual he meets.

When a man gains salvation, God tells him to feel at every moment that he is the instrument and God is the Doer. At this time, the man feels extremely happy and grateful that God has chosen him to be His instrument. A man who has achieved liberation hears something else from God. God says, “My son, you have worked hard, very hard, to free yourself from the meshes of ignorance. Perhaps you are tired. If you want to take rest, you may take rest. Don’t work if you don’t want to. If you work, so much the better; but if you don’t work, no harm. I am still very pleased with you.” A man who has realised God hears still something else from God. God tells him, “Before, I worked alone for you, for the world, for the universe. Now I give you the key to open up My universal Consciousness. I give you My treasure, My entire wealth. I want you to feel that My wealth is your wealth, and to distribute My wealth as your very own. Your work and My work are the same: the manifestation of Divinity, the manifestation of Immortality on earth. Together we shall work, together we shall liberate the earth consciousness. Together we shall transform our Vision into Reality.”

He who has achieved salvation, in God’s Eye is very good. He who has achieved liberation, in God’s Eye is very great. He who has achieved realisation, in God’s Eye is both very good and very great. A man with salvation feels that God is his Father. A man with liberation feels that God is his Friend. And a man with God-Realisation feels that God is his Everything.

Conference Room 10

January 5, 1973

Silence³

Silence, Silence.
Silence is the soul’s preparation.
Silence is the heart’s perfection.
Silence is the mind’s illumination.
Silence is the vital’s determination.
Silence is the body’s inspiration.
Silence, Silence.

When we are in silence, we grow.
We grow into our Divinity.
When we are of silence, we flow.
We flow into Infinity.
When we are for silence, we glow.
We glow in the heart of Immortality.

Man’s silence pleases God. God’s Silence displeases man. Man’s silence touches the very heart, the very life-breath of God’s boundless Gratitude. God’s Silence touches the mind of man’s ever-increasing ingratitude.

The outer silence endures. The inner silence cures. The outer silence is the lamb of God. The inner silence is the lion of God.

We become the lamb of God when we offer ourselves unconditionally to God’s Will, and when God unconditionally and constantly makes us feel that we are not only His chosen instruments, but also His eternal friends. Him to realise, Him to fulfil and Him to manifest on earth: for this we came into the world. When we entered into the world, God offered us His inner Promise to unveil our Reality and manifest our Divinity. And when we go back to Heaven, God shall tell us that we have played our role, we have fulfilled His Promise here on earth.

When God’s Will becomes our will, when we offer to God not only the possessions and achievements of the outer world, but also the awareness, the aspiration and the realisation of the inner world, then we become the lion of God. When we do not aspire, God in us is a sleeping lion. When we aspire, pray and meditate, God in us becomes a roaring lion. This roaring lion devours our teeming darkness and ignorance.

To see God roaring in us, roaring for our inner victory, our divine victory, we have to make a conscious effort. This conscious effort is our constant self-giving according to the Will of God. The Will of God we come to know when we feel the necessity of inner silence. We develop the power of inner silence when we see that the world without God is illusion, imagination, unreality, and that the world with God is divine Vision, fulfilling Reality and everlasting Divinity.

Silence is the seed of God in man.
Silence is the eternal traveller in us.
Silence is the ever-transcending Goal in us, with us and for us.

Problems⁴

Problems do not indicate man’s incapacity. Problems do not indicate man’s inadequacy. Problems do not indicate man’s insufficiency. Problems indicate man’s conscious need for self-transcendence in the inner world, and his conscious need for self-perfection in the outer world.

You have a problem. He has a problem. She has a problem. Your problem is that the world does not touch your feet. His problem is that the world does not love him. Her problem is that she feels that she does not adequately help God in the world. To solve your problem, you have to conquer your pride. To solve his problem, he has to conquer his greed. To solve her problem, she has to conquer her self-styled and self-aggrandised desiring ego.

Each problem is a force. But when we see the problem, we feel deep within us a greater force. And when we face the problem, we prove to the problem that we not only have the greatest force, but actually we are the greatest force on earth.

A problem increases when the heart hesitates and the mind calculates. A problem decreases when the heart braves the problem and the mind supports the heart. A problem diminishes when the mind uses its search-light and the heart uses its illumination-light.

Self-denial cannot solve any problem. Self-assertion cannot solve any problem. It is God-manifestation through self-existence that can solve all problems of the present and the future. Our sincere approach to a problem will eventually lead us to a satisfactory solution. Our sincere approach to God will carry our teeming problems in God’s Will-chariot into the infinite, eternal Smile.

If fear is our problem, then we have to feel that we are the chosen soldiers of God the Almighty. If doubt is our problem, then we have to feel that we have deep within us the Sea of God’s Light. If jealousy is our problem, then we have to feel that we are the oneness of God’s Light and Truth. If insecurity is our problem, then we have to feel that God is nothing and can be nothing other than constant and ceaseless assurance to us that He will claim us as His very own. If the body is the problem, our constant alertness and attention can solve this problem. If the vital is the problem, our soaring imagination can solve this problem. If the mind is the problem, our illumining inspiration can solve this problem. If the heart is the problem, our perfecting aspiration can solve this problem. If life is the problem, our fulfilling self-discovery can solve this problem.

The individual problem arises when we want to possess infinite humanity. The universal problem arises when the Infinite wants to mould, guide, shape, transform and divinely and supremely fulfil the finite, but the finite does not want to listen to the dictates of the Infinite.

A problem is not the harbinger of defeat or failure. A problem can be transformed into the beckoning Hands of the Supreme that can take us to our destined Goal, the Goal of the ever-transcending, ever-fulfilling Beyond.

Idea and ideal; the Real and the Eternal⁵

Idea is man’s preparation. Ideal is man’s progression. The Real is man’s illumination. The Eternal is man’s realisation.

Idea is in the mind. Ideal is in the central being. The Real is in the life of existence. The Eternal is in the Soul.

Idea imagines the Truth. Ideal gets a glimpse of the Truth. The Real possesses the Truth. The Eternal is the Truth.

The idea of an unaspiring man is weak, very weak. His ideal is low, very low. His reality is obscure, quite obscure. His eternity is uncertain, quite uncertain.

The idea of an aspiring man is strong, very strong. His ideal is high, very high. His reality is clear, quite clear. His eternity is certain, quite certain. His idea is as strong as a giant. His ideal is as high as Mount Everest. His reality is as clear as daylight. His eternity is as certain as his present living breath.

An idea knows how to rush forward. An ideal knows how to soar above. The Real knows how to evolve without, from within. The Eternal knows how to glow in the finite and in the Infinite.

Idea tells us, “Awake, arise! You have slept for a long time. It is high time for you to get up.” Ideal tells us, “Go and wash yourself, purify yourself. Get ready to study, you have to study.” The Real tells us, “Study, cultivate your inner life. Discover the Divine within you, the immortal within you, the Infinite within you.” The Eternal tells us, “I have a short message for you, my children. You have come from me, the Ever-Unknowable, and you are for me. The unknowable in me you will transform into the unknown; the unknown in me you will transform into the knowable; and the knowable in me you will transform into the known for the earth-aspiration and earth-consciousness.

The soul-love of the United Nations⁶

The soul-love of the United Nations is life-examination, life-improvement and life-perfection.

Life-examination makes our life on earth meaningful.

Life-improvement makes our rest in Heaven blissful.

Life-perfection makes our rest in Heaven and on earth fruitful.

The soul-love of the United Nations has the fragrance of Divinity’s rose on the physical plane and the benediction of Immortality’s bird on the spiritual plane.

Mind-love, heart-love and soul-love. Mind-love is just an opinion. Heart-love is a firm conviction. Soul-love is an everlasting illumination. Opinions at times confuse us. Convictions at times disappoint us. But illumination always makes us see the Feet of God and the height of Truth. It also makes us see that it has silenced the roaring lion of darkness in the outer world and that it has fed the soaring flame-bird in the inner world.

The soul-love of the United Nations teaches us three most important things: patience, expansion and oneness. Patience is not peace. But patience eventually shows us the way to peace, world peace. Expansion is not an act of self-aggrandisement. But expansion can easily be a life-offering and love-building reality. Oneness does not indicate a lack of opportunity for revealing and manifesting individual uniqueness. Oneness is like the essence and fragrance of a lotus. It does not prevent each petal of the lotus from revealing and manifesting its own uniqueness.

The soul-love of the United Nations has a philosophy of its own. It says that each nation has its own significant truth. One nation will not and cannot overthrow the realisation and revelation of another nation. On the contrary, the realisation and revelation of one nation can easily complement the realisation and revelation of another nation. The soul-love of the United Nations has a religion of its own. This religion is a silently unified wisdom. In this silently unified wisdom looms large a supremely unifying life.

Voltaire said something quite interesting and illumining: “Four thousand volumes of metaphysics cannot teach us what the soul is.” It is the soul alone that can teach us what the soul is. But before the soul teaches us about itself, we have to unlearn the teachings of the obscure, uncertain and doubting mind and, at the same time, we have to learn the teachings of the loving, uniting and illumining heart.

I wish to quote a most significant thought of Emerson: “We can’t describe the natural history of the soul, but it is divine.” No matter how sincerely, how soulfully, how devotedly and how unconditionally we try to describe the natural history of the soul, we are bound to underestimate its capacity. For the soul is the child of both Infinity’s Dream and Eternity’s Reality.

In order to know the soul-love of the United Nations, we have to choose to be free, and we have to be free to choose. When we are within the confines of history, we have to choose to be free. When we are in the sky of evolving spirituality, we have to be free to choose. Soul-love is free will. Soul-love is free choice. When a nation’s free will chooses self-giving, its free choice expedites God-becoming. In self-giving and God-becoming is the confluence of the outer lustre of the United Nations and the inner effulgence of the United Nations. This confluence will, without fail, be a glorious vision for both mortals and immortals.

From the spiritual point of view, the soul-love of the United Nations will always remain resourceful in all problematical situations, untiring in the discharge of its national and international duties, sagacious in its pursuit of inner knowledge and inner wealth, and spontaneous in its willingness to add to the peace, love and joy of searching and ascending humanity.

Freedom⁷

Freedom. Freedom is the creative force within us. Freedom is the sustaining life within us. Human freedom is an experience of the body, in the vital and for the mind. Divine freedom is an experience of the soul, in the heart and for the mind, the vital and the body. There is practically no difference between animal freedom and human slavery. In the domain of the destructive vital, our animal freedom roars. In the abyss of our sleeping inconscient body, our human slavery snores.

God’s Freedom lies in His constant Service to mankind, in His unconditional Self-giving. Man’s freedom lies in his God-achievement, life-perfection and life-fulfilment.

The freedom of the doubting mind is undoubtedly a reality. But this reality is fleeting, flimsy. The freedom of the loving and aspiring heart is an everlasting reality and an ultimate sublimity.

Freedom of earthly thought is good, but quite often it opens itself to false freedom. Freedom that comes from following the heavenly Will invokes God’s Presence in us. It invokes His divine Promise in and through us and His supreme Self-assertion and Self-manifestation in and through us.

What is false freedom? False freedom is our constant and deliberate acceptance of ignorance and our conscious existence in ignorance. What is real freedom? Real freedom is our conscious awareness of our inner divinity, and our constant inseparable oneness with the Inner Pilot.

What can false freedom do? False freedom can do much. It can totally destroy us. It can destroy our inner possibilities and potentialities. It can destroy our inner wealth. What can real freedom do? Real freedom also can do much. Real freedom can make us grow into the very image of our Supreme Pilot.

We have two types of freedom: outer freedom and inner freedom. Outer freedom constantly wants to prove its capacity. It wants to prove its sovereignty. Inner freedom wants to prove that it belongs to God and God alone.

Outer freedom has a new goal every day. It wants to discover this goal only in pleasure. But inner freedom has only one eternal Goal, and that Goal is to achieve the conscious awareness of God and the conscious manifestation of God in and through itself.

Outer freedom is satisfied only when it is in a position to say, “I have no superiors. I am my only master.” Inner freedom is satisfied only when it can soulfully say, “I don’t want to be superior to anyone, but I want God to be my superior, my only superior.”

Forgetfulness takes away our freedom, but God’s Forgiveness brings it back. Teeming desires take away our freedom, but God’s Compassion brings it back. Self-importance and self-assertion take away our freedom, but God’s Light brings it back.

It is our self-awareness that retains our freedom and God’s divine Pride in us that perfects our freedom. In the perfection of our earthly freedom we grow, and we sow the Heaven-seed within us. And in the fulfilment of our inner freedom we see Heaven and earth as complementary souls. For earth offers its wealth and capacity, which is receptivity, and Heaven offers its wealth and capacity, which is Divinity and Immortality.

The Divine Mission⁸

The Divine Mission is not a self-imposition or a world-proposition. The Divine Mission is at once a love-offering and a self-giving.

The world needs attention. The Divine Mission is always willing to offer its one-pointed attention to the world. The world needs concern. The Divine Mission is always ready to offer its soulful, meaningful and fruitful concern to the world. The world needs love. The Divine Mission is always ready to offer its love, inner and outer, to the world. The outer love is constant sacrifice. The inner love is inseparable oneness.

There are two types of seekers: the human seeker and the divine seeker. The human seeker wants to add to his glory, increase his possessions and gain supremacy over others. The divine seeker wants to enter into a spiritual process, a divine progress and a supreme success.

There are two types of nations: the unaspiring nation and the aspiring nation. The unaspiring nation enjoys sleep, ignorance and death. The aspiring nation enjoys self-protection, self-illumination and self-perfection. The unaspiring nation does not know what the Goal is or where the Goal is. The aspiring nation knows what the Goal is and where the Goal is. The Goal is perfect Perfection. The Goal can be found in self-discovery.

The mission of an unaspiring religion is arrogantly to exclude or find fault with all other religions. The mission of an aspiring religion is to proclaim once and for all that Truth is universal, Light is omnipresent and Love is omnipotent.

There are three significant roads that lead us to our destination and then make us aware of our Divine Mission. One road is the road of knowledge and wisdom. Another road is the road of love and devotion. The third road is the road of dedicated action.

If we want to discover our Mission while walking along the road of knowledge and wisdom, then we will come to learn who God is and what God is. We will learn that God is all Love and all Compassion.

If we want to discover our Mission while walking along the road of love and devotion, then we will feel where God is. God is in our living and flaming faith.

If we want to discover our Mission while walking along the path of dedicated action, then we will discover the truth that in revealing our selfless capacity, which is dedication, we are manifesting God’s Action on earth.

The spiritual Master comes into the world with a Mission. His Mission is to tell the world that he is of God’s illumination but always for man’s aspiration. Sri Krishna came into the world with a Mission, and his Mission was the manifestation of Universal Harmony. The Buddha came into the world with a Mission, and his Mission was the manifestation of Universal Peace. The Christ came into the world with a Mission, and his Mission was the manifestation of Universal Compassion.

Here at the United Nations there are many missions representing different countries. To me each mission is like a river flowing into the ocean, and the ocean is the United Nations. Each mission is a flowing river entering into the ocean with hope, with eagerness and with a willingness to become part and parcel of the ocean. At the United Nations the Divine Mission flows not only in the ocean but also through each of the rivers. The Divine Mission of Light exists not only in the infinite Vast, but also in the tiniest drop of consciousness. In the perfection and fulfilment of the Divine Mission in the Infinite, and in the perfection and fulfilment of the Divine Mission in the finite, the Supreme Satisfaction will dawn.

In each of the rivers the Supreme Satisfaction has to dawn, for it is the constant flow of the rivers entering into the ocean that makes the ocean a living reality. And when the ocean flows back into the rivers, it offers them its abundant inner wealth so they can fulfil themselves through it.

The Mission of God in each permanent mission to the United Nations is as important as it is in the United Nations itself. The United Nations is the entire body and each mission is like a limb. The body is perfect only when all the limbs are perfect. If one limb remains imperfect, the body remains imperfect.

When we are really great we care for the small, for the poor, for the invalid. The mission of the great is to become one with those who are less great than they, and to lift them up to a higher standard through self-giving. The mission of those who are not yet great is to feel that the great ones are only the more evolved extensions of their own aspiring consciousness.

Who are we?⁹

Who are we? We are doubters. We are believers. We are discoverers. We are knowers. We are transformers. We are lovers. We are fulfillers.

We are doubters. We doubt our inner dream. We doubt our outer reality. God says to us, “Attention, you doubters! Don’t doubt. Your blue-gold dreams are coming from Me. Your green-red realities are running towards Me.”

We are believers. We believe that we are helpless and fruitless. God says to us, “Attention, you believers! Your belief is wrong. You are not helpless and fruitless. My Concern is there for you, to help you all the time. My Compassion cares for you, to make your life fruitful at every moment.”

We are discoverers. We have discovered that Truth and Light are far beyond our reach. God says to us, “Attention, you discoverers! Your discoveries are all wrong. I have discovered Truth and Light on your behalf. Truth is what you have. Light is what you are.”

We are knowers. We know much about things. We know little about ourselves. We know least about God. God says to us, “Attention, you knowers! You know that it is I who have created all things. You know that it is you who create Me every day in you. You know that it is I who am the perfect slave of your constant desires.”

We are transformers. We want to transform doubt into belief, fear into strength, bondage into freedom. God says to us, “Attention, you transformers! I am so glad that you want to transform doubt into belief, fear into strength, bondage into freedom. I wish you also to try to transform the life of the finite into the Life of the Infinite.”

We are lovers. We love beauty’s body, beauty’s soul and beauty’s goal. God says to us, “Attention, you lovers! Beauty’s body is good. Beauty’s soul is better. Beauty’s goal is by far the best. Beauty’s body is an aspiring child. Beauty’s soul is the illumining Father. Beauty’s goal is the fulfilling Mother.”

We are fulfillers. We want to fulfil Heaven on earth, and earth in Heaven. God says to us, “Attention, you fulfillers! You want to fulfil Heaven and earth. It is a splendid ideal. But I wish to say that until you have fulfilled Me, you cannot fulfil Heaven and earth. In order to fulfil Me, you have to cry in your heart ceaselessly and soar smilingly and everlastingly.”

We say to God, “O Father, O Mother, O Friend Eternal, we see that we started our journey as doubters and shall end our journey as fulfillers.”

God says to us, “My sweet children, you are mistaken. You started your journey as the distributors of My Light and My Life-Force, and you will complete your journey as the builders of My Body-Consciousness on earth.”

The heart-peace of the United Nations¹⁰

The heart says to peace, “Peace, I need you.”

Peace says to the heart, “Heart, I need you.”

Both the heart and peace need each other. Without peace, the heart is fruitless. Without the heart, peace is homeless.

The inner heart of the United Nations is flooded with peace. The outer heart of the United Nations is trying to spread peace all over the world.

The outer existence of the United Nations is a colossal hope. The inner existence of the United Nations is a fulfilling reality.

The heart of the United Nations has peace. The mind of the United Nations seeks peace. The vital of the United Nations needs peace. The body of the United Nations is for peace.

The presence of peace in the heart is divine oneness. The presence of peace in the mind is divine illumination. The presence of peace in the vital is divine dynamism. The presence of peace in the body is divine satisfaction.

The goal of the United Nations is peace, world peace. The secret of the United Nations is sacrifice.

There are two types of people: one wants peace, the other does not. Many nations have formed the outer body of the United Nations. Peace is expected from each nation in abundant measure. The Supreme loves all nations, because all are marching towards the same Goal. But if any nation wants to surpass other nations ruthlessly, then that particular nation will never be claimed by God’s Pride, Heaven’s Delight and earth’s gratitude as their own. When all nations work together devotedly and untiringly, then only can they embody universal oneness and reveal universal love.

Why?¹¹

Why do we think of God? Why do we pray to God? Why do we meditate on God?

We may think of God, pray to God and meditate on God because the world around us has disappointed us or failed us. Our near and dear ones may have deserted us, and we need consolation. If these are the reasons why we think of God, pray to God and meditate on God, then God gives us fifty out of one hundred.

We may think of God, pray to God and meditate on God because we feel that we have made thousands of mistakes in this life. We either want to rectify these mistakes or at least not make any more mistakes, since each mistake undoubtedly creates pain and a sense of frustration and failure in us. Or we may think of God, pray to God and meditate on God because we have missed countless opportunities in life and we want to avail ourselves of all the opportunities that we are going to get in the future. If we think of God, pray to God and meditate on God for these reasons, then God gives us sixty out of one hundred.

We may think of God, pray to God and meditate on God because we feel a tremendous sense of fear and doubt in ourselves. We fear the world; we fear even ourselves. We don’t know what to say to people or how to behave; we don’t know what is going to happen to us. We are always afraid of others or afraid of our own actions. Also, we doubt others and we doubt our own potentialities, possibilities and capacities. Now, for these reasons if we think of God, pray to God and meditate on God, God gives us seventy out of one hundred.

We may pray to God for more love in the world, and for peace of mind. We don’t want to remain in anxiety; we don’t want to remain in anger and hatred. If we think of God, pray to God and meditate on God for these reasons, then God gives us eighty out of one hundred.

We may think of God, pray to God and meditate on God because we want Divine Love, Divine Concern from the world or from God. We want only the love that will expand us, the love that will fulfil us. We do not expect any outer success or fame or popularity. We wish to receive only God’s Divine Love, if we think of God, pray to God and meditate on God for these reasons, then God gives us ninety out of one hundred.

But when we want only to become what God is and what God has, by constant and unconditional self-giving, then God gives us one hundred out of one hundred. At this point we are not asking God for anything. We want only to be what God is, that is to say Infinite Peace, Infinite Light and Infinite Bliss. Nor do we want anything from the world. If the world tortures us, disappoints us or misunderstands us, that is up to the world. We do not expect anything from the world, but we do expect one thing from ourselves, and that one thing is that we will grow into God Himself. If that is our choice, if that is the reason why we think of God, pray to God and meditate on God, then God gives us one hundred out of one hundred. Otherwise, no matter how sincere our motive is, we will not satisfy God fully. If we want to improve the world or improve ourselves, these things all have value, but they do not have the ultimate value. The ultimate value we get only when we are ready and eager to grow into God and become what God is.

Now how can we grow into God? We must be ready every day to change, and not to remain prisoners of the past. When today is over, we have to feel that it is past. It will not be of any help to us in growing into the Highest Supreme. No matter how sweet, how loving or how fulfilling was the past, it cannot give us anything now that we do not already have. We are moving forward towards the goal, so no matter how satisfying the past was, we have to feel that it is only a prison. The seed grows into a plant, then it becomes a huge tree. But if the consciousness of the plant remains in the seed, then there will be no further manifestation. Yes, we shall remain grateful to the seed because it enabled us to grow into a plant. But we will not pay much attention to the seed stage. Once we have become a plant, let our aim be to become a tree. Always we have to look forward towards the goal. Only when we become the tallest tree will our full satisfaction dawn.

We must always remain in the present. This present is constantly ready to bring the golden future into our heart. Today’s achievement is most satisfactory, but we have to feel that today’s achievement is nothing in comparison to what tomorrow’s achievement will be. Each time satisfaction dawns, we have to feel that this satisfaction is nothing in comparison to the satisfaction that is about to dawn. We have to feel that every second brings new life, new growth, new opportunity. If we are ready to allow change into our life every second, every minute, every day, we are bound to grow. How will we know that this change is for the better and not for the worse? We will know it is for the better if we see that new light is entering into us. If new light is not entering into us, then we have to feel that we are doing something wrong or making some mistake, unconsciously if not consciously.

Every time we think of God, we should feel that He is our Ideal, He is our Goal. At the same time, we have to know that to see the Goal is not the aim, to reach the Goal is not the aim. Our aim is to become the Goal itself. God expects nothing short of this from us. He wants us to be what He is. If this is our aim, then when we think of God, when we pray to God, when we meditate on God, God feels that our thought, our prayer and our meditation is absolutely right, absolutely divine.

Where is God?¹²

“Where is God?”

“There is no God.”

If one says that there is no God, that means he is asserting his conception of God in a negative way. A real seeker takes the view of an atheist as sincerely and seriously as he does his own positive conception of God. A real seeker knows and feels that an atheist’s conception of nothingness and the non-existence of God contains the seeker’s own conception of God.

“Where is God?”

“No God. Even if God exists, who needs Him? Who wants Him? One can get along without God. One can remain satisfied with what he has.”

When one is satisfied with what little he has, that means that God the Happiness in him is making him satisfied, even with his little achievement. One can never be happy if one does not consciously or unconsciously meet with God the Happiness in each thing he sees, does and grows into.

“Where is God?”

“I am not even sure that He exists.”

If one says that he is doubtful about God’s existence, that means he has at least fifty per cent faith in God’s existence. Each human being has a friend and an enemy. His enemy, doubt, negates the living inner truth in him. His friend, faith, feeds and strengthens his inner conception of truth. Finally, it immortalises the truth in his heart, mind, vital and body.

“Where is God?”

“I do not know where God is, but I would like to know.”

If someone is just curious to know about God, but has no real need for God, from the strict spiritual point of view he is not a seeker. But if one enlarges his spiritual heart, then he embraces even that curious person and includes him in his spiritual life. He feels that today’s man of curiosity can become tomorrow’s man of genuine spirituality, provided he is given sincere concern, compassion, encouragement and love.

“Where is God?”

“God is all around me. Now I must learn how to see Him.”

If the seeker has genuine aspiration and not mere curiosity, he is undoubtedly on the correct path, for this is the only way to reach God. This seeker is like a child who feels his father’s presence everywhere. As a human child feels his father’s presence when he is in the living room and his father is in some other room, so also a spiritual child feels that no matter where he is, his Father is there somewhere in the same universal house.

At the end of knowing and feeling, we come to seeing and becoming. The spiritual child knows what God is and feels what God is. Then he goes deep within and sees God face-to-face and eventually becomes God Himself. At this point he answers the question, “Where is God?” with the question, “Where is He not?” He also answers another question, “Who is God?” with the question, “Who is not God?”

No nation is unwanted¹³

No nation is unwanted. Every nation is wanted. Every nation is needed. Every nation is indispensable. Each nation is great. The greatness of each nation lies in its deep love for other nations and in its self-giving to other nations.

Why does an individual love others? An individual loves others because he knows that if he does not love others, then he remains imperfect and incomplete. Why does one give of oneself to others? One gives of oneself to others because he has discovered the undeniable truth that self-giving is truth-loving and God-becoming. And what applies to an individual human being can equally, appropriately and convincingly apply to a nation.

Sir Winston Churchill once made a most significant remark: “When abroad I do not criticise the government of our country, but I make up for it when I come home.” Self-criticism is necessary; self-criticism is obligatory. If each nation values self-criticism when it is at home, then perfection-sun will not remain a far cry. Self-criticism is the harbinger of self-enquiry. Self-enquiry is the harbinger of God-discovery. In God-discovery man rises above the ignorance of millennia.

The great German philosopher Schopenhauer said, “Every nation ridicules other nations, and all are right.” Who can deny this most deplorable fact? At the same time, who does not have the courage to think and feel that this fact need not and cannot be an abiding truth? Why do we ridicule others? We ridicule others precisely because our jealousy has not yet left us. We ridicule others because they do not have what we have or because we do not have what they have.

Now a nation may have hundreds of good, divine and even astonishing qualities, but if that nation is wanting in the inner quality, the feeling of oneness, then it cannot have true satisfaction. Everlasting satisfaction is out of the question. Again, if a nation is not blessed with many striking qualities and illumining capacities but nonetheless has the inner quality, a sense of inseparable oneness, then that nation is the creator of fulfilling joy, the distributor of fulfilling joy and the fulfiller of fulfilling joy.

Each nation is a petal of a flower, an inner rose, an inner lotus. If one petal is ruined, then the entire flower loses its beauty; and when a flower loses its beauty, it loses everything. Each nation is like a note in a song. If one note is not properly sung, then the entire song is ruined.

Each nation has the capacity to fulfil all nations through self-giving, and this self-giving is nothing other than God-becoming. Here at the United Nations, each nation shall offer its illumining capacities and fulfilling qualities to all the other nations. Together all nations will walk, together all nations will run, together all nations will fly and dive towards the same goal, the goal of everlasting Reality. When we reach and become the everlasting Reality, we shall see that we have transformed the animal in us and immortalised the divine in us.

How can a nation be happy, purposeful and fulfilled? A nation can be happy, purposeful and fulfilled if it thinks less and meditates more. A nation can be happy, purposeful and fulfilled if it plans less and acts more. Thinking is quite often confusing. Planning is quite often frustrating. Too much thinking and too much doubting and suspecting go together. Too much planning and too much worrying go together.

Meditation and action have a different story. Illumining meditation is self-discovery. Illumining action is self-mastery. The more one can meditate soulfully, the sooner he reaches his destination. The more one can act devotedly, the sooner he manifests God-Life, Truth-Love, Light-Delight. A seeker-nation with God-Life sees God’s Body, the universe. A seeker-nation with Truth-Love feels God’s Heart, the universal Reality. A seeker-nation with Light-Delight becomes God’s Soul, the universal Goal.

Each nation in its place is great¹⁴

A nation is a limb of the universal body. Each limb is necessary, essential and indispensable. Each nation represents humanity’s hope, humanity’s promise and humanity’s progress. Hope was our yesterday’s treasure. Promise is our today’s treasure. Progress shall be our tomorrow’s treasure.

Each nation can be great by virtue of a few divine qualities. A nation can be great by virtue of its simplicity. A nation can be great by virtue of its sincerity. A nation can be great by virtue of its humility. A nation can be great by virtue of its sense of duty, both national and international. A nation can be great by virtue of its prosperity, both inner and outer. Finally, a nation can be great by virtue of its generosity, constant and supreme generosity.

A great nation is that nation which offers inspiration to other nations. A greater nation is that nation which offers concern to other nations. The greatest nation is that nation which offers heart’s love, spontaneous love, to other nations. With inspiration we begin to form our universal family. With concern we strengthen our universal family. With love we feed and fulfil our universal family.

The divine greatness of a nation lies in its self-offering today. The divine greatness of a nation lies in its God-becoming tomorrow. The divine greatness of a nation lies in its God-revelation today. The divine greatness of a nation lies in its God-manifestation tomorrow.

Self-offering, God-becoming, God-revelation and God-manifestation are possible through each individual nation. Each individual nation can be a perfect example of self-offering, God-becoming, God-revelation and God-manifestation. How? If a nation lives in the heart, then self-offering is not only possible but also inevitable. If a nation lives in the soul, then God-becoming is not only possible but also inevitable. If a nation tries and cries for the transformation of the whole universal family of nations, then God-revelation can no longer remain a far cry. God-revelation then is not only possible, but practicable and inevitable as well. Finally, if a nation cares sincerely, devotedly, soulfully and unconditionally for the perfect Perfection not only of its own existence, but also of the entire universe, then God-manifestation is bound to take place.

In size, in capacity, in receptivity, all nations may not have the same status. But each nation is indispensable in its own way. Each nation is like a drop, a tiny drop or a mighty drop, in the vast ocean of divine, fulfilling, fruitful consciousness. It is all the drops combined that make up the ocean. Again, it is the ocean that manifests or fulfils its existence through the different drops, small and big alike.

Each nation is humanity’s conscious cry for perfect Perfection. It is in and through each nation that humanity can make the ultimate progress. This ultimate progress is spiritual brotherhood, divine Reality and immortal Life in the life of the mortal and infinite achievement in the heart of the finite.

You or I?¹⁵

O God, are You responsible for all the suffering, darkness and ignorance in the world, or am I?

“Son, I am responsible. I am responsible for everything; I am responsible for everyone; I am responsible for My entire creation. It is I who reside in everything as inspiration and as aspiration. It is I who approve of everything or tolerate everything, show compassion for everything or forgive everything. Therefore it is I who am responsible for everything, whether it is good or bad, divine or undivine. It is I who am responsible in everything, in every action, in every human life.”

O God, You want to change the face of the world. Do You want to do it alone, all by Yourself, or do You need my help and dedicated service?

“Son, I do not want to change the face of the world all by Myself. I cannot change the face of the world alone. I need your assistance. I am the tree. You, all human beings, are the leaves, flowers and fruits. A tree without leaves, flowers and fruits is worthless. I need assistance from my created human beings. I am the ultimate realisation of your climbing cry. You are the ultimate manifestation of My descending Dream. The transformation of the earth-consciousness can take place only when you and I work together. Dedicated service from both the Creator and the creation is needed to change the face of the world.”

AUM

“You or I?”

When I think of the divine within my heart, when I meditate on the divine within my heart, I see, I feel my “I”. This “I” is not a self-centred “I”. This “I” is the infinite expansion of my universal oneness.

When I think of the undivine within my being, when I meditate on the undivine within my being, I automatically choose the life of bondage. I become the life of frustration. I become the life of destruction. When I meditate on the undivine or think of the undivine, I choose mental limitation to be my own. I choose vital frustration to accept me as its own. I choose physical imperfection and unconsciousness to take me as their very own. Each moment that I meditate on the undivine, I enjoy, consciously enjoy, despair, frustration, limitation, bondage and death.

Here at the United Nations let us say “You and I”, not “You or I?”

You and I. You as a nation — aspiring nation, searching nation, crying nation, illumining nation — can fulfil the Dream of God on earth. As a seeker of the Highest Truth, with your dedication you can fulfil the Dream of God.

When, as a nation, you think only of yourself, I see you as a petal of a rose. But when, on the strength of your dedication to the world at large, you need the Divine in you to think of you and to meditate on you, I see you as a whole, a rose complete. I do not see you as a petal, but as a fully-blossomed rose.

“You or I?” is determined by our actions. The Divine within us gets abundant joy when we act devotedly and soulfully. The undivine in us gets joy when we want to possess and be possessed. We know the secret of joy. When we do the right thing, on the strength of our inner cry, we get joy. But the supreme Joy will not be, cannot be our joy unless and until we know how to devote ourselves. The result of our actions may be satisfactory to us, but if we do not get this result by virtue of our devoted and selfless service, we will not get infinite Joy and supreme Joy.

Our dynamic joy constantly pleases God.
Our inner silence constantly feeds God.
Our total and integral surrender devours God.

Each action of ours affects the world at large. A state of mind can affect the entire being. An individual can affect the entire humanity. An iota of God’s Concern can illumine all of mankind.

Joy is in self-transcendence.
Joy is in self-offering.
Joy is in self-fulfilment.

Each individual knows that when he was in the animal world he got joy in struggling and fighting. Now he knows that in the human world he gets joy, real joy, abiding joy, in serving and in self-giving. He knows that in the future, in his life divine, he will get joy only in becoming what he is in his transcendental Self: all the Light, the Wisdom, the Perfection of the Supreme.

“You or I?” Each individual, when he separates a portion of himself from his entire existence, feels his you-consciousness. When an individual uses his hands, if he thinks that his hands are the only reality and not his feet, his head, or any other part of himself, then he will hear the song of “you”. But while using his hands, if he thinks that this is the time when he has to use his hands but there will be many occasions when he has to use his legs and other parts of his body, and that therefore all his limbs and organs are important, then there can be no “you”. It is all “I”.

When we meditate on the Absolute Supreme within us, we see how clearly, how fruitfully, both “you” and “I” can work together. We use our legs to go to the office, and then we use our hands to work in the office, and our head to think in the office. Everything has its own place. Everything has its own hour. Each individual has to abide by the inner hour and give due importance to each thing according to God’s Will.

God, when am I going to know that You and I are one, or that You and Your entire creation are one?

“The hour has already struck for you to know that I and My creation are one. If you separate Me from My creation and want to achieve joy or grow into joy, I will have no objection. But you will have only limited joy, limited achievement. If you unite both Me and My creation as one, your joy becomes infinite, your achievements become infinite.

“You or I?” cannot solve the age-long problem of humanity. This problem is the sea of ignorance within us and without. But “you and I” can solve this problem. When the unlit consciousness and the lit and illumined consciousness within ourselves become one, that is the end of “you or I”. We become all oneness, universal oneness: the song of universal oneness, the life of universal oneness and the breath of universal oneness.

How secure are we?¹⁶

[Before commencing his talk, Sri Chinmoy recites the English translation and then chanted in Sanskrit the following chants from the Upanishads:]

Lead me from the unreal to the Real.
Lead me from darkness to Light.
Lead me from death to Immortality.

Asato ma sad gamaya
Tamaso ma jyotir gamaya
Mrityor ma amritam gamaya

Infinity is that.
Infinity is this.
From Infinity, Infinity has come into existence.
From Infinity, when Infinity is taken away, Infinity remains the same.

Purnam adah purnam idam purnat purnam udacyate
Purnasya purnam adaya purnam evavasisyate

When we live in the body, we are constantly insecure. When we live in the vital, we are hopelessly insecure. When we live in the mind, we are surprisingly insecure. When we live in the heart, we are occasionally insecure. When we live in the soul, we are divinely secure. Finally, when we live in God, we are divinely, supremely and sempiternally secure.

AUM

What is security? Security is the endless smile of our inner self-confidence. What is our self-confidence? Self-confidence is our infinite achievement in the gradual process of our self-transcendence.

In our outer life, in our everyday life, we notice two deplorable things: insecurity and impurity. These two defects loom large in our day-to-day life. Insecurity is of ignorance and for ignorance. Impurity is of darkness and for darkness. Likewise, in our inner life, two divine qualities loom large: security and purity. Security is of Light and for Light. Purity is of Bliss and for Bliss.

How insecure are we? If we can offer an adequate answer to this question, then automatically we are running towards our eternal security. How insecure are we? We are extremely insecure. Both men and women are extremely insecure. Why are we insecure? We are insecure precisely because we do not claim vastness as our birthright. We are insecure because we do not claim oneness as our soul-right. In our outer life, the power of ignorance wants to offer us its security, which is nothing short of absurdity. In our inner life, the power of Light wants to offer us its security, which is nothing short of complete fulfilment. It is only the power of Light that can offer us satisfaction and perfection.

Security does not lie in our material achievements. Security does not lie in our earthly possessions. The richest man on earth is not secure. His constant anxiety about maintaining and increasing his wealth makes him more insecure than the poorest man on earth. A king, a president or dictator is not secure. His hunger for sovereign power in ever-increasing measure and his fear of losing the power he has do not allow him to be secure. He is more insecure than the most insignificant human being on earth.

As an individual cannot be secure by amassing material wealth and by acquiring heights of power, even so a nation cannot be secure by displaying geographical boundaries and by declaring historical achievements. Money-power is no security. Expansion-power is no security. Possession-power is no security. It is the soul-power that is all security. And our love-power, which has free access to the soul-power, is always at our disposal.

A creator creates. Man is a creator; he is an inventor. He invents the atom bomb, a destructive power which annihilates all human security. Here it seems that the creation has more power than the creator. Once the creation comes out of the creator the creation threatens the creator himself. But if the inner being of the creator is surcharged with light, then the creator always remains omnipotent. He will not be at the mercy of his creation. It is the express will of the creator that the creation will have to execute. Man’s inner wisdom-light is infinitely superior to his creation. And who created man? God. God’s superior power is oneness. This oneness, inseparable oneness, we can achieve, grow into and become only on the strength of our love. Love is oneness. Oneness is the universal life. Self-giving is God-becoming. Only in God-becoming do we become all security.

AUM

The answer to world-despair¹⁷

Before we offer the answer to world-despair, let us first try to know why there is world-despair. For if we do so, we shall be able to offer the most adequate answer to world-despair. Why is there world-despair? World-despair exists because the world desperately needs the life-illumining Light. Why is there world-despair? World-despair exists because the world constantly needs the life-energising Love. Why is there world-despair? World-despair exists because the world immediately needs the life-immortalising Delight.

The answer to world-despair is Light. The answer to world-despair is Love. The answer to world-despair is Delight. We need Light to see the Creator within and the creation without. We need Love to feel the Beloved within and the Lover without. We need Delight to sail God’s Boat within and to reach God’s Shore without.

World-despair is at once bad and good, undivine and divine. It is bad and undivine because it lives in the darkness-palace of the ignorance-kingdom. It is good and divine because it cries for Light, more Light, abundant Light and infinite Light; Love, more Love, abundant Love and infinite Love; Delight, more Delight, abundant Delight and infinite Delight.

World-despair exists because there is a yawning gulf between our self-giving and the world’s receptivity, between the world’s self-giving and our receptivity. World-despair exists because there is a yawning gulf between our life-perfection and God’s Manifestation, between God’s Life-Perfection and our manifestation.

Grace from above can be the only link between our self-giving and the world-receptivity and between the world’s self-giving and our receptivity. Aspiration from below can be the only link between our life-perfection and God’s Manifestation and between God’s Life-Perfection and our manifestation.

The absolute Grace of the Supreme has given birth to the transcendental Reality and the universal Reality. Man’s constant inner cry reaches the transcendental Reality, which is the acme of Perfection in the world of the Beyond, and at the same time this inner cry manifests the universal Reality in the core of each aspiring individual on earth.

In the world of yesterday, ignorance guided and moulded us. In the world of today, despair lords it over us. In the world of tomorrow, glowing hope will guide and lead us. And in the world of the day after tomorrow, we shall grow into God’s Promise, the Promise of achievement immortal and infinite.

Talking, lecturing and advising the world can never be an adequate answer to world-despair. The most effective answer to world-despair lies in self-giving. But we learn the art of self-giving only after we have learned the art of self-finding. And we learn the art of self-finding only after we have learned the art of meditating, the art of meditating on the Inner Pilot, the Supreme. What we call meditation is nothing other than God-manifestation. And God-manifestation, both within us and without, is always a perfect stranger to human despair.

This short talk of mine can give us only one per cent capacity to offer the answer to world-despair. But the meditation which we are going to do right now is bound to give us ninety-nine per cent capacity to offer the answer to world-despair. Now I wish all of us to meditate only for Light, Love and Delight. Light will open up our eye that sees. Love will open up our heart that feels. Delight will carry us to our Source, the Supreme.

Beyond the world of reason¹⁸

The world of reason is self-partition, self-assertion and self-glorification. Beyond the world of reason is the world of Love-realisation, Oneness-manifestation and God perfection.

In the world of reason, the reasoning mind ignores the inner Light and ridicules the higher Light. Beyond the world of reason, the surrendering heart wants to unite itself with the higher Light and the inner Light for the radical transformation of the earth-consciousness.

Here on earth there are three types of satisfaction: the animal satisfaction, the human satisfaction and the divine satisfaction. The animal and the human satisfaction are far, far below the divine satisfaction. A sincere, genuine seeker of the ultimate Truth must needs go far beyond the world of reason to see the face of supreme satisfaction, to feel the heart of supreme satisfaction.

The animal man in us wants to destroy the world for its satisfaction. The human soul in us wants to govern the world for its satisfaction. The divine being in us wants to love and serve the world for its satisfaction.

There are two types of mind: the human, or physical, mind and the spiritual mind. The physical mind is enmeshed in the gross physical consciousness; therefore, it does not and cannot see the proper truth in its own world. The spiritual mind, which is the illumined or illumining mind, has the capacity to stay in the aspiring heart; therefore, it sees the higher Truth, the Truth of the ever-transcending Beyond, and aspires to grow into this Truth.

The human mind does not like to remain in the aggressive and destructive vital consciousness. Yet this human mind, this physical mind, is afraid of the infinite Vast. It wants to achieve the vastness of the Infinite, and at the same time it is afraid of Infinity. The human mind cares for aesthetic beauty, for poise and balance. The human mind is searching for Truth, for Light, for Reality. But unfortunately, it wants to see the highest Truth in its own limited way. It does not want to transcend itself in order to reach the ultimate Truth. Also, the physical mind wants to examine the highest Truth, which is absurd.

The aspiring inner heart, the psychic heart, knows what it is and what it stands for. It knows that its ultimate realisation lies only in its inseparable identification and oneness with Infinity. The heart knows that even though it is like a tiny drop, when it enters into the mighty ocean it will not lose its identity and personality. On the contrary, its personality and individuality will increase in boundless measure and it will be able to claim the vastness of the sea as its very own. The spiritual mind gets illumination from the soul with the help of the heart. And in the process of its own inner illumination, it wants to go far, far beyond the domain of reason in order to see, feel and grow into the ultimate, transcendental Truth.

The paramount importance of the human mind has, until now, been undeniable. The human mind separated us from the animal kingdom through the process of cosmic evolution. Had there been no awakening of the human mind, the conscious human life could not have blossomed out of the animal kingdom. But now the animal in us has played its role. The human in us, the unaspiring human in us, will complete its role soon. The divine in us has begun, or will soon begin, its role.

The soul, the representative of God on earth will not be satisfied unless and until all the members of its immediate family — the body, the vital, the mind and the heart — march together towards the same goal. The body will serve the Inner Pilot with its dedicated service. The vital will serve the Inner Pilot with its spontaneous determination. The mind will serve the Inner Pilot with its constant search for the Truth-Light of the Beyond. The heart will serve the Inner Pilot with its total and inseparable oneness with the Inner Pilot. When this occurs, all the members of the soul’s family will reach their destination, the destination of Perfection, perfect Perfection on earth.

The transformation of the physical, the transformation of the vital, the transformation of the mind and the transformation of the heart are taking place every day, every hour, every second in each human being. But when a human being consciously aspires, his transformation is quick, convincing and, at the same time, most fulfilling. Therefore, those who pray and meditate are the pioneers in the world of supreme Truth, Light and Delight. In this world, far, far beyond the domain of the physical mind we can perfectly sing the song of supreme Perfection, or we can bring the world of Perfection down into our aspiring and glowing heart through our regular, sincere and devoted surrender to the ultimate Truth.

At the end of our journey’s close we will see that the animal in us has been transformed and the human in us has been transformed and perfected. We will see that the divine in us has carried safely and perfectly the quintessence of our animal and human life and placed it at the Feet of the Supreme. Once we see it placed at the Feet of the Supreme, we can become, here on earth, the direct representatives of the Truth, Light and Delight of the Beyond.

Beyond the world of reason, the Light that we see, feel and want to grow into is the Light of illumination. It is not the light that wants to expose our earthly, limited and deplorable weaknesses. The Upanishads mention that there, in the world beyond reason, the sun shines not. This does not mean that this realm is full of darkness and chaos. No, there the star sun shines not, because that world is self-effulgent. There the perfection of the inner Light, the higher Light the transcendental Light reigns supreme. Seekers of the ultimate Truth eventually enter into that world, the world of transcendental Bliss. When a seeker can establish a free access to that particular world, his heart sings the glory of that world’s supreme secret:

“No mind, no form, I only exist…”

This “I” is not the earthbound “I”, the ego. This “I” is the universal Self, which is birthless and deathless. This is the “I” that comes to the fore when the Divine Lover in us realises the supreme Beloved.

In this world, far beyond the domain of reason, God’s Vision and God’s Reality together live. God’s Vision is the cosmic seed, and God’s Reality is the universal tree.

The voice of silence¹⁹

Today I am going to talk on the Voice of Silence. Dear seekers, with all sincerity I wish to tell you that no matter how long I speak about the Voice of Silence, I shall not be able to make you hear the Voice of Silence. But I wish to assure you that if you meditate with me for a few minutes before I speak, if you can dive deep within as I shall dive deep within for a few minutes, then either you will hear the Voice of Silence or your prayer and meditation will expedite your journey towards receiving the message of Silence.

It is true that it takes years for a seeker to hear the message of the Voice of Silence. But, with all my soul’s love for each seeker present here today, I wish to say that on the strength of our inner aspiration and outer dedication to the life divine, we can and must hear the Voice of Silence which sempiternally is guiding our life. Our outer life — the life of hustle and bustle — either does not hear this voice or, when it does hear it, pays no attention to it. The life of temptation is what our outer life wants, and not the life of true fulfilment and satisfaction.

The Voice of Silence is the answer when we want divine satisfaction from our day-to-day existence.

The Voice of Silence is the dream of God’s ever-climbing Aspiration-dawn.

The Voice of Silence is the reality of God’s ever-illumining Revelation-light.

The Voice of Silence is the Immortality of God’s ever-fulfilling Perfection-height.

What is voice?

Voice is our inner and outer choice.

Hunger for life-destruction is our animal choice.

Hunger for supremacy-satisfaction is our human choice.

Hunger for perfection-manifestation is our divine choice.

We wish to hear the Voice of Silence, but how can we hear it? There are two principal ways. One way is to silence the human mind totally. From the gross physical mind we enter into the intellectual mind. From the intellectual mind we enter into the intuitive mind. From the intuitive mind we enter into the illumined mind. And from the illumined mind we enter into the overmind. It is only from this highest mind that we can expect to hear the message of the Voice of Silence.

The other way is to feel that the heart-vessel has to be filled with divine Peace, Light, Bliss and Power. When we want to hear the Voice of Silence through the mind, we empty the mind. But when we want to hear the Voice of Silence through the heart, we fill up the heart. When we empty the mind, we have to know that we do so precisely because we want to receive God the Guest or God the infinite Peace. And when we fill up the heart, we feel that God the immortal Light and infinite Delight is entering into our earthly home. The light of the soul precedes the Voice of Silence. The Voice of Silence can never come to the fore unless and until the light of the soul brings it forward consciously, compassionately and lovingly.

What else must we do to hear the Voice of Silence? When we pray, when we meditate, we have to do something quite specific. When we breathe in, we have to imagine consciously that inside that breath, within us, is a peaceful nest and a bird. After a few minutes we have to feel that the nest is our outer existence and the bird is our inner existence. Now this bird has to come out of its nest. How do we bring the bird out of the nest? There are two ways. One way is to make our concentration, meditation and contemplation as dynamic as possible. Here, dynamism means the constant feeling within you of a speeding train that does not stop. It is an express train, and it does not stop at any station or at any junction. It is a tireless train, an endless train, continuously going on. When we have that inner feeling, from the very starting point we get the Blessing-power of the Supreme. And in dynamism, in the flow of dynamism, we see the bird of our inner being leaving its nest, and the Supreme gives us the experience of the Voice of Silence.

Another way to hear the Voice of Silence is to feel, the moment you enter into your meditation or the moment you start praying, that you are an infinite expanse of ocean. A few minutes later, please feel that you are deep inside the ocean, and from there try to spread the wings of the bird that you were when you followed the dynamic way of hearing the message of Silence.

A seeker may hear the Voice of Silence as something very faint and feeble — a tiny voice like a ripple of calm water. But this feeble voice, this faint voice, can be compared to an atom. When we split the atom we release unbelievable power. Similarly, when we know how to hear the Voice of Silence properly, our inner being immediately is inundated with the Power of thousands of inner suns. The creation and the Creator immediately come to satisfy us. Once we hear the Voice of Silence consciously in our spiritual life, we feel that, like God, we too are responsible for the entire creation. Like God, it is we who are the Creator and we who are the creation itself.

Now, how can we know whether we are hearing the Voice of Silence or something totally different which we are mistakenly calling the Voice of Silence? I wish to tell you that we can easily know if it is the Voice of Silence or not. When we hear a voice from the very depths, from the inmost recesses of our heart, and if that voice gives us a message which our outer mind or physical consciousness is ready to accept with utmost joy and love, then we will know that that is the Voice of Silence. If the physical mind or the outer consciousness does not get immediate joy, then it is not the Voice of Silence. Right now our outer mind gets joy both in the acceptance of reality and in the rejection of reality. But when the Inner Voice enters into the outer mind, then the outer mind has no choice. It immediately accepts the reality as reality. When the Voice of Silence is heard, the outer mind will accept it so wholeheartedly that it will feel that the lofty truth it has discovered is its own achievement.

God expresses Himself through silence and sound. Silence is His Reality’s height; silence is His Reality’s depth. Sound is His Reality’s length; sound is His Reality’s breadth. In silence, God is all assurance. In sound God is all confidence. In self-assurance God builds the Kingdom of Light. In self-confidence, God invites His unlit, obscure, unaspiring creation to enter into His Kingdom of Light. A seeker who is a child in the spiritual life finds it quite easy to appreciate, admire and adore God’s length and breadth. But a seeker who is advanced in the spiritual life inwardly feels that God’s height and God’s depth must be appreciated first, and only then can His length and breadth be truly and properly appreciated, admired and adored.

The Voice of Silence is God’s conscious preparation in man. The Voice of Silence is God’s conscious Dream of Perfection in man. The Voice of Silence finally becomes God’s own ever-transcending dream-bound Reality and Reality-freed Dream.

O Voice of Silence
Where are you?
I need your golden wings
O Voice of God,
Where are You?
Hide not from me.

Why do I have to become spiritual?²⁰

Why do I have to become spiritual? I have to become spiritual precisely because I wish to see something, do something and become something. There are many people on earth who do not feel the necessity of this, and I do not find fault with them. But my inner being tells me that I have to see something, do something and become something.

What I wish to see is perfection in my life and in the life of each and every individual. What I wish to do is to love mankind unreservedly and divinely. What I wish to become is a conscious and chosen instrument of God.

Two lives: a life of aspiration and a life of desire. I have been in the life of desire. In that life I did not have even an iota of Peace and Bliss. Therefore, I entered consciously and soulfully into a new life, the life of aspiration. In my desire-life, my existence was tossing in a shoreless sea, and it found its reality in a goalless shore. In order to swim in the sea of Reality, in order to reach the Golden Shore of the Beyond, I entered into the life of aspiration.

AUM

It is a mistake to think that a spiritual person is impractical. On the contrary, a spiritual person is really practical. An ordinary, unaspiring person thinks of God as being in Heaven, millions and billions and trillions of miles higher than his own existence. His God is not around him, not in front of him, but in an unknown or unknowable Heaven.

But a spiritual person has a different idea of God. He says, “If God exists, then He has to be inside my heart, all around me, right in front of me.” So a seeker is practical. He does not accept the theory that God is in a distant and unattainable Heaven, that God is aloof and uninterested in his life. He says, “Only if my God is right here on earth, will I be able to fulfil my aspiration and my need.”

Once he realises that God is right in front of him, he immediately feels that God is everywhere, both in Heaven and on earth. When he thinks of God in Heaven, he immediately feels that God is the dream-fulfilling Reality. And when he thinks of God on earth, he feels that God is the reality-illumining Dream — Divinity’s conscious and ever-transcending Dream which illumines reality.

In the ordinary life, there are many needs. But in the spiritual life we come to realise that there is only one need, and that is a love for God. There is also something that is not needed, and that is self-proclamation. When I love God, I feel that I am touching the very root of God-Tree. And if I touch the root, then the dynamic flowing energy in the root will take me to all the branches, leaves and flowers. But when I proclaim myself, I just limit and bind myself; I am not able to taste, to enjoy myself as a universal Reality. My self-proclamation immediately separates me from the Whole, which I once upon a time was, which I want to become and which I eventually will be.

A spiritual person is not only practical but also normal and natural. Everything in his life is orderly. He goes from one to two to three, and not the other way around. For a normal person, first things come first. And what is the first thing? It is God, because God is the Creator, God is the Source. Every day dawns with a new life, a new hope, a new sense of Immortality. Now, when the morning dawns, the seeker does first things first. First he prays to God, then he thinks of mankind, and finally he thinks of himself.

When he prays or meditates on God, the seeker uses the divine instrument called surrender. “Let Thy Will be done,” he says. And when he thinks of mankind, he uses the instrument called love. He uses his love-power, his love-instrument to become inseparably one with humanity. Then, when he thinks of himself, he uses his discipline-power, his self-control. If he uses his power of self-control, then at every moment a new dream can be dreamt by the divine within him, the seeker within him. A higher call from above takes him to his reality, which is ever-transcending.

As an individual, I have to know that my physical body is not my only reality. I also have a soul, a heart, a mind and a vital. I have to care for my soul first, because this is the eldest member of my family. The soul is constantly dreaming in and through me, and the dream of the soul is the harbinger of my reality’s perfection. So I have to think of the soul or meditate on the soul first.

Next I think of my heart. My heart needs love; it needs to offer love and it needs to receive love. First it gives love, then it receives love and finally it becomes love itself. After giving and receiving love, my heart will feel its inseparable oneness with everything and everyone.

Then I have to think of my mind. If I just think of my mind, that does not solve any problem at all. I have to meditate on the mind with the idea of expanding and illumining it. I think not of the mind that binds me or limits me or separates me; I think of the mind that will gladly listen to the heart and to the soul, the mind that can feel the universal oneness.

Then I have to think of my vital. When I think of my vital, I have to think of dynamic energy. If there is no dynamic energy, I cannot produce or achieve anything. Life is a river that flows constantly and continuously. Vital energy is the current that carries us to the sea, the sea of illumination and perfection.

When we think of the physical, immediately we think of the mind, because we feel that the mind is the most developed member of our family. This is true before we accept the spiritual life. But after we have accepted the spiritual life, we feel that the heart is an older brother superior to the mind. And when we become really spiritual, we can boldly say that we do not need the mind at all; what we need is the heart and soul to guide us through life. Granted, the mind may have everything that the heart has. If we want a diamond, we can find a diamond in the mind-room, and we can find the same diamond in the heart-room. But the moment we enter into the mind-room, we see that that room is full of rubbish, junk and undivine things. The diamond is covered, and it will take us days, months and years to uncover it. But when we enter into the heart-room, we see that there is nothing else but the diamond. The moment we open the door, the diamond is right there before us.

A spiritual person is a man of wisdom. Just by seeing the diamond, he will not be fully satisfied; he will want to grow into the diamond itself. This spiritual diamond is perfect Perfection. The spiritual person enters into the heart-room, sees the diamond, touches the diamond, meditates on the diamond and grows into the diamond. When he grows into the diamond, that means he has become the perfect instrument of God. Then his real satisfaction dawns. A seeker’s satisfaction dawns only when he becomes a perfect instrument of the Supreme. At that time, he becomes one with earth-consciousness and one with Heaven-consciousness.

AUM

A spiritual person wants to realise unity in diversity, harmony in diversity. In the ordinary life, two human beings constantly contradict each other. And even in the spiritual life, two divine qualities in different seekers — if they are not properly guarded or guided — will not become complementary. Let us say one seeker has sincerity and the other seeker has humility. Both these qualities are of paramount importance. But the person who has sincerity feels he is not being admired the way his friend is being admired. He feels that the person who has humility is getting more appreciation from others. So the person with sincerity is not happy. Now, the person who is humble feels that his humility is not giving him total satisfaction either. He feels that the person who is sincere is getting more appreciation and admiration. When we are beginners in the spiritual life, even our divine qualities do not satisfy us.

But when we go deep within, our divine qualities will not oppose one another. On the contrary, each divine quality will complement every other divine quality. When sincerity enters into humility and offers its wealth, immediately humility sees that the only one who is really humble is God. It is God’s Humility that makes Him what He is. And when humility enters into sincerity, sincerity feels its own reality.

After I become spiritual, what is expected of me? I have to empty myself before God and I have to empty myself before mankind. When I empty myself before God, I shall empty my teeming ignorance, the ignorance of millennia. And when I empty myself before mankind, I shall empty my love. Love I have to empty before humanity; ignorance I have to empty before God.

The life of a spiritual seeker is not the life of a stagnant pool. His is the life of a fresh spring, a spring of ever-flowing Consciousness-Light. When the seeker feels that his life is ever-flowing Consciousness-Light, he feels that Heaven — which is dream — is being manifested on earth, and that earth — which is cry — is being transformed into the ceaseless Smile of the Supreme.

The United Nations as an instrument of human unification²¹

The United Nations as an instrument of human unification. This is the subject of our talk, and I am sincerely grateful to Mr Donald Keys, who offered this title. This is a lofty, most significant subject, and time will not allow me to do justice to it. What I wish to speak about is not what I have learned from books or news media, but rather what I feel from within. What I feel in the inmost recesses of my heart as solid experience is what I wish to share with the seekers present here.

The United Nations as an instrument of human unification. What is an instrument? An instrument is the reality of the Creator’s Dream. The United Nations is an instrument, a significant instrument, an unprecedented instrument of God for His searching, aspiring and loving humanity. This instrument is the joy of the Creator and at the same time, it is the joy of the creation. The United Nations embodies both Heaven’s Vision and earth’s reality. There was a time when Heaven’s Vision was not manifested as reality. We called it the League of Nations. But then the League of Nations was transformed into reality, and became the United Nations. We are all in the process of evolution. Once upon a time we were in the animal kingdom; now we are in the human world, consciously trying to transcend our earth-bound realities. While we were in the animal kingdom, the message of unification did not exist. There was only the message of destruction. In the human world, the message of unification is something real and significant; but, at the same time, unification is still a far cry.

Unification and perfection go together. They complement and fulfil each other. Unification and satisfaction go together. They, too complement and fulfil each other. Unification is the song of the many for the One. Perfection is the song of One for the many. Satisfaction is the song of the One in the many and the song of many in the One.

When we think of the United Nations, the first and foremost thing that comes to our human mind is reliance. Self-reliance is good; inter-reliance is better. But oneness in multiplicity and multiplicity in oneness is by far the best. There is a great difference between self reliance and independence. When we rely on ourselves, on our inner being, our own divinity acts in and through us. At that time, we are relying on the inner Pilot, who is in all and who is our All. But when we advocate independence, our uncontrolled, undisciplined, undivine and autocratic nature comes to the fore. Independence we experienced in the animal world. When we exercised our independence, what did we do? We quarrelled, we fought, we killed and we destroyed one another. The message of unification can never breathe in this type of independence. The forest of independence is full of conflicts and contests that nobody actually wins. But in self-reliance, the divine and the soul-light come forward from within us and show us the way and the goal.

The United Nations is not a thing to appreciate, admire or adore. Rather, it is the way, the way of oneness, that leads us to the Supreme Oneness. It is like a river flowing towards the source, the Ultimate Source. The United Nations is the way that wants to lead the world to the destined Goal, where Light and Delight reign supreme.

In this world we see that some people just talk, others talk and then act, others talk and act simultaneously, and still others only act and then let others talk for them. Finally there is a type of person who just acts for the sake of action divine. This is the supreme category. Without the least possible hesitation I would like to say that the United Nations belongs to this category. Outwardly I will not be able to prove this, for as I said before, I do not know about the United Nations’ outer achievements. But, being a seeker of the highest Truth who lives in the inner world, who sees and feels and knows what the United Nations is doing, I am perfectly familiar with the inner achievements of the United Nations.

The United Nations is a real mother, and the world is like a child in front of it. Now you may say that the world is so vast, whereas the United Nations is just a small building. But you have to know who is playing what role on earth. The United Nations is playing the role of the mother. The mother offers her very existence to feed and nourish the child and give the child the message of Light, the message of Truth, the message of Reality. We notice that the child very often ignores the mother’s offering or takes it for granted. It is true that the child accepts, but when it is a matter of offering gratitude to the mother, the child consciously or unconsciously forgets.

Now, when the mother does everything for the child, it is not news. But if the child offers a glass of water to the mother, then that becomes news. The mother will work for twenty-four hours like a slave to please the child, but when the child does something most insignificant for the mother, the world takes note of it. The United Nations receives help from the four corners of the globe — financial help, all kinds of help — and that becomes news in the world. But what the United Nations at every second inwardly and outwardly is offering or trying to offer is not news; this the world does not recognise.

The world is blind; it needs God-Vision. And the United Nations has God-Vision in abundant measure. The world is weak; it needs soul-power. And the United Nations has soul-power in abundant measure. The world is suffering; it needs heart-consolation. And the United Nations has heart-consolation in abundant measure.

With utmost love and humility, the seeker in me tells the world to talk less and listen more. Listen to whom? Not to me, but to the United Nations. The United Nations has much to offer in every field, so the world needs its constant, conscious, unfailing and unceasing advice. If the world does not believe in the soul-peace of the United Nations, how will the world believe in the heart-dedication of the United Nations?

The Creator is at once the Silence-seed and the Sound-tree. As the Silence-seed, as the Silence of the Transcendental Height, He embodies His own highest height and deepest depth. And as the Sound-tree, He offers to His creation His own achievement. Silence prepares; Sound reveals. Sound offers what Silence is. Silence tells us who God is and Sound tells us where God is. Who is God? God is man’s eternal cry for the highest Transcendental Supreme. And where is God? God is in man’s soulful smile. God is all the time visible in our heart’s smile and our soul’s smile. Where smile looms large in our existence, there alone we see God’s very presence. Silence-life is embodied in the soul of the United Nations, and Sound-life is embodied in the body of the United Nations. If the world does not believe in the Silence-life of the United Nations, how will the world believe in the Sound-life of the United Nations?

The outer reality is not always the real reality. The outer reality sometimes, if not always, deceives us. The outer reality very often comes to us in the form of temptation, whereas the inner reality comes to us in the form of emancipation, liberation and salvation. If from the outer reality we go to the inner reality to challenge and fight against it, then we are acting like a fool. The inner reality will never surrender to the outer reality. But if we become one with the inner reality, which is our Silence-life, which is God’s Vision, then we can bring it to the fore and transform the outer reality. The outer reality is the reality created by the human mind, the mind which right now is imperfection incarnate. Again, this very mind will one day be transformed, perfected, divinised and immortalised. By whom? By the Inner Pilot and by the divine forces of the inner world.

Critics are of the opinion that the United Nations sometimes is not brave enough or quick enough. Now it is very easy to criticise an organisation. But we have to know what precisely an organisation is. An organisation is composed of human beings, and human beings are far, far from perfection. It is the human in us that criticises, not the divine in us. The divine in us sees the perfection in ourselves and in others. Who is our brother? He is our brother who sees the divine in us and the perfection in us. A real seeker feels that he is growing from perfection, to greater perfection, to infinite Perfection; from light, to more light, to abundant, infinite and immortal Light. Similarly the achievement of the United Nations in the outer world is the achievement of a perfection that is always becoming more perfect; and a day will come when it will be totally perfect.

There are many ways to serve the United Nations: with the physical body, physical mind, the inner heart and the soul’s good will. I wish to say that all the services rendered by each individual are necessary, for through them we all offer our perfection to the soul of the United Nations. Each individual not only has the message of perfection, but actually is the message of perfection. And if we can offer this message of perfection to the soul of the United Nations, then the capacity of the United Nations multiplies itself into infinity.

Let us not ask the United Nations what it has done. Let us not even ask ourselves what we have done. But let us only ask ourselves whether we are of the United Nations and for the United Nations. If we say we are of the United Nations, then our source is peace, infinite Peace. And if we say we are for the United Nations, then our manifestation is delight, eternal Delight. Our source is Peace and our manifestation is Bliss on earth. So if we know what we are and what we stand for, then the United Nations becomes for us the answer to world suffering, world darkness and world ignorance.

The inner vision of the United Nations is the gift supreme. This vision the world can deny for ten, twenty, thirty, forty, one hundred years. But a day will dawn when the vision of the United Nations will save the world. And when the reality of the United Nations starts bearing fruit, then the breath of Immortality will be a living reality on earth.

What is the United Nations really doing for humanity?²²

What is the United Nations really doing for humanity? This is a most challenging question. Each person is competent to answer this lofty question according to his soul’s light. First, I wish to tell you what the United Nations is, according to my own inner light. The United Nations is humanity’s colossal hope. The United Nations is Divinity’s lofty promise. Hope needs assurance from Heaven’s soul. Promise needs receptivity from earth’s heart.

Let us take the United Nations as human being. Naturally, this human being has a body, a vital, a mind, a heart and a soul. The body of the United Nations is trying to serve humanity. The vital of the United Nations is striving to energise humanity. The mind of the United Nations is longing to inspire humanity. The heart of the United Nations is crying to love humanity. Finally, the soul of the United Nations is flying to embrace humanity.

The United Nations as a whole wants to offer peace. Peace and the United Nations are inseparable. Now what is peace? Peace is a very, very complicated word when we live in the physical world or in the mental world. In the physical world, we see children all the time quarrelling and fighting. They derive satisfaction from their fighting. This satisfaction is their peace. In the mental world, people are always doubting, suspecting, arguing and doing quite a few things that the spiritual world may not appreciate. Nevertheless, the mental world gets satisfaction from using its intellectual capacities, its doubt-weapons. This doubt and suspicion is the peace of the mental world. But there is also an inner world. In the inner world is self-giving, and self-giving is immediately followed by love-becoming, truth-becoming and perfection-becoming.

Peace does not mean the absence of war. Outwardly two countries may not wage war, but if they inwardly treasure aggressive thoughts, hostile thoughts, that is as good as war. Peace means the presence of harmony, love, satisfaction and oneness. Peace means a flood of love in the world family. Peace means the unity of the universal heart and the oneness of the universal soul.

To me, the United Nations is great. Why? Because it has high principles. To me, the United Nations is good. Why? Because it leaves no stone unturned to transform these principles into living realities. To me, the United Nations is divine. Why? Because it is the fond child of the Supreme dedicated to promoting world peace.

The world may notice a yawning gulf between the principles of the United Nations and the realities of the world. But the world must remember that in the transformation of principles into realities, time is a great factor. The world is old, and it has old ideas, old idiosyncrasies, old propensities. The United Nations is young, very young. Nevertheless, if we go deep within we can easily observe how many things have been accomplished in the brief twenty-nine years of the United Nations’ existence. For the first thirteen years of our human life, we consciously or unconsciously wallowed in the pleasures of ignorance without even trying to live a better life, a higher life, a more fulfilling life. In order to live a higher life, an illumining life, a life that perfects and fulfils us, we need a great length of time.

We expect everything from the United Nations child, but we forget that the child has to grow. If we nourish the child, encourage the child and appreciate him for what he already has offered, only then will the progress of the child be satisfactory. If we place a very heavy load on the child’s shoulders while he is still small and weak, whose fault is it if he cannot carry it? It is our fault. The child may think that he can carry the entire world on his shoulders, but the parents know that the child’s wish will be fulfilled and manifested only in the course of time.

Unfortunately, the world is a bad parent. The world’s pressures are attacking the United Nations, but the world’s appreciation is rarely seen or heard. The way the United Nations has become a victim to the world’s criticism is most deplorable. The world knows how to criticise, but the world does not know how to become one with the soul of the United Nations and see how hard its light is trying to come to the fore to establish a kingdom of Peace and Light on earth. The United Nations is trying to ameliorate the teeming afflictions that weigh so heavily on the world’s shoulders. It is trying so hard to cancel the world’s inequalities. The United Nations sings one song: the song that says it is love-power that will conquer the world. No other power can conquer the world. From this song we realise something more: when love-power conquers, the conquest is not for the expansion of influence, but for the illumination of existence.

The United Nations is the meeting place for the big brothers and the small brothers of the world. The big brothers are at times reluctant to share with the small brothers their capacities, their wisdom and their achievements. The little brothers at times want to grab the capacities, wisdom-light and achievements of the big brothers without working for them. When the younger brother sees that his older brother has got his Master’s degree, he too wants to get a Master’s degree. His wishful thinking far transcends his reality’s capacity. But if the big brother offers a little bit of light from his abundant light to the little brother, the little brother feels that he has gained world-knowledge all at once.

The big brother wants only one thing: satisfaction. The little brother also wants only one thing: satisfaction. Complete satisfaction dawns only when elder brother and younger brother smile simultaneously. If I smile because of my possession and you cannot smile because of your lack of achievement, I will have no real satisfaction. The smiles must be reciprocal, universal. The need of the younger brother and the abundant capacity of the older brother can be amalgamated. When they are united, both can together smile.

The younger brother wants nothing but acceptance; the older brother wants nothing but self-transcendence. Acceptance and self-transcendence are the prerequisites of action and perfection. Action means acceptance of the world, no matter how weak or insufficient it is, for its present and future transformation. Perfection means constant transcendence of today’s achievement by means of self-giving. Self-giving is immediately followed by self-transcendence, and in self-transcendence only do we get the message of perfection.

People say the United Nations is imperfect. I wish to ask them what organisation on earth is perfect. They say the United Nations has not fulfilled human needs. I say we have not given full opportunity, not to speak of full authority, to the United Nations to do the needful. Imperfection is the fate of human organisations until divinity reigns supreme within them. There is no organisation which is totally perfect. But there are organisations which, knowing perfectly well they are imperfect, still pretend to be perfect. There are also human beings who know perfectly well that they are imperfect, but do not want to lift one finger to achieve perfection. Again, there are organisations and human beings that cry for perfection and work for perfection, for they know it is only perfection that can bring satisfaction. Without the least possible hesitation we can say that the heart of the United Nations is crying for perfection. In the inner world, the entire being of the United Nations is crying for perfection. But perfection is not a one-man game. It is a collective game that is played by all men. The capacities of all human beings have to be offered, as well as the capacities of all those who work for the United Nations.

Fifty-four years ago Woodrow Wilson and others had a lofty, sublime, supernal vision: a world united and at peace. The United Nations is trying to transform that vision into reality. Let us consider the vision as the height of Mount Everest, while the present reality is the foot of Mount Everest. We are now still at the foot of the mountain, but if we go deep within we will see that we have definitely climbed up a few metres, although we know how difficult it is to climb all the way to the top. Slowly and steadily the soul of the United Nations is offering its light to the body of the United Nations, which is the world, so that it can reach the height of the lofty vision seen fifty-four years ago. This vision cannot and will not always remain a vision, because inside the vision itself is reality. We can see the face of reality in four hundred years or in one hundred years or in fifty years or in ten years, depending on what the world sees and feels in the heart of the United Nations on the strength of its identification. And this identification can be achieved only if we live inside the soul.

Peace, freedom, progress, perfection — these are the four rungs of the cosmic ladder which the United Nations has perfectly housed in the unseen recesses of its heart. Peace we achieve when we do not expect anything from the world, but only give, give and give unconditionally what we have and what we are. Freedom we achieve only when we live in the soul’s light. If we live in the light of the soul, if we can swim in the light of the soul’s sea, immediately we grow into and achieve the true inner freedom. Progress we achieve by our self-expansion. How do we expand ourselves? We expand ourselves only by offering our inner concern, which comes directly from the very depths of our heart. Perfection we achieve only when we see the One in the many and the many in the One. When we see the One in the many, we have to feel that Silence-reality is holding the entire cosmos. When we see the many in the One, we have to feel that Sound-reality is nourishing the entire cosmos. Silence-reality is the soul and Sound-reality is the body of the United Nations. From the body of the United Nations we get the message of union. From the soul of the United Nations we get the message of perfection.

If we want to know what the United Nations is really doing for humanity, each one of us has to ask himself or herself the same questions, for each of us represents humanity. Are we really seeing the bright side of the United Nations? Are we sincerely working for the fulfilment of the vision of the United Nations? Are we wholeheartedly trying to become one with the struggles of the United Nations? Are we deeply concerned about the United Nations and its role in the world community? If we can answer all these questions in the affirmative, then the soul of the United Nations is bound to reveal to us what it has already done for mankind, what it is doing for mankind and what it will be doing for mankind. What has it done? It has brought down the message of promise from the highest in Heaven. What is it doing? It is proclaiming this promise to the length and breadth of the world. What will it be doing? It will be manifesting this promise not only in and through the seekers after truth, light and perfection, but also in those who deliberately deny the potentialities, the capacities and the soul-realities of the United Nations.

The United Nations has a big heart. Irrespective of human attainment, irrespective of human assessment, it will offer its nectar-drink to each human being on earth. Its soul’s offering will be felt first in the soul’s world, the inner world. Then it will be seen in the outer world. Finally, it will be accepted wholeheartedly by the entire world. And in its acceptance of this undeniable truth-reality, humanity will move one step higher on the ladder of divine manifestation and divine earthly perfection.

The United Nations can teach us how to share²³

There are a number of things that the United Nations can teach us how to share, but I would like to mention four principal things: the message of trust, the message of concern, the message of unity in diversity and, finally, the message of universal peace.

Each nation is unique in its own way. Each nation has achieved something special, at least for itself. When a nation is ready to feel that other nations are an extension of its own being, when a nation becomes aware that all nations belong to one family, one source, and have one common goal, then that particular nation can easily teach or share its lofty achievements. Each nation knows inwardly that satisfaction and perfection lie only in self-giving, not in displaying its grandiose achievements or in hoarding its capacities.

All nations are pilgrims, eternal pilgrims, walking along the same road, the road of Eternity. On the way, some become tired and want to take rest. They do not have the energy to walk any farther. At that moment, if the nations that are ahead can feed and energise those that have fallen back, then the lagging ones can easily keep pace with the nations that are marching speedily.

If a strong nation feels that its progress will be slow if it helps a weak one, I wish to say that this is not true. If one nation encourages, inspires, feeds and energises the nations that are behind, then the gratitude-flower of those particular nations will blossom inside the strong nation’s heart, and the fragrance of the gratitude-flower is bound to accelerate the strong nation’s progress towards its destined goal. The fragrance of the flower will inspire it, and from this inspiration it will get abundant life, abundant light and an abundant sense of achievement and perfection.

The great mystic thinker Kahlil Gibran once said something most soulfully true: “The significance of man is not in his attainment but in what he longs to attain.” The present-day world has achieved quite a few significant things. It has acquired money-power, technology-power, machine-power, but unfortunately it has not acquired soul-power. It has acquired the power to destroy humanity, but this has not brought it any satisfaction. It longs for world peace, world harmony and world unity. It has the inner cry to love the world, to feel the heart of the world and to become one, inseparably one, with the world at large.

The past has not given us what we really need. Granted, the past was something significant, but right now it pales into insignificance when we measure it against our dream: not against what we are, but against what we want to become. What we are now is a semi-animal, but what we want to become is a full, complete and total God.

Dream and reality are two different things. Right now reality is most deplorable, and man’s dream is a far cry. The reality that the United Nations can offer to the world at large is not quite satisfactory. But for that we cannot blame the United Nations: for that we must blame each individual person. Unless each human being cooperates most soulfully with the will of the United Nations, reality will remain a painful accident in life and dream will remain a chimerical castle in the air. Unless and until we become inseparably one with the ideals of the United Nations, we can never be happy and fulfilled. The United Nations can teach us how to share. If we do not share with others what we have and what we are, we are bound to feel unsatisfied, no matter what we achieve and what we grow into.

Millions of people know about the United Nations and admire its capacities, its willingness, its eagerness, its good will. But how many people are ready to become one with the soul of the United Nations? Millions of people can meet together, but if there is no soul’s bond, no soul’s unity, then all nations will prove to be veritable beggars. In the matter of inner strength, inner power and real achievement, thousands of minds, thousands of bodies, thousands of vital beings or emotional feelings can join together, but if the soul’s bond is not established, there will always be loneliness. The soul of the United Nations has to be accepted by all nations, and only then will a sense of completeness, perfection and satisfaction be attained.

Each individual being, each man and woman, should feel that he belongs not to his own nation, but to all nations. That does not mean that he will neglect his own nation and devote all his attention to other nations. But each human being who has the energy and willingness to be of service to other nations will also have the willingness to serve his own country in ample measure. While serving his own country, he has to feel that it is becoming one with other nations. He has to feel that his own arms are becoming one with his eyes. His arms are his power of work, and his eyes are his power of vision. His vision carries him to the length and breadth of the world, whereas his arms remain where he himself is. With his vision he sees the needs of his brothers and sisters of the world. Then with his arms he has to work to fulfil those needs. He can do this only when he feels that he has gone far beyond his little family and has accepted the world-family as his very own.

The greatest wise man of the past, Socrates, taught us something very profound when he said, “I am not an Athenian, nor am I a Greek. I am a citizen of the world.” If each individual in each nation can proclaim this message, if each individual in each nation can consciously and devotedly feel that he does not belong to a little family called “I and mine” but to a larger family called “We and ours”, then the message of the United Nations, the message of love, of brotherhood, of peace, of soulful sharing, can easily be received, embraced and executed by the entire world.

Does meditation encourage us to escape from reality?²⁴

Meditation is self-perfection. If we have the message of perfection deep within, we cannot neglect anything within or without. If we have doubt within us, we have to transform this doubt into certainty. If we have insecurity within us, we have to transform this insecurity into security. Anything undivine within us must be transformed into something divine. If our eyes see well but our arms and legs are very weak, then we are not perfect. We have to strengthen all our limbs and organs and make ourselves integrally perfect.

Some people are afraid of meditation; they feel that it is something strange or abnormal. They feel that since everyone does not meditate, that means meditation is something unnatural or useless. But we have to know that just because many people are not doing something, it does not mean that the thing is wrong. Numbers have no value; what matters is our awareness of Truth, Light, Divinity, Infinity, Eternity and Immortality within us.

Just the other day an amusing incident took place in front of my house. A neighbour came up to me in a very friendly way and said, “I saw a light in your room at around five o’clock this morning. Usually I don’t get up at that time, but today I had to visit a friend. What were you doing at that hour?” I said to him, “I was meditating. As a matter of fact, I get up every morning at two o’clock to meditate.” As soon as I said that, he immediately became disturbed. “Meditation! What is that?” he said. “I don’t understand all that. I don’t care for it! I don’t need it!” And then he quickly left. He was quite upset when he heard that I had been meditating. The very word made him shudder. But if I had told him I was reading some interesting novel or doing something else, then our conversation would have continued for a long time.

In this world there are many, many people who, like my neighbour, are afraid of meditation. They feel that meditation is something that will take them away from the reality-world. For them the only reality is the desire-world. If desire goes away, then they have nothing to cling to, nothing to possess and claim as their very own. If they are not playing the game of temptation and becoming victims to temptation, if they are not wallowing in the pleasures of ignorance, then they feel that there is no life in what they are doing. For them, life is conscious participation in ignorance, but they call it knowledge, experience, enjoyment.

Meditation does not encourage us to escape from reality. Who escapes? He who has done something wrong or he who does not claim reality as his very own. Our divine Father has two homes: one is in Heaven one is here on earth. In our Heaven-home we enjoy divine rest, and in our earth-home we work and accomplish our multifarious tasks. We have as much right to stay in one home as in the other. When we are in our earth-home, if we act like a stranger and feel that we have come to a place which does not belong to us, then naturally we will want to escape. But why should we have to escape from our own home? Even if we quarrel and fight with the members of our family, still we remain in our home and do not go elsewhere, because that home belongs to us.

In the ordinary life, there are some people who are fond of watching baseball, volleyball, basketball and other sports, but they do not want to participate. They feel that if they participate they may not do well or they may be injured, but they do enjoy seeing others play. There are also people who both appreciate sports and participate in them. These people feel that they can feed their cheerfulness and enthusiasm, bring cosmic energy into their system and, at the same time, discard all their undivine qualities by participating. In the spiritual life also, there are seekers who want to enjoy the cosmic game from a distance, but do not want to participate actively in this game. They want to enter into the Himalayan caves or go off to some secluded place to meditate. From the strict spiritual point of view, they are not liberated. They are afraid that if they mix with the world they will lose everything or will not be able to make any progress. But real spirituality is for those who are brave divine soldiers. Thousands of years ago, the Upanishadic seers and the Vedic seers declared: Nayam atma balahinena labhya: “This soul cannot be won by the weakling.” Only the strong can and will realise the soul.

Also, we have to know that the world is not our only enemy. Even if we enter into the Himalayan caves, we still have to deal with the mind. When we go off by ourselves, the mind plays its role most powerfully. All the world’s activities enter into our mind and prevent us from meditating. The mind will start thinking of friends, enemies and various incidents that occurred in our life. So who is the real enemy? We thought our enemy was someone or something outside of us which was disturbing our meditation. But even when we isolate ourselves, we still have to face the mind with all its undivine qualities, and we find that our real enemy is inside us. If we do not conquer the mind and discipline it here amidst the teeming activities of life, there is no guarantee that we will be free from earthly disturbances when we withdraw from the world.

India’s greatest poet, Tagore, once made up his mind to go to a lonely forest to compose some songs. He said to himself, “Here I have so much to do, and so many people are constantly bothering me. Yet in spite of this I have written quite a few most significant poems. Now, if I enter into the forest, where I will be all alone, I will be able to write a great many most beautiful poems, many more than I write usually.” But after a fortnight in the forest he came back with very little to show for his time, for his mind had been constantly thinking of Shantiniketan, his school, and of his students, his friends and his relatives. He could hardly write at all.

What is reality? Reality is something divine. Reality and divinity are synonymous, and divinity and immortality are synonymous. If something is divine, then it has an immortal life. Here on earth we are crying to be immortal. If we can live on earth for five minutes more, we try to stay. It is very easy for us to say we are not afraid of death, but when we are hurt or when some calamity has taken place, immediately we are afraid that we will die. But those who follow the spiritual life try to conquer death — not in order to live for two hundred, three hundred or four hundred years, but in order to have time to accomplish quite a few significant things for Mother Earth.

While in the soul’s world, before entering into a physical body, each person’s soul consciously, devotedly and unconditionally makes a solemn promise to the Supreme that here on earth it will manifest its divinity in boundless measure. But in order for the soul that is inside the physical to manifest the Supreme on earth, time is necessary. We have to pray, we have to meditate, we have to discipline our life for a long time, and only then will we achieve something significant and fulfil our promise to the Almighty Supreme.

If we are able to meditate for only ten years and gain only an iota of Peace, Light and Bliss, with this insignificant quantity of Peace, Light and Bliss, what will we be able to offer to mankind? But if we continue to pray and meditate most soulfully for many years, one day our inner being will be inundated with these divine qualities, and then we will be able to share them abundantly with all and sundry. We accept earth as reality, as divine Reality. With our naked eyes we see tremendous aggression, hostility, brutality and other undivine things on earth, but with our inner heart we can feel that this is not the ultimate aim of God. On the contrary, the Vision of God is Peace, Light and Bliss.

We have to know that the creator is always superior to the creation. It is human beings who have created atom bombs and hydrogen bombs. In these people the human brain has reached a high level of development. If the soul’s will can now come to the fore and operate in the brain, it will ask the person who has created the atom bomb what he really wants. Immediately his vital will say he wants to conquer. But his soul will reply, “You will not get any satisfaction if you conquer by force, for you will conquer only the body of the world and not the soul. And if you do not conquer the soul, then you have conquered nothing. If you really want to establish your victory permanently, then use your other power, your soul-power, your love-power, your heart-power.”

Reality means the acceptance of life. Reality can never be found in destruction or in lording it over others. Reality is to be found in equality. Reality is in the sense of inseparable oneness. Does meditation encourage us to escape from reality? No! On the contrary, meditation inspires us to accept God’s creation as an unmistakable reality that still awaits transformation and perfection. When the earth-consciousness is transformed, and our body-consciousness is transformed, only then can we be true receptacles of the infinite Truth and infinite Light.

Earth and each individual on earth must co-operate; otherwise, God’s Peace, Light and Bliss will not be received here. Right now human beings are not able to receive God’s Blessings because there is a constant sense of separation between the earth-consciousness and the individual consciousness. But when the earth-consciousness and the individual consciousness unite, earth will play the role of a home and the human being will play the role of the dweller in the home. What is the use of having a home if there is no dweller? And again, what is the use of having a dweller if there is no home for him to live in? The earth-home and the individual beings are complementary. When we as individuals are ready to live in our earth-home and when earth is fully ready to receive us and welcome us as members of its family, then God’s choicest Blessings are bound to shower on our devoted heads and on earth’s devoted heart.

Are spiritual people somewhat abnormal?²⁵

The title of my talk, “Are spiritual people somewhat abnormal?” is rather amusing. If we answer the question in the affirmative, then all of us in this room are abnormal. But the truth is otherwise. We are not abnormal in the least. We are normal, natural, soulful, devoted, dedicated and God-loving.

In this world, when someone does not see eye-to-eye with us, we immediately say that he is abnormal and unnatural. We even go to the length of saying that he is undivine or hostile. This is the experience that we unfortunately treasure. But if each day we pray and meditate soulfully, then we come to realise that the most important thing in each person’s life is the freedom of his inner life, the freedom to follow his own Inner Pilot. Everyone is being motivated and guided by his Inner Pilot. Just because you do not have the same realisation that I have, we cannot call each other abnormal.

Here in God’s creation countless beings are consciously or unconsciously fulfilling God in their own way. But a seeker tries to please and fulfil God in God’s own Way. This is the difference between those who aspire and those who do not aspire. Non-seekers try to possess God and utilise God in their own way, whereas seekers try to achieve God’s Light to please Him, fulfil Him and manifest Him here on earth in His own Way.

Those who are not crying for God, for Truth or for Light, according to strict inner philosophy, are dead soldiers. One need not be dead on the physical plane, but one is inwardly dead if he does not aspire. If he is wallowing in the pleasures of ignorance, he is already dead. When there is no Light, when there is no divine satisfaction, we feel that life is nothing short of death.

Earth’s understanding of Light is very limited. When we try to judge others or examine others, we immediately lose our sense of identification. But if we focus our attention on all things with the same amount of sympathy, love and concern, then we feel inside all things their basic oneness with everything else and with ourselves. In the matter of strength, my thumb has considerably more than my little finger. But there is a oneness between my little finger and my thumb; so when I concentrate on these two portions of my being, I do not consider one abnormal just because it is weaker or stronger than the other.

Here we are a small group; let us say a family. Right now we are treasuring a spiritual feeling, a feeling of brotherhood and oneness. Now, if someone here happens to have a large fruit, his feeling of oneness will compel him to share the fruit with the rest of us. But if he is miserly, if he has a sense of separativity, he will try to eat it all himself. It is in this separativity that real abnormality looms large. When we see others in ourselves and feel our oneness with them, then there can be no abnormal feeling in us.

Anything that is contrary to our experience seems abnormal to us. But we have to know that the world is singing the song of oneness. God’s Unity and God’s Multiplicity we have to see as one. God the Creator, God the Preserver and God the Transformer are all one. In each seeker God is playing the distinctive roles of Creator, Preserver and Transformer. When we see them separately in a limited consciousness, we become a victim to our own limited understanding. If this moment we identify ourselves only with God the Creator, then without the least hesitation we shall say that God the Transformer is abnormal.

God started His creation with His Silence-Light. From His Silence-Light, Sound-Might came into existence. He wanted to experience Himself in a million, billion, trillion forms, countless forms, like the seed that eventually grows into a Banyan Tree. When the seed grows into a huge tree, we see millions of leaves and thousands of fruits and flowers. But it started its journey as one single seed.

The first thing we have to do in our life is pray and meditate. Early in the morning, if we pray to God, we enter into the world of the Source. Then we try to offer the Light that we have received from our prayer and meditation to the world around us. First we achieve and then we give. If I do not have any Light, then what am I going to give?

We have to go from one to two to three. Our first realisation is one, our second realisation is two, our third realisation is three, the Ultimate. When we start with one, we have to know that we are going to the Root, the Source, the Unity. But the Source needs manifestation; otherwise it will remain unfulfilled. For manifestation we have to enter into the world of multiplicity. And finally we have to transform the world and bring Heaven’s Perfection into the world. Only in this way can we have true satisfaction, and true satisfaction is God’s Perfection-Love.

In unity there must be the song of multiplicity. When we enter into the spiritual life, if we ignore the world around us, if we feel the world around us is dirty and undivine and can never be transformed, then we are mistaken. This attitude is unhealthy, abnormal. We have to accept the world around us as our very own, and inside the world we have to see and feel the living Breath and living Presence of God. Then our realisation will tell us that the world is absolutely normal, that God is evolving in His own Way in and through the world. You may be flying to your destination on a jet plane, and somebody else may be travelling at the speed of an Indian bullock cart. But who is the driver of the bullock cart and who is the pilot of the plane? In both cases it is God. According to His own Will, according to the seeker’s evolution, God is using the bullock cart or the modern jet plane. And it is also He who is proceeding towards the destined Goal, His own ever-transcending Height.

There is a significant anecdote I wish to tell you. An atheist once said to one of his friends, who was a God-believer, “My friend, you constantly pray to that Fellow, but He ignores you. You have given up everything for Him, but He has done nothing for you and He will do nothing for you. Yet even so, you feel that you can live without all worldly pleasures and enjoyments, but not without God. You must be really great.” Immediately the believer replied, “You are infinitely greater than I am, for you need only the fleeting earthly pleasures and you have given up God for them.”

Now, who is normal and who is abnormal in this story? If we have a limited consciousness, then we will say that the one who believes in God is normal, and he who does not believe in God is abnormal. But if we go deep within, into our heart of love and oneness, we see that the atheist is none other than God Himself in the process of evolution. This is not our first nor our last incarnation. We were once in the mineral world, then in the plant world and then in the animal kingdom. Now we are human beings, half animal and half divine. When we enter into the desire-world, we enter into temptation. From temptation we enter into frustration, and in frustration destruction looms large. But since we are all seekers, we are entering into the aspiration-world. And in the aspiration-world we go from Light, to more Light, to abundant and infinite Light.

Now, some seekers who are weak feel that if they remain in the world they will be devoured by earth-ignorance. This kind of seeker feels that the best thing for him to do is to enter into the Himalayan caves where he will be safe. But this is not the answer. Human beings who have undivine, ferocious qualities may not follow him to the Himalayan caves, but whatever is inside him will follow, including his unillumined mind, his earthbound desires and his own animal qualities. These things will play the role of the undivine human beings whom he has left behind him. They will torture him. He will be in the Himalayan caves, but his mind and his vital will be all the time roaming. He will meditate there for five minutes or half an hour, and then if he does not see an iota of Light or if he does not feel any certainty in his inner life, immediately he will say, “I have come here to the Himalayan caves, but I am only fooling myself. There is no truth, there is no reality here. This is all self-deception.”

If we are real seekers of truth, like divine warriors we will face the world and brave the world here and now. Who escapes? He who has done something wrong, he who is a culprit. But we have not done anything wrong, so we need not and must not try to escape. We have to feel that the members of society are like the limbs of our body. If even one part of our being is not transformed, then we are not perfect. We have to strike a balance. Spirit will give us realisation, but matter will offer us the message of manifestation. We have to try to combine the messages of spirit and matter. Only then will we be able to establish the Kingdom of Heaven here on earth.

How can we combine these two? By uniting Heaven-Vision with earth-aspiration. When earth-aspiration climbs up high, higher, highest and Heaven-Vision descends, there is a place where the two meet. And that meeting place is inside our heart of acceptance, in our conscious acceptance of both the Vision of Heaven and the aspiration of earth.

When we separate earth-consciousness, which is manifestation, from Heaven-consciousness, which is realisation, we are totally lost. But when the aspiration of earth and the Vision of Heaven are amalgamated, we become chosen instruments of the Absolute Supreme. At that time, our Heaven-free consciousness and earth’s aspiring consciousness make us complete, whole and perfect. The idea of abnormality is absurd then. We become normal, natural, spiritual, divine and perfect, for we consciously, devotedly, soulfully and unconditionally unite the vision of our height with the aspiration of our depth.

God and Goal²⁶

I wish to speak today on God and Goal. We all know that God and the transcendental Goal are one. But in this talk, I would like to show that, in spite of their oneness, each has a distinctive role to play. The Goal is the House, and God is the Inhabitant or Owner of the House. Since I wish to enter the House, I need permission from the Inhabitant or the Owner. In the spiritual life, I pray and meditate and God, out of His infinite Bounty, allows me to enter His House. If I am all appreciation and admiration for the House, if I am all adoration for the House, then the Owner will allow me to come inside.

If we appreciate God’s creation, the House, then God feels that He Himself is being appreciated, for He and His creation are eternally one. The creation that God has revealed is His own manifestation of His Silence. If we appreciate His creation-manifestation, if we appreciate what the Creator has already revealed, then the Creator will show us that this creation of His is not and cannot be His ultimate achievement. He will elevate our consciousness and show us His unmanifested Capacity, His infinite Capacity, His Eternity and His Immortality. And He will not only show us His Infinity’s Treasure, but will also share it with us.

But we have to know that when we appreciate the creation, we have less of a chance to reach the Highest than if we appreciate the Creator. For if we appreciate the Creator, He gives us not only what He has already revealed, but also what He inwardly has kept aside or what He inwardly is. So although Creator and creation are inseparable, if we are wise we shall appreciate the Creator more than the creation, for He is the Supreme Artist who reveals through His creation the Reality of His unlimited Infinity.

God is evolving. God is transcending. When He evolves, we call Him man, man in the process of his cosmic evolution. When He transcends, we call Him God. Matter is aspiring and evolving. The dance of Spirit is smiling. The smile of Spirit is what we call transcendence. When Spirit smiles, immediately we see that the earth-bound consciousness is freed from its limitations and becomes the Heaven-free Reality.

The Goal is satisfaction and perfection. Satisfaction is what we have in our achievement. But perfection is not found in our achievement; perfection is in our becoming. This becoming is founded upon our self-giving, and self-giving is the constant, conscious and all-fulfilling reality in us and for God.

We are all seekers and we shall always remain seekers, even after we have realised God. Before we realise God, we seek God-realisation; after we realise God, we seek God-manifestation. So we always remain seekers. There are three principal stages in our seeking. At first we are all beginner-seekers. We feel that God is inside our hearts, but we feel that the Goal is high above us, hiding in the sky somewhere, and not inside us, not in ourselves. When we pray and meditate, we feel that God is listening to our prayer. Where is He? Inside our heart. Inside the body is the heart, and inside the heart is the soul. The soul is a spark of God’s Consciousness. God is inside the building, but there is a particular room where we can see Him and always feel His Presence, and that is inside the soul.

But we do not remain always beginners in our spiritual life. If we study for a few years, we do not remain in kindergarten, but go on to primary school, high school and college and complete our course. In the spiritual life also, we someday become advanced seekers. When we become advanced seekers, we feel that God is inside our heart and that the Goal is also inside our heart. We feel that God and Goal are inside our inner being and are inseparable. If we reach the House, our destination, definitely we will find the Owner there. And if we reach the Owner, and He sees that we have tremendous love and devotion for Him, then He will certainly be gracious enough to take us into His House.

Eventually we reach the third stage: we become realised. When we become realised, it means that we have seen God and have been in His House. Now it is up to us, after seeing the House and the Owner, to become something. After seeing God, we become God-lovers. At every moment we try to love God and please Him in His own Way. And after seeing the Goal, we feel that it is our bounden duty to share the Goal with others. At that time we become God-distributors. We have got the fruit, and now we feel it is our duty to share the fruit with others, for only in this way can we become totally satisfied.

In the seeker’s life there is an inner urge constantly trying to come to the fore. But there is also a constant battle going on between the divine forces and the undivine forces. A seeker observes that his days have wings and just fly away. He cannot catch the time-bird or keep it inside him; it flees inexorably. There is much to do, but so little is done and perhaps so little will be done. If one is a sincere seeker, he feels that there is so much he can achieve and so much he has to achieve, and for everything he needs time. He prays and meditates, but feels that this is not enough. He feels he has to do more, that he has to be more devoted and dedicated. This is what happens when he looks at his days.

Now, when a seeker thinks of his hours, he has a different experience. He feels that slowly and steadily his hours are passing away. The days fly away very fast, but the hours pass slowly and steadily, giving him constant opportunity. If even then the seeker is not achieving what he is supposed to achieve, he becomes sad and miserable. He feels that there is something lacking in him which keeps him from making fast progress. Why is he not achieving? Because his inner cry is not intense; because he does not need God at every second. He needs God, true, but every second of his time he does not need God. When he is engrossed in earthly matters, he forgets God. But if he can remember God in all his actions, in all his multifarious activities, then earth-time will fly away, but God-experience, which is eternal Life, will remain with him.

An individual moment, when observed with the human mind, looks fleeting. It seems to have lightning speed. But when the seeker observes the moment with his sincere aspiring life, he sees that each moment is loaded with many undivine thoughts, ideas and worlds which linger in him. These unhealthy thoughts, these unaspiring, undivine ideas and destructive worlds are in the life of each second. He finds that he cannot get rid of these undivine experiences that are housed in the life of each second. This happens precisely because the seeker is not in touch with the eternal Time. If he goes deep within, he sees that Infinity and Eternity are within him. He sees that he cannot have a fleeting moment separated from Infinity, he cannot have a fleeting second separated from Eternity.

The experience of earth-life is only a flow in the eternal Life. It is the flow of separativity. But this earth-flow is not the product of earthbound time. It is the creation of infinite Time, eternal Time. If the seeker is aware of infinite and eternal Time, then he realises that these are nothing other than the eternal Now. God’s Body, creation, is growing in the eternal Now. God’s Spirit is glowing in the eternal Now.

A sincere seeker longs for God-realisation. For him, God-realisation means the transcendental Height, which is the height of Silence, the height of Light and Delight. One may reach the highest pinnacle of Truth, Light, Beauty and Delight, but that does not necessarily mean that one is near the highest Height. No! In order to achieve the highest, loftiest Height, one has to enter into the oneness-life. If one neglects or rejects God’s oneness-life, God’s Universal Life, then no matter how many times he reaches the highest pinnacle, he cannot be closest or dearest to God, the Highest Absolute. The height has to be scaled, but we have to know that while climbing up the mountain we are carrying within us the Universal Life, the life of multiplicity which we are carrying to the Source, the transcendental Reality.

We speak about God, but why is it that we do not realise God as our supreme necessity, as the fulfilment of our reality? The main reason is that the earth-thoughts we treasure are composed of conscious or unconscious temptations. When temptation is fulfilled, we see nothing but futility; we see a barren desert. Since our earth-thoughts right now are nothing but futility, we do not realise God. But there are also Heaven-thoughts. Heaven-thoughts right now are nothing short of curiosity. We are curious to know what is happening in Heaven, what it looks like, how many angels are there, what the cosmic gods are doing. It is all curiosity. When we live on earth and think of Heaven with a curious mind, we do not realise God and accomplish our supreme task. But when we love or treasure God-thoughts at every moment in all our activities, God becomes the living Reality in our life. At every moment God’s Divinity and God’s Reality loom large when we feel the God-necessity in ourselves. At that time God cannot hide from us. As a matter of fact, He does not hide at all. He is nearer to us than our nose, our eyes, but we are wanting in the cosmic vision. How can we be endowed with the cosmic vision? We can be endowed with the cosmic vision only when our necessity for God is immediate and constant. If we have come to the realisation that without food, without air, without water, without everything we can exist, but not without God, then God-realisation does not remain a far cry.

But we have to know that this God-realisation cannot be achieved by hook or by crook, by adopting foul means or by torturing the body or the physical consciousness. No, no, no! If we just torture our body or fast most rigorously, if we threaten God, saying, “God, if You don’t come to me I shall commit suicide, I shall destroy my life,” God will simply laugh at our stupidity. There are seekers who have fixed a date at which they have to realise God and who say they will put an end to their life if they fail. But God-realisation cannot be achieved in that way.

The right method is prayer and meditation. When we pray and meditate, God observes whether our prayer and meditation is sincere or not. When He sees that we are sincere, slowly and steadily He appears before our vision. Right now He is within us, but our vision does not see Him. But when we pray and meditate, He improves our vision, and then we see and feel Him as our very own.

Besides prayer and meditation, there is another important method. We have to cry inwardly. It is through our inner tears, our intense inner cry, that we can immediately see God face-to-face and have Him as our own. When we pray sincerely, when we meditate sincerely, we realise God slowly and steadily. But if inside the prayer and meditation there is an intense inner cry, then God stands before us immediately — and not only immediately, but also unreservedly. And if He sees that our inner cry is flooded with sincerity, then He grants us something else. He becomes unconditional. First He stands in front of us, as a momentary blessing and boon, then He becomes ours unreservedly and continuously and finally, He becomes ours unconditionally.

Editor's preface to the first edition

Since the spring of 1970, Sri Chinmoy has been conducting meditations for United Nations delegates and staff and delivering the monthly Dag Hammarskjöld Lecture Series. This book is a compilation of the lectures Sri Chinmoy delivered at the United Nations between January 1973 and August 1974. An earlier collection of his UN lectures, The Garland of Nation-Souls, was published in 1972.},