1970

Sri Chinmoy's farewell talk to the Puerto Rican Centre, after having spent a month there¹

It is our last meeting here. Both Alo and I feel that we have accomplished much here in this month of February. Now you must know that our accomplishment is founded on your aspiration, dedication and surrender. In various ways you have served the Supreme in us; that is why we have been able to accomplish so much in a short span of time, in one fleeting month. What we want from you now, is once more, the same sense of dedication as before.

Sudha is the leader here and we wish all of you to listen to her without the least possible hesitation. Whenever she tells you to do something, do it immediately. Help her in every way. Cooperate with her in every way.

This Centre happens to be our Mother Centre and it is from here that we got the hope, encouragement and inspiration to enter into the wider world. It was her invitation, Sudha’s invitation, that brought us to you, to this island. So when I think of this island, I think of the one who brought both Alo and me to the very breath of Puerto Rico. It may sound like an old cliché from us, or something redundant, that we always appreciate Sudha. But it comes from the very bottom of our heart. To tell you the truth, even now we are not satisfied with our own appreciation. That is to say, our appreciation, no matter how sincere and how true and how profound, is still not enough. She deserves much more, infinitely more appreciation from us, and also admiration, genuine admiration, for what she has done, what she is now doing and what she will be doing in the future.

So dearest ones, here is the opportunity to cooperate with her in every possible way, to help her and to listen to her without the least possible hesitation. In her I see a true leader. That is why we feel that you all can have absolute faith in her. You can be fully confident when she is in charge of the activities here.

Now about the seekers who have come here and have recently become disciples: to all of you, I offer my true joy, concern and pride. Most of you were taking drugs. Now again, most of you, except for one or two, have given up your old life. And this we say with our deepest sense of pride, divine pride. Those one or two: we do hope that they will give up drugs, or will be kind enough to leave us. If not, when we come back next time, it will be a very sad situation. I do not want to be rude to anyone, but necessity knows no law. Again and again we have been telling you that our heart’s door is open to anybody who can give up the past life of wrong activities.

Now I have spoken to you about Sudha’s dedicated service of every kind. Here I wish to say how you, our other disciples, are also (some of you… not all) helping us concretely, serving the Supreme in us. Today Agni read out some portions of his articles. He has transcribed, not just one or two pages from my talks, but hundreds and hundreds of pages for us. These he has given us. It is a great service. This service you will see growing as the days pass. It has no end. Agni’s service is entering into the world as a gift to the whole world. We shall see this one day.²

Now for Ananta — he is the head of our Selfless Service Activities in San Juan. Right from the beginning, how he has been serving us! Always service is in his mind! How many times, in disseminating our programmes and activities, he has been rebuffed. How many times he has been insulted by people who don’t understand our philosophy. How many times he has been misunderstood by others, badly misunderstood. Poor Ananta… he goes on, goes on, goes on. He knows he is working for his Master, so he simply continues. He is still doing it. They insult him, the disciples sometimes scold him, but Ananta, the hero, goes on ploughing the field because he has been asked by his Master to plough.

Here I wish to say that there are many disciples who have been serving us and, if I don’t mention your names, please do not think that I am not appreciating you. For example, I am seeing Venu (Robert Daubenspeck) right in front of me. How hard he is trying to get something into the San Juan Star!

Everyone is trying in his own way. Gauri is now trying to take me to Colombia, South America. So is she not doing her part? Everybody is trying, some outwardly, some inwardly, some in both ways: both outwardly and inwardly. If anybody’s name has been missed, please do not misunderstand me and feel that I don’t like you, or anything like that. You have to feel that we deeply appreciate your service the moment you do anything for us. Even when you come here for only one day a week for your Selfless Service evening, we are most grateful. This month, I know you have worked very, very hard many times!

Now Uma, how many pages of my transcripts has she typed this month? Her work is faultless. So beautifully she has typed this material. So this is another kind of selfless service. What else is selfless service, if not Uma’s? And there are a few others who also worked very hard. But I want this selfless service to be done regularly, faithfully and devotedly by all of you. There are only a few disciples who are working devotedly and faithfully in our absence. The others are coming to the regular meditations, but if they want to be totally dedicated to the Supreme, then I feel, we feel, the necessity of your selfless service also. Through your selfless service, you can be the real jewels and pride of this Centre. Now each one has the capacity to serve. Your true, dedicated service enters into us and with deep appreciation, and often with deep admiration, we receive your offering.

All of you should feel that you are only a child of one year. You were born only one year ago. Your real life, your real birth, took place not even one year ago. The past is dust. The past was your human life. But now your real spiritual life has begun. So all of you should have the feeling that you are a one-year-old child. The child grows up and then he becomes a real hero. So all those who used to take drugs and have just now stopped, please feel that the day you stopped, from that day, your real life started. The other life that you had is past and the past is dust. Now you have to feel that you are all divine children. Do not look backward. If you look backward, ignorance will eat you up.

Some disciples are running very fast. They do not want to walk, like others who first start walking, then start marching, then finally run. No, they start with a run. The moment they are able to stand on their feet, they start running.

One more thing I wish to say: both Alo and I decided that at the end of each meeting here, you should sing the Spanish version of the Supreme most devotedly and soulfully. And we wish all of you to learn the song. On that day, you will not sing in the original English. Here is the Spanish translation by Sudha, a very beautiful, wonderful translation. And today I wish you to hear that soulful translation by her. She and Alo will sing the Supreme in Spanish today. You will hear it for the first time, and then every month, at the end of the month, all of you here will stand up and sing. You will learn it from Sudha.

[When we asked the Puerto Rican disciples to translate The Invocation into Spanish, several of them did their own individual versions, including Sudha. She submitted all the translations to a Professor of Spanish Literature and Poetry at the University of Puerto Rico, requesting him to choose the one which best conveyed and reflected Sri Chinmoy’s original English version:]

Supreme, Supreme, Supreme, Supreme!
I bow to Thee, I bow.
My life Thy golden plough;
My journey’s Goal Thy soulful Dream.
Supreme, Supreme, Supreme, Supreme!
I bow to Thee, I bow.

Supreme, I am Thy glowing Grace.
My world Thy Feet of Light,
My breath Thy Vision’s kite.
Thou art one Truth, one Life, one Face.
Supreme, Supreme, Supreme, Supreme!
I bow to Thee, I bow.

[Sudha submitted everything anonymously and impartially to the professor, using no names. She typed all the translations on the same kind of paper, with no identification as to the writer, and then sent them to him. The professor studied all the versions carefully and, without knowing it was hers, chose Sudha’s own translation as the one which he felt captured the spiritual beauty of Sri Chinmoy’s original poem, while remaining as faithful as possible to his wording and expression.]

Sudha’s translation is as follows:

Supremo, Supremo, Supremo, Supremo! Me inclino a Ti, me inclino.
Mi vida Tu Yugo dorado,
Mi meta final, Tu Sueño divino.
Supremo, Supremo, Supremo, Supremo!
Me inclino a Ti, me inclino.

Señor, Tu lumnisciente Gracia soy.
Tus Pies de Luz mi reino.
Mi anelo, Ensueño eterno.
Una Faz, Vida, Verdad Tu eres.
Supremo, Supremo, Supremo, Supremo!
Me inclino a Ti, me inclino.

[We gave a very sincere and heartfelt Special Prize to Agni for his translation, which was also very soulful and lovely:]

Supremo, Supremo, Supremo, Supremo!
Adorate, adorate.
Mi vida es Tu Arado real;
Llegar a Ti, de mi jornada el Fin.
Supremo, Supremo, Supremo, Supremo!
Adorate, adorate.

Supremo, Tu Gracia real soy yo.
Mi mundo Tus Pies de Luz;
Mi aliento el Sol de Tu Visión. Eres Verdad, Vida y Amor.

Supremo, Supremo, Supremo, Supremo!
Adorate, adorate.

Talk on the United Nations meditation³

Dearest children, we have just arrived, and I wish to say a few words on today’s meditation. This was the Inaugural Meditation of our United Nations Group. Perhaps most of you do not know that we have been given this unique opportunity, or should we say that the Supreme has given us a unique opportunity, to serve Him in the United Nations.

As you know, the United Nations serves a most significant role in the unification of human wisdom, concern, sympathy and love. Every Tuesday from 12 noon to 1 pm, they have given me the honour of conducting this meditation. When I say “me”, you can rest assured, apart from Alo and myself, that you all, we all, are given the honour of meditating there.

So we conduct meditations there. The meditation is most soulful, most sublime and most divine. There we feel that all the nations are aspiring inwardly towards the Transcendental Peace; or we may say that we bring down the Transcendental Peace for the suffering and aspiring humanity.

There was a time when I used to say that the Supreme wanted us to enter into the wide world. It was absolutely true. Now all of a sudden He has played His Game and has sprung a surprise. He has brought the entire world into us through the United Nations. We have been given the Peace Room, which is another most significant thing. The Peace Room: in size, the Peace Room is small, but not in its depth. The Peace Room is really a room of Peace. It symbolises human aspiration. People from different nations are coming to meditate with us, and I feel that each Tuesday a new Light, a new Power, dawns on their lives of aspiration.

Here we have received this opportunity to serve humanity at large. How can we serve properly? We can serve humanity only through the feeling of oneness, and this feeling of oneness comes only when we have already established our oneness with God, the Source.

Dearest children, I wish to tell you that some of you are fond of philanthropy, charity and so forth: helping people who are needy or in trouble. But I wish to say that this kind of help is no help unless you have established your oneness with God. Now we feel that we have established our oneness with God. That is why we are trying to serve the divinity in humanity.

Now we feel that every disciple can offer his heart’s inspiration and aspiration-light to the meditation that we hold on Tuesday. It lasts for an hour. Please try to identify yourselves with us, no matter where you are or what you are doing. If you are in the office or if you are in the bank, if you are in the El Mundo premises or you are in the hospital, working there, you can send your aspiring soul to us, to meditate with us. The physical can remain in Puerto Rico, but the spirit can be with us while all the nations are united in meditation. The significance of this is very simple. As Alo says, the world has come to us and the inner Victory, the Bell of the inner Victory, has rung in the inner worlds. She has heard it. In the outer world, those who are awakened have heard the call, and those who are still asleep will have to wait for it.

Now here, the Centre is growing. I am most pleased with you; I am most proud of you. What we want right now from you is the feeling of oneness, inseparable oneness. To our satisfaction, the family is growing rapidly. Now we expect the conscious feeling of oneness with each brother and each sister disciple. The world is now united in our hearts’ soulful embrace. Let us, therefore, offer to the outer world what we have: aspiration. To the inner world, let us offer again what we have: our dedication, our soul’s true love for God in humanity.

This is our Mother Centre, and we do expect from our Mother Centre everything. This Centre is the origin of all our other Centres. Here is our true, genuine and pure pride. When we see new faces, it means a new life, a new energy, a new inspiration, a new enthusiasm, a new vigour and a new radiating light entering into the family.

The responsibility of each member is to establish true oneness with other members. Physically you do not see us often, but spiritually you do see us. Most of you have recently had most significant experiences. How? Precisely because you have aspiration and precisely because we meditate on you.

The Secret of Secrets⁶

I wish to tell you that to remain with us at the Centre for about a year is not an easy task. The temptations of the world, anxieties of the world, doubt, fear, ignorance, imperfection, the limitations and obscurities of the individual human being, as well as the earth-consciousness, take people away from the right spiritual path. So those of you who have been with us for over a year should feel and must feel that, by the Grace of God, the Supreme, you have remained with us. It is a tremendous task, an inner battle. The outer battle you can win in a day or in two-to-three months, or even in a year or two. But the inner battle has to be fought constantly and it has to be won every day. These battles against fear, doubt, ignorance, limitation and death have to be won again and again.

Let us start with doubt. If you start doubting the Centre, doubting me, doubting your own capacity for the spiritual life, then you will unfortunately end in failure. Once you have accepted the spiritual life, and once you feel that this is your path and that I am your Master, I assure you, each individual seeker, once and for all, that the Goal of the Beyond is your divine Destination. Your Master has the capacity to take you to your Destination and he will offer this capacity to you, to all those who consciously and soulfully want to remain seated in my Boat. God's chosen Boatman I am. God's chosen passengers you are. I assure you, on the strength of my highest Oneness with the Absolute Supreme, that it is my bounden duty to take you, carry you in my heart to the Golden Shore of the Beyond. These are not mere words: these are my solid realisations, inseparable from the Highest Truth.

I am most grateful to you; I don't want to use the word "pleased." Being grateful is one thing: when you do something for the Centre, come here and work regularly, do selfless service, I am grateful. If you give me a smile, I am grateful to you. If you do anything for me, I am grateful to you. But when I say that I am pleased with someone, with some seekers or with my disciples, that is much more important. If you give me a dollar, I am grateful to you. But when I say I am pleased with someone, that means that my concern has touched the very depths of the individual seeker. All those who have been here for over a year have done me favours many times in terms of aspiration, devotion, surrender, money and all that. For all this I am truly grateful to each individual disciple who has stood in front of me. But again, if I have to say that I am pleased with everyone who has stood in front of me, I am not. I am not. I am pleased with a very few, not one or two, but a very few, who have given me their true love, their pure concern, their utmost feeling of oneness. They have pleased me. When I say that I am pleased with someone, please rest assured that that person has captured my lifelong concern. Otherwise he may be with me for two, three, or even twenty or forty years and not get my inner concern.

Yesterday I told you about a certain disciple who made that serious and harmful mistake of telling others about our activities at the United Nations. So in that way, in that type of consciousness, you may stay with me for six years, ten years or twenty years. God knows how many years you may want to stay. Then again, if you stay here out of habit or lethargy, no divine progress can be achieved. Each time you come, you can make progress, you can run towards your Goal. In fact, each time you come here, you should feel that you have climbed up a rung on the ladder of evolving consciousness.

So dearest ones, you have been with us for one year, over a year, some of you two, three, four, five years. But I wish to say that everyone has to please me every day in your daily activities. Then you will really please me. Selfless service you do. But you do this selfless service when you don't have family problems, when you don't have school problems, when you don't have other activities… in other words, when you are free to come here. At that time, if I get your help, then you feel that you are doing selfless service. But from the highest spiritual point of view, real selfless service is done only when you are ready to dedicate your entire life, totally, integrally, at every moment. When Lord Sri Krishna used to play on His flute, the gopis, his devotees, admirers and seekers used to leave everything: husband, children, household, and run towards His music, His soul-charming music. What was there in His music? The message of the Highest Beyond. So here also, I call you with the message of God, the Supreme. I represent Him for you, for the disciples, but not for others. Otherwise I am just another spiritual man, and if people don't have the vision, they will go to the extent of saying that I am nothing. If they feel that I am nothing, they are perfectly right in their own view. But for the disciples who have accepted me consciously as their spiritual Master, when they go deep within, they see and realise where I stand, what I stand for. And if they come to realise that I really represent God for them, then they should also realise that a day will come when they have to give up everything for the Supreme in me. They have to give up mental power, physical power, vital power, money power and everything. Then and then only is God-realisation possible.

In New York the other day I spoke about selfless service. I said that if I call you at midnight when you are fast asleep, if I call you while you are in the office to do something involving a very important service, if I call while you are studying wholeheartedly for your examinations, then if you are ready to come and serve the Supreme in me, this is called "selfless service". Otherwise, if you come only when you have free time and you think that you are doing me a favour, then you are doing nothing for me or for God. And this favour I do not need. I have come into the world with the highest mission, so I know that the Supreme will bring persons to me who will be really ready to be at my beck-and-call twenty-four hours a day. It will not be my ego which will draw someone to me, it will not be my personality that will bring him or her to me, but my inseparable oneness with the Highest which demands this kind of selfless oneness with me.

Please forgive me. Today I see a few newcomers. Please bear with me and listen to what I am saying. Right now you are not my disciples, you may not become my disciples, but I see that the day will come when you will be the disciples of somebody, either of me or of someone else. If you want to make the fastest, greatest and deepest progress, then what I am saying will apply to you also. Here you have come as seekers. You have done nothing wrong and I am in no way displeased with you, but I am telling you the secret of secrets, that when you are with your Master, you have to behave the way I am instructing my disciples just now.

Now to go on: in the spiritual life, if you accept the spiritual life, it is different from the ordinary life where everything is duty. To think of the children is duty, to do household work is duty; each moment and every action is some kind of duty. It is good and true that there should be in one's life the very high call of duty. To make breakfast for the children is a duty, to please the husband is a duty, to please the wife is a duty. These are all duties; they can be considered the highest duty. To maintain harmony, peace and love in the family is also a duty. But the highest duty for a spiritual seeker is to please the spiritual Master who is the conscious representative of God. The highest duty for a spiritual seeker, at that time, is not the mother, not the father, not the brother, not the sister, not the wife, not the children, but the dearest in Heaven or on earth, who is God, the Supreme. If you make others feel that they are the dearest, you will be sadly disappointed, I tell you.

When I say that the Master is the dearest, you have to know that it is not my body, not my personality, not my ego, but the Divinity in me, the Supreme in me, who is your Master, your real Master. I have consciously realised Him. Tomorrow you will also consciously realise Him. The moment you consciously realise the Supreme, you will not need me, because you yourself will have become one with the Absolute as I am now.

So, for a sincere, spiritual seeker, the Master has to come first and foremost. When you enter into the Master, you are entering into him with your divine, as well as your undivine, qualities, with your imperfections, limitations, everything. If you keep aside your undivine qualities and try to enter into me only with your divine qualities, who will take care of your undivine qualities? They will come to grab you and devour you. That is, if you give me only one per cent of your undivine qualities, the hostile forces will naturally devour you. But if you enter into me with all your limitations and imperfections, surrendering them to me, saying, "Let thy will be done," at that time, my will, being one with His Will, can and will transform your undivine qualities and make them into divine qualities. I tell you, once and for all, that to please me is to please the Supreme. You will be pleasing the Supreme in me, who is also the Supreme in you.

Christ prayed, "Let Thy Will be done". There can be no greater prayer, no greater realisation than this: "Let Thy Will be done." Whose Will? The Will of the Supreme. And for the disciples and seekers, the Master's Will, which is absolutely identified with the Will Divine, with the Supreme's Will, must be accepted as God's Will.

I wish to say that in the future you will be given the opportunity in boundless measure to prove your true surrender. If you please me, you are bound to get the highest and best of everything, on earth and in Heaven. If you don't please me, I myself will not be displeased with any of you, but you will not be granted by the Supreme what He Himself thinks to be the best for you. For example, if, right now, you want to eat a candy because that is what you yourself feel to be best for you, then you can eat the candy and remain satisfied. But if you want to drink divine Nectar, then at that time you will have to refer the matter to the Supreme, saying, "Supreme, I need divine Nectar." He will reply, "I have asked someone to give you the Nectar, but you did not surrender to him, and the best for you, the Nectar, has to be indefinitely delayed."

Other spiritual Masters, especially fake Masters, are growing like mushrooms all over the world… innumerable false Masters. But true spiritual Masters are very few on earth who have the capacity to give Nectar just as the Supreme gives it. They are eager to give it, but you are not receiving it. You are not receiving the Nectar.

To come back again to responsibility and duty: if you really want to be fulfilled on earth in infinite measure, if you really want to be happy, successful in both your inner life of aspiration and your outer life of dedication, then you have to listen to your Master if you are really sincere and wise. He will tell you what is best for you. However, if you feel that there is no Master, there is no God and it is all you… you… you, if you make the decision and feel that this is best for you, then you are not really ready for our Path. But if you feel that there is someone who has been dearest to you in all your incarnations — that this is not your first and last life — then you will listen to Him. If you think that this is your first and last incarnation, you are totally mistaken. Those who think that this is their one and only life are making a Himalayan blunder; they are only deceiving themselves. In one incarnation alone nobody has realised God; nobody can realise God.

In one incarnation, you can't satisfy even ordinary things: you can't satisfy even ten individual desires. At the age of eighty, all your unfulfilled desires come forward, unsatisfied. You say, "O God, I have had so many desires and now I am eighty years old and on my deathbed; I have not fulfilled even one of my important desires." God will answer, "My stupid child, who asked you to start your journey in the wrong way, with desires? Why did you not start your journey with aspiration? Why did you not have only one aspiration, that you wanted only God?"

When you reach God, it is all Eternity, Infinity and Immortality. If I want to reach Rome and I walk along a wrong path, how will I reach Rome? My destination I know, but if I am following a wrong path, how can I reach that destination? So here I am saying that when God is my Destination, but the road I have taken is a wrong road, a wrong path full of desires, then how can I reach Him? But if my road is the Path of Aspiration and my Destination remains the same — God, then I am bound to reach Him by walking along the right Path.

Now in the spiritual life, the necessity of surrendering one's will to the Divine Will is the only thing. There can be no other thing, no other way. There can be only one choice; there cannot be two choices in the spiritual life. There can be only one need, and that is to offer one's individual will, to surrender one's individual will, to the Will of the Supreme.

Everything I am saying is intended for the sincere spiritual seekers. You seekers are considered to be spiritual: that is why you have come to a spiritual man. On the strength of your sincere approach, I am here, telling you all these things. Now all over the world, there are millions and billions of people who are still sleeping on earth. We cannot call them spiritual at all. You people are spiritual, and that is why I am telling you what spiritual people should do, not what unspiritual people habitually do. Unspiritual people can do millions of things, all foolish, all wrong, all absurd. But from you, God expects something else. He does not expect you to do anything wrong, either consciously or even unconsciously, because He has chosen you as His very Own. He has not chosen others. Once He has chosen you, you have to deserve His Affection, His Concern, His Blessings, everything He gives you. Others who are not ready are not invited. So let them take their time. But you have already made commitments to your inner being, to your soul.

At this point, you know that one thing is truth; another thing is falsehood. You now have the capacity to discriminate. You know how to be sincere because millions of times you have done and said sincere things. Again you know what insincerity is because you have many times said and done insincere things. So you have developed inner insight and discrimination. And here, nobody has compelled you to accept the spiritual life; your choice has come from deep within. Nobody has forced you. If you don't want the spiritual life, neither your friends, nor your parents, no matter how hard they try, will be able to bring you. And again, if you want the spiritual life and your parents don't want it, no matter how hard you try to bring them here, you will be unsuccessful. So you see, in the case of your parents, they cannot bring you, and in your case, you cannot bring them. Why? Because either the parents do not have that sincere call for God or the children do not have that sincere call for God. But if the parents and children both have the same sincere call and care for God, then you will see: the moment you tell your parents about your spiritual life, they will run with you towards God. They will say, "My children have seen the Goal." Conversely, if your parents have seen the truth and they tell you about it, then if you are sincere, you will run with them towards the Goal. Now what is the thing that prevents both of you, parents and children, from being one, being united and running together towards your Goal? It is the absence of the inner cry, the inner hunger.

When you are hungry, you immediately eat. That is your outer hunger. But inside, if you don't have inner hunger, then you won't cry for God even for one second. When you have inner hunger, you have to feed that hunger, not with potatoes or tomatoes, no, but with inner Peace, Light and Bliss. Now you are all hungry, inwardly hungry. That is why you have come to this spiritual place. Whoever comes to any spiritual organisation, spiritual church, synagogue or temple, is considered to be spiritual. But again only his own sincerity can tell him whether he is really a seeker. Everyone calls himself a seeker. Sudha here is a seeker and somebody else is also a seeker. But between Sudha and somebody else is a yawning gulf. Similarly, when you are in a church, someone sitting beside you will pray to God, "O God, give me thousands of dollars." This fellow is sitting beside you and crying, "God, please give me thousands of dollars." And you are praying, "O God, please fulfil me in Your own Way. I want nothing from You. I only want You to utilise me in Your own Way." Look at your prayer and look at the other man's prayer. Both of you are sitting side by side. The difference between your prayer and his prayer depends upon where you stand in your inner, spiritual development. The difference in your status as a seeker depends on the quality of your inner aspiration.

Dearest ones, you have to aim at a certain goal and then only will you be really satisfied and fulfilled in your life. What do you want — the Ultimate or the mundane? If you really want the Ultimate, then you will realise the Ultimate. Then that Ultimate can function here on earth in the mundane world. A realised soul comes into the world, for the world. He is crying and begging you to also realise the Highest like him. Then only God's perfect Perfection can dawn on the earth and not one second before. Right now the perfect Perfection of God is only in our imagination. But it can be and will be a Divine Reality when we as seekers and all the realised souls make it so.

Question: Sometimes you try to help a person by your prayer, and he improves for a short time but then falls back again.⁷

Sri Chinmoy: The first thing in such cases is to have infinite patience. This patience is not a passive quality; it is something dynamic and it is light, true light. So the first thing is patience, which feels to us like going up and then going down. It goes up and down all the time. But we have to know the meaning of patience. It is not something weak, not at all. It only indicates that what you want is not being doing according to your own time. In our own minds, we have a fixed time. We say, "By tomorrow, he will be perfect. Since I am praying and he is praying, how is it that this is not producing results?"

We have to know that we have played our part and that time is a great factor. A farmer cultivates the land and goes on cultivating for three, four or five months. He plants the seeds and evens the surface and so on; then he can expect a bumper crop. Similarly, in the spiritual life, all this preparation is going on.

It is a battlefield, constantly fighting for that person who is coming back again from his weakness. We know that he is fighting against his weakness, but his weakness is acting, right now, like a hostile force. The fight is going on. One moment he is achieving something and the next moment he becomes the victim once more. So let us have patience. Then, secondly, we have to give more importance to the victory than to the defeat. We have to know how many times he has succeeded and not how many times he has fallen down. Remembering the number of times he has succeeded in coming up will give him true courage. It will give him true confidence in going higher, farther and deeper.

But if he continually deals with his downfalls and is reminded of how often he has fallen from his standard, then he is paying attention to his own weakness and this weakness will give him constant frustration. The thing is not to look down but to look up. "Up" is God's Light; "down" is our darkness. So if his aim is to go to the Highest, he has to know how many times he has put the right foot forward and not the wrong foot. The more he thinks of the correct act, the more he pays attention to his success. Then there will automatically develop within him an inner confidence. This will grow and he will say, "If I was able to do something marvellous yesterday, how is it that I am not able to do it today?" Then a new wisdom will dawn in him. "I made a particular mistake and for that reason, I was not able to get satisfactory results." He will see that his mistake is preventing him from getting results.

But he has to remember constantly that he was once successful and has to have a determined will, saying, "If once I achieved the victory, how is it not possible for me to repeat the victory?" So on the strength of his determination, he will be able to stay at his new level. But he has to look forward towards the light and not towards the darkness; not to his downward fall, but to his highest achievement. Then he will be able to ascend.

If you look at the light, you get the light. Look at darkness and you get darkness. And you have to know which direction you are taking. Are you going towards the North or towards the South? If you wish to go North, then you must constantly face the North.

I have to look ahead towards the North. Once I do it consciously and know that North is there and South is in the other direction, then everything will be all right. We have to know where the goal is; which side it is on. If it is North, let us go towards the North, towards light and not towards the South which is darkness. Think of success and not of failure.

[Sri Chinmoy and the disciples were speaking about the benefits of burning incense.]

Sri Chinmoy: In addition to creating an atmosphere of worship and purity, the ascending fragrance and aspiration which accompany the burning of incense bring down from Heaven certain spirits and higher beings. They are invoked through the consciousness of sincere devotion. Incense has been used for thousands of years in India and when it is used, it invokes certain ancient, divine forces. Incense brings certain beings down from Heaven.

If you want to go from here to New York, you have to spend $120. But these spirits come from the higher planes out of their infinite love for us. In this world, if you have money, you can travel, but for that world, money will not do. It is something which, only from their love, you can have.

Sometimes when these beings come, they have their own language. Your physical minds, your bodies with their human tongues have their own language, but when these spirits come, they teach you their language. In a second or a minute they can teach you to speak to them in their own language. This language you forget afterwards. When they come, they teach your physical mind and then you can talk to them for some time and then they go away and you forget them and their language.

Very serious talk to the Puerto Rican disciples⁸

[In the late 1960s and early 1970s, the emergence of widespread drug use in the outer world was, unfortunately, reflected in some of our Centres, among the very new disciples. In this talk, the Master, with intense concern and vehemence, warns disciples about drugs.]

I have been extremely strict in all our Centres. Here in this Centre in Puerto Rico, I now have to become strict. Here, right now, I am telling those who have taken to drugs and the drug-life, that this Centre is not meant for you. You will receive a very serious letter very soon, asking you to leave our Path. Those who are in touch with M., please tell him on my behalf that I have told you this: I have authorised you to tell him that this place is not meant for him. He and his wife have created many serious problems for me, even in New York. And again, in this connection, I wish to say that if any disciple from another Centre happens to come to New York, on the one hand — the city of New York is not my possession; if you want to come to New York City without my permission, that is your right as a citizen. But nobody is allowed to come to our New York Centre without my express permission.

A few disciples, some new disciples from Puerto Rico here, who do not shave properly, whose clothing is very dirty and even filthy (when the New York disciples are so clean and tidy), come uninvited to the New York Centre. When I asked the Puerto Rican disciples to meditate with the New York disciples, the foul smell they offered, these drug-takers, was really shocking and deplorable. I have been constantly telling them about this, their habits and appearance, and yesterday I told one of the disciples that he must not come to the Centre if he does not shave and if he does not wear proper, clean clothing, etc. This situation with the visiting Puerto Rican disciples is really shocking and odious.

Until now I have always been bloated with pride when I see any disciple coming to New York from this Puerto Rican Centre, and I introduce the disciples from here with my deepest joy, satisfaction and often, even admiration. But some disciples who have recently visited us in New York were really a very poor reflection of our beloved Puerto Rican Centre. Of late, we have been pleased only with Priti (Isabel Murillo), who came bathed and properly dressed in her clean sari, with her hair properly washed and combed. She is among those two or three Puerto Rican disciples who deserve real appreciation. Others who are still in New York are really a black stain on the Puerto Rican Centre.

So here I wish to say: whoever wants to come to the New York Centre has to get our permission. If you are not in the habit of writing, then please inform Sudha. She will either write to us or call us and then immediately you will get the answer. Otherwise, if you come without our approval, you will not be allowed in the Centre. All this is very shocking. We discovered that some visiting disciples do not have any place to stay in New York. They are taking drugs and not taking baths; they have no work and are loitering like vagabonds on the streets and mixing with all kinds of street-fellows. Then they expect me to take care of them. When I ask some of my New York disciples to help these visitors, our people do come to their aid because their Guru has asked them to do so. Then afterwards the stories they narrate about these Puerto Rican disciples are simply shocking. So we have to discourage this kind of disciple from coming to New York at all.

In New York, seven or eight disciples at a time are asked by me to meditate together. They stand facing me or facing the disciples. But as soon as some of the Puerto Rican disciples stand up with the regular disciples, they really destroy the atmosphere of the Centre. The New York disciples respect my judgement and they won't say anything to the Puerto Ricans, but they feel miserable. It is only my compassion that allows these visitors to join the others. Sometimes they wear dirty, filthy clothes, and how do they dare to stand up in that condition and meditate alongside the respectable disciples?

So dearest ones, if ever you want to come to the New York Centre, only with previous permission you will come; otherwise you will not be allowed. And the things that are necessary to come to the New York Centre, I have already told you: you must be properly shaved, bathed and dressed in clean clothes, and have no connection with drugs whatsoever. In New York, this fellow M. started taking drugs; his wife comes to the Centre uninvited but she does not listen to me. In New York, my disciples are so devoted to me, but this girl comes here and argues with me. She has come here two or three times. She argued with me in New York the way she did here in Puerto Rico. She doesn't want to come out of the hippie consciousness or way of life, but she will not leave us. Now where do I stand? Luckily for her, my disciples did not throw her out of the Centre. She was arguing and saying, "I don't love anybody, but particularly I hate men. I hate men." Then I said, "If you hate men, why do you come to our Centre? There are many men here. Half of us are men. Please do not come." But she does come; she insists on occupying a front seat and she creates problems for us.

So in this Centre in San Juan, I hope you people have totally given up drugs and all the attitudes that go with them. Believe me, if you continue to behave in this way, then I will use my spiritual authority. Otherwise, if I don't do this, I will not be able to run a Centre.

Now you two disciples right here are doing extremely well in spirituality and in dedication. But unfortunately in the case of the lady, your dress is not good because it is too short. Please dress modestly. And you, her friend, have to wear a proper shirt like Drona, whose shirt is dignified. So white or coloured will be all right, but not this bizarre pattern and ugly colours. It won't do because it does not give a spiritual vibration. Please come to this Centre fully dignified. Otherwise you ruin the inspiration of others.

In a proper family, there is always the proper care of material things and a standard which is understood by all the members. Otherwise, it becomes like a club. When you are in a club, you can wear anything you want: any type of garment, this or that. Again, I don't want you to be a dandy, dressing for the sake of showing off. No, far from it. And the women here, young girls and also other women, please try to wear modest dress. Your dress must come right down to your knees. In New York it is compulsory to be modest, and in Connecticut, we are making it compulsory. But before we did so, the girl disciples were unbelievably immodest with their mini-skirts. Now the Connecticut disciples have come to know from the New York disciples and they are absolutely modest.

These are the things that are necessary to make proper spiritual progress: modesty; simple dress, but clean; simplicity in the outer life and proper behaviour in the outer life. Everything has to be integral: in the outer life, our outer dress and our outer behaviour have to go hand-in-hand with our aspiring consciousness.

Forgive me, I am taking your precious time. But since I am the Father of this Centre, I am under obligation to tell you everything in minute detail. Otherwise, the next time I see you people disobeying our standards of outer dress, no matter how dedicated, how sincere you are, I will take action. For your dedication, I am truly proud of you, but if you misbehave in the outer life, then I have every right to be displeased with you. For example, this outfit, this kind of clothing [indicating a boy disciple] is not good. And, as I said, the girls must wear modest dresses. I was told by Sudha that about a month ago, a young girl came here dressed in an absolutely vulgar, revealing costume. She was almost totally exposed. This kind of thing I will not tolerate. Modesty is of paramount importance in the spiritual life. Modesty goes hand-in-hand with purity and spirituality.

Now, if you have any question, please ask me. What I have said is only for those who have given me the necessary authority and who have implicit faith in me. I am for them; they are for me and not for others. This I am saying for all the Centres and not only for the Puerto Rican Centre. It is for all our Centres. What I am saying is applicable to all my disciples.

There are people who misuse our Compassion, and again, there are people who actually benefit every moment from our Compassion. These people take full advantage of our constant Concern, Compassion, Love and Blessings. So you can either misuse them or you can take the utmost profit from them. This is what I wish to say.

News of the mission⁹

First of all, I wish to convey to each of you Alo’s deep love and blessings.

Since most of you are disciples, on the strength of my love, affection and oneness, I wish to tell you some of the news of our mission.

In our past few visits, I have been telling you that the time is ripe for us to enter into the wide world. Now the time has come, the Hour has struck and we have entered indeed into the wide world. To start with, you will be happy to learn that we now have a Centre in Toronto, Canada, Alo’s birthplace.

It was her father’s wish that we should have a Centre in Toronto. Before he passed away in 1968, he said to Alo, “Since you have spiritual Centres in other parts of the world, why not have one in the place of your birth, here in Toronto? You could hold the meetings right here in our house, 31 Alberta Avenue.”

Alo replied, “To do that, I would have to come and live in Toronto for a few months, since we have no one who could actually run a Centre here.¹⁰ I would like to be here with you and Mother, but Chinmoy would not be able to manage our Centre in New York without me. It is a tremendous amount of work and even with the two of us, the operation of the Centre takes from six in the morning until 2:00 am. I feel God will send someone to help us here in Toronto. After all, my soul entered into the manifested world right here. Chinmoy and I both want a Centre here and one in Shakpura, East Bengal, India. I feel that your vision will become a reality and that the Toronto Centre will come very soon. Dad, the Supreme will turn your soul’s wish into a Reality.”

Well, you will be happy to learn that finally we have been able to establish a Centre in Toronto and Alo’s father is seeing it from Heaven. And you people in Puerto Rico will be happy to learn that, for the first time, one of our Centres is being run by an Indian. After Alo’s eight long years doing sadhana in India, and my lifetime, up to the age of 32, in my Bharat Mata, our souls knew that it was the Supreme’s doing. The man who is running our Toronto Centre is an Indian who happens to be my colleague. I used to work at the Indian Consulate in New York City and there I met him. He was an accountant and a very devoted disciple of Sri Ramakrishna. He became an admirer of mine and now has become my truly devoted disciple. So he is running our Centre in Toronto. Alo is very happy. She had visited his native state, Kerala, in India several times and always had great admiration for the alertness, intelligence, social awareness and dynamism of the people of southwest India. “All those qualities, plus the deep, traditional spirituality of his Brahmin family, will make him a very fine Centre leader,” she said. So he is now running our Centre in Toronto, Canada.

Two weeks ago, I myself was in Canada. I gave talks at York University, the University of Toronto (where Alo received her BA and MA in Cultural Anthropology) and McGill University. We were most successful up there. Also there was an article on me in the Ottawa Star, a very significant article.

Now how many of you here read The New York Times? About five of you? Have you read the article on me in the Times? No? Nobody has read it? Well, last Saturday there was a wonderful article on me in The New York Times. Since nobody has read it, Sudha will now read it out to you. [Sudha reads.]

Another piece of news which I’m happily repeating: we now have our own publishing company in Queens, New York, right near our Centre. This [holding up the book] is the first book, published by the Chinmoy Publishing Company. I told you about it in July; it is entitled My Ivy League Leaves. As I explained to you last time, there are seven principal universities and one college in America which are known as “The Ivy League”. They are Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Columbia, Cornell, University of Pennsylvania, Brown University and Dartmouth College.

I wish all the disciples to read these talks. They are significant talks, and the disciples must read them for their inner nourishment and outer knowledge. I am sure by this time that the disciples have read My Lord’s Secrets exposed.[^7,10] Oh, you have read it? All of you, without fail? Well, now we have the second part, which came out the day before yesterday. From this second part, I would like to read out a few passages. [Sri Chinmoy reads.]

In publishing this book, My Lord’s Secrets exposed, ¹¹

they were extremely interested in my other books. But Food for the Soul is actually being published by the well-known publisher, Harper and Row. Food for the Soul will be out in December, and another book is being published by the Tower Publishing Company: here is the cover for it… very interesting. It will be called Yoga and the spiritual life: the journey of India’s Soul. Every article and talk in this book was originally beautified, corrected and enhanced by Alo, so she is very, very thrilled to see them printed by a professional company. This is our first book published by this particular company: Tower Publishing Company.

This coming Friday we have a very special programme: twenty-five universities will meet together at New York University in Greenwich Village. New York University will be the host. Each university of these twenty-five has a meditation group, either large or small, where they meditate on my picture. They keep flowers in front of my picture and they meditate. The leader of the meditation group, always a student of that university, speaks on my philosophy.

So there will be Harvard, Yale, Princeton, University of Chicago, University of Wisconsin, Brandeis University, Columbia, Boston… all of these big universities. There will also be a few colleges including Hunter College. So each institution’s meditation group will come up to the front of the hall and meditate with me for a few minutes. Then I shall give a talk on meditation. We shall start at 7:00 pm and those who want to join us spiritually are most welcome. At 7:00 pm (your time will be 8:00 pm) please meditate on us and you will feel our spiritual presence and we shall feel your oneness-blessings.

Either next week or the following week, we will be going to Europe. We will visit twelve or thirteen countries, perhaps more. In England alone, I shall give six talks: at Cambridge, Manchester and some other institutions. Then we shall go to Italy, Germany, Denmark, Holland and back to Scotland. All these places we shall be visiting. There will also be a few talks at gatherings of certain spiritual organisations. The month of November is going to be a month of great labour and trial for me.

As I have told you before, every Tuesday we hold meditations at the United Nations Peace Room. Last week a disciple of mine received a wonderful letter from the Chef de Cabinet, Mr Narasimhan, who works with the Secretary-General, U Thant. Secretary-General U Thant had read my talk, “The Garland of Nation-Souls”. You remember that deplorable incident when I was invited to give a talk to the world-body on the twenty-fifth anniversary of the founding of the UN. My talk then was “The Garland of Nation-Souls”. The Secretary-General was also kind enough to read My Ivy League Leaves and also our published meditations and talks at the United Nations. He sent me a letter saying that he deeply appreciates my Blessings and also that he feels that my writings will be of great value to humanity. That was his comment. Now in my conversation with all of you here today, in Puerto Rico, I am aiming at one particular point. This is what I am aiming at: quite a few times I have told you that our mission is growing. It is growing very rapidly and flourishing beautifully at the same time. This is happening this year, 1970. Next year we will have one hundred meditation groups at various universities in the United States. The way the universities are responding to our spiritual activities is most gratifying to our souls. And at the end of this year three books will have been published by professional publishers. So our message will be spread all over the world. It will be spread to the farthest corners of the globe.

Those who are with us in spirit, in heart and soul, naturally will feel the same satisfaction, fulfilment and pride that we feel. I am not alone. My mission is your mission. You can rightly claim that my mission is your mission. So all these pieces of good news that I am offering you, you rightly deserve because you have been aspiring to be in my Boat, the Boat that promises to carry you to the Golden Shore of the Beyond.

To this particular Centre here in Puerto Rico, I wish to say: there are quite a few newcomers. I am sorry that I will not be able to do justice to them because I will be here only for two days, today and tomorrow. But to the members of my spiritual family, I wish to say a few things. As I’ve said so many times before, this Centre happens to be our first, very first, and most promising Centre. But now, right now, I am seeing that the Centre is not functioning well. Who is to be blamed? I myself am to be blamed. I cannot blame anybody; no individual, no collective members. I blame only myself. I take the entire blame upon myself. All the other Centres are functioning well. There was a time when other Centres did not do well, but this Centre functioned extremely well. Now this Centre is not behaving well at all, to my extreme sorrow. We started this Centre four and a half years ago, with a very few selected members. Now most of the old members have fizzled out, and those who are staying… most of them… have no sustaining faith in the spiritual life, in the spiritual activities of our mission. The spiritual life is a life of spontaneous growth. But if you feel that your normal life of eating, sleeping, working and talking is the real normal life and the spiritual life is something abnormal, then I wish to say that you do not belong here any more. My philosophy is well known to you, and it differs from your philosophy and your lifestyle.

Here, unfortunately in this Centre, the aspiration is lax. It is low, very low. The old disciples who have been here for a long time, have, most of them, lost interest in the spiritual life. They have lost faith in the spiritual life, have lost all faith in me. All right, I don’t blame them. If they have lost faith in me, it is up to them, but if they have lost faith in their own spiritual lives, they cannot make any spiritual progress. I am an individual. If they do not have faith in me, it is up to them. But if they have lost faith in their spiritual lives, how can they make progress? They have to have faith in themselves or in God or in both. If I have disappointed them, it is up to them to be away from me; but if they have lost faith within themselves and in the spiritual life, then they are totally lost.

I happen to be the pilot here. If they want to jump out of my Boat, what am I going to do? I have other passengers who are in the Boat. Naturally those who are seated in the Boat want me to carry them to the other side, to the Golden Shore of the Beyond. I have to carry them; it is my divine duty. I cannot wait for those who have left the Boat. And also those who are sleeping in the Boat do not see how hard it is for the Pilot to steer and sail the Boat. They think it is something very easy, something like drinking water. No, it is not so. It is most difficult.

True, the spiritual life is natural, but God-realisation is something most difficult. Try to believe it, somehow. Now if you disappoint the Master, rest assured that you are disappointing the Inner Pilot. The Master and God are one for the disciples, not for others. If a disciple feels that I and the Supreme whom I represent are two different consciousnesses, two different ways of guiding or leading, then that particular disciple is deceiving himself outright. He who consciously becomes my disciple must realise that I am the mouthpiece of the Supreme. The Supreme speaks through me. Those who are not my disciples are under no obligation to listen to me or to pay any attention to what I say. But those who are my disciples must bear in mind that for them, God-realisation can take place only in and through me. There is no other way.

If they feel that they can directly approach God, then let them try. Let them see how many millions of lives it will take them to realise God through their personal effort. However, if they feel the necessity of a Pilot, then let them have complete and implicit faith in the Master, for the Master is a private tutor. He is not an examiner, far from it. The examiner tests what you have learned in school or in college. But the private tutor will only help you expedite the progress you are making at your spiritual school.

So if you feel the necessity of having a Master, then listen to him wholeheartedly. The old disciples have, unfortunately, most of them, disappointed me. Now new disciples who came with great enthusiasm, love and joy are also disappointing me. They are not serious enough. They were serious in the beginning, but they have not been able to maintain that seriousness, that devotedness, those qualities of devotion. And now they are lagging behind. Many of these new ones came with tremendous enthusiasm and zeal. But now their spiritual life, it seems to me, has become a picnic, a playground. They are running and jumping and enjoying themselves. But they have to understand that the spiritual life is not an amusement. It is a life of strict discipline.

Last year, when I saw quite a few new, young, energetic disciples here who had given up their hippie-life, I was extremely proud of them. I was bloated with pride that here in Puerto Rico I had achieved a tremendous success. These disciples had given up their drug-life, hippie-life, overnight. Why? They saw something in me. Those new disciples got considerable spiritual growth from me; they have had many spiritual experiences.[^7,23] Otherwise they would not have stayed with me.

But again, the Goal is very far; the Goal is a far cry; the Pilot is constantly battling the waves. When these disciples see that the journey is long, they begin to feel lethargic. They become lazy and they start sleeping. They once again want to sleep and to wallow in the pleasures of ignorance. This is what most of the young boys and young girls, those newcomers, new aspirants, are now doing.

I am extremely sorry. I am your spiritual father. That is why I am under an obligation to warn you people, because you started in the old days with sincerity, with devotion, with surrender and many other divine qualities. Now you are enjoying a life of relaxation, a purely unspiritual life.

I think that if you really cared for God, for Truth, for Light, then you would be most serious in your spiritual life. To my sorrow, to my extreme sorrow, there are disciples who came with tremendous promise but are now misbehaving in various ways. The most deplorable way is that you are not listening to the leader. I made someone here the leader. Sudha is and has been our first and only leader. I consciously made her the leader. You know that she is the President and she is the life of this Centre. But you people are not listening to her. She tells you to do something, and you do something else. You do what pleases you most.

When I come here, I get three months’ work out of you in three days. I am not exaggerating; in three days’ time, I get things done by you people which otherwise would take three months. When I come here, everybody is perfect. Each person is a nice instrument. How much I do, how much we accomplish in my short stay! And the moment I leave, as soon as I am physically away, you lose all interest, and nothing gets done. Nothing is accomplished. Almost everyone fails me, disappoints me. Whoever is entrusted with work… he disappoints me. I give some work to a person; that person does not do it. Now where do we stand?

I have come to this island at least twenty times. I have been to Jamaica, West Indies only three or four times, but they already have a big Centre there and do various types of selfless service. Various types of activities are going on there. Here I stay one month at a time… sometimes, two months. How many times have I come here and how many days, in all, have I spent here! Then I find that this place is not responding satisfactorily to my inner voice and my inner guidance. Now what?

The simple reason for all this is that you do not take the spiritual life as something important. You take your business career, your office-work as something most important, but for you, the spiritual life is secondary. You feed the body three times a day without fail, but when it is a matter of the soul, you don’t get time to feed it even once a day. Some seekers here don’t meditate even once a week. Now, how do you expect God-realisation? God-realisation is not for these idle, spiritually indifferent persons.

Now it is my request, it is my fervent request to the disciples who really want to be in my Boat, who want this Centre again to stand up and be in the vanguard of spiritual progress, to go deep within. They must listen to the leader, Sudha, and do everything with her knowledge, concern and approval. Otherwise this new generation of disciples will also start exploiting my compassion and my blessings. “Out of sight, out of mind” is not for a spiritual aspirant. You are spiritual people, and I am also a spiritual man. God has given each of you a heart. You can feel whether or not I think of you, whether I concentrate on you or not. Outwardly you may write twenty letters to me; perhaps I don’t have time to answer your letters. Then you say, “Where is your concern?” My concern is not in writing but is in the feeling in my own heart. Every day without fail I meditate on you, on those who have taken me as their spiritual teacher. If you meditate on me, you are bound to feel this. There can be no one, no sincere disciple, who can say that he or she does not feel me inwardly. If he or she does not feel me, that means that that person is not meditating on me but meditating on someone or something else. If you don’t meditate on me, how do you expect me to be in your heart, guiding you, shaping you and moulding you? You can’t. If I meditate on you, I do feel your ignorance, your stupidity. Again, if you are meditating sincerely and devotedly on me, I can feel your aspiration and your concern for me. So try to meditate on me.

Now this year has practically come to an end. When we take our mission as a whole, in one year, by the Grace of God, you have made tremendous progress, as I told you before. It is also true that “slow and steady” wins the race. You know the story of the hare and the tortoise. But the Supreme has told me that in our case, it is not “slow and steady”, but “fast, faster, fastest” that will win our race. Why? Because the Supreme is within us and of us and for us. Now outer success and inner progress are made only by those who have meditated during the whole year. They are the ones who notice it, because they embody the outer success resulting from inner progress.

The outer achievements this year I have spoken about before. I have given talks in about forty major universities this year. Many, many spiritual Masters have tried to have meditation groups at the universities, and your Master is the first and foremost. If this is not a tremendous achievement, then what is it? Whose success is it? The success of the Supreme, the success of the members of our spiritual family.

This year also three major publications have seen the light of day and twenty-five universities are meditating on this particular spiritual Master. Now you will see how other universities respond to the spiritual call.

As I mentioned, at the end of the year I will be in Europe and you will see the Supreme’s tremendous success there. We will have a most successful Centre in England. So there will be Centres in England, continental Europe and America. When I speak of America, rest assured that I am referring to you in Puerto Rico. You yourselves always refer to North America, Central America and South America as “Las Americas”. So now the wide world has entered into us and we have entered into the wide world. Every Tuesday, at the United Nations, new representatives from various countries come to the Meditation Group. New persons come each time, and what do they get? Peace… Peace… Boundless Peace and Light. The meditation room is inundated with the Light of the Supreme.

But here, this Centre in Puerto Rico must not lag behind. Once upon a time you showed your sincerity. Once upon a time you showed your devotion. Once upon a time you showed your surrender. And this “once upon a time” just changed, just the other day, just a short time ago, let us say, yesterday. Now today, why can’t you go back to your old devotion, your old surrender, your old love for the Supreme? Today why should you lag behind? Your old love, devotion and surrender were pure gold. You can go back! You can, you can! Puerto Ricans have the ideal heart. It was you who accepted me first; it was you who gave me hope and inspiration to launch into my spiritual mission.

Now that my mission is flourishing all over the world, I see, to my deepest sorrow, that you are receding, lagging behind, disappointing me, disheartening me. Why? I myself cannot account for it. Again, I take full responsibility for this so-called failure. Since I am the leader here, I have to take full responsibility if an individual member goes astray or if the collective group misbehaves. I cannot blame them; it is I who have to be blamed. But if you, once again, want to be in the vanguard of our spiritual Centres, I can offer you the same love, the same affection, the same blessings and the same pride as I did before.

You have to know what comes first: God or your outer life. This is the crux of the whole problem. If the outer life comes first, then this Centre is not meant for you. I have made that clear on many occasions. But if God comes first, then since I am involved with God, I have to come first in your daily life. If you are my disciples, then rest assured that it is the Supreme in me Who can liberate you and no one else — nobody else. If you are my disciples, Liberation has to come from me, Salvation has to come from me and from no other source. If you don’t want Liberation, Salvation and Realisation, but you want only a very scanty and limited peace and light here, then you can come to the Centre as you have been recently doing. But you have to be sure that you know what you want from your life. Do you want the highest God-realisation or just a little bit of Light, Peace and Bliss? If you are willing to be satisfied with limited Peace and so forth, you are welcome. But if your aim is the Highest, nothing short of the Highest will be your Path and your Goal. Again you have to know clearly that this Goal can be achieved, can be won only through your Master’s constant guidance and blessingful compassion.

There are a thousand and one ways to deceive oneself. If you want to deceive yourselves, you can do so very easily. Not even God will come to your rescue. But if you love God, if you love the spiritual life, if you love Truth, if you love Realisation, if you cry, if you care for the Highest, then I wish to say that you must go back to your old life of aspiration, your old life of your inner cry, your old life of oneness. These things you must do along with your spiritual Master, who loves you, still loves you and, furthermore, will love you unconditionally forever. My love will remain unconditional, but unfortunately your realisation of the highest Truth and Light will always remain a far cry. My unconditional love will be there, but it will not be able to give you realisation. Why? Because along with my unconditional love what you need is your constant aspiration to be in my Boat and to please me in my own way. Three or four weeks ago, I told you that there are two ways to please me.

One way is to please me the way God wants me to be pleased. The other way is to please me through your verbal flattery or through writing beautiful poems on me or beautiful accounts of me. Now if you feel that by writing things about me or speaking highly of me, that I’ll be the happiest person, you are mistaken. I will be the happiest person if, when I ask you to sweep this floor or to bring me a nail, or to collect the garbage or to do something else, you do so without the least possible hesitation. Then and only then are you pleasing me in my own way. You actually have hundreds of ways to please me, but I tell you that I am rarely pleased with you when you try to please me in your own way. But if you please me the way I want to be pleased, the way the Supreme in me wants to be pleased, then I wish to tell you that I need your constant devotion, constant surrender, constant faith in me. At that time you will see what miracles can be achieved in your day-to-day life, in your life of aspiration.

Dearest Puerto Ricans, I offer my soulful promise to you, to each disciple here, that this Centre can again rise to its highest Goal.

¹²

Twenty questions and answers

Dearest children, when we were coming to San Juan on the plane, I was inspired to write down about twenty questions and answers.

1. What does the human in us want? What does the divine in us want?

The human in us wants constant satisfaction. The divine in us wants everlasting fulfilment.

2. What is the difference between the divine lover and the divine Beloved?

God is the divine Beloved and we are the divine lovers. The divine lover cries; the divine Beloved smiles. But the moment the divine lover smiles, the divine Beloved makes the divine lover feel that they are both eternally and inseparably one.

3. What is life and what is death?

Life is man's present bewilderment but future fulfilment. Death is man's present necessity but future non-inevitability.

4. What is ego?

Ego is today's destroying gain and tomorrow's liberating loss.

What kind of loss?

The loss that liberates you when you understand the ego.

5. God means what?

God means existence.

Truth means what?

Truth means discovery.

6. Man means what?

Man means the eternal traveller.

7. What does the past mean? What does the present mean? What does the future mean?

The past means intention. The present means determination. The future means liberation.

8. What is God's contribution?

God's contribution is creation.

What is man's contribution?

Man's contribution is dedication.

9. What is aspiration?

Aspiration is God-crying.

What is realisation?

Realisation is self-finding.

What is revelation?

Revelation is self-transformation.

What is manifestation?

Manifestation is self-perfection.

10. What does my mind say?

My mind says that its goal is religion.

What does my heart say?

My heart says that its goal is Yoga, with God-Oneness.

What does my soul say?

My soul says that its goal is spirituality.

What does my Goal say?

My Goal says that I am its fondest choice.

11. What is the difference between humanity and divinity?

Humanity is God's compassionate investment. Divinity is God's constant Self-illumination.

12. What is the difference between inner and outer education?

Outer education explains everything outwardly, yet without satisfying anybody. Inner education feeds us within and without.

13. Who is a fool?

He is a fool who thinks there can be a compromise between the aspiring life and the unaspiring life. Yes, he is a fool who thinks that the aspiring life and the unaspiring life can go together. The aspiring life must go with the aspiring breath and the unaspiring life must go with the unaspiring breath.

14. Who is the wisest of all?

He who feels and realises that God or the Master is infinitely more important than human love and human satisfaction.

15. What does God do when I concentrate on Him?

When I concentrate on God, He proudly and divinely roars. When I concentrate on God, He becomes so proud, so pleased that I am concentrating only on Him.

What do I do when God concentrates on me?

When God concentrates on me, I just sleep and snore.

What does God do when I meditate on Him?

When I meditate on God, He triumphantly sings.

And what do I do when God meditates on me?

When God meditates on me, I fear Him and hide from Him.

What does God do when I contemplate on Him?

When I contemplate on Him, God unreservedly embraces me.

What do I do when God contemplates on me?

I consciously, deliberately and willfully invite ignorance and wallow in the pleasures of ignorance.

16. Is it faith that increases aspiration or is it aspiration that increases faith?

They are reciprocal and mutual.

Sri Chinmoy: This is the end of the questions and answers that I wrote on the plane. Now I will read out /Man and God. [Sri Chinmoy reads.]

Now, from My Yogi Friends and My Avatar Friends.

Is surrender to the Master something necessary? Yes.

Is surrender to the Master something essential? Yes.

Is surrender to the Master something indispensable? Yes, yes, yes.

1971

Talk at the beginning of the New Year¹³

This year, 1971, a striking outer manifestation along with the inner realisation will take place. To spread the Light of the Supreme, we have many more Centres this year than we have had before. In many, many parts of the world, the message of the Supreme will be spread through the selfless service of the disciples and through publishers, colleges and universities.

In silence and with utmost love, devotion and surrender, please now offer your love, devotion and surrender to the Supreme and say that you are offering this to Him for His manifestation here on earth. Please do this. Now, one by one, please come up and chant AUM and sit down.

This promise you have made to the Supreme, who is everybody's Guru: my Guru, your Guru, everyone's Guru… the Supreme. And we must try to keep this promise to Him: that we shall be totally surrendered to His Will. We shall love Him. We shall offer Him our devotion. We shall offer Him our unconditional surrender.

We were in Europe for about a month: England, Ireland, Scotland, Switzerland and a few other places. I gave talks in about twenty universities, including Oxford and Cambridge. Almost all the universities responded extremely well. We had tremendous success.

I have told you several times that last year we were entering into the wide world. Now I wish to say that we have definitely entered into the wide world and it has been a tremendous success precisely because the Supreme wants His own Mission to spread all over the world. I am sure all of you have read the newspaper cuttings from Ireland… how devotedly they have accepted your Master. In one newspaper, it says, "Ireland's Guru."

In all the universities, seekers asked most sincere, soulful and enlightened questions. And in many universities the professors and principals themselves asked significant questions. We will not only have the lectures published, but the questions and answers will also be eventually published, which will be of tremendous importance to the sincere seekers everywhere.

Yes, it is true that we have entered into the wide world. We have recently established three important Centres: one in London, England; one in Glasgow, Scotland; one in Dublin, Eire. The success of these three Centres is joyfully expressed in their letters. They are growing spiritually, full of enthusiasm, inspiration and aspiration… these three Centres. I am sure we shall have a Centre in Switzerland, most probably in Zurich, and one in New Zealand and one in Australia.

The idea of having many Centres must not be misunderstood. It is not like the missionaries who are going out to convert people. Far from it. Our aim is not to convert others. If others are following any spiritual or religious path, we are most happy. But there are people on earth who don't have a path of their own and who are crying for a path. To them, we say, "We have a path. If this path suits you, you are most welcome to join us. Ours is the path of love, devotion and surrender. If you feel that this path is going to make you happy and make your life meaningful and fruitful, then do join us."

We don't say that ours is the only path or that ours is the best path. No, never. We say and we sincerely feel that our path is one of the paths, but those who want to follow our path must be totally dedicated to our principles of love, devotion and surrender. And then, if the newcomers feel that this is their path, they should start running inwardly. On the spiritual path, one can walk, one can march, one can run the fastest. So if they feel that this is their path, then instead of walking, they have to be given ample opportunity to run the fastest. In almost all our Centres, there are some disciples who are actually running the fastest.

Now today there are quite a few visitors or, I should say, seekers here. I come here very often, but I do not come to convert you. I come here to inspire you. This land of yours, this island, welcomed me first. This is our Mother Centre, and when I see the disciples who started our journey here in this Centre, it gives me the greatest joy and pride. Sudha and Ananta were with us the day we started, and they are still with us. Very soon Gauri joined us and then Agni and Vijaya, his wife. They are also still with us. There are some early disciples who are missing, who have left us.

So if one wants to reach the Goal, the destined Goal, one has to remain in the Boat. If one jumps out of the Boat, the Boatman cannot be responsible for him. The Boatman cannot wait for him, hoping that he will come back again. No, he has other passengers; sincere and dedicated passengers in the Boat. He has promised them that he will take them to the Golden Shore of the Beyond. So you have to know that he is for those who are constantly with him in his Boat.

And again I say: when we are here among the disciples, most of them come here, but the moment we go away, they also disappear. This is absolutely wrong from the spiritual point of view. In our ordinary human life, it may be "Out of sight, out of mind." But in the spiritual life, it is not like that. It is the bond of inner love, inseparable love, which keeps disciples in the heart of their Master. Those who are coming here faithfully, and meditating devotedly, must feel our presence, our spiritual presence here. Otherwise they would not come; they would not have continued to come. Now how do you feel our presence? How do you communicate with us inwardly? With your love, devotion and surrender. Those who do not have love, devotion and surrender will naturally come only when we are here because they think that the Master's presence is the only thing they need. No, this is a great insult to the spiritual life and also to your own aspiring heart. If you really have an aspiring heart, then your aspiring heart will make you feel that no matter where the Master is, his guidance, his inner guidance, will be there because he has realised the Truth and can move freely in the inner worlds. For him, there is no time or space; they have been conquered by his realisation.

This is the thirteenth day of the New Year, 1971, and I wish to tell you that we will come here this year a few times more, at least twice more this year. I wish to see all the disciples (who claim to be disciples) coming here regularly. In our physical absence, when I see your attendance, I see that twenty or twenty-five disciples only are attending regularly; at most thirty or thirty-one. But when we are here physically in Puerto Rico, we see forty-five or fifty who claim to be our disciples. Why do you disappear? Right now I can see forty disciples who can come and should come and must come regularly simply because they feel themselves to be disciples. These people, when they are elsewhere, also claim to be my disciples. So where do they disappear? Others who are visitors and who come here occasionally do not say anything because they have not accepted me, and this is understood. But the disciples who are so irregular, when they are in need of inner guidance, cry to me at their time of difficulty. When they are in danger, they cry, cry! At that time, I come to their rescue, but they can't receive my help because their receptivity is poor due to their irregular meditation and irregular attendance. So this is what happens. They create a barrier between my assistance and their desiring life. Their life of aspiration lags behind and their life of desire comes forward. That is why they do not come to the Centre regularly. But, as I said, when difficulty arises, when there is real trouble or danger, at that time I am helpless. I cannot help them adequately because their receptivity is very limited.

If you do something every day, you increase your receptivity. Every day, for example, if you read, you develop your mental power. Similarly, every day if you pray and meditate, you develop your psychic power, your inner power. When that happens, it becomes extremely easy for me to be of help to you. Otherwise the vessel that we call "receptivity" is filled with darkness and ignorance. So, as I said in my talk "The New Year's Message," I will not scold you, and this is no scolding at all. This is my sympathetic concern. I am crying for your cause. One thing is to scold; another thing is to sympathise with others' problems. I am trying to sympathise with your unconscious, unaspiring mind and your unaspiring heart! Look at those who are coming regularly and devotedly, doing selfless service here and attending meditation regularly here. Look at their faces. You are bound to see and feel that they made considerable progress in their outer lives (as well as their inner lives). All those who are coming regularly, even if they do not have deep aspiration — one or two may not have deep aspiration — but because they are coming regularly, they are making some progress. It is because of their regular attendance. And those who have aspiration along with their regularity are naturally making tremendous progress. So if one has aspiration along with regularity, naturally one will make enormous progress.

Now if one or two do not have deep aspiration right now, they are bound to get aspiration sooner or later because God is pleased with their regularity. When God is pleased with someone for some reason, He tries to offer His Help in other fields as well. So these one or two unaspiring disciples will also make considerable progress too, because God is pleased with their regularity.

Now my sincere request to all the disciples who are really in my Boat: you should come regularly to the Centre. Otherwise what will happen? In your day-to-day life, you will fall behind. I am seeing it happen. You become depressed, disheartened. You lose your inner contact and finally you become frustrated. Then you feel that the spiritual life is not meant for you; the Master is no good; this path is not the best one; etc. These are the things that you will, consciously or unconsciously, cherish.

Now before we enter into meditation, this is my last request to the sincere seekers: be regular, be as regular as possible. If someone is sick or if you are sick or if something very serious has taken place in the family, it is fully understood that you will not be able to come. Unavoidable circumstances will fully excuse you. But just because you are feeling lazy, or going to see a movie, or watching TV or going out with your friends, that is not acceptable.

So with your kind permission, I wish again to ask my disciples who have come here today to please stand up. We will count the number and when we return to New York, we shall find out the attendance from here. Today most of you have come. So we shall see the attendance list and see how many of you are fulfilling your promise. As I have said countless times, regularity is of paramount importance in the spiritual life. If you are regular, then you can go one step ahead with your love, devotion and surrender. But if you fail in regularity, that means that you are failing at the very first step.

Thirty-seven aspiring seekers are here and two or three unfortunately have not been able to come. Now we will see, out of forty, how many will come regularly. We will be here for three weeks: our next meeting will be on Sunday; then one on Monday, then Wednesday and one on Friday.

Looking for a new Centre¹⁴

Manuel, Juan, Ivan and a few others have collected $40.00, which is not bad. We need perhaps forty thousand dollars! I deeply appreciate their sincere concern for us, but unfortunately we need the impossible amount of forty thousand dollars or more.

[Terrible banging and drilling noise from the upstairs apartment which was being renovated.]

Such a noise, unbearable noise. This is absolutely the interference of the hostile forces. Positively. Now the thing is that if we want to ignore them, yes, we can ignore them. We can remain in our own light, poise and peace. But again in the world, Mother Earth is kind to us. There are many places where we don't have this kind of noise. So why not try to have that kind of place? When we were in Manhattan, we used to have this kind of unbearable noise, this very destructive noise, but then we moved to Queens, a quiet borough of New York. Where we are now staying, it is practically a street in the suburbs. And if you come down four blocks, it is again right in the city. But our present Centre is really peaceful and calm and quiet. We can do our meditation; we can have our meetings in almost pin-drop silence.

This place on Miramar Avenue has played its part. Now every real disciple and those who have recently become disciples I am sure will want to sail in the same Boat and will not misunderstand me: the feeling now is that we need a spiritual place where we can avoid unnecessary tension. We are on a most beautiful island. Let us therefore have also a beautiful place to hold our meetings without such outside commotion. You will be surprised to learn that upstairs young boys come, not unconsciously but consciously, acting as instruments of the hostile forces. In spite of knowing that so many people are trying to meditate sincerely and devotedly, they deliberately make a noise. On other nights, when the group is not here, when you people are not here, they do not make any noise. Then they are very good. But when you are here, they have to go down the stairs thumping and crashing, whistling and all that. This is what they are doing. It is the unmistakable hostile forces. Sudha has spoken to the mother of the boys, but it is useless. She herself becomes hostile to us. On the days we hold our meditations and not on other days, her sons are behaving like hooligans and worse.

So please I am asking every disciple and friends to look for another Centre for us.

The Master requests the Puerto Rican disciples to speak on his philosophy¹⁵

All the disciples who have been with us for a long time and those prospective disciples who sincerely want to sail in our Boat are requested to come up here, one by one, and speak on my philosophy.

I want you to speak in one, two, three or four sentences. It must not exceed four sentences. So one by one, you will come up and speak on Sri Chinmoy's philosophy according to your own understanding; what you feel about my philosophy.

And I wish to say that it has to come directly from your heart and not what you hear others say. It will be what you feel. You have read my writings, you have meditated on my writings many times. Now from your own inner experience, tell us what you think of my philosophy, so that in the future, it can be published in book form and can be distributed.

In New York we got quite a few comments on my philosophy and also in other places. Here also we want to have your comments. Those who cannot speak English well, no harm. Come up and speak in Spanish. Afterwards, it will be translated into English.

So please meditate first for two or three minutes. We shall start with Sudha, then Agni, Vijaya, Sanjivan… then one by one all will come up. But please don't give a long talk; only four sentences at the most.

SUDHA: By accepting life as it is, we are transforming our ignorance. Life as it is, is the workshop where we can work out our limitations and enter into the path of love, devotion and surrender. Illumined by our spiritual Master, we will be guided to the Feet of the Supreme. AUM.

AGNI: Sri Chinmoy's philosophy is that God can be felt, can be realised, nay, has to be realised by every person on earth. All of us are God's chosen children, but the time it takes for a person to realise God depends on his aspiration and the help of a competent spiritual Master or Guru. The wisest and safest way to realise God is the path of love, devotion and surrender. Life has to be accepted fully and then transformed, so that God's Qualities of Light, Peace, Love, Bliss and Power, which are our divine heritage, are manifested on earth with the help of our Guru's grace.

Sri Chinmoy's philosophy for me is love, devotion and surrender. He is the one who is carrying me to the Supreme. I have no fear. For me, he is light, love and everything in this life.

The key concepts of Sri Chinmoy's philosophy to me are purity and absolute faith. In these two words, in this two marvellous ideas, all the divine qualities are comprehended. He has affected such a wonderful influence in my inner soul, in the innermost recesses of my heart, and in myself, that really I have been turned inside out. He offers, with his philosophy, the most beautiful panoramas, the most beautiful vistas of happiness, felicity, bliss and consciousness of unity with the whole world, that we feel that our fellow men, all nations, the whole universe, along with God Himself, are ours. So I am more than pleased and honoured and grateful to Sri Chinmoy Kumar Ghose for all he has done for me. Thank you.

SEVANANDA (Jose Padilla): Your philosophy, for me, is the philosophy of self-transcendence, consciousness-transcendence through unconditional love, intense devotion and selfless, dedicated surrender to the will of our spiritual teachers. To them, I owe my whole existence and life.

ASHPRIHA: To me, my Master's philosophy is a superb combination of God's Compassion and the aspirant's sincere aspiration. In this supreme combination, there cannot be and never will be a dark force that can overcome the aspirant on his way to the Goal.

GAURI (Mrs. Graciela Todd): Alo said in her last visit, "We have to make ourselves ready to receive his Consciousness, and we have to know that Guru is Sat-Chit-Ananda." We have to make ourselves ready, and he will take us far beyond our imagination. He will take us to the Lap of God.

A: Sri Chinmoy says that there is only one Being, God. Life is a transcendental Blessing from God: we have come here to experience the earthly Form of God. We are all one. We are experiencing the finite and have not yet transcended to the Consciousness of the Beyond. But as a growing consciousness awakens in us, we will see that there is only One Existence. AUM.

MANGAL (Ivan Colon): For me, Sri Chinmoy is everything: the Purusha and Beyond. He has the deepest compassion for everything in the whole creation.

KALYAN (Umberto Colon): The philosophy of my Master is that the aim of life is to be one with God. The aim of life is to know oneself. How do we do it? We do it through love, devotion and surrender.

KANTI (Maria Mendez Aramburo): Sri Chinmoy's philosophy has one purpose: to take us to God-realisation. He wants us to know how much God, manifested through him, loves us.

INDU (Margarita Bouret): Sri Chinmoy says that by following his path of love, devotion and surrender, and through aspiration and meditation, we can reach our Goal, self-realisation. He is our Master, and he is here to guide us to our Goal.

PERRY: Guru says that animal love punishes us, human love judges us and divine love illumines us. For me, this says everything.

PRITI: Sri Chinmoy says that God creates love, man discovers life. Guru discovers life for us through our love, devotion, surrender and selfless actions.

LESLIE: To me Sri Chinmoy's philosophy is God's all-pervading Power and Compassion. His presence evokes in us a complete feeling of peace and oneness with God.

MARIO ORTIZ: My Guru's philosophy is, for me, one with God's Philosophy. It is to follow God and obtain self-realisation.

BARBARA: This is the first time I have come here, and I can only say that I have felt my very soul transported. My soul was invaded by the peace and tranquillity that I have been seeking for a long time. Thank you, Master Sri Chinmoy.

NIVEDAN (Antonio Hidalgo): Love, devotion and surrender are a current of glowing realisation, a river of life in which we sail and become part of.

SHANTI (gentleman visitor from Miami): Sri Chinmoy's philosophy, as we all know, is love, devotion and surrender. And through them, one can attain God-realisation. But I feel that the real help that the Guru is giving is a secret help, one that is not written down and is not spoken about in words. His is a special touch that reaches inside each one of us. Without it, we would never feel the Truth or get self-realisation.

DEVADAS: I see my Master as the manifestation of purity, wisdom and holiness. I see him as the only one who can give us realisation, which is man's mission.

MITA (Wanda Caballero): My Guru says that God is willing to come down to the second floor if I am willing to go up to the second floor. When God and I meet, if I am a sincere, devoted disciple, he will shower me with all His loving Compassion.

CHARLIE (Bansidhar): To me, the philosophy of Sri Chinmoy means to constantly, completely, consciously and unconditionally surrender to the infinite Consciousness, so that the Light of the Supreme may permeate our total being.

To me, Sri Chinmoy's philosophy is the door by which all of us will enter into the Supreme. He has taught us that we will come to realise God through him and we will come to be one with Him. And not only do we need God but also God needs us to be complete.

ANANTA: Sri Chinmoy's philosophy is a philosophy of love, devotion and surrender, and I expect to attain the Highest in this life through him. Master, I hope you can fulfil your Mission here in the West.

[handwritten by Sri Chinmoy:]

My Ananta,
My Soul of Infinite Blessings,
My Heart of Infinite Love,
To you,
My Ananta,
I offer.

Your eternity’s Guru
Oct. 23rd, 994

NADESHWAR (Frank del Rio): My Master's philosophy is simple: you love the Christ-Consciousness in him and he will lead you to the universal Spirit. There is only one other thing: you must lead a pure life.

NELSON ZARAGOSA (later Prabhir): I met Sri Chinmoy last Friday with my daughter, Sylvette. The Master explained to me many of the doubts that I had. I want to remove all my impurities and to be an instrument of God through Master Sri Chinmoy.

SYLVETTE ZARAGOSA (later Eshana): To me, Sri Chinmoy's philosophy is an inspiration for me to reach a better life and realise my Self; to come to the Highest, to be like God.

ARPITA (wife of Devadas): Sri Chinmoy's philosophy is the most direct channel for achieving union with God. Our Master's love, faith and kindness are a pure manifestation of God.

OSCAR CORVIZON: Sri Chinmoy's philosophy is, to me, a complete harmonisation of the person with the whole universe, as if we harmonised ourselves or integrated ourselves with the Absolute by means of universal Love.

LUZ MARIA: For me, Guru is like having Christ looking at you. You can feel the consciousness of love, peace and surrender.

PRATYAY (Juan Alvarez): We dissolve ourselves when we enter into the bliss of surrender.

ISABEL SOTOMAYOR: I think our Master is a master pilot. I say this because our existence is like the motor of our life. Our Master teaches us that God created us so that we can reach Him. But we are obliged to go there in good time. Our Master teaches us that we have to come to God fast, pure and in good shape.

IDALIA: To me, Guru is the guide who shows us the marvellous way to reach God. The only condition he imposes on us, in a very special way, is our surrender to his guidance.

1972

The last meeting of our first and original centre at 659 Miramar Avenue, Santurce, Puerto Rico ¹⁶

Since we will be moving to our new Centre very soon, this will be the last juicy story of this Centre.

We were singing the Bidai bela song, which is a song of farewell. It was addressed to this soulful and beautiful Centre, where we have all had such sublime experiences from our high meditations, from our inner Oneness, Joy, Love and Bliss. Towards the end of the song, something very funny happened. It was also something very meaningful and significant.

The soul of this Centre and the soul of the new place where we are moving (1361 Wilson Avenue) had a terrible battle. The soul of this place said, "For six years they have been here, and I have nourished them and they have nourished me. It is I who have to take all the credit and carry all my experiences to the new place." But the soul of the Wilson Avenue house said, "No, they are coming to my place. It is my property, and it is here that they will grow. I do not need you." But the soul of this place said, "But it is here that the growth started, and there should be a continuous growth. It cannot be broken and started again. I should come to your place. There should be a gradual and continuous growth, especially since it was here that they have gone through so much suffering. The suffering that they have gone through has been in the vital, the mental and now recently in the physical."

Alo said, "I feel very badly about this. I feel very sad for the soul of this Centre which has seen us through all our ups and downs. Why can't the soul of this place come to the new Centre and work alongside the new soul of the other house? Why can't they operate together?"

The sad experiences of this Centre: the quarrels, misunderstandings, jealousies, etc., are not in the actual soul. The soul itself fed us here in this Centre, and we fed the soul. The soul fed us with its light, and we fed the soul with our aspiration. This Centre's soul is far stronger than the soul of the new house, which has been used as an ordinary domestic home and is quite insignificant. The growth or maturity of that soul is nothing compared to this present soul.

So what actually happened is that, as Alo wanted, before we occupied the new place, the soul of this place at 659 Miramar Avenue went on its own and occupied the new Centre. We did not do it. The soul did it on its own initiative, but we felt that it was the correct thing to do. Now the strange thing is that the soul of that new house on Wilson Avenue, which did not aspire, which had no occasion to aspire or to fulfil the earth, came here to this original Centre and is now settled here. That soul will be here from now on. The first soul that lived and grew with us is now in the new house. So this is the juicy story and what actually took place on the spiritual plane.

Alo: "When this first soul entered the new Centre on Wilson Avenue, it unfortunately wanted to throw the other soul out. It is true. Sometimes they are just like undivine human beings. Although they are souls, they are not yet in a human body and, being limited and elemental, they can act in a very undivine way. So the more powerful soul wanted to throw the weaker soul out.

"Guru, Sudha and I were sitting in the kitchen of this present Centre when the weaker soul from the Wilson Avenue Centre came here to us for sanctuary and refuge. The stronger soul had said to the weaker one, "Get out!" We saw it and we heard it. So the weaker one came to us in the kitchen.

"I said to Guru, 'Devaji, I feel real compassion for this weak soul. I wouldn't mind having it stay in my room in the new Centre. Then the strong soul from here could stay on the ground-floor of the new place, where our big Meditation Room is located'.

"Gurudev replied, 'They will never get along. They will fight all the time'. He then suggested that the soul of the new Centre come and stay here in this original Centre, while the first soul from here would move with us and stay in the new Wilson Avenue house. So it was done, and this is how the quarrel has been settled and resolved.

"Of course, the soul came into existence before the physical. So the soul of this place will move there, and this physical house, of course, remains here. The young soul will be with the other souls of its own growth since there are other apartments here at 659 Miramar Avenue.

"It is so strange and interesting that struggles for supremacy take place all through the universe, on all planes of existence. Even the gods fight for supremacy. Well, some day millions of aeons from now, oneness instead of separativity will be the ruling principle of the universe."

1973

Celebration of the Seventh Anniversary of the San Juan Centre, established on July 22, 1966¹⁷

There are a few things permanent in my life, in the life of the Puerto Rican consciousness and in the breath of the Supreme's Mission on earth. On the one hand, it is true that nothing is permanent on earth; here everything is transient. Here, every person walks along the road of life for a few years and then he returns home to his eternal Home. Nothing is permanent. But on the other hand, there are a few things permanent in the world of the soul. In my case, in my soul, there are very few things which are permanent or eternal. Among those very few things, I wish to mention that my gratitude to our dearest and foremost daughter, Sudha, will remain permanent and eternal; and my gratitude to the soul of Puerto Rico will remain permanent and eternal.

So here, Sudha was an instrument, the divine instrument to bring me to this part of the world, and here, the consciousness of Puerto Rico has accepted me and inspired me to offer my message to the world at large. In Puerto Rico I started my mission. Puerto Rico is the harbinger of my mission.

We have already about forty Centres. Here in the pioneer Centre, in seven years, many have come and many have gone. Many will continue to go and, in their place, many will come. I wish to say that on the one hand I am extremely grateful at every moment to the Puerto Rican consciousness that saw something in me and helped me bring to the fore what Light I have. But again, I should say that the Puerto Rican consciousness, and also the consciousness of other countries, sometimes disappoints me or deserts me. This is no real threat for me, for my mission will remain on earth and it will be fulfilled.

Today is a most significant day for us, but I wish to say that my mission on earth is the Mission of the Supreme and not my mission. I am only a devoted instrument of His. He will fulfil His Mission whether I help Him or not.

But I wish to say, on the other hand, all of us, each individual, no matter when he came, whether seven days or seven years ago, is indispensable if he is devoted to the Supreme, to the Supreme's Cause. Otherwise, no one is indispensable; I am included and I stand at the top of the list. If I myself misbehave, then the Supreme has every right to kick me out of His cosmic Game. So today I wish to tell you that if you behave well, if you want to behave well, if you offer loving gratitude to the Supreme and give Him your whole existence, then you are indispensable. Otherwise not — I am not indispensable; your leader is not indispensable and no one is indispensable. The Mission of the Supreme will go on undisturbed, unperturbed because He is Omnipotent, He is Omniscient, He is Omnipresent. He gives you the opportunity to do the right thing, to see the right thing, to become, to grow into the right person. But if you refuse, then He has every right to change the instrument.

Here I started my journey and I started most soulfully. I wish to say that it is up to the present disciples either to offer success to the Supreme, to their Inner Pilot, or to offer the most deplorable defeat. Seven years… Seven is the most important number in the occult world. Seven has a special significance. I am sure you have read my book on the Vedas. There you will come to learn that in the inner worlds, the number seven is extremely significant. So today, on our seventh anniversary of the founding of this Centre, it is the day for us to either start to reach the loftiest pinnacle or else to climb down the Himalayas. Either we climb up the Himalayas with our sincere, devoted, surrendered effort, founded upon our inseparable love and oneness, or we slide down into division, deplorable conflict, internal conflict, doubt and jealousy. If these qualities reign supreme, then this Centre will meet the most deplorable fate.

This Centre actually has the right to claim the most coveted, most special gift from the Supreme, for it was this Centre, this divine spiritual place, Puerto Rico, that saw the Light first in me. If it continues to see something divine in me, then I am destined to take you all to the destined Goal without fail. And I wish to say that each one can be the most perfect instrument of the Supreme and for the Supreme. There is no one who cannot be a perfect instrument of the Supreme. Everyone has the opportunity and, at the same time, I wish to say that each of you has the capacity in abundant measure.

On behalf of the Supreme, I bless you all. When I bless you, I offer my deepest gratitude to all of those who are with us. And to those who are not present with us, to them I also offer my deepest gratitude. I wish to offer again my deepest gratitude to the divine, profound seeker in Sudha, for she was the instrument for me to offer myself not only to Puerto Rico but to the world at large.

Again, I should say to you all that my gratitude will remain permanent and eternal. Even if you leave tomorrow, what you have done to help the Centre, in any spiritual capacity, if even only for one day, if you have helped the Centre in a spiritual way, you will still have my deepest gratitude. This Centre has the possibility, has the capacity to be unique. This capacity, properly used, can make this Centre an unparalleled Centre; that is to say, each disciple will always remain in the hearts of our Realisation. When you offer your surrendered love and devotion, our whole existence is surcharged with divine joy and pride. But when there is something wrong in the disciples' consciousness, it is deplorable.

Now this is my fervent wish: that all this misunderstanding must come to an end. Not what "he did" or what "he said," not what "others said" but what you can do for the Supreme. If you spend your time thinking of others, if you are enjoying jealousy, if you are enjoying doubt, if you invite impurity to enter into you, if you think of other persons instead of thinking of the Supreme in me, then you have to feel that at that time I am not your Guru; your Guru is that other person of whom you are thinking. If you really want to remain with me, you are supposed to think of the Supreme in me twenty-four hours a day. If you keep thinking of the wrong things that other persons have done, then you have changed your Guru.

Today is the day for inner understanding of what we actually are. We do not know what we are: we are the chosen instruments of the Supreme. We are the divine warriors fighting against ignorance. I don't say "I" but "we". Together we can accomplish this divine task and offer divine success to the Supreme. The soul of Puerto Rico will always have my constant love and constant blessings, and when I think of Sudha, I offer her my soul's special immortal Blessings.

Now I wish to tell you a supreme secret: you have to feel that when I scold you, I am offering you a divine judgement and that you are divinely and supremely lucky. It is my heart that bleeds. If I don't scold you, if I withdraw, that means the death-blow to your spiritual life. My indifference is the death-blow to the spiritual seeker, to one who wants to stay in my Boat. If I become indifferent to a person, then that person is out of my Boat. But if I see that someone has done something wrong, then I feel that it is my bounden duty, that I am given the authority, to show divine judgement in the form of inner wisdom, in the form of severe scolding. I wish you to see that when I scold you, the scolding is nothing other than a disguised blessing to help you out of the ignorance-sea. But when indifference starts playing its role, then that is the end of a spiritual seeker. I wish to say that a scolding is a blessing, for in that scolding, I am shaking the tree of ignorance, and when ignorance has been removed once and for all, you will become the perfect instruments of the Supreme in me.

I want you all to be perfect and your perfection is the perfection of the Supreme Himself. I wish to say that here is the dawn of our inspiration, aspiration, realisation and manifestation. It is here in Puerto Rico that the ever-transcending inspiration, aspiration, realisation and manifestation must take place. Here I wish to express and offer my gratitude to you all for your pure dedication, pure aspiration and your pure surrender to the Will of the Supreme.

You started first: running fast, faster and fastest. You have the capacity to continue at the same speed to reach the ever-transcending Beyond. You have the heart, which is your most precious wealth, the most precious wealth of God, the Supreme. Some disciples elsewhere find it difficult to get rid of the mind, to listen to the dictates of the inner heart, which is close to the soul. You don't have that problem, so you are really lucky. You are all heart. But what comes and bothers you is the vital, the unlit, undisciplined vital. Your mind has already surrendered to the Will of the Supreme inside your heart. I wish to say that you are very lucky to have the heart. Now if you can conquer the vital or illumine the vital, then, on the strength of your sincere aspiration, you are bound to meet success: all of you, all of you! And, as I have said before, you have the gratitude-each one of you has the loving gratitude of the Supreme.

Talk to the Ponce Centre

This is the second time I have come to our Ponce Centre. Seven years ago, in 1966, when we opened up our San Juan Centre, it was our fervent hope, at that time, to have a Centre here in Ponce also. Ponce is known for its beautiful, conservative characteristics. It is a deeply religious city with many fine Catholic universities and institutions. The people of Ponce are also famous for their refinement and especially their civilised manners. The homes are beautiful, the streets are beautiful. Everything is tranquil and traditional in the old Spanish style.

The dream to have a Centre here took almost seven years to become a reality. But I wish to say that it is not when we start but, once we start, whether we are willing to run the fastest. Then God is bound to be most pleased with us. Again, it is my firm, inner conviction, that for each and every one, there is a choice and special hour for our soul's awakening. So when the hour strikes for me, or for anyone, that is absolutely the best time for our soul's awakening. When the same hour strikes for you, that is the best time for you in your soul's awakening.

So when the divine hour strikes, if we dare to come out of ignorance-night and want to live in wisdom-sun, in the soul's light, in the Eternal Light, then we are pleasing God and fulfilling God in His own Way.

In this world, everybody wants satisfaction. There is not a single human being who will say that he does not want or need satisfaction. No, we all need satisfaction, but each one has a different approach to acquiring satisfaction. Some of us feel that satisfaction lies in the fulfilment of desires, while others feel that satisfaction lies only in pleasing and fulfilling God in His own Way. We have already noticed that we have countless desires, and out of these countless desires, some have already been fulfilled. But we thought that when our desires were fulfilled, we would be extremely satisfied. We thought that since our wishes were fulfilled, we would be peaceful and satiated. But alas, to our frustration, satisfaction is not to be found anywhere.

The fulfilment of desire actually creates a tremendous sense of emptiness in us. We want fulfilment, we want to achieve satisfaction, but a time comes when we see that even if all our desires are fulfilled, even our teeming desires, we get no satisfaction, none at all. The fulfilment of desires can never bring about satisfaction. True satisfaction dawns on us only when we pray to God, meditate on God and try to please Him. Why? Because He is All-Satisfaction, both in Heaven and on earth.

So if we want to be satisfied, we have to satisfy the One Person, the One Being, the Almighty Father who is All-Satisfaction. He has Satisfaction; He is Satisfaction. Now in spiritual terms, we call this divine Fulfilment, and it takes place only by manifesting the inner divinity which we embody and which we are supposed to reveal and manifest.

So I wish to tell the followers of our path that if we really want to fulfil ourselves, then we have to fulfil the Supreme within us. It is simply impossible to please ourselves before pleasing the Supreme. Before we can imagine fulfilling ourselves, we have to fulfil God. It is like placing the cart before the horse. You cannot do that. First things first. God has to come first in our lives. By pleasing Him first and fulfilling Him in His own Way, that is, through our prayer and meditation, we will be able to fulfil ourselves.

As you know, our path is the path of love, devotion and surrender. This love is divine love. It is different from human love. With human love, we try to bind others and, to our wide surprise, before we have bound others, we see that they have bound us. We even see that the world has mercilessly bound us.

Now I wish to come to devotion. In the ordinary human life, we are attached to people. We show our tremendous attachment to others. Others, on their part, offer their attachment to us. Now with this attachment, we try to bind each other. We strangle one another with our attachment-power. But devotion is our devoted feeling towards something high, more illumining and more fulfilling than ourselves. This devotion we offer to the Supreme, who is infinitely more divine, more luminous and more fulfilling than any human being. That is why we offer our devotion only to the Absolute Supreme, who is our Inner Pilot.

Now in the ordinary human life the superior lords it over the inferior, like a master and his servant. The servant must always be at the feet of the master. He feels that if he does not satisfy the master, the master will dispense with his job; then he will be totally lost. Here the master holds tremendous power and the servant is helpless. He is as helpless as a little child. Therefore he always feels that he is under obligation to please his master. But in the spiritual life, our relationship to the Supreme is not the relationship of the master to the servant or the slave. Here the Supreme is the fully illumined, fully purified and fully divinised part of one's own obscure and impure part.

We have legs and we have a head. Let us feel that the head is our illumined part and the legs are our unillumined part. However, the legs do not feel that it is beneath their dignity to accept the wisdom of the head. The body has all the limbs and the head; they all go together. It is not beneath the dignity of the legs to be guided by a higher member of its own body. So in this way, we spiritual seekers should go to our highest part, our most illumined part, who is God Himself. Here there is no sense of separativity. It is all unity and oneness. We become wise in doing this. We approach our own highest part and bring down the Light from the Highest in order to transform the lowest in us, which is still unlit, obscure and impure. So in this way, we go to the Highest.

Right now we feel like a tiny drop. Yet if we enter into the mighty ocean, we lose our little earth-bound individuality. We become the vast, infinite ocean. Now we are all finite human beings, but when the finite enters into the Infinite, it loses its own individuality and personality and becomes the Infinite itself.

What is it that we are doing? We are praying to transcend the limitations of our finite existence. We are both finite and infinite, for we eventually enter into and grow into the Infinite, which is our forgotten Reality. We discover our infinite Reality only through our conscious prayer and meditation.

So here the dearest disciples will make the inner promise and the outer promise 24 hours a day that they are ready to leave everything for the Supreme. Naturally they become the brightest jewels in their Master's heart, and they become the highest pride of the Master's highest transcendental Consciousness.