Question: Do you believe that a human being can realise God and become one with Him here on this material plane, which is so ignorant and dark?

Sri Chinmoy: On the one hand, the planet earth is obscure, ignorant, inconscient; it does not care for anything divine. On the other hand, it has the tremendous inner urge to expand and transcend. God is aspiring through the earth-consciousness. Earth is the only place for people who want to be rich, either on the physical plane or on the spiritual plane. The life of desire and the life of aspiration are both possible on earth. Other worlds are for static enjoyment. In other worlds the beings are satisfied with what they have already achieved, whereas here nobody is really satisfied with what he has achieved. Dissatisfaction does not mean that we are angry with somebody or angry with the world. No! Dissatisfaction means that we have constant aspiration to go beyond and beyond. If we have a little light, we want to have more light, abundant light, infinite Light.

According to our Indian tradition, there are thousands of cosmic gods, and there are as many presiding deities as there are human beings. These presiding deities and gods remain in higher worlds — the vital world, the intuitive world or some higher plane. Right now they have more power, more capacity than we have, and they are satisfied with what they have. They do not want to go one inch beyond. But still, their capacities are limited in comparison with the Light, Bliss and Power of the Supreme. When we are liberated and realised, when we are consciously one with the Supreme’s Consciousness, we will have infinitely more capacity than the deities and cosmic gods.

When the creation started, the souls that wanted to make progress followed a different path. They wanted the ultimate Truth, the infinite Truth. Even the cosmic gods, if they want to achieve infinite Peace, Light and Bliss, must come down to earth in human form and then realise God on the strength of their absolute love, devotion and surrender. Only here, in the physical body, can we pray and meditate and realise the Highest. Only this planet is in evolution. Evolution means constant progress, constant achievement. When one wants to make progress, when one wants to go beyond, then this is the place to come. It is here alone that God must be realised, revealed and manifested.