Question: I would like you to describe for us the Smile of the Supreme.

Sri Chinmoy: When the Supreme is in unmanifested form, He is just a Face, but when He is manifested or when He wants to manifest Himself, He has to give out a smile. He is alive, He is functioning, He is dynamic, He is active. This we can know only when we see a smile dawn on His Face. When we speak of the Supreme, we have to know that He is both masculine and feminine. It is very difficult to comprehend this with our human mind. In His masculine Form He is static; He is beyond manifestation, although He does come into manifestation. But when He comes into manifestation, it is through His feminine Form. In our Indian terminology that feminine Form is called Prakriti, or the Nature-Force or the Mother aspect of the Supreme. When the Nature-Force operates in the physical world, we see activity in the Being of the Supreme. And when that activity takes place, we see spontaneous joy all over the Supreme's manifested Form. This joy expresses itself most effectively on the Face of the Supreme in a smile. So we can say that the Living-Force or the Creativity of the Supreme is His Smile. That smile is the very Breath of the Universal Consciousness, as well as the Breath of the Supreme Himself. If there is no smile, there is no breath; and if there is no breath, then the creation remains unmanifested. So in the very Smile of the Supreme the creation starts functioning.