Question: Do you tell seekers if they have been accepted as your disciples?

Sri Chinmoy: I always do that. There are many people whom I have not accepted. But if I don’t accept a particular person, that doesn’t mean that he is not meant for the spiritual life. Only he is not meant for my path. I have to be sincere. If somebody belongs to another boat, I cannot take that person in my boat. Spirituality is not like that. If I say to God, “Look, I have ten million disciples,” God may not be pleased with me. He will be pleased with me only if I take the disciples whom He wants me to take. He does not care for the number.

Suppose you are not meant for our path. The very fact that you have come here means that you are meant for some path, although it may not be my path. The moment an individual comes to any spiritual Master, it means that he is meant for a spiritual path. It may not be the path of the Master that he has seen. But there will be somebody whose path he is meant to follow.

Again, there are thousands of people who have seen me, who have not seen anything in me. According to their realisation they are absolutely right. Somebody else is meant for them. So, to come back to your question, if I feel that somebody is not meant for my path, immediately I will say so. It is not out of any unkindness that I will say this. No. I will accept only the ones that are meant for my boat, for God will be pleased with someone only when he goes to God with the right Master.