Question: Guru, how do we get so fooled that we don't know exactly when we lose some divine qualities?

Sri Chinmoy: When you lose something, for a few days you feel a little sad. Then, afterwards, the thing that you lost does not come to your physical mind. You feel that you did not have that very thing or that the thing which you lost was not important.

In this world people are so clever in deceiving themselves. They achieve something today and they are satisfied. Then they lose that thing and still they are satisfied. We think this means that we are perfect. But here we have to know that it is not true. It means that we don't have aspiration, that we are like absolutely ordinary human beings. They say, "If you get something, well and good; if you don't get something, well and good." This is the attitude on the lowest plane, where there is no aspiration. When there is no aspiration, people lead a very ordinary life. If one day they get a morsel of food, they are satisfied; another day, if they don't get food, again they will accept this.

But spiritual people aspire to go high, higher, highest, and then they surrender to God's Will. If God feels that they should wait at one point for a few days before climbing up still higher, then they wait. But there is a great difference between these people and absolutely undivine people who are not aspiring at all. The undivine people are happy; but their happiness is the happiness of inconscience, where there is no light. Your happiness will come when you go up high, higher, highest and then surrender yourself to God's Will. When you surrender to God's Will, God Himself will take care of your life.

Just think of where you were six months ago, eight months ago, one year ago. Immediately you will see that you have lost the intense feeling that you had for the inner life when you first began. But the spiritual life should not be like that. You have to feel that every day means new hope, new life. The journey is eternal. Every day you have to feel that there is something new to achieve, something new to grow into. Every day, when morning dawns, feel that you have something new to accomplish. You are running and every day you are advancing one step ahead. You are always in the process of running in the inner life. Each day please feel that you have to cover one metre more.