Question: You have written: "Sri Krishna meditated and became God the divine Light. Christ meditated and became God the divine Compassion. God wants us to meditate to become God the divine Life." Why do you not also include Abraham, Moses and Mohammed here?

Sri Chinmoy: Indeed, Abraham, Moses and Mohammed were also God’s representatives on earth. God’s conscious servants are like a family with many members. Suppose there is a family with ten members, who are all endowed with exceptional musical talents. You happen to be one of the brothers, and you give preference to some of your brothers and sisters over others because of your own inner feelings. You are in no way saying that the ones you prefer are the only musicians in the family, whereas the others are not musicians at all. You are just more fond of some of your brothers and sisters than of others. Another person will give more importance to different members of the family. It is only that I like or love this person more, while you may like or love somebody else more. Each of us has our own inner feelings and preference.

Again, it is also true that even among talented musicians, all of them do not have the same extraordinary talents. All may be excellent players, but some are definitely more talented than others. Even God-realised Masters are not all of the same calibre. Right in front of you, let us say, is the God-realisation-tree. I may have come with greatest difficulty from a remote place to sit at the foot of the tree. Another person not only has come to the same tree but also has climbed up the tree to an appreciable height. A third person has climbed up the highest branches. He has reached the highest, but he is not coming down again since he is afraid of being devoured by the ignorance-tiger roaming around the foot of the tree. Then there is a fourth person who is very brave. Not only has he climbed up to the highest but he also has picked quite a few most delicious fruits and brought them down to the hungry truth-seekers and God-lovers who were watching him with utmost love, joy and admiration.

Needless to say, all four are definitely God-realised souls. The one who has reached the foot of the realisation-tree is a God-realised soul. The one who has climbed up to an appreciable height is a God-realised soul, and the one who has climbed up and then climbed down to share the fruits with others is also a God-realised soul. But in terms of God-manifestation, they are not the same.