Question: I understand that Mr. Gorbachev is now in a time of trial. Circumstances around him are not favourable. At this crucial time for him, do you have any advice for him?

Sri Chinmoy: I do not dare to give him any advice, for he does not need any advice, from me or from anybody else. What he has within himself is more than sufficient to prove to the world that he is by far the best political leader plus peace-lover on earth. What he has is confidence. This confidence is coming from the very, very depths of his heart. Because of this confidence, his is not the statement of monarchs who say, “I came and I conquered.” No, his statement is, “I came and I loved.” His confidence is totally different. His confidence tells us that he loves the world and he wants to become part and parcel of the world.

Many great kings, emperors and monarchs of the past used to express their confidence by saying, “I came and I conquered.” That kind of theory they had. But President Gorbachev says, “I have come into the world to love you and to become one with you, and together we shall bring about a better world.” The vision of his perestroika is to think in a new way, to feel in a new way and to see the world with new eyes, to feel the world with a new heart, and to become inseparably one with the success and progress of the new world.

I am happy to tell you that I have already written three books about President Gorbachev, and one more book that is in now in preparation will come out shortly. This is my soulful appreciation and prayerful admiration for what he has done for the world at large. How many East European countries, how many people on earth — countless people — he has made happy! Perhaps he could not make all his countrymen happy, but he has made countless people in Eastern Europe happy.

Today there is only one Germany. There is no more East Germany and West Germany; it is all one. Similarly, President Gorbachev liberated Poland, Hungary and Czechoslovakia. I have students all over the world. I know that to make even one student happy is a Herculean task. In spite of my best intentions, I find it so difficult to make them happy. But in Germany, for example, how many families which were doomed to destruction, doomed to disappointment, he has brought together! Family members are now together, whereas before they were completely separated. The Berlin Wall is no more; there is only one heart.

What President Gorbachev has done for humanity is far beyond our imagination. It far exceeds anybody else’s achievement. Over the centuries, people have achieved many, many things; but history will bear witness to the fact that there was one person on earth who ended the Cold War, who gave us a new hope: that we could depend on each other, we could trust each other, we could walk and run together. That was President Gorbachev. He made us feel that there should be no fear, no doubt in our lives; we belong to a oneness-world-family.

One year ago President Gorbachev came to Japan and he said many, many nice things about Japan. What he said came from the very depths of his heart. It was not just because he happened to be in Japan. If you come to a new country, you express appreciation, whether you feel it or not; but in his case, he definitely felt it. And it was his most sincere feeling that he expressed in words and offered to the Japanese people. I am happy that he will soon be visiting Japan again. I am sure that he and Japan will be of mutual help to each other.