Question: It seems that Bengalis can realise God without the guidance of anybody.

Sri Chinmoy: Swami Vivekananda once said that in Bengal Avatars grow like mushrooms. All are Avatars! Even in Calcutta, there are so many people who say, “Please, please come and see my Guru. He is a God-realised soul!” There, everybody’s Guru is God-realised. And in East Bengal, where I come from, Avatars grow like mushrooms. We are all mushrooms!

The way Bengalis describe the heart in their writings, believe me, others have not done. From the writings you can see it. Forget about everything else; when Bengalis use the term ‘mother’, you will see tears in their hearts. No matter how many times Bengali children call their mother, the mother’s heart will be melted.

If we live in the heart, no matter how many times we make mistakes, God readily forgives us. But when we are all the time in the mind, God may not tolerate our mistakes because there is very little light in the mind. When a child makes mistakes, hundreds of times the parents are ready to forgive him; but when a grown-up makes mistakes more than two or three times, it is much more difficult to tolerate. Why? Because the mind always thinks that it is superior. A child never thinks he is superior. That is why, no matter how many times he makes mistakes, his parents are ready to forgive him. They feel that he is only a child.