Question: Guru, does the ultimate goal of art and the artist lie in expressing the purest spirituality?

Sri Chinmoy: Absolutely! The ultimate goal lies only in pure spirituality. Spirituality here means Infinity, Eternity and Immortality. Spirituality is one’s own reality. If one does not ultimately reach his own reality, then he is always a failure. So the ultimate goal of any artist, no matter what kind of artist he is, is spirituality — if he has any ultimate goal as such. That is because spirituality is the only reality which embodies Infinity, Eternity and Immortality. The artist can achieve that goal through his artistic expression while remaining in the highest consciousness. Spirituality does not mean staying inside a cave or on top of the Himalayas. It does not mean praying and meditating in some corner. No! Spirituality means the divine fulfilment of life, the divine revelation and divine manifestation of life. Life in its full blossom is called spirituality. Life has to be blossomed petal by petal and then, when it becomes a real flower, it is called spirituality. The divine smile in us, the Smile of the Supreme, has to be manifested. When it is manifested, we call it spirituality. Spirituality means accepting life in every form and seeing at every second the Creator creating and dancing in each action. Every second we have to feel that inside us the Supreme is dancing. He is dancing because He is achieving something and becoming something in and through us.