Section 1

Simplicity, Sincerity, Purity And Divinity

On 21 August 1976 Sri Chinmoy conducted a seven-hour public meditation at All Angels Church in Manhattan. At the beginning of the second session, he asked those present to meditate on simplicity, sincerity, purity and divinity. These are his remarks that day.

Simplicity. Simplicity is the soul, and the soul is the direct representative of God. For a few minutes, let us feel that we do not have a body, a vital, a mind or even a heart. What we have now and what we are is the soul alone, the direct representative of God. Please try to feel that you have become the soul. Do not give any form to this idea. Just repeat in silence, "soul, soul, soul," and feel that you have become a conscious and direct representative of God.

Sincerity. We all know what sincerity is. In the outer world, telling the truth is the highest form of sincerity. In the inner world, sincerity is seeing the Truth through God's Eye, feeling the Truth through God's Heart and growing into the Truth of God's transcendental Vision and universal Reality. This is inner sincerity. Now let us feel that we have grown into inner sincerity and that we are seeing everything through God's Vision, feeling everything through God's Heart and growing into God's transcendental Vision and universal Reality. Let us become inner sincerity.

Humility. There are many roads that lead to God-realisation, to the ultimate Truth; but the path of humility is the short-cut. We start on the road of our desire-life. That is the longest road. Then we become half spiritual-half desire and half aspiration. This road is not as long as the road of desire alone. The next road is the road of aspiration only. That road is a very short one, and humility will shorten it still more.

In the inner world, humility always reminds us of what we were previously, of what we are now and of what we are going to become. It was by virtue of our humility that we accepted the spiritual life. Humility is also eager to complete the game.

Each individual has two realities: the higher and the lower. The lower cherishes a sense of separateness from the higher, whereas the higher feels that without the lower it is incomplete. But it is the lower that has to grow into the higher. When we want to grow into the higher reality, we immediately see how far away we are. But if we are really humble in the inner world, then we make immediate progress. Then, when we dive deep within, we see how far we were six months ago and how much nearer we now are to divinity. We also see how different we are from our friends of the past. We are not criticising them; but we see that our friends have not cultivated the inner cry to grow into divinity, into a higher consciousness.

It is humility that cultivates within us the eagerness to know and to grow into our higher reality. Everything is within us. But just because we are humble, the higher reality gets the opportunity to fulfil itself through us. The moment we lose our humility, we feel that we have nothing worth showing, that we have nothing that can be of any use to God. Let us meditate on our sincere inner humility for a few minutes.

Purity. In a broad sense, physical purity is cleanliness, vital purity is an open heart and mental purity is the absence of undivine or unhealthy thoughts. But if we really want to know what purity is, our gratitude-heart can tell us what it is. In the inner world, gratitude is the only purity. It is through gratitude, constant gratitude to the Supreme in us, that we expand our consciousness and come to know our higher vision and reality. If we can sow the seed of gratitude, it will germinate and grow into a tiny plant and then into a giant banyan tree. Then, under this huge banyan tree, in our gratitude-heart thousands of seekers will be able to take shelter and grow into their own divinity.

Our gratitude-heart is the pioneer-seeker, the path-finder, the God-server. For a few minutes, let us feel that what we are and eternally will become is nothing but a gratitude-heart.

Divinity. As we all know, a flower signifies beauty. Beauty is simplicity. Beauty is sincerity. Beauty is humility. Beauty is purity. Beauty is divinity.

What is divinity? It is the supreme form of art. It is the Supreme Art within each individual, created for God's sake. Unless and until we have discovered this truth, we shall not be able to become inseparably one with God's Will. If we do not become one with God's Will constantly and incessantly, then the animal and the human in us may forgive us. They can forgive us because they are not constantly crying for divinity. They say, "You tried and you failed. It is a difficult task, so whatever you have done is enough. Whatever divinity you have attained is more than enough for us." God Himself will undoubtedly forgive us as well, because He is all Compassion. But the evolving divinity within us will not forgive us. Our own soul inside us will not forgive us. Our inner mounting flame, our utmost sincere cry, will not forgive us. It cannot forgive us, for to it, forgiveness is nothing short of siding with ignorance.

The animal in us and the human in us are very clever. They do not consciously, soulfully or constantly care for divinity. At times they become one with divinity, but at other times they want to preserve their sense of separativity. But the evolving divinity within us will never find any satisfaction unless and until we can become inseparably one with God's will. For this reason, the evolving divinity is very, very strict with our spiritual life or inner life, which is our real existence.

The vital, the mind and the body are subordinate realities. The soul is the most important reality. The vital, mind and body are the younger members of the family. The soul is the eldest member, and God has asked it to take care of the younger members as its bounden duty. Unfortunately, the other members do not listen to it. When they do not listen to the soul, the soul cannot manifest its divinity, and it has to come into the world-arena again and again to manifest God's will.

The soul cannot forgive the younger members of the family when they do not listen to it because the soul has a task to accomplish for God. If the soul allows its family to be careless, then the soul will not be able to fulfil God's Vision on earth. God, out of His infinite Bounty, will forgive the body, vital and mind because He deals with Eternity. But the soul knows that each human incarnation is the golden opportunity to manifest God in and through the physical, vital and mental consciousness. Each second that the body, vital and mind do not listen to it is a missed opportunity. When an opportunity is missed, the soul feels that God-manifestation is a far cry and the road, instead of becoming shorter, is lengthened. Again, each second that the younger members take the side of Truth and Light, a new world of higher Truth, brighter Divinity and more illumining Immortality dawns on earth.

The spiritual life is the life of the soul. We have to become consciously one with our soul. It is only when we feel our oneness with the soul that true satisfaction can dawn in our lives. We can never be truly satisfied with our own outer satisfaction. We can only be permanently happy when we satisfy God in God's own Way. God is our highest Reality. The more we listen to the soul within us, the more we grow into the highest Reality within us, and only then can we be eternally satisfied.

Now let us meditate on divinity, our own highest inner divinity.

A Seeker

Sri Chinmoy gave the following talk at the Virginia Beach Convention Centre in Virginia Beach on 29 January 1978.

A seeker is a divine hero. His is the life of conquest, outer and inner. In his outer life he conquers teeming temptations every single day. In his inner life he conquers devastating doubts every single day.

A seeker is he who fulfils his soulful promises both to Heaven and to earth. His self-giving role fulfils his promise to Heaven, His self-ascending role fulfils his promise to earth. To give is to become. To ascend is to become. He gives what he has and what he is, and eventually he sees and grows into the universal Reality. He ascends with his heart's devotedness-cry and his life's detachment-smile, and thus he eventually sees and grows into the transcendental Reality.

Unlike most human beings, a seeker knows and feels that every moment is God's choice Hour. He wants to manifest on earth at every moment good thoughts, illumining ideas and fulfilling love. He wants to manifest God-thought, God-will and God-love here on earth. At the same time, he wants to offer his heart's soulful gratitude unreservedly to Heaven, for he knows that all his achievements here on earth are due to direct inspiration and blessingful guidance from above

A seeker-hero equally loves both God the Creator and God the creation. He loves God the Creator with his heart's ever-mounting cry. He loves God the creation with his life's ever-serving readiness. His heart is inseparably one with the Vision of God the Creator. His life is inseparably one with the manifestation of God the creation.

A seeker is a hero-warrior. He conquers himself in order to become man the blossoming God. He conquers God the infinite Compassion in order to become God the fulfilling man on earth.

O Senior Citizens!

On 18 January 1976, Annam Brahma restaurant hosted a vegetarian banquet for senior citizens from the Jamaica area. Each guest received a copy of the following message and a red rose from Sri Chinmoy.

O senior citizens! O esteemed brothers and sisters! Welcome! Congratulations!Do you know what you divinely have? You have wisdom-light.

Do you know what you supremely are? You are patience-perfection.

Your wisdom-light tells us that each fleeting second is of paramount importance; nay, each second is invaluable. Your patience-perfection tells us that we are of Eternity's silence vision and for Eternity's sound-reality. Eternity is at our disposal. Eternity reminds us of the forgotten truth: "Slow and steady wins the race." Slowly, steadily and unerringly we shall walk along Eternity's Road. Eternity's ever-transcending Goal is our heart's only choice.

You are at Annam Brahma "Annam Brahma" means "Food is God." The human in us eats to live, just for the sake of remaining alive. The divine in us eats to live, so that it can realise, reveal and manifest God-Beauty and God-Love in all that we say, do and become.

O senior citizens, you are our wise pioneers. You are our beckoning lights. To you we devotedly offer what we have: love and concern. To us you lovingly offer what you have: blessing and compassion. Our love and concern and your blessing and compassion, both Mother Earth and Father Heaven shall eternally treasure.

O senior citizens, you are the glorious heights of our world family. To you we offer our service-trees. To you we offer our oneness-fruits.

The Inner Wealth

Sri Chinmoy gave the following talk to a small gathering of disciples at his home on 2 March 1980.

The inner wealth is faith. The divine wealth is love. The supreme wealth is oneness.

Faith: If the seeker has faith in himself, then he is safe. If the same seeker has faith in God, then the seeker is not only safe but also progressive. When the seeker has faith in himself, he does not permit undivine thoughts to grow in his life or in his being. If he notices some undivine thoughts, he just uproots the tree that has produced these undivine thought-fruits. When he has faith in himself, he allows only the good thoughts to enter into him, and he eventually grows a tree that produces only good thought-fruits, divine thought-fruits.

Love: Love is self-giving. When the seeker gives of himself, what he has and what he is, then God also gives that particular seeker what He has and what He is. What the seeker has is a cry, and what the seeker is is a promise. What God has is a smile, and what God is is an assurance. When the seeker cries, God immediately gives him a smile. When the seeker makes a promise, God assures the seeker that he will be able to fulfil that promise.

Oneness: Oneness is composed of oldness, sweetness and newness. Sweetness, when it is intensified, becomes fondness. Sweetness is the hyphen or connecting link between oldness and newness. Oldness is something meaningful and fruitful and, at the same time, lasting. It is a meaningful and fruitful thing which has a lasting breath. Oldness embodies meaningfulness. It is something that has meaning and is worth keeping, something that encourages us to go forward, rather than stay where we are. Newness is something inspiring and aspiring, illumining and fulfilling. Newness embodies inspiration, aspiration, illumination and fulfilment, continuous fulfilment.

The human or finite wealth is one thing, and the divine or infinite Wealth is something entirely different. The human or finite wealth wants to be appreciated, admired and adored, and nothing else. If we get appreciation from humanity, if we get admiration from humanity, if we get adoration from humanity, then we feel that we do not need anything else in our life. We feel that we have got all the world's wealth. This wealth that we feel we have is the human wealth or the finite wealth.

The divine or infinite Wealth starts with God's Compassion. It progresses until it has achieved, first, a free access to His inner Existence, then a most complete intimacy or oneness with His inner Will and finally, ecstasy or delight, which is the universal and transcendental Reality which God Himself is. Compassion, free access to God's inner Existence, intimacy with His Will and divine delight-these make up the true divine Wealth.

Inside this divine Wealth, three things abide: aspiration, perfection and satisfaction. Aspiration means the eagerness to grow in whichever way the Supreme wants the seeker to grow. Perfection means to please God in His own Way. Satisfaction means to see the inner beauty in aspiration and transcending perfection. Aspiration itself is beauty, and perfection itself is beauty. This beauty is not the physical beauty, which is skin deep, but the beauty of infinite Light and infinite Delight. This beauty is itself nothing but the divine Wealth.

Before one enters into the spiritual life, one wants only the mundane, finite and human wealth: appreciation, admiration and adoration. When one enters deeply into the spiritual life, one aspires only for the infinite, divine Wealth. But when one is a beginner in the spiritual life, one tries to have both, which is simply impossible. You cannot have both night and day. Either you have to be in day or you have to be in night. For one fleeting second, because of his sincerity and inner cry, the beginner tries to get the divine Wealth, and then for 23 hours and 59 seconds the same seeker will cry for human wealth. As the seeker goes farther and makes more progress in his inner life through his intense prayer and soulful meditation, gradually he will cry more and more for the inner wealth.

When the seeker reaches the first-class level, the inner hurdles become higher and more difficult-almost insurmountable. But those few seekers who are going to make continuous progress in the inner life will see that the desire for human wealth will fade away. For they see that human wealth itself will not last; it is bound to fade away. But divine Wealth, even in infinitesimal measure, is bound to last forever.

The Supreme tells the inmost class of seekers, "If you want Me as the Infinite, if you want Me as the Eternal, if you want Me as the Immortal, if you want Me only in your soul, in your heart, in your mind, in your vital, in your body, in your earth-consciousness and in your Heaven-consciousness, then My infinite Wealth alone will be of value to you. Otherwise, the worldly appreciation, the worldly wealth, will satisfy you, but this satisfaction will last only for a fleeting second.

Always we have to make a choice between human wealth and divine Wealth. If we care for the inner wealth, then our life will be meaningful, soulful and fruitful. At every moment in our life we will see a bridge between Heaven and earth. Not Heaven and Hell, mind you! I am saying Heaven and earth. Earth's cry, which is so sweet, runs across a bridge and reaches Heaven's smile. And Heaven's smile, which is so beautiful, runs across a bridge and touches earth's cry. A continuous divine game goes on in the seeker's life when the seeker feels the conscious need for the inner wealth.

The outer wealth, the human wealth, will not last. Nothing will remain of the finite wealth. Death will level it. But death does not dare to touch the inner wealth, which is God's Compassion, free access to Him, intimacy with His Will, ecstasy or delight, aspiration, perfection and satisfaction: your satisfaction in Him and His Satisfaction in you. If you are satisfied with God and God is satisfied with you, then you are singing and playing with infinity's Beauty and dancing in Eternity's Garden at the foot of Immortality's Tree.

Perfection

A child grows. At first he cannot even crawl. Then there comes a time when he can crawl. At that time, he feels that he has achieved perfection. When he starts walking, he again feels that he has achieved perfection. Finally he runs fast, faster, fastest, and once more this is his perfection. Real perfection is not a static goal. No, real perfection is progress, continuous progress. In the spiritual life, the day that we start meditating, even if it is only for a fleeting second, that day is the beginning of our progress. Each time we come one step out of ignorance and a new vision dawns, it is perfection. Anything that lifts up our consciousness is our perfection. Perfection is continuous progress-inner and higher progress.

Right now we are earth-bound. But we don't want to remain bound; we want to become free. We want to be in the Infinite, with the Infinite and for the Infinite. Little by little, or all of a sudden, we shall enter into Infinity itself. When we enter into Infinity, we will see that Infinity has no end. In Infinity we will feel that the Supreme Himself is constantly transcending His own Reality; the Supreme Himself is continuously progressing. If we say that God is everything, that God is infinite, this is just a mental idea. We are confining ourselves to a limited conception of God. But if we say that He is always transcending Himself, then we don't bind Him. If He is going beyond, beyond, then how can we bind Him?