Section 4

Question: Ever Since I Began To Try...

Question: Ever since I began to try to meditate, after a few minutes of meditating I get a strange feeling, almost like tension in my head, and sometimes it is very distracting.

Sri Chinmoy: In that case, please feel that you do not have a head or a forehead; only feel that you have a heart. Try to focus all your attention on your heart. You belong to the heart; that is where your consciousness is, not in the head. Deliberately try to concentrate on your heart, not on anything else. You can even keep a mirror in front of you, and look at your own heart if you find it difficult to concentrate inwardly on your heart.

Question: How Can I Control My Thoughts?...

Question: How can I control my thoughts?

Sri Chinmoy: If these thoughts are not good thoughts, if they are not divine, if they are unhealthy, there are two ways to control them. One way is to feel that there is a room inside your mind, and naturally the room has a door. It is your room; so you can stand outside the door and not allow any thought to come in. You can keep the mind-room under lock and key and stand at the door Since it is your room, who can enter without your permission? But if you leave the door open, anybody can come in. Once they are inside it is difficult for you to throw them out, so you have to prevent them from coming in in the first place.

The other way is this: when a thought comes that is not pure, good or divine, then immediately repeat the word "Supreme" very fast. The Supreme is my Guru, your Guru, everybody's Guru. All those who have accepted our path must know that the Supreme is the real Guru. So repeat "Supreme" very fast, and each time you use the word "Supreme," please feel that you are creating a snake that will coil around the undivine thought and strangle it. If jealousy comes, say "Supreme" very fast, and you will see that around the jealous thought is a coil which will strangle the jealousy. Both ways are very effective. You can use whichever way satisfies you most.

Question: After Meditating I See Blue Spots....

Question: After meditating I see blue spots. What does that mean?

Sri Chinmoy: Very good. When you see blue light, it is very good. Blue represents Infinity and real spirituality. It is a very good thing; it means that you are getting special Grace and Blessings from God. Each colour has a special quality. Blue is Infinity; green is new life; red is divine Power. It is fine to see these colours or to see some divine beings or images or to feel some divine presence. But if you do not see those things, do not feel disappointed. Feel that God is preparing you to see Him and feel Him alone.

Question: What Does Gold Light Symbolise?...

Question: What does gold light symbolise?

Sri Chinmoy: Gold has two meanings. In the highest plane it means manifestation of the Highest. But when the gold touches the earth-consciousness, the colour changes; it does not remain pure gold. Then we call it half-manifestation. In the transcendental Height it is pure manifestation of the spirit, but when it touches the earth, it is half-manifestation. Usually I do not see that colour gold here. When I ask the disciples to bring me gold to paint with here in America, it is not real gold. Your gold colour is different from the gold colour I see in India or in the inner world. If it is real gold colour, it is divine manifestation.

Question: What Is The Supreme?...

Question: What is the Supreme?

Sri Chinmoy: It is up to the individual to define Him. If you want the Supreme to be infinite Light, infinite Peace, infinite Bliss, or some other formless quality, then He is that. But you may also define Him with form. You have seen children who are extremely beautiful, but you have to feel that He is infinitely more beautiful than the most beautiful child. It is up to you to decide the way you want to see Him: as infinite Peace, infinite Light, infinite Bliss, or as a Being more beautiful than the most beautiful child. Or you can see Him in both ways, as you can see both water and ice: with form it is ice and without form it is water. You can enjoy both, or whichever one pleases you more. The Supreme is God. I like the term "Supreme," but you can call Him by any name that pleases you. The Supreme is still the Supreme no matter what name you use.

Question: Can I Attain God-Realisation In This...

Question: Can I attain God-realisation in this lifetime?

Sri Chinmoy: It is quite possible to realise God in one incarnation. But you have to know how sincere you are and how close you have become to the Master inwardly. On the strength of our inner cry, aspiration and oneness, we realise God. If our inner vessel is large enough, then naturally we can receive God's Love, Blessings, Divinity and everything in boundless measure. But if our receptivity is not large enough, we cannot receive in boundless measure. It entirely depends on the strength of the disciple's inner cry and on the receptivity which he has cultivated during his meditation and prayer.

Question: The Fourth Day After I Started...

Question: The fourth day after I started meditating, I felt that my body was lifting and I was looking down on myself from the ceiling of my room.

Sri Chinmoy: What happened is that for a few seconds your soul left your body. You identified with the soul, while your physical consciousness remained below your soul-reality. Right now you do not see your soul-reality. The Divinity which your soul embodies you do not see. But when you become consciously one with the soul-reality, you will see it. What you experienced is very good. For a few seconds you identified with the soul-reality and not with the body-reality When you go one step further and bring the soul-reality into the body-reality, that is illumination.

Question: When I Meditate I Feel A...

Question: When I meditate I feel a sensation in the heart centre, and throughout the day I feel it. I don't know what it is.

Sri Chinmoy: To feel that kind of sensation is very good. It means that your body, vital and mind have become one with your heart's prayer. At that time the body is not thinking of eating or sleeping, the vital is not thinking of jumping, the mind is not doubting. When the body, vital and mind become one with the heart's cry, you feel that sensation it is very good. The body does not want to sleep, the vital does not want to jump, the mind does not want to doubt; all of the being is supporting the heart. It is not an actual physical sensation you are getting but a kind of subtle joy and delight.

Question: What Is The Best Way For...

If you are afraid of them, you will always be careful; you will be conscious of why and how they attack you. When these forces attack, they attack the physical mind first. Then they come to the vital, then to the gross physical. Once somebody has hurt you, then you will remember your suffering and you will always try to be on the alert. If necessity demands, you will think of the severe torture you have gone through. Either by constantly remembering the suffering that the unpleasant forces have caused you, or by hating them, you will be able to get rid of them. You will hate only the undivine forces, not the person who embodies them or who has become a victim to them. The forces you can hate, but not the person who has the wrong forces, because he may have many good forces, too. After all, he is also a child of God. Slowly and steadily he will also become perfect one day.

The other way is this: when undivine forces come, please feel that you are a child and that each unpleasant force is like a grain of sand. When your body is full of sand, you have to wash it, cleanse it. Since you are a child, either you do not have the capacity or you do not have the willingness to clean your body. But you know that you have a spiritual father who is more than ready to clean and purify you. When a child sees that his body is full of sand, he runs towards his mother or his father. Then, it is only a matter of a few seconds or minutes before he becomes pure and clean again. After a few days, he may again become covered with sand; so again he will run to the right person. Gradually, as he becomes mature, his father and mother will tell him, "My son, don't do this. Don't play with dirt. You don't want to be dirty and impure all the time. Try to remain clean and pure." The child listens eventually. He does not play with mud, clay and sand forever. So these are the two most effective ways to get rid of the unpleasant forces that assail you or any human being.

Question: I Would Like To Raise The...

Question: I would like to raise the essence of my spirit beyond this universe, to the highest plateau attainable. I would also like to join my spirit with the essence and the meaning of life. I am looking for the meaning of life.

Sri Chinmoy: There are two lives. One is our ordinary earth-bound life, which lasts for sixty, seventy or eighty years. Afterwards, we enter into the world of death where we take a short rest or a long rest, depending on God's Will, and again come back into the world-arena. Then again, there is the eternal Life. I believe you are referring to the eternal Life, the Life that is universal, the Life that is immortal. If you would like to embody that eternal and immortal Life here on earth, then you have to do so entirely in the realm of consciousness. As a seeker, you will try to embody the universal Consciousness consciously inside you. Inside the universal Consciousness you will be able to feel the eternal and immortal Life.

Life-even the eternal, immortal Life-has to be embodied by something. In order to embody the eternal Life in your consciousness, or to have a free access to the eternal Life, you have to become consciously aware of your consciousness, which connects the finite and the infinite. When we have the aspiration to raise our consciousness to the highest possible height, then we have to know what our first and foremost need or choice is. Our foremost need here is constant awareness of our aspiring consciousness.

Question: Sir, I Have Done Some Reading,...

Question: Sir, I have done some reading, and I have come across terms that I am sure you know. One is 'Kundalini', and the other is 'Siddhi'. I am wondering what these two terms mean. I don't seem to understand them.

Sri Chinmoy: Kundalini is a process of yoga. Yoga means conscious union with God. Inside our subtle body there are six major psychic centres. When we open these centres, we get occult powers. The process that we follow in order to open them is called kundalini, or kundalini yoga.

The other Sanskrit word you are mentioning is 'siddhi'. It means spiritual power or spiritual attainments. When you get this spiritual power, you can use it according to your sweet will. You can call it spiritual power or occult power. Many people practise kundalini yoga in order to achieve occult powers. If you can open up any psychic centre, you can get the powers that are hidden inside that centre.

Question: Sometimes I Feel Very Confused....

Question: Sometimes I feel very confused. When I concentrate and go deeper, I feel it is all for a purpose; it is all part of a movement. I sense a calmness somewhere deep inside. Is this a good thing, or am I deceiving myself?

Sri Chinmoy: No, you are not deceiving yourself. It is absolutely true that we belong to the universal Reality. It is like a tree. A tree has a trunk, it has branches, it has flowers and leaves. If I am a leaf, I still know that I belong to the source, the tree; and along with me I know there are countless other leaves and countless flowers. We have a big family of leaves, flowers, fruits and branches; but the family is all part of the cosmic tree. There are countless souls growing on this tree. Each soul is destined to do something special for the Absolute Supreme. The movement that you see or feel within you is the cosmic movement that each seeker eventually has to see and feel for he himself has chosen to take a conscious part in this Cosmic Game.

Question: What Will It Be Like When...

Question: What will it be like when divinity is more manifested?

Sri Chinmoy: Treachery will go away, first of all. Then, people will think more of one another and less of themselves, as a spiritual Master does. I can meditate all the time for myself, but I don't do that. Instead, I concentrate on my disciples; I help them and others who want and need my light. In this way I serve them, and I get joy. As long as I am of service, I am fulfilling my role on earth. But right now, It is not like that with everybody. When divinity is more manifested, people will offer themselves more for the cause of others than for themselves. Now you will say, "If one is not realised, how can he help others?" But you can help, according to your own achievement. Always we have to be of service to those who need us. When divinity is more manifested, each one will offer himself to the service of mankind and each one will have something to receive which he has not yet manifested.

Question: Is The Krishna Mantra Effective?...

Question: Is the Krishna mantra effective?

Sri Chinmoy: Yes, if you have faith in it. Whatever you have faith in is effective. Again, even if you do not have faith in a particular Master, he may be able to direct many to the goal nevertheless.

Question: Can You Explain God-Consciousness?...

Question: Can you explain God-consciousness?

Sri Chinmoy: We cannot express or explain these higher states of consciousness. Go deep within and feel and experience. It is not a matter of explanation but of realisation. One's highest experience can never be expressed in words. As soon as you have to explain, you have to come down, and in order to convince, you have to come down further.

Question: How Can We Overcome Anger?...

Question: How can we overcome anger?

Sri Chinmoy: We have to know what we get from anger: frustration, depression and destruction. We have come into the world to transform it. If we see something wrong, we have to transform it. But by breaking, we cannot build. Gradual transformation is the way. Take anger as a thief. If we know that somebody is a thief, we will not want to let the thief enter into us and steal all our love and other inner wealth. Our guard is our aspiration. When anger assails us, we have to cry inwardly for deeper aspiration. If we can immediately aspire, the guard will come to our rescue, and we will be able to save our most precious jewel, love, from anger the thief.

Question: If One Is Short, Is It...

Question: If one is short, is it to make one humble?

Sri Chinmoy: Very often, when one is deprived of something, he becomes haughty. Hostile forces attack. For a time he may feel sad and miserable, but humility does not come. Humiliation does not bring humility. Many short people are very rude and arrogant.

Question: Why Is It So Hard To...

Question: Why is it so hard to surrender?

Sri Chinmoy: Because man has not yet understood the real meaning of spiritual surrender. Human surrender we know, and it shocks us. But human and divine surrender are two totally different things. In ordinary surrender, we see that we lose our individuality and personality. But in the spiritual life, it is totally different. In the spiritual life we see an ocean and a tiny drop. When the drop merges with the ocean, with our third eye we see that the drop has become the ocean itself.

On 4 February 1977 Sri Chinmoy inaugurated a new Centre in the New York area. Following is a transcription of what he said to the group of about 25 seekers who wished to become members of the new Green Centre.

The following questions were asked by disciples of Sri Chinmoy's Blue Centre on 11 February 1977.

Sri Chinmoy: Please meditate for one minute and then tell me what is the most difficult thing for you to accomplish or conquer in your life, except God-realisation. God-realisation you are aiming at, but right now it is out of the question. But if you have jealousy, doubt or whatever, please tell me. The answer I give will be applicable especially to you.

GENERAL QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

The following questions were answered on 2 March 1977 at Rockland County Community College in Suffern, New York.