Question: Why would God take the trouble to compel slackers like myself to accept the inner life?

Sri Chinmoy: We know that in the process of evolution, we came from the mineral life to the plant life, then to the animal kingdom and finally to the human consciousness. Now God wants a different being to descend on earth or to take incarnation. This being we can call Divine Man or Superman. So now God is trying to bring this being into the manifestation. With those who are consciously abiding by God’s Will, God is happy and content. But the hour will come when God sees that some people have the potentiality and yet are neglecting this potentiality, which has been given by God Himself. He says, “Let the instrument himself consciously aspire.” Then a day comes when God says, “I have given him the potentiality, the capacity, everything. Even then, there is no conscious striving, no aspiration, no prayer. Then let Me use force.” When God uses force, it is a kind of blow which forces the person to come out of his usual unaspiring consciousness.

People are coming here to this Centre. People are going to churches, temples and synagogues. They are praying or meditating at home. They are doing all this consciously. Inside they are feeling an inner urge to move forward, to grow. They feel that they have some inner awareness, some inner capacity. God sees and observes and God is pleased with them. But when God sees that this same potentiality which He has implanted in all is not being utilised by some, He says to them, “No, I won’t allow you to lag behind. You must follow those who are consciously awakened.” And for that, He compels them.

The inner, divine qualities or the spiritual quintessence that you have and that somebody else has do not lead to the same results. In your case, you are awakened and you are happy and God is happy. You are marching. The other fellow who has the capacity and potentiality is sleeping. He is not aware; he does not care. He is engrossed in the material world. God says, “Now is the time. I have given him what he needs. If he doesn’t grow, I have to compel him.”

It is like two sons of a mother, standing in front of a pond in an Indian village. One child feels that his mother will be happy if he jumps into the pond and takes his bath. He knows that he has the capacity and that he himself will be happy. His mother also knows that he has the capacity and that he will happily jump into the pond which he does. The other son also has the inner capacity, but he is lazy. He says, “It is cold and anyway I don’t want to take a bath.” Then what does the mother do? She waits for a few minutes, observing whether or not he will do it. Then she finally pushes him in. So the second son eventually has to take his bath. In the beginning the mother gives the same opportunity and capacity to both of them. One jumps in willingly and the other, after some time, is compelled. Similarly in the spiritual life, everybody has the inner urge. One uses it, the other does not. Then, just as with the two sons, when one refuses to use the urge consciously, the pressure comes at that time, to which he has to surrender. This is how God compels slackers.