Question: Can anyone experience nirvikalpa samadhi?

Sri Chinmoy: Not just any person can achieve nirvikalpa samadhi. But everyone has the opportunity. How can we all from the very beginning enter into nirvikalpa samadhi? We have to have a Guru. If one is sincere, one will get the Guru that one must get. It is our heart that tells. The mind misunderstands, but the heart knows whether we actually love someone or not. You can feel whether I have a connection with you in your heart. We cannot deceive our heart, although we can easily deceive our mind. As the mind deceives us, we are also clever and we are able to deceive our mind. But our heart never deceives us, so we must not deceive our heart.

The difficulty is that here in the West there is very little understanding of what a Guru is. I beg to be excused: I am not criticising the West. Far from it. I have great admiration for the West. But in the West the concept of Guru and chela (disciple), is very peculiar, very peculiar. Westerners don’t understand and they don’t want to understand. In the West, they think that they know better. But in the East, they feel the real oneness of these two souls. Here in the West, there is always the feeling of obligation. We have some obligation here and there, and always our obligation to the Guru comes last. First I have to go and see my friend; I have to do this and that. Here in the West they give not second importance but third importance to the Guru. But in the East it is not like that. In the East the Guru is of paramount importance. I am not saying this as a criticism; only I am stating that this is true.

Our Guru does not want anything from us. He wants only our absolute faith in him. If we have faith in our Guru, our Guru will do everything for us. If we have no faith, the poor Guru is at a loss. Why? Even if he wants to come and help the disciple whole-heartedly, the disciple will find some motive behind his efforts. He will think, “Master wants something more. He wants money from me. So that is why he is doing this.” But unsolicited the Guru comes to the disciple.

A real Guru does not care for your criticism or your opinion. By hook or by crook he will give His Light to you, just like a mother. When a child has a fever, the child does not want to take medicine. But the mother won’t listen to the child. If he is a real Guru, he will inwardly compel the disciple to take his Light. The Guru says, “I don’t want anything from you. I come here because I know what I can offer you and who I am for you.” The mother knows the connection between herself and the child, so she compels the child to take the necessary medicine. In the spiritual life also, the Guru inwardly compels the disciple. But outwardly he does not do anything, because the disciple’s outer mind may misunderstand him.