Question: When you speak of accepting the world, do you mean we should just live our lives having only as much involvement as we absolutely have to, and ignore the things that are going on around us, such as politics?

Sri Chinmoy: When you accept the world as such, it does not mean that you have to enter into all walks of life. You are a seeker, so your first and foremost duty is to realise God. If you want to enter into the Himalayan caves, then you are negating the world. The physical has to live in the world, the physical has to talk with people and be involved in daily activities. But, at the same time, you have to know your real duty. The real duty comes from the soul; otherwise, there is no end to our self-imposed duty. Most people are enjoying self-imposed duty; it is not coming from within.

If you are a real seeker, then you want to realise God on earth. The politician's aim is not that. Those who are in politics must not be looked down upon by us. They are fulfilling God in their own way. They have accepted the world and they are trying to serve the world according to their capacity. But the politicians are not aware of divinity within humanity. They are dealing with the outer surface of humanity. We want to serve the soul first. We feel that unless we know the soul, we do not know our commander. The command for us to do something should come from the real commander. If the commander orders, "Do this!" then immediately the soldier will do it. Otherwise, one soldier will do whatever he wants to, without knowing whether or not it is the best thing to do.

So we have to accept the world as it is; we cannot deny the world of ignorance. We are full of ignorance and all around us is ignorance; the whole world is ignorance. But if we negate it, then we are negating our own existence. First we have to touch the very breath of ignorance which is within us and around us, and then we have to transform it. We can be like a boat. A boat is in the water, but the boat is not affected by the water. Similarly, we can be in the world of ignorance but not be affected by ignorance. We can live in the unaspiring world of ignorance, limitations and imperfections with our own aspiration, inner cry and soulful dedication to the Inner Pilot.

We are on earth to accomplish certain things. But only the things that we ourselves are doing will be able to carry us to our highest Goal. The things that others are doing will lead them to some other goal. But a spiritual seeker knows that there can be no goal greater or higher than God-realisation. When one has realisation, one immediately enters into the infinite Vast. Naturally, Infinity is infinitely superior to even the greatest human satisfaction.

We have to know what we want. We want to realise the truth first. Then, when the truth commands us to fulfil it inside humanity, that is the proper thing. Right now the best thing for us to do is go up and get everything from above. After we have received what the highest floor can give us, then when the command comes, we can try to come down to the basement and start offering our realisation to humanity.