Question: I tend to think that philosophy is dry. Can it also be thrilling?

Sri Chinmoy: Yes, philosophy is dry. This is what we hear from people, and also this is what we have heard from our forefathers. Philosophy on the mental level is dry, drier, driest. But philosophy on the heart-level or psychic level can be very, very sweet. It is how we express philosophy that is of paramount importance.

Philosophy means love of wisdom. A man of wisdom can express his wisdom with bombastic words and sesquipedalian sentences, and make the person who is listening to him think that philosophy is extremely complicated. Again, if a grandfather is speaking to his grandchild, that same sublime philosophy he will be able to speak about in a few words, with such affection and concern. When philosophy is expressed with affection and concern, it can become very, very soft, tender, sweet and thrilling. But when we use the mind to express something — whether it is philosophy or any other subject — that subject becomes dry because the mind embodies dryness. Since the mind embodies dryness, whatever comes from the mind will automatically be dry. But if the heart expresses the same truth, then definitely it can be thrilling.