Question: Won't a person lose his realisation if he comes down from the realisation-tree and has to face the darkness and ignorance of the world?

Sri Chinmoy: If you are afraid that a realised soul will lose his divinity and realisation if he mixes with ordinary people, then you are mistaken. When you realise God, God gives you more power than He has given His unrealised children. Spiritual Masters have a free access to God’s Omnipotence and to all His other qualities. If spiritual Masters did not have more power than their disciples, who still suffer from fear, doubt, anxiety and other undivine qualities, they would never mix with them or even accept them. They would know that they would be devoured, totally devoured by their disciples’ imperfections. But they are not afraid, because they know that their realisation has much more power than any negative forces in their disciples. Before realisation, even up to the very last hour, it is possible to fall from the realisation-tree. But once you have realised God, you have won the race. This victory is permanent and eternal. Nothing and no one can take it away from you, nor can you lose it.