Question: Are there any other human artists who have consciously or unconsciously tried to express these other planes?

Sri Chinmoy: Some artists have visited other planes, but they do not have access to all the planes. Seekers usually only go to these planes once or twice in a lifetime, but spiritual Masters have free access to them. If one is an expert artist, then he will beautifully reproduce what he sees. In my case, sometimes I see things but cannot express them because I have not learned the artistic techniques. It is like a camera. When we take a picture with coloured film, we expect that the colour will be the same, but that does not always happen.

In school I studied art for only two or three years, and art was not part of our family. In our family we never cared for painting, only poetry; that is why I write poetry easily. If one member of my family had been a great artist, painting would have been easier for me.

If someone was great in some specific field in his previous incarnation and God wants him to bring forward that capacity again and transcend it, he will. On the other hand, if one was really great in a past life, God may now say, “You have been a great musician; now become a great artist.” I was never an artist in any previous incarnations, but because I am a Yogi, I can attain anything by using will power or occult power. It is by virtue of my yogic power that I am doing this.