Question: What is the best way to get simplicity, sincerity, purity and humility?

Sri Chinmoy: All the good qualities. The best way to get simplicity is through identification. Just think of one of the Christian saints. You don’t have to follow Christianity, but think of a Christian saint, whoever you like best, for a fleeting second. Most of the Christian saints were very simple, very simple. That is, the ancient ones, not the modern saints. Then comes sincerity. For sincerity, think of a child three years old or four years old. This child will not be able to tell a lie. When he is five, six, seven, he may start telling lies, but not when he is very young. Then comes purity. For purity just enter into a garden and look at a flower, any flower that you like. It will give you purity. Then comes humility. For humility only look at Mother Earth. Look at the ground, how humble it is. It is accepting untold undivine things, accepting and embracing all human and animal consciousness. It could stand against us and say, “No, I don’t want to cooperate with you people. You are all ungrateful and undivine in every possible way.” But it accepts all our impurities and undivine consciousness and makes us feel that these are its own possessions as well. And how humble it is! Or think of a tree. In spite of having fruits, numberless fruits, it bows down. Here on earth when we have something we become proud and haughty. It is beneath our dignity to be one with others. We want to be at least an inch higher. Our possessions immediately make us feel superior to others. But in the case of the tree, possession makes it more humble. When the tree does not have flowers and fruits it stands tall. It is as if it does not care for the rest of the world. But when it possesses flowers and fruits, it bends down to offer them. Its possession brings humility.

On the strength of your identification you can achieve these divine qualities. God has all the attributes: simplicity, sincerity, purity, humility — everything. But God does not appear to you, let us say, in a tangible form. God is an invisible form to you. But God is being manifested in and through His creation. So if you see somebody who is very simple, just identify yourself with him. If you see a little child who is very sincere, then identify yourself with that child. When you go into a garden or just look at a flower, immediately you can identify with the purity of the flower. Then identify with the tree for humility, or with the Mother Earth. Always exercise your power of identification. Identification immediately gives us tremendous joy, success and progress. Touch water, and you get one vibration, one consciousness. Touch fire, and you get another vibration, another consciousness. The very nature of fire is to give you what it has. The very nature of water is to give you what it has. So what do you want? Do you want fire-consciousness inside you, or do you want water-consciousness inside you? If you want fire, then touch fire. If you want water, then touch water. If you want simplicity, then go to the little child. If you want purity, then immediately try to see the flower inside you, inside the very depths of your heart, blossoming petal by petal. And if you want humility, identify with the tree or Mother Earth. In this way, good boy, you can develop simplicity, sincerity, purity and humility.