Questions and answers

The following questions were asked following Sri Chinmoy's talk "What I Need from God" in Hawaii on 16 March 1980.

Question: How do you receive God's Forgiveness?

Sri Chinmoy: You receive God’s Forgiveness only by reminding yourself — constantly, consciously, sleeplessly and breathlessly — that God is Forgiveness itself. You should not think of God as Justice or as infinite Light or Peace. You should not think of any other aspect of God. You should only think of God’s Forgiveness or of God the Forgiveness. You have to inundate your mind and your heart with one thought: forgiveness, forgiveness, forgiveness. Instead of thinking of God’s Justice-Light, you should just repeat, “My Lord is all Forgiveness, my Lord is all Forgiveness.” While repeating, “My Lord is all Forgiveness,” you must not think of all the countless undivine things that you have done: “Oh, I have told a lie, I have struck someone, I have done something very undivine.” No, you will see only the positive side. You will think only of God’s Forgiveness before you, around you, within you. If hundreds of times, thousands of times, you can repeat most soulfully, “My Lord is all Forgiveness, My Lord is all Forgiveness,” then all your Himalayan blunders will be washed away. All the crimes that you have done over the years, all the ignorant things that you have done, will all be annihilated. At that time you will not only feel that you are forgiven, but you will feel that you yourself are God’s Forgiveness. If someone asks you your name, you will say, “My name is my Lord’s Forgiveness.” If someone asks who you are, you will say, “I am my Lord’s Forgiveness.”

This will be your only credential. In the ordinary life people have many credentials. They have this university degree, that degree and so on. But in the spiritual life, a seeker will say that he has only one credential. He will say either, “I am my Lord’s Forgiveness,” or “I am my Lord’s Compassion,” or “I am my Lord’s Love.” So if somebody asks what are your credentials, immediately you will say, “My Lord’s Compassion is my only credential,” or “My Lord’s Forgiveness is my only credential.” It is not just false humility; for in the inmost recesses of your heart you do feel that your only credential is God’s Compassion, God’s Forgiveness. That is what all the seekers must feel.