Question: When I think of the goal of God-realisation, it still seems to be light-years away. I know I will never attain it in this short life.

Sri Chinmoy: In one incarnation we cannot achieve everything. Even our ordinary earthly desires, which are comparatively easy to fulfil on earth, are often left unfulfilled at our death. When we follow the path of desire we see that at the fulfilment of one desire, another desire immediately looms large. Even before one desire is fulfilled, another desire comes to the fore. There is no end to this chain of desires, nor is there any satisfaction at all. But when we follow the path of aspiration, when we get an iota of peace, light and bliss we do get some satisfaction. At the same time, we are inspired to cry for more of these divine qualities.

God means absolute satisfaction; God means total fulfilment. God wants to fulfil Himself in and through us. Being divine, He wants to offer us His infinite Peace and Light. But this infinite Peace and Light cannot be achieved in one incarnation. It is impossible for us to attain our divine Goal in one incarnation.

If we pray to God and meditate on God in this incarnation, then we definitely achieve something in our inner life. This achievement is stored up by our soul. Then, when we start our spiritual journey in our next incarnation, we will have a good head start because our soul will be stronger. We come and go on this earth and nothing is lost. None of our inner efforts will be wasted. We will come down into the world again to continue our journey toward the Highest.