Question: How do you suggest that a genuine Western student should go about learning to discover these concentration and contemplation exercises and the techniques of meditation in order to follow the spiritual path, and run faster than the average?

Sri Chinmoy: If a student wants to learn, what does he do? He goes to a school, college or university. Why? He goes because he feels that there he will find a professor who will be able to illumine him. Similarly, in the spiritual life, if a seeker, who is the student, has the inner cry to learn how to concentrate, meditate and contemplate, he goes to a spiritual Master. As a student has faith in his teacher, and therefore goes to school and learns from him, so also the sincere seeker goes to a spiritual Master in whom he has implicit faith, and learns from him. But in a school, when there is a class, a teacher sometimes finds it difficult to give individual attention to the students. He tells them something, and they listen to him collectively, and learn as much as they can. In the spiritual life, if the Teacher sees that an individual is making great progress, but is in a group with other students who cannot keep up with him, then the spiritual Teacher will always give the good student special lessons so that he can run fast, faster, fastest towards his Goal. He will not make the good student wait for the others.

One should always go to a spiritual Master in order to learn concentration, meditation and contemplation, because a spiritual Master knows how these things can be taught. Just as an ordinary teacher will know all about geography, science, philosophy, history or some other subject, so the spiritual Master will know about concentration, meditation and contemplation.