Question: Having been born and brought up in India, many of us have been surrounded by much of the spiritual philosophy and mysticism of the country, not necessarily because we are great believers, but because it is part of the environment. Over here, I am constantly being asked by my friends what spirituality is, and what are we trying to do with it in relation to the starvation and poverty in India. They ask me how is it that our spirituality does not cure everything miraculously? I can't answer this question. Can you help me? Can you tell me what actually spirituality has to offer to mankind?

Sri Chinmoy: From real spirituality, we have to know what we can expect and what we cannot expect. Unfortunately, what not only the Western world, but the entire present-day world expects from spirituality is miracles. At every moment, the Western world and the Eastern world are crying for miracles. Spirituality, they feel, has to cure everything and solve all problems in one instantaneous stroke. Why do people expect this from spirituality? Real mysticism, real spirituality, is not miracle-mongering. The message of spirituality is to live a higher life, a transformed life, a divinised life.

A sincere seeker sees inside himself many animals: fear, anger, doubt, anxiety, temptation, greed and jealousy. These animals have to be conquered in order to attain the highest Goal of spirituality — conscious oneness with the Supreme. So if the seeker has doubt, if he has fear, if he has jealousy, he has to conquer them. He has to conquer all the animals inside himself.

The message of spirituality is the transcendence of our present consciousness, which is half animal. We want to be divinised, we want to go high, higher, highest, so that we can become totally one with the rest of the world. This we can do through real spirituality. But most people expect something quite different from spirituality. They want to have their diseases cured, or their fortunes told. No. Spirituality will give what spirituality has to offer. Spirituality will give inner Peace, inner Light, inner Joy to those who practise it. A divinised life is what spirituality wants to offer, and this is what we can expect from spirituality.