Matter and spirit

True wisdom must dawn on human consciousness. Affirmations and negations must be synthesised and move together. The world has come to realise that integrality is the only absolute self-fulfilment.

Neither Spirit nor Matter is superior to the other. We will be far from Truth if we belittle Matter only to speak highly of Spirit. From Matter alone did our earthly cloak see the light of day.

To the materialist, the Beyond is unreal because it is not within his eye-range. He has enquired of his senses if they were aware of the Beyond. They unanimously cried out: “No, there is no such thing!”

The Spirit, untouched and uncontaminated by imperfection, is the sole gateman of the Transcendent. Radiant and immaculate, it bears and upholds the world. Relation it has none. Its matchless qualities are the opposites of division, duality and multiplicity.

The eternal Truth can never be the monopoly of the Spirit. Dauntless Matter, too, has every right to claim her equal share.

Our present faith in Matter is not enough. It must needs be stronger. We must see eye to eye with the Upanishads and declare that Matter also is Brahman.

Our absolute Freedom will come into existence from the Spirit. But Matter’s giant breast will be the field of our full manifestation.

The materialist is aware of the road that leads to matter. He is quite in the dark about the road that leads to the spirit. It seems that the Eternal Solace is extremely clever. It deserts both the materialist and the spiritualist en route when they want to be independent of each other.

Materialism has begun to far exceed the limits of sense-knowledge. With this obstruction fading away, the march of materialism is now quite safe and satisfactory towards its unimagined Goal.

The supreme choice of an awakened mind is an unalloyed affirmation of the soul’s light pouring into the mental vehicle.

Multiplicity is nothing but the outer robe of unity.

What is the most essential thing in our upward and inward march? Faith. Faith is the bud; knowledge is the flower. O Faith! Since you are the ceaseless breath of our hearts, we feel that before long we must win the crown of our journey’s Goal.

What is Silence? Silence is that which alone bears the teeming vast. It upholds activity and inactivity in its own supreme delight and places the garlands of victory around the necks of these two apparent antagonists.

“All this is Brahman.” The oneness of Matter and Spirit is the only affirmation of the Brahman. Therefore neither Matter nor Spirit can dwell beyond its fond and boundless clasp.

Sri Chinmoy, Eternity’s Breath, Sri Chinmoy Lighthouse, New York, 1972