Question: If someone is a sincere seeker, should he follow a specific path?

Sri Chinmoy: Mine is not the only path; there are many paths. Today I have inspired you, but my only request to you is that you accept a path of your own. You should follow a specific path under the guidance of a spiritual Master if you really want to reach the Goal the fastest. Everyone here on earth cares for time. If you can reach your goal in one day, why should you wait for ten days?

The only thing is that in one day you cannot reach your spiritual goal. If anybody tells you that you will attain God-realisation in two hours or in ten days or in one month, then I wish to tell you that he is fooling you. Please do not go to that Master. God-realisation is not so easy. I know, because I have realised God. Nobody can realise God in one day or in one month. It is impossible. Just to get a Master’s degree you need eighteen or twenty years of outer study. To attain God-realisation is infinitely more difficult than to get a Master’s degree.

Again, you should not be doomed to disappointment. Do not think, “Oh, I will never realise God; I have done so many things wrong.” You are God’s child. You have gone through some experiences which you call mistakes. But if you feel that you will never realise God because you did a few things wrong in your life, then you are mistaken. God-realisation is your birthright. You have to forget those unhappy experiences. You must not commit those mistakes any more. From today, if you always do the right thing in both your inner life and your outer life, then you are bound to realise God very soon.

So, on the one hand, don’t be disappointed, discouraged or disheartened; and on the other hand, don’t be over-optimistic and think that in a few weeks you will realise God. Everything has its own time. Slowly and steadily you will reach your goal. In the spiritual life you need aspiration; you need to practise concentration, meditation and contemplation. Then you will realise God. Please be sincere and serious in this matter. Then you will see that God-realisation is not something impossible; far from it. It is possible, practicable and inevitable. But you have to be sincere and follow a specific path. You have to have inner guidance and outer guidance from the Master whom you accept as your leader and guide.