Mu Magazine: Many people, I feel, are not fortunate. Either they don't have the opportunity or they don't have the ability to find their Inner Pilot. Is there some special advice you have for people who don't have access to their Inner Pilot?

Sri Chinmoy: The Inner Pilot is for everybody, but how many people sincerely want to find Him? People who sincerely want to find their Inner Pilot will definitely succeed, but it takes many, many years of practice. I have practised meditation for many, many years in this incarnation and also in past incarnations. To get a Master's degree, you have to study for 17 or 18 years. The inner study, which will take us to the Transcendental Consciousness, is also like that. For many, many, many years you have to concentrate and pray and meditate. It is like sowing a seed. When we sow a seed, immediately it does not become a tree. It takes months and years. First it becomes a sapling and only gradually does it grow into a giant banyan tree that will last for many years.

If we start praying and meditating today, we may not immediately have access to the Inner Pilot. But just as the seed grows into a tree, our prayers climb up, up, up and eventually reach the Highest. Then the Highest immediately gives us the capacity to feel its Presence in the depths of our heart. It takes time, but if we start praying and meditating, definitely we will become aware of our Inner Pilot and get a free access to Him.