Question: Is spiritual dryness inevitable?

Sri Chinmoy: Spiritual dryness is inevitable only when we do not approach God with sufficient love and devotion. If we approach God with the mind, there will be dryness. But if we approach God with the heart and the soul, there can be no dryness, only a constant shower of love and Grace. We feel our love flowing to God and God's Grace constantly being showered on us. If we approach God with the mind, for one second we may see that Grace is pouring down. Then for four days or four months there will be no rain at all.

Those who know how to cry for God Himself — and not just for God's gifts — from the depths of their heart will feel that there is no dryness. But those who want to approach God with knowledge and intellect will always suffer from dryness. Many aspirants and even great spiritual teachers have gone through this spiritual dryness. Then on the strength of their own experiences, they say that there is no one who has not had the experience of spiritual drought. But fortunately I cannot see eye to eye with them. I approached the Supreme with love, devotion and surrender and I wish to say that I never, never experienced spiritual dryness. Constantly I basked in the shower of His infinite Grace.

If you want to live in God's infinite Grace, then you have to approach God with love, devotion and surrender. You have to offer yourself entirely to the Supreme, and this self-offering must be through the heart and not through the mind. If you can do this, then there will be no dryness. Constantly, at every moment, you will be fed by the Supreme. What you call dryness, in spiritual terms I call starvation. We starve spiritually just because we do not allow the soul to come to the fore and take care of us. We do just the reverse. We tell the soul that we can not only take care of ourselves but also are ready to take care of it as well. This is our mistake. Let us allow the soul to take care of our outer existence. Then we shall see that our inner hunger will be fed by God's infinite Grace.