Question: Is it possible for the physical mind to try to veil the gratitude of the heart?

Sri Chinmoy: Not only is it possible, but it happens almost constantly. The physical mind is veiling the gratitude of the heart almost every day and, in some cases, twenty-four hours a day. Atheists do not believe in God, although God has given them a soul, given them life, given them opportunity, and is still caring for them and giving them Compassion and Concern. But for them there is no God. With their mental development and sophistication, doubt and other undivine qualities have entered into them. For rich people also there is often no God, although God has blessed them with His Bounty. For them, money is their God. That is all they aspire for. These people also have a heart, but the gratitude of that heart is veiled by the physical mind.

The physical mind is constantly crying for possession, and not for liberation. But the heart always has the feeling of oneness. In the heart, you and I are of the same status. I am in no way superior to you; you are in no way superior to me. But when we live in the physical mind, immediately we are separated. Either I am superior or I am inferior; we cannot be one. The physical mind, which is full of imperfection, limitation and bondage, will always try to separate us from our reality. Our reality is the soul and that soul is inside the heart. The physical mind we have to catch and control like a thief. We have to catch the mind with our intense aspiration and we have to control it with our will-power. And finally we have to illumine it with our soul's light.

We can unveil the heart's gratitude the moment we are successful in bringing to the fore our soul, which is full of divine light. And to bring the soul to the fore we have to feel that our whole existence is in the heart itself. We have to feel that our entire concentration is inside the heart, not on the top of the head or in the forehead or anywhere else. When we focus our attention on the heart, we have to feel that there is a divine spark, a most beautiful and luminous child trying to come forward. Like the sun in the sky, many times it is eclipsed by clouds. But when the sun finally does come forward, darkness is totally melted away. If we can focus our attention on the heart, slowly and steadily we will see the inner sun — which is infinitely more brilliant, more powerful, more luminous than the physical sun — come forward and illumine our outer consciousness. At that time the physical mind will be transformed by the infinite Light within us. Then, instead of standing in the way, the mind itself will become a conscious instrument of the heart and the soul.