Question: Does this mean that Zen and yoga have different goals?

Sri Chinmoy: They are like two members of the same family. They deal with the same basic thoughts and ideas; only in practice each may take a slightly different approach. Here is the goal. The father is reaching the goal from one direction and the son is reaching the goal from another direction. In going towards the goal, to some extent they may use different methods. But the goal always remains the same. If one becomes liberated from ignorance as a result of spiritual discipline, then naturally he is illumined. And if one identifies himself with light and illumination itself, then naturally he also is illumined.

I identify with water and immediately get the consciousness of water. I identify with a wall and immediately get the consciousness of the wall. Again, if I identify with the feet of a saint, then immediately I get the consciousness of the saint. This is yoga: oneness, oneness, oneness. In the Zen process, we get what the saint has by concentrating on what we want. The process in yoga is to identify oneself with the goal. But the goal that we reach by concentrating in Zen and the goal that we reach by identifying with someone is the same.