Question: Does our death always come at God's Hour, or can it be caused by a hostile force interfering with God's Will?

Sri Chinmoy: One theory is that everything is God’s Will. Again, hostile forces can manifest themselves through hurricanes and all kinds of negative acts of nature. Nature is good, but many times nature does things that are extremely contrary to God’s Will. Some things happen that are unexpected, unexpected, unexpected. They may not be God’s Will. A tiny little boat is in a river or in the ocean, and immediately a cyclone comes and kills the passengers. Is it God’s Will? No! Hostile forces do exist. Constantly a fight is going on between the hostile forces and the divine forces. If the divine forces lose at a certain time, then God gives the divine forces more capacity and more strength. Still, hostile forces can do anything!

Once a disciple wrote to Sri Aurobindo, “You are the Omnipotent. What can the hostile forces do?” One person in the ashram came from Chittagong. He was on the verge of God-realisation. Then the hostile forces attacked him and made him insane. Sri Aurobindo was telling him what to do, but he said that the same Sri Aurobindo was coming to him at night and saying, “Do not do that — do just the opposite.” Sri Aurobindo himself said, “I am in the physical! I am telling you what to do.” But this disciple said, “No, you look more beautiful in the subtle world, so I will accept the advice of that form.” Then he died. Sri Aurobindo said to the disciple who had written the letter, “You want to know what the hostile forces can do? This is what they can do, even when somebody is on the verge of God-realisation.”

Again, the divine forces win much, much more often than the hostile forces. Otherwise, this world or any other world could not have existed. The divine forces definitely, definitely win many, many more times than the hostile forces. But the hostile forces are there. Is it the divine forces that start world wars? Never, never, never, never! It is the wrong forces, the undivine, hostile forces, that try to start wars. Then the divine forces try very, very hard to prevent them. Some countries get malicious pleasure by exercising their supremacy. They enjoy the power aspect. “I came, I saw, I conquered” — that theory still exists. Is it a divine theory?

When hostile forces attack the brains of a few individuals and they wage war, there will be thousands and thousands of innocent victims. Thousands and thousands of children die. Did these victims kill thousands of people in their previous life? Did they do something so horrible that now, in this incarnation, they are getting punishment? I will never believe it! When millions of people die, even little, little children and their parents, it is so pathetic. We feel so miserable. Can that be God’s Will? No! It is a hostile attack. And five or six instruments are enough to create so much destruction. The same undivine qualities that are cherished by those instruments all human beings have to some extent, but spiritual seekers are trying to get rid of them.