Question: If one boy is very bad, and another boy is not bad at all but he does not pray, why does God allow the bad boy to win over the boy who is not bad?

Sri Chinmoy: God gives everybody a long rope. Otherwise, because of how many bad things some human beings have done over their incarnations, God could have destroyed their souls! But God gives everybody a long rope. It is like keeping a cow on a rope. The owner may not pull the rope for some time. When my dog Chela goes outside, we put on the leash and he can go a little distance. Again, some animals break the chain. Then they run away.

God gives us limited freedom. Then He sees what we are going to do with that freedom. Let us say that God gives two individuals five dollars. Then God says, “Use this money in your own way.” I always tell this story. With the five dollars, one person goes to a church to pray, and the other person drinks wine. God gave both of them the same amount of money to spend. With that money, one person goes to pray to God and the other person meets with some fellows and starts drinking wine.