Questions and answers

The following questions were asked at the various gatherings held on Christmas week at the home of Mrs. Ida Patterson in Minneapolis. There were a few university students present, although the groups consisted largely of elderly persons.

Question: Could you please tell me why people in India worship so many gods and goddesses and not one?

Sri Chinmoy: Could you please tell me why you worship the Father, the Son, the Holy Ghost and so many angels? Now, to be serious, we in India have millions of gods and goddesses. And we are proud of it. We even feel that each individual must have a god of his own; each man must have his own process of realising God. Indeed, these gods and goddesses are simply different manifestations of the Sole Absolute. Each deity embodies a particular aspect or quality of the Supreme. Our inability to recognise the all-embracing Universal Harmony in all these different aspects gives rise to our misunderstandings and disputes. The moment we realise the universal Spirit, the Impersonal One, we can be in perfect harmony with all the different beliefs. Then we can see the truth behind the conception of the gods and goddesses.

From:Sri Chinmoy,AUM — Vol. 1, No. 6, 27 January 1966, Boro Park Printers -- Brooklyn, N. Y, 1966
Sourced from https://srichinmoylibrary.com/aum_6