Question: You know her life is quite different from the people around her.

Sri Chinmoy: Yes, now here is the thing. Her life is different from others. This is because their ideals are different from hers. Now you can say her ideals are not superior to the ideals that others have placed before them, but at the same time, if your destination is located in the North, naturally you will walk towards the North. If I start walking towards the North knowing perfectly well that my goal is in the South, then I will be totally lost.

So they have a goal, as I said before. We never say that our goal is higher than the goals that others have, but we have a specific goal. At the end all goals are one but we are following a different path. If you are going to a place or a destination, if there are various roads to reach the destination, if you constantly change the road then how are you going to reach your destination? The ultimate goal is at one place, but there are subordinate goals, minor goals, and many paths. Now if they feel that their goal is at a particular place, naturally they will walk towards that destination. But they will never say that their goal is higher than the goals of others. No! We never say that. But if I have chosen a path to get to my destination, I have to follow a particular road. "All roads lead to Rome." You are at perfect liberty to follow the road which pleases you. Rome is at a particular place. But if while I am going to Rome at this moment I take TWA, then at some other moment I wish to change airlines, how am I going to make the change? There will be a crash or I will fall between the two planes in mid-air!

So we never say that our goal or our ideals are superior to others. But only we say we know a goal, a perfect goal. Now we have found a road. Let us walk along that road and see what happens. But we never condemn or look down upon others — old acquaintances, friends or neighbours. We never feel that they are inferior to us in any way. We are only walking along the path. If we constantly change paths, then there will be no destination for us. But we never say that they are doing something wrong and we are doing the right thing.

From:Sri Chinmoy,Fourteen American mothers and fourteen American daughters with Sri Chinmoy, Agni Press, 1975
Sourced from https://srichinmoylibrary.com/fam