Question: Guru, how many people turn to the spiritual life just in desperation?

Sri Chinmoy: I will say a majority turn to the spiritual life out of desperation and not out of the soul’s necessity. Very few people start from the dawn of their existence to build an inner life out of the soul’s necessity. Most people turn to the inner life out of sheer frustration, when they see that the world is torturing them mercilessly and that there is no hope. But if people enter into the inner life, they have to know that they should not accept it as an escape. Many people will think that the outer life has deserted them, so they want to accept the inner life as an escape. But no, the inner life is not an escape. The inner life will show us truth and light. And more than that, it will guide us and give us the message of illumination and transformation.

From:Sri Chinmoy,God, Avatars and Yogis, Agni Press, 1977
Sourced from https://srichinmoylibrary.com/ga