Question: Guru, how did coconut water get that honour? Did you really like it as a child, or is it some quality of the coconut?

Sri Chinmoy: I pour my consciousness into the coconut water. Otherwise, no; the coconut water itself will not be able to cure anyone.

My mother cured me with coconut water when I had the worst possible case of smallpox. The doctors had given up all hope. My eyes were closed; I could not open them. With a little coconut water my mother challenged the doctors, and she was right. Coconut water has something special to do with my life. So many people I have saved from their suffering through coconut water!

Faith, faith, faith, faith! Faith is a reality. If the Master says something, then it can be done. When I request some disciples to do something or to get me something in the evening or at night, the first thing they will say is, “Oh, it is not possible at night! The shops are closed; nobody will be there at nine o’clock or ten o’clock.”

Once I told a disciple that I wanted to have a violin. When it is a matter of playing the violin, I am still an eternal beginner! It was night time — so late, so late. I said, “Let us see.” We were driving and driving; there were no stores. Finally we saw one small store, a sports store. I went inside. I was not looking for a violin at that moment, but what did I see? There was one violin in the area where they kept exercise machines! How did it happen? A friend of the owner’s had given it to him to sell.

This kind of thing has happened many times.

Faith! Three or four days before Sri Ramakrishna’s passing, he wanted to have the amalaki fruit. Swami Vivekananda said, “It is out of season.” But one disciple said, “Since this request came from Master’s mouth, there should be amalaki somewhere.” He went from village to village. He found only one amalaki fruit, and he brought it to his Master. Sri Ramakrishna said, “This is called faith.” That was Nag Mahashoy.

Once on the street somebody was speaking ill of Sri Ramakrishna. Nag Mahashoy grabbed the sandals of that man and thrashed him. The man was much stronger than Nag Mahashoy, but the disciple’s anger had such power! Then that man never spoke ill of Sri Ramakrishna again.

Sri Ramakrishna had two approaches. He said to his disciples, “If somebody is stronger than you, just say to yourself, ‘He is not a man; he is an insect.’ Why do you have to pay attention to an insect? And if somebody is weak, say, ‘You? You are speaking ill of my Master? If you speak ill of him, then you will go to hell!’” Sri Ramakrishna said that if your Master’s critic is stronger than you, you may be beaten by him, so the best thing is to say that he is just an insect. Why do you have to pay attention to an insect? But if he is weaker than you are, how can you tolerate his criticism of your Master?

Sri Ramakrishna and Mathur Babu were once having a conversation. Mathur Babu asked, “Can there be on the same stalk one white flower and one flower of another colour — blue or any other colour?”

Sri Ramakrishna said, “There can be.”

Mathur Babu challenged Sri Ramakrishna. He said, “It cannot be. If one flower is white, another flower on the same stalk has to be white. There cannot be any other colour.”

The following day, out of the blue, Sri Ramakrishna showed Mathur Babu a small plant with one white flower and one flower of another colour. Either Sri Ramakrishna used his will power, or it was quite natural. I have seen this kind of thing in Chittagong, and in Pondicherry: two flowers of different colours on the same stalk. Mathur Babu did not have faith, but Sri Ramakrishna proved that it could happen.

Anything can be done if we have faith. Our difficulty is that our faith has a very short breath. After five minutes or five days, our faith disappears. In my case, I tell everybody, “Have faith, have faith, have faith.” But when it comes to medical science, at times I have no faith!

From:Sri Chinmoy,Not every day, but every moment: illumining questions and answers, comments and talks, Agni Press, 2013
Sourced from https://srichinmoylibrary.com/ned