Question: Isn't it really easy to get rid of undivine qualities if we just set our mind to it?

Sri Chinmoy: We all have undivine qualities, but often we don't take them seriously. We just say to ourselves, "Oh, I have the capacity to conquer them. I am physically strong; I can throw the javelin, the discus and the shot put a great distance. Lethargy, fear and all these things are very weak. If I want to, easily I can conquer them." This kind of idea comes into our minds. But no, lethargy, fear and doubt have tremendous power, tremendous power. Unless we have actually conquered something which stands in our way, we must not say that we can conquer it. First let us conquer it. Once we try to conquer it, then only will we respect its power. We feel it is something very subtle and little, and that we can crush it like an ant. But look at the power of this ant. It can simply ruin the whole being. So, let us catch hold of this ant and destroy it. Then only can we say that we are strong. Look at jealousy. All the time we are jealous, but we feel that if we want to conquer our jealousy, we can do so at any moment. That is our human feeling. For forty or fifty years, or all our life, we are jealous of someone or something, and we think that if we want to conquer it, then we can do it in the twinkling of an eye. This much confidence we have in ourselves. But let us just try to conquer it, and we will see that it will take another fifty years to do so. Let us first conquer our undivine qualities, and then only will we be able to march forward and enter into another world.

From:Sri Chinmoy,Obedience: a supreme virtue, Agni Press, 1977
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