Question: Is it a form of attachment to find pride in other people's achievements?

Sri Chinmoy: When a seeker who is on the same path as you achieves something and you feel proud of him, it is not your attachment that is making you proud; it is your oneness. That person has become part and parcel of your life and you have become part and parcel of his life on the strength of your inner feeling of oneness. When a spiritual brother realises God or is getting high experiences, if you become proud of him, then it is your soul's inner identification that is coming to the fore. At that time, the pride you feel is not the pride of ego. No! It is a feeling of oneness which is expanding your own limited consciousness.

Pride can exist in different forms. Somebody has done well in school and he is proud of this. Somebody has stood first in sports and he is proud of his achievement. Somebody has done something excellent in the human world, so naturally he is proud. In human pride, ego is always present. Here we are caught by ego. I am proud because I have done something, because my friend or my brother has done something. It is all mine, mine. But when it is a matter of divine pride, the ego does not interfere. Divine pride is all the time freeing us from bondage, from imperfection, from limitation, from ignorance and, finally, from death.

Divine pride comes only on the strength of our true oneness with the highest Supreme. When the son of God said, "I and my Father are one," this was based on his inner realisation of his inseparable oneness with God. The rest of us think that God is far away in the blue skies or somewhere other than where we are. But the seeker can easily say, "I am God's child." When he says this, immediately he feels that he cannot enter into the dark prison cell of ignorance. It is beneath his dignity. So the divine pride says, "I am God's son. I cannot see ignorance; I cannot be affected by ignorance. I can only be led by the inner light within."

So we have to know which kind of pride we are dealing with: the pride that binds us or the pride that frees us. When we say, "I am the Brahman," if we can consciously feel this, then we will feel that it is beneath our dignity to enter into ignorance. That kind of pride can never bind us. That pride will only free us and liberate us. And while we are being freed, the entire world is also being freed, because we and the world are inseparable.

So, as a seeker, you have every right to feel proud of the achievement of your brother and sister disciples, and you can also feel pride in your Guru. This kind of pride will not bind you. On the contrary, my inner life is living inside you and for you, for your own highest realisation.

From:Sri Chinmoy,Perseverance and aspiration, Agni Press, 1976
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