Question: I am studying to be an actor. Is it possible for me to follow a spiritual path and also to have this outside activity?

Sri Chinmoy: We have a very wrong concept of spirituality. Spirituality never negates our earthly life. It only simplifies, purifies and illumines our earthly life. We are now in bondage, in ignorance. Spirituality shows us how we can come out of ignorance-night, how we can free ourselves from the bondage that we have consciously or unconsciously accepted. If you want to be an actor, spirituality need not prevent you. On the contrary, spirituality can act like your private tutor. It can inspire you to do the best job and to be the best actor you can.

Again, you have to know what God wants you to do. If you don't fulfil Him, you may stay on earth for sixty, seventy or eighty years but inside you will feel a barren desert. No matter what kind of outer glory you get, what kind of success in the outer life, if you don't satisfy the Supreme even for a fleeting second in His own Way, then your sincerity, your inner cry will make you feel dissatisfied.

Do not think that if you just meditate for five minutes, or offer a prayer or your admiration to the Supreme, that that is leading a spiritual life and that He will be pleased with you. You have to go deep within. You have to know what He wants from your life and when and how and why He wants it. You have to try to know what God actually wants from you at every second. Only then will you have abiding Peace, Light and Joy in your life. If you please the Supreme in His own Way in the field of manifestation, you will see that your inner wealth has been well distributed to the world at large. Then the Supreme will be pleased with you and you will have the divine pride of manifestation in your life on earth.

From:Sri Chinmoy,Problems! Problems! Are they really problems? part 1, Agni Press, 1974
Sourced from https://srichinmoylibrary.com/pat_1