Question: If I do not respect the person I am working with, I do not know how to behave.

Sri Chinmoy: There is something called practical wisdom. Suppose you see that your boss is completely wrong about something. If you fight with your boss and you are in his bad books, then he will eventually fire you. Nobody wants to be corrected or perfected. That is human life, especially in the case of bosses. It is beneath their dignity to be corrected by their subordinates.

Practical wisdom says that if your boss fires you, you will be in trouble. If your boss gives you a very bad report, then you will be in trouble. I am not saying you should flatter your boss. But at that point you can ignore the situation. You can say to yourself, “My boss is wrong. What am I going to do? If I try to perfect him or correct him, then he will get mad.” So you can act as if you have not seen anything; you can be blind to the situation. That is called practical wisdom.

Again, there are some spirited people created by God who fight for justice. If their boss is doing something undivine or unethical, then a spirited person says, “Let him fire me! I will get a job somewhere else. I want justice. The United Nations is a sacred place. Already it has been corrupted by some individuals. I do not want more corruption. I do not want this person to add to all the corruption that the United Nations already is suffering from.” There will be people like that — perhaps one out of ten thousand.

You have to see which category you belong to. You can ignore what happens, as if you have not seen anything wrong. Or, if you feel sincerely that the United Nations soul is being affected, the United Nations heart is being affected because of undivine acts by superior authorities, then you can speak up. There may be thirty or forty people who are brave enough. Of course, the United Nations may not change its policies, but the world can be made aware of how many ways the United Nations can be perfected. Here I am not using the word ‘criticised’. That is a negative term. But it can be brought to light that the United Nations can become better in various ways. If ways can be found to help the high-ranking officers or high-ranking diplomats representing their countries to change their outlook, the United Nations will one day definitely become better.

I will never give up hope for the United Nations as long as I am on earth. I do not have faith in everyone from the highest to the lowest, but as far as the heart of the United Nations is concerned, as far as the soul of the United Nations is concerned, I must and I shall always maintain my faith, because the United Nations’ heart and the United Nations’ soul are unique. Again, Tom, Dick and Harry are working there. Some are holding the highest positions, while some are holding the lowest positions. If the higher-ranking ones are not acting properly, it is very difficult, if not impossible, for the lower-ranking ones to act properly. It is like a family. If the elder brothers are not divine, if they are smoking, drinking and doing all kinds of bad things, then the younger brothers and sisters find it very, very difficult to lead a spiritual life.

If the higher authorities are not doing the right thing, then it is very difficult for people who are working under them to change them. The lower-ranking individuals only suffer and suffer. Again, the lower-ranking ones can be strong morally, spiritually and in every way to point out that what the superiors are doing is undivine and absurd, and that it will only ruin the prestige of the United Nations. But where can we find those brave soldiers?

From:Sri Chinmoy,Sri Chinmoy answers, part 11, Agni Press, 1999
Sourced from https://srichinmoylibrary.com/sca_11