Question: I feel and many of my compatriots feel that this disaster opened a new page in the history of our country. The fallout which fell on the fields of my country was ten times more than in Hiroshima after that nuclear bombardment forty years ago. Would you please tell me what are your wishes for the people of my country who are now suffering badly?

Sri Chinmoy: My philosophy is that the past is dust. Although the past may have shattered us far beyond our imagination, by thinking of the past, we cannot go forward. We have to go forward. The light is ahead of us, not behind us. Our destination — I call it the Golden Shore — is in front of us, not behind us.

Of course, it is quite reasonable to feel sad if somebody has struck me or I am injured or some very serious thing has happened in my life. But then the question is, shall I continue thinking of the past? If I think of the past, then I am carrying a very, very heavy load on my shoulders, and it is difficult to go forward. I have to act like a deer and run fast, faster, fastest towards my goal. Night there is; night there will be. But I am a lover of the dawn, I am a lover of the sun, I am a lover of light. Now this room is illumined, but in an hour they will turn off the light. Then it will be all dark. Let me search for the light that will remain permanent to illumine not only my consciousness but also my country.

Your country has suffered tremendously, and it breaks my heart because, as I said before, I am a seeker. As a seeker, I pray not only for myself but also for all of humanity. On the strength of my oneness with all human beings, I suffer. I am an Indian; I come from Bengal. But for me there is only one country, and that country is the country of our heart. In my heart-country, you are there, she is there, everybody is there — each and every human being. When I say you are my brother, I mean it. When I say she is my sister, I mean it. The heart is oneness. The mind is division. As soon as I think of you, my mind tells me that you come from another country. But in my heart you are absolutely, inseparably one with me.

God is our Father, God is our Mother, God is everything to us. If we claim the Creator as our own, very own, we are bound to claim the creation — which includes each one of us — as our own, very own.

I wish to tell you not to look behind. Let us look forward. The destination is right in front of us, not behind. The past has not given us satisfaction. Anything that has not given us satisfaction, anything that has not fulfilled us, is not the answer. The answer comes from our inner awakening, inner illumination, inner perfection. Once we get inner illumination and inner perfection, then our outer life becomes a life of satisfaction.

Suffering there is. But if we think all the time of how much we have suffered, it is not going to serve any purpose. We have to look for light, we have to look for love and the feeling of oneness so that we do not make the same mistake and we do not suffer again.

Interviewer: Thank you very much. I wish that you will continue the dissemination of this message of light, love and peace all over this world.

From:Sri Chinmoy,Sri Chinmoy answers, part 18, Agni Press, 1999
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