Sri Chinmoy answers, part 20

Part I

Question: Could you tell us what you were talking about during your interview with our President?

Question: Did the President offer any comments about Slovakia's relations with the Czech Republic?

Question: What is your own feeling about Slovakia and the Czech Republic?

Question: Are you personally in favour of the division of Czechoslovakia?

Question: Do you foresee a time when all of Europe will be united?

Europe is one continent. Why should Europe be divided into pieces? Europe is like a tree. This life-tree has many branches. Because of the trunk, there are branches, flowers and fruits. If the branches are cut off, then there will be no flowers, no fruits. Now wisdom is dawning on the European leaders. So many countries in Europe are trying desperately to have a common home. Then Europe will have oneness-strength like America has. America has fifty states, but when necessity demands, they are all one. Here also, Europe now feels the supreme necessity of oneness. There shall come a time in the near future when Europe will have its oneness and the division that we have had for so many years will disappear.

In this respect, your President is showing absolutely the best way: he is appreciating his neighbouring countries, he is appreciating America and many other countries. By appreciating others, we bring to the fore their good qualities and they become strong, stronger, strongest. If I say one nice word about you, you will feel obliged to say something nice about me. But if I criticise you ruthlessly, you will also speak ill of me to your heart’s content.

Part II

Our life itself is art²

Again, the highest transcendental Message of our Lord Supreme we are trying to establish on earth. His Dream we are trying to manifest and fulfil on earth through our aspiring heart, searching mind, dynamic vital and awakened body, the body that is active.

Here on earth the body, the vital, the mind and the heart have to listen to the soul, the way the soul is listening to the Supreme. It is through the finite that the Infinite will play its role. The body is finite, but inside the body is the soul, the direct representative of God.

Here on earth, the birds signify the soul. Each bird flies in the sky and gives us the message of freedom, infinite freedom. Our soul is also flying here, there and everywhere carrying the Message of our Lord Beloved Supreme.

I am trying to be of service to all of you. I am trying to lovingly, devotedly and gratefully bring your own soul to the fore so that you can be perfect instruments of our Lord Beloved Supreme. Your soul is at every moment pleasing the Supreme, but your body, vital, mind and heart have to do the same. When I draw a bird, I think of the soul — new creation, new hope, new promise, new peace, new bliss and new perfection on earth. In exactly the same way, I wish you to feel that your immortal Reality is your soul. Until you see your soul and get a free access to your soul, the way the soul has established its free access to the Supreme, during your prayers and meditations try to imagine a most beautiful child inside your heart playing in ecstasy with the Supreme Himself.

Perhaps you have by this time come to learn that the Supreme in me has decided to draw one million birds. One million birds means two million wings. When you pray and meditate, try to feel, in the inmost recesses of your heart, two million wings to carry you in the sky of the ever-transcending Beyond. These wings will help you fly high, higher, highest and fast, faster, fastest towards your destined Goal. There is no end to our progress; therefore, there cannot be any fixed goal in our lives. We are always in the process of an ever-transcending Dream and an ever-transcending Reality.

Our life itself is art. God is manifesting Himself in and through our life at every moment. As we breathe in and out, so we create, reveal and manifest new art every day. You know that the name I have given for my art is Fountain-Art. A fountain is spontaneous. At each and every moment, from this Fountain-Art, we are receiving hope, promise, love, light, delight and the message of perfection and satisfaction.

So my sweet children, think of yourself as the most beautiful bird flying in the sky of freedom. This freedom is nothing other than constant oneness with our Lord Supreme. This freedom comes not by destroying something or showing our supremacy — no, no! This freedom is the freedom of oneness, oneness, oneness — universal oneness. This oneness we get only when we love God to please Him and to fulfil Him in His own Way. It is in our inseparable oneness, sleepless oneness, with the Will of the Supreme that we get the message of infinite freedom.

We are like tiny drops. When a tiny drop enters into the ocean, it becomes part and parcel of the infinite ocean. Similarly, although we are all finite beings, when we lovingly, devotedly and unconditionally offer our limited existence to our Lord Supreme, out of His infinite Bounty, He makes us one, inseparably one, with His infinite Existence.

To each soul I am offering my boundless joy, divine pride and gratitude. All of you have made tremendous progress, but this progress is not enough, for our Lord Supreme wants us to be more aspiring, more self-giving, more pleasing to the Supreme in us.

There are many, many ways to run fast in the spiritual life, but one special way I would like you to try is to identify with the ones that you feel are inferior and with the ones that you feel are superior. In my heart, there is no superiority, no inferiority. It is all one. But if you see and feel that somebody is inferior, please take that person as your own little brother, your own little sister. Feel that it is your bounden duty to help your little brothers and sisters. Give him, give her, your concern, your affection, your own light. And if you see that somebody is superior to you, if you feel that that person has more wisdom, more capacity than you have, then feel that you have every right to mix with that person and increase your own divinity because that person is your older brother or older sister. This is how, in one family, we can please our Lord Beloved Supreme in His own Way.

Some of you do like Joy Days, especially in the Soviet Union. I deeply appreciate this. Joy Days are of paramount importance in my life. When my spiritual children meet together, pray together and play together, they enjoy the company of one family. So to all the disciples I am saying, please pay special attention to your Joy Days. You will play, you will pray, you will run, you will read my books or sing my songs. There are so many things that you can do. It is a family gathering. I am your spiritual father, I am your Eternity’s friend, only friend.

When my children are together, I feel tremendous joy and a sense of true accomplishment. Whenever it is possible, different countries should come together, the way England, France and Scotland are doing and the many, many countries that I call German countries. So whenever you can, join the other countries to observe Joy Days. At least once a month my divine children should meet together to give me boundless joy.

Also, please establish friendships with the disciples from Centres in other countries. Exchange your thoughts, your ideas, your achievements. For us there is only one country, and that is our heart-country. Historically, geographically and politically countries have been separated. But in our heart there is only one country — our oneness-heart-home — and our only goal is to love God, our Lord Beloved Supreme, in His own Way.

Part III

Question: I want to throw my impurities into you, but I don't know how.

Question: Is there anything in particular that I can visualise to increase my receptivity?

Question: I sometimes feel in my meditations that I am not being as sincere as I would like to be. How can I change this?

Question: How can I deal with the sorrow I feel from having compassion for others?

The deeper we go, the sooner we realise that we do not need to show anybody compassion. It is we who need compassion more than anybody else. The very person who is eager to show compassion to the rest of the world, if he enters into the depths of his heart, will feel that he is a real beggar who desperately needs Compassion from God. If we feel that we are superior to someone, if we feel that we have more kindness than they have, we are only fooling ourselves. Only God and those who have realised God can, on the strength of their oneness with humanity, bless others with compassion.

Question: How can I be sure that I will make continuous progress in my spiritual life?

Question: What does my soul want?

Question: How can I see the best in other people more?

Question: What is the best way to develop oneness?

Question: What is the fastest way we can get rid of the ego?

There is one type of ego which gets malicious pleasure from others’ weaknesses. This ego brings in the feeling of superiority: I am superior, better than someone else. Another type of ego is always dividing us from somebody else: it is beneath our dignity to be with this person or that person. We have to ask ourselves if we are happy by cherishing the idea that we are far better than so-and-so, or if we become a better person by separating ourselves from the rest of the world. If we are sincere, we know that we are not happy by having the feeling of superiority or by separating ourselves from the rest of the world.

Question: How can we transform doubt?

Anything that takes away our joy, we should stop doing. By doubting someone, we will never be happy. We will only enter into that person’s obscure, impure existence. Again, by having faith in that person, we are creating positive qualities inside ourselves. So when doubt comes, just say to yourself: “It is not my job to doubt him. If he is a bad person, he has to pray and meditate to make progress.”

If you have self-doubt, if you feel that you cannot become an excellent disciple or you cannot be excellent in a particular field, immediately pray to God, “I have no idea what I am supposed to be, but if You want me to excel in something, then do give me the capacity. You know what is best for me.” Always give the responsibility to God, to your Inner Pilot. If we take responsibility for our life, we will be completely, totally helpless. A child gives his responsibility to his father and his father shows him the way, holds his hand and takes him or carries him to the destination.

Instead of doubting whether we have the capacity to do something special or important in our inner life, we should always bring God into the picture. He is our inner Guide. Just pray to Him, “Please show me the way. I shall follow You.” How can you enjoy self-doubt when you are asking Someone who is all illumination to show you the way to the Destination? Always feel the supreme necessity of begging the Supreme to show you the way. If He shows you the way, then there can be no self-doubt and no wish or will to doubt others.

Part IV

Question: When I am involved in giving meditation classes, I find it hard to keep up my running.

Always we have to keep a balance. Sports you can do on a daily basis for physical fitness. Then, if one is good in particular events, one must practise. But in general, if I have to say which one is more important, sports is secondary. Aspiration and manifestation must come first. Sports also includes aspiration, true, but if you want to spread divine light in infinite measure throughout the length and breadth of the world, then individual or collective success in sports may not have as great an effect as other activities.

Question: How can I increase my sincerity?

Question: How can we know whether we are making the fastest progress or not and if you are satisfied with our progress?

Question: You once said that you have God-realisation-victory but you do not have God-manifestation-victory.

When they climbed up Mount Everest, Hillary happened to have the brain, the finances and so on, and Tenzing was the guide. Tenzing was a simple Sherpa from Nepal. The whole world bestowed so many honours on Hillary — he was even knighted by the Queen of England — while poor Tenzing remained in oblivion. But we know that without Tenzing, Hillary could not have climbed up Mount Everest.

Those disciples who are working on manifestation should take it as a tug of war. Some people are in front, some are holding on at the very back. Everybody is trying his best — it is teamwork. Usually when one side wins, all the members of the team are in the seventh Heaven of delight that their team has won. Unfortunately, when it comes to manifestation work, that team spirit is missing. If five people have been working on one project, then at the eleventh hour if one individual is responsible for bringing the success, those other team members do not claim the victory as their own. I feel so sad when this happens. While the five disciples were working on the project, they could not tell which one would get the glory. It came at the last moment. I give glory to each and every one who is involved in a project. Some are doing well, while others are not. With your jealousy you are absolutely killing me. You are ready to climb up the Himalayas ten times all by yourself. How many times you will fail, God alone knows. But when somebody wants to climb up only a few thousand feet, you are trying to push that person down. This applies not only to the Centre leaders, but also to important Centre members who are working together.

If somebody brings a new member into our family, he becomes your brother, she becomes your sister. But instead you are thinking, “Somebody else brought him, so what glory do I get?” Even if you did not bring the person, you can keep that person in our family with your affection, kindness, compassion and love.

Question: A seeker saw you meditating in a video and asked me what method you use when you meditate. How should I answer that question?

Question: If we are only meditating for fifteen minutes each morning, is that really enough for God-realisation?

I will never be able to say that by meditating for fifteen minutes you will realise God. Again, who knows? If God wants you to meditate even for five minutes and then He wants to give you realisation, He can. God sometimes acts like a child. If a child has a flower or a tennis ball, he can go and give it to a certain person. That person may not be right in the front row. He may be in the tenth row. Again, although God is a child, He is a conscious child. He sees our past, present and future. In this incarnation perhaps someone is only meditating for fifteen minutes because he does not have enough time, he has so many things to do. But how do you know whether he meditated for hours, days, months and years in his previous incarnations? So it all depends on God’s Wisdom. He knows when you started meditating.

In my case, in my previous incarnation I realised God. In this incarnation, at the age of twelve, when I became fully conscious of my previous God-realisation, it was just like turning the pages of a book that I had already devoured. But in terms of hours, my eldest brother Hriday definitely used to meditate more than I did. In my family, two or three members meditated more than I did. They used to meditate for eleven or twelve hours daily. For me, it was five, six or seven. In my case, meditation became spontaneous. While I was running, jumping, throwing or doing other activities, I could meditate. I was able to do many, many things at the same time, whereas while my brothers were meditating, they were unable to do anything else.

God-realisation does not depend on how many hours you meditate. It depends on how intensely and deeply you meditate. In the Mahabharata, there is a story about how Arjuna used to worship for hours and hours, while Bhima used to worship for only a few seconds, and yet Lord Shiva was more pleased with Bhima. So to come back to your question, it is not how many minutes you spend in front of your shrine, but how devotedly you pray and meditate that is the most important thing. Then God will give you whatever is necessary — the capacity plus the opportunity.

Question: My daughters are now 17 and 19. They have not lived with me for about five years, but when they get unhappy or have really difficult problems, I want to just put them on a plane and bring them here. Should I just pray harder, or should I bring them here?

Question: Do the primary qualities of a soul change from incarnation to incarnation?

Question: I was wondering if the main quality that our soul's name represents would change from incarnation to incarnation.

Question: When we use instruments to play your songs, how can we best bring out all the divine qualities of the songs through the instruments?

Part V

Question: Dearest Guru, do you have any special message for your discouraging and disappointing child, Annam Brahma?

Question: What quality could we bring forward in Annam Brahma to please you the most?

Question: When we have problems that are in our subconscious, is it because we have a strong attachment to the problem and are not really ready to let go, or is it something more than that?

Question: What does the soul of Annam Brahma want?

Question: What do I need to know?

Question: Preparing prasad sometimes takes a very long time. How can I remain soulful during the whole preparation?

Sometimes when you want to run one full mile at a stretch, you see the distance and you become frightened and tired. But if you divide it into half a mile or a quarter of a mile, it becomes quite easy.

Question: Does a seeker's gratitude-heart truly carry more significance than his own personal transformation?

Question: How much importance should I give to athletics? I am always wondering if I disappoint you by not training and having running goals.

Question: What can I do to see only the good in the world and in others and not be pulled down by the undivine things?

Question: How is Annam Brahma in Heaven?

Question: How can I stop my restless mind? I always rush from one thing to the other and, at the end of the day, I realise that I did not spend enough time singing, reading and meditating.

Question: Sometimes I have spasms of energy in my spine which are very uncomfortable; sometimes I have no energy at all. How can I keep my energy more constant and stable?

Question: What is the soul of Annam Brahma like?

Question: What shall I do when I leave New York so that I do not miss your physical presence too much?

Question: How can we maintain a good consciousness while we are being assailed by our ignorance as we work in the restaurant?

Question: How can I be more conscious so that I do not forget something that you really need?

Question: How can we work dynamically and soulfully, without rushing?

Part VI

Question: When problems seem so huge and individuals seem so small, when problems seem to be able to be solved only on a very large scale, by large-scale intervention by governments, what can individuals do to contribute to world peace?

Again, although ordinary individuals are helpless, we have to know that we have access to a higher power that is infinitely stronger than any organisation or government. This power, which is within us, is the absolute highest Power. We call Him the Inner Pilot, the Absolute Lord Supreme. The power that operates through governments or large organisations can easily be conquered by this highest absolute Power, which is all-illumining and all-fulfilling.

Question: Charity is sometimes criticised for being impersonal and patronising and assuaging our guilt. How does the concept of service differ from charity?

If I say that I am helping you, I am also making a deplorable mistake. Who am I to help anyone? If I say that I help the world, then I am the worst possible fool. Only God can help. I can only serve, and I must serve out of a feeling of oneness. If a mother hears her child crying because he is hungry, immediately she comes to feed him. When the mother gives food to the child, she does not think that her child is inferior. No, she has already established her oneness with the child, and she feels the child’s hunger as her own.

Question: Why do people in the West find the idea of simplicity so complicated?

When a child takes birth, the mother spends all her money-power to buy the child most beautiful and expensive clothes. She wants to show that she is richer than her neighbours. The child would be equally happy with simple clothes, but right from the beginning the child is taught that simple things are not good. So naturally, when the child grows up, he does not care for simplicity.

Question: When differences in religious creeds can create such intolerance in the world, what is the proper attitude towards other people's faiths?

Question: As we approach the millennium, there is possibly a feeling of despair. Do you think this is a special time for the fate of humanity? Is there another way of looking at this?

Again, we have to know that by seeing the dark side of an individual or the present-day world, we do not bring light to the fore. The world is full of despair, but God did not create this world for suffering. When we create something, we do not do it with the idea, “I am creating this to torture myself.” God created this world to give Himself joy. The suffering in the world is caused by us.

It is a vast game; we call it the Cosmic Game or Cosmic Lila. In a game, sometimes we do not know which side is going to win. It is so complicated. In this Game there is a fight going on between light and darkness. When darkness conquers light, it shows its supremacy. But when light conquers darkness, it shows its intimacy. When the dark part of our nature conquers something, it acts like Julius Caesar when he said, “I came, I saw, I conquered.” But when the good side of us conquers something, it says, “I came, I saw you, I loved you and I became one with you.”

Question: Isn't this a time when people like you and Mother Teresa and some others are awakening this in a lot of people?

Part VII

Question: Why is this year so full of hostile forces?

You have to ask yourself why there are so many undivine forces torturing us on earth. If your question is absolutely sincere, not coming from your mind but from your heart, then your soul will reply on behalf of God. Your soul will tell you that you are part and parcel of this world. If even one person remains imperfect or undivine, then the world cannot be perfect. If one key on a piano is defective, in spite of your best intention not to strike that particular key, like a magnetic pull, again and again you will strike that one and your beautiful melody will be ruined. Our human mind, vital and physical consciousness are like extremely defective keys. Sometimes the heart is good; sometimes it is not. The soul-key is absolutely perfect, but what kind of melody can you create with one key? We have to try to fix the other keys — the body, vital, mind and heart. Once we make them absolutely perfect, there will be no hostile forces; it will be all perfection.

Question: In the soul's world, even though the souls do not have physical ears, is there also music like here?

Question: Why is the German mind so stubborn?

Question: How can I keep my mind from worrying about the past and the future?

Our philosophy is that the past is dust, absolute dust. Again, in the past if you had even one most sublime experience when your mind became tranquil or your heart became the vast sky, then try to bring that experience into your mind and into your heart. Right now if you are not having a good meditation, imagine a time fifteen years ago when you had a good meditation. Imagination has a power of its own. After imagining for some time, you will get back your former experience, your previous realisation.

If you had a discouraging experience, absolutely think of it as a dead elephant. If you had an extremely important experience, then remembering it now will inspire you to go farther, higher and deeper. Again, it may not be necessary to remember any experience. You may be given the golden moment right now. At this very moment you can pray to God to make you the absolutely purest person on earth or the most humble person on earth. Any good quality that you have, you can pray to God to increase. Then inside that divine quality you can try to grow. Let your heart grow in that divine quality. Let your life grow in that divine quality.

Question: Why can't I see God?

Question: If something is close to you that is not inspiring, how can you protect yourself?

If jealousy has entered into your mind, then immediately you have to think of the opposite of jealousy. Just say, “She is my spiritual sister. Why should I be jealous? She has good qualities, and I also have many good qualities. Guru is telling us all the time to feel our oneness. If I cannot establish this oneness, will he not feel sad?” That is how you can save yourself.

As soon as any unaspiring thought comes, immediately try to replace it with a good thought. Anything unaspiring that is close to you has to be transformed. What can be closer than your own mind? In a different sense, the heart is closer to you, the heart is dearest, but at the same time, you have to use the mind. So when anything uninspiring enters into the mind, you have to transform it into aspiration.