Desire-life and aspiration-life

Before the seeker entered into the spiritual life, he had a friend. His friend’s name was desire. His friend said to him, “Life is pressure, life needs leisure. Creation is torture, creation needs pleasure. God is self-assertion, God needs Compassion.”

The seeker is now in the spiritual life and he has a new friend. The name of his new friend is aspiration. This aspiration says to him, “Life is temptation, life needs illumination. Creation is imperfection, creation needs perfection. God is Eternity’s salvation, God needs satisfaction here on earth, there in Heaven.”

Before the seeker entered into the spiritual life, he used his love-power for world-possession, he used his devotion-power for world-recognition, he used his surrender-power for world-admiration. Now the seeker is in the spiritual life and he uses his love-power for self-expression, he uses his devotion-power for self-illumination, he uses his surrender-power for self-perfection.

Before the seeker entered into the spiritual life he thought that there was nothing in God’s creation that he could not do, if he cared to. Anything he wanted to do or achieve, he felt that he could accomplish and achieve without fail. This was the dream-experience that he treasured and cherished in his everyday life. But reality had a different story to tell him. When he had to face reality, he saw, felt and learned that nothing — nothing at all — was within his easy reach. For every little thing he had to make a personal effort. He had to try and cry and cry and try; yet satisfaction always remained a far cry. In his dream-world he felt that he was the possessor of everything. In his reality-world he felt that he was the possessor of nothing. His dream-world made him feel that he was a prince. His reality-world made him see and feel that he was nothing short of a veritable beggar.

Now he is in the spiritual life and he feels that he can do nothing, for he himself is nothing. But to his wide surprise, when he dives deep within he sees that everything has already been done for him by his Inner Pilot, his Beloved Supreme. On the one hand, if he is asked to do something for himself or for the world at large, he feels he will fail. But when he realises his inseparable oneness with his Inner Pilot, he sees that everything is done for him by his Beloved Supreme, the infinite Absolute, and not only for him, but for everybody, for the entire creation. When the Creator created the creation with His Silence-Light, He Himself came into His creation as revealing and manifesting capacity.

Before he entered into the spiritual life, the seeker quite often, if not always, felt that he was an object of pity. The world pitied him because he was not contributing something substantial to the world. Humiliation was his lot. Now the seeker is in the spiritual life and he sees that, unfortunately, he has two more names which have been thrust upon him by the world-community: doubt and suspicion. His aspiration is doubted, his aspiration is suspected. Until the Goal is won by him, the world is bound to doubt him and suspect him. And even when he has reached the Goal, world-ignorance may not recognise him, not to speak of acclaiming him. His God-realisation is no guarantee of world-acceptance. His God-revelation is no guarantee for world-acceptance. But his God-manifestation is undoubtedly a guarantee of world-acceptance. For when he manifests God in and through himself, or when he manifests God in the world-body, or when he manifests God in the universal life, then the atheists, the agnostics and the lovers of God all see and feel that some illumination has taken place in their own lives. This illumination they observe according to the power of their own receptivity. Here at this point, the seeker is not an object of doubt and suspicion; he becomes the world friend, world comrade, world leader, world guide, world dreamer and world saviour. At that time the seeker is known as humanity’s most precious cry and Divinity’s most gracious Smile.

From:Sri Chinmoy,Sri Chinmoy speaks, part 1, Agni Press, 1976
Sourced from https://srichinmoylibrary.com/scs_1