Part I — Hostile forces

Question: Why have some of America's greatest and most spiritual leaders been killed by hostile forces?

Sri Chinmoy: It proves that ignorance is still here on earth. The world is far from perfection. The hostile forces are much more vigilant than the divine forces. That is why they are able to attack. Normally the divine forces are supposed to win the victory, but here on earth, we know how many hours we remain in ignorance, how many hours a day we are open to ignorance and hostile forces. Out of twenty-four hours we sleep seven or nine hours. To some extent sleeping is necessary for our health, but at that time we don’t aspire at all. So to some extent when we sleep, we make friends with ignorance. Physically it is necessary, but if we have to separate good from bad, then we will see that when we are unable to aspire, it is as bad as being attacked by hostile forces. Therefore, we have to be always alert. During twenty-four hours, if we spend most of the time praying, meditating and doing dedicated, devoted service, then for the remaining few hours of sleep, we will be protected by the divine forces.

From:Sri Chinmoy,Transformation of the ego, Agni Press, 1977
Sourced from https://srichinmoylibrary.com/te