Question: How can we get rid of wrong forces, other than by just trying to do the right thing?

Sri Chinmoy: You may have suffered from a wrong force for five minutes, but you have to feel that that force is not yourself; it is an attack by an enemy. Unfortunately, at that time, you think that you have to go to school and when you come back from school the hostile force will be taken care of. You feel that since no one knows that you have been attacked by a hostile, undivine force, then everything is all right. But I advise you that when you are attacked, if at all possible, do not go to school at all. If you do not go to school, your teacher may fail you for one day, let us say. But if you fail for one day in the inner world, ignorance gets more powerful. Then again tomorrow or a few days later, you will be attacked most powerfully. So when the power of ignorance is comparatively weak, at that time use your own power to attack it. Otherwise, if you allow ignorance-power to grow, it becomes very, very powerful. These hostile forces cannot be taken lightly. Before you get an attack, be careful. And if, unfortunately, you get an attack, try to fight it. Become a hero. The spiritual life is the life of a hero.

In the ordinary life, when you go to war, either you die in battle there or you come back. But in the spiritual life, the war is never over; the battle must be fought at every second. Some of you suffer from attacks for two weeks or three weeks or two months or even four months. But you do not realise what you are doing at that time. You may have had a good meditation at the centre or at home, but you are really weakening yourself when you allow those forces to attack. If you do this, a day will come when you will not have any power to fight those forces. They are the real enemies inside us. Either you have to transform them into friends with your spiritual power, or you have to chase them away. You have to know what is God’s Will. If it is a negligible force that has just come, then it will be very easy to transform it. If it is just a tiny force that has entered you, use your will-power and transform it into a positive force.

If you have lost faith in me and think that I am bad, immediately try to imagine something I gave you two months or two years ago which gave you joy. I always tell you people that the disciple who was the depression king is not the king of depression any more. There is not a single disciple who can say that I have never smiled at him or said a nice word to him. I tell you that if somebody has been with me for six months and if he is sincere, then I have smiled at him or said something nice to him at least once. When I do or say something nice to you, please write it down. Then when you doubt me or when you are angry with me, immediately remember that particular incident. Even if you feel that you are right and that I have been indifferent to you for some time, then just remember the incident that took place two years ago when I smiled or said something nice to you. With that memory you can forgive me. Your imagination of that incident has tremendous power. It will immediately conquer this negative force and make you again my own. It will help you gain faith in me and love for me.

Many of you suffer and think that I am indifferent to you or that you have done something wrong. Try to remember the day I smiled at you. Sometimes my smile is insincere; I can’t smile properly because I am tired and exhausted and some silly people are trying to bother me. If I were to smile and sympathise with them, then I would be insincere. But my heart is always there. The only thing is that sometimes these unfortunate people don’t need my smile, but when others are looking at them, they want to show off that they spoke to me. Nobody is going to hear what they tell me, but the very fact that they have spoken to me is enough for them to show others that they are very dear and close to me.

But you know when you have done something right. At that time I give you my soulful smile. That soulful smile is enough. Here you see me three or four times a week. When some other Masters smile at a particular person, it has to last two weeks — three weeks or more. Just a smile or any good word or encouragement is enough. Feel that this is your treasure. If I have encouraged you and appreciated you for something, feel that that is your most precious possession; then use that diamond when you need it. If you do good meditation, you are getting this most precious thing, the satisfaction-diamond, every day. But if you cannot meditate for a month or so because of some difficulty, I tell you your best weapon against depression or frustration is to know how many times I have appreciated you and encouraged you. This appreciation is not false. If you feel that my appreciation is sincere, try to remember it. It has tremendous power to conquer your depression-power or any vital world difficulties. I tell you, it is bound to conquer them.

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