Question: With all the great suffering and poverty in the world, should we not all be directing our lives towards social and political action? Otherwise, if we only develop ourselves in a spiritual direction, through meditation and prayer, are we really fulfilling ourselves fully?

Sri Chinmoy: Each one has a way of serving the world. Somebody may enter into politics because he feels that politics is the only way to save mankind or to solve all human problems. Again, there will be someone who feels that only the inner life can cure the maladies of millennia. He feels that if he can enter into the inner life, and go to the very root of human problems, then he will be able to cure the suffering of humanity.

A seeker feels that since God is within him and since God is all Love, all Compassion, all Joy, all Power, it is best to invoke God first. Since God is all Power, He can solve the problems of society. If I want to serve or illumine mankind or put an end to world suffering, then I must go to someone who is in a position to give me the capacity and that someone is God. With my limited strength, if I enter into politics or into any kind of social activities with the thought that I will be able to save humanity, then I am mistaken. A seeker knows and feels that the capacity which he has right now is very limited, next to nothing. So he wants to enter into the Unlimited, from which he can get a boundless supply of Peace, Light and Bliss. These divine qualities he will then offer to the world at large, for he feels that this is the only way he can be of real service to mankind.

Others have their own views. The politicians and so-called social reformers will justify their methods. But we are spiritual people. We feel that our Lord Supreme has all Power, and if we please Him in His own Way, then He will grant us the boon supreme, which is illumination. And once we are illumined, we will be in a position to illumine the rest of the world most effectively.