Part I

SCA 567-574. Sri Chinmoy answered these questions in December 1997 at the Nassau Beach Hotel in the Bahamas.

Question: Guru, sometimes it seems that, for our Centres to grow, we need a massive increase in effort. Out of 300 seekers, perhaps one will wish to join our path. We have to reach many more seekers every month.

Sri Chinmoy: Do not insult your soul! Your soul is not made of mud and clay! If you have no determination to bring new seekers, then you will put Eternal Time in front of you. My philosophy is “here and now”. Why do you have to think of India’s five-year plan? If you think of accomplishing something right now, then you will get the result tomorrow. But if you think of reaching your goal in one month, then it will take six months or ten months. Urgency you have to develop. Immediacy you have to develop. The supreme necessity of urgency and immediacy you have to feel. If you do not develop these qualities, you will not be able to bring to the fore what you have in your mind, or even in your heart. You have to bring the inner reality into your heartbeat, into your life-breath.

With my disciples, everything has become theoretical. You are not practical. To be practical is not to give a talk on this subject or that subject, or to rent a large hall or burn candles or bring flowers. To be practical is to make your sadhana into a living reality. You have to say to yourself, “My goal right now is not God-realisation. God will take care of my God-realisation. My goal right now is to bring more friends, more flowers into my Guru’s heart-garden.” Again, the goal does not remain fixed. But for the time being, disciples who are entering into manifestation have to feel that their goal is to bring more beautiful, fragrant flowers into my heart-garden.

You may think, “It will be done, since Guru has spoken.” “It will be done” is one thing. But “It has to be done right now, today, tomorrow” is another thing. Again, if today you do not succeed, then when tomorrow dawns, say to yourself, “Today, today I must reach my goal. Yesterday I failed but today I shall succeed. And today even if I fail, tomorrow again I shall try.” Every day make a fresh promise to yourself: “Today I must succeed. But even if I fail, tomorrow I shall do it, or the day after tomorrow.”

Do not think of yesterday’s failure. If your previous failures over the years come to mind, just cast them aside. Do not allow those failures to come and block your mind. Just tell yourself that yesterday no longer exists. The days that you did not succeed must not exist anymore inside your heart.

So, urgency and immediacy are needed. If you do everything with this determination, it is leading you towards your God-realisation. If I tell you that something is necessary, then you have to feel, “I have to obey my Master — not by hook or by crook, but by making his blessingful request the supreme necessity in my aspiration-life and in my dedication-life.” If you have that kind of infallible attitude in your aspiration-life and in your dedication-life, then you will not need a year to reach your goal.