Question: Is there any special way to assimilate everything that you have given us on the Christmas trip?

Sri Chinmoy: Every morning and every evening, for at least five minutes, please shed gratitude-tears. First you have to enter into your heart. Then you have to feel that you have no mind, you have no eyes, no arms, no legs — nothing, nothing, nothing! No, you have only one thing — the heart — as your possession. Then you have to feel that you yourself have become that possession. It is not that you have something inside which you call the heart; you are the heart itself. While you are the heart, you will become the doer and the seer at the same time. What you are doing, you will observe.

What will you do? For five minutes you will shed gratitude-tears, in the morning and in the evening. If you can offer gratitude-tears from your heart, when you have become the heart itself, then everything that you have gained — everything inspiring, aspiring, illumining and fulfilling — you will be able to keep intact. You are not going to lose anything. On the contrary, all the divine joy and other qualities that you have received here during this trip you will be able to increase in abundant measure.

Also, from time to time you can remember the special occasions during these two months. Remember the very, very special occasions when you were in your highest and when everybody was in a very, very aspiring mood, either in the morning or in the evening, and when I was in a very good mood — no barking, no insulting! Remember when I was in my highest, and how many times I was smiling at individuals, especially at you. You will remember how many times I gave you a most powerful smile, and someone else will remember how many times I gave him or her a most powerful smile. Each individual should remember when he or she received my most powerful smile. Along with other things, each one has to remember the smiles. You do not have to count them! Just remember them — whether it was here or somewhere else. That will help.

Yes, sometimes rain disturbed us, but again, we have to change our attitude. If you have to sing a few songs, rain is giving you the golden opportunity to practise. Then, if there are some very special things that you have been neglecting for a few days or for a few weeks, when it is raining you can easily remember those things and do them. In this way, outer disadvantage can be an inner advantage. Every time there is a disadvantage on one plane, we can derive advantage from another plane.

This is how we can preserve everything good, everything divine that we have done ourselves and that we have observed during the Christmas trip.