AUM — Vol.II-1, No.10, 27 October 1974

Return to the table of contents

1.

United Nations Meditation Group (Room 3401)
United Nations, New York, N.Y. 10017

Our Hope for Mankind
30 September 1974

Dear Mr. President,

On behalf of the United Nations Meditation Group,

I most humbly offer to you our deepest concern. We are praying to the Lord Supreme for your beloved wife's quickest and most satisfactory recovery. We are also praying to the Lord Supreme to grant her a very long life of inner achievements and outer manifestation.

With our soulful concern,

Sri Chinmoy
Spiritual Director
United Nations Meditation Group

The President
The White House
Washington, D.C.

2.

Letter from the President:

Our family deeply appreciate your message of prayerful concern and friendship. Your good wishes extended to us during this illness have been most heartwarming.

Betty Ford Gerald R. Ford

The quintessence of the Mahabharata

[continued from previous issue]

8. Arjuna

Arjuna was the third Pandava. Arjuna means ‘white’. White is purity. Purity his heart undoubtedly was.

Yudhisthira, Bhima and Arjuna were Kunti’s (Pritha’s) sons; therefore, each one was supposed to be known as Partha. But the world knows only Arjuna as the real Partha. His father used to call him Krishna. Krishna means ‘dark’. Arjuna had quite a few more names as well. Dhananjaya, the conqueror of wealth, was one of these. In the battlefield he was always the victor; therefore, he was also called Vijaya, which means ‘victor’. The horses of his chariot were of white colour; therefore, he was known as Shwetaba-hana, or ‘passenger in the white chariot’. His birthday star was Uttarphalghuni_; therefore, he was known as Phalguna. Once, when Arjuna conquered the undivine forces, Indra crowned him with the most beautiful crown; therefore, he was known as _Kiriti, or ‘one who is wearing a crown’. He was the only supreme hero-archer who could use both hands with equal skill in archery; therefore, he was called Savyasachi, ‘he who strings the bow equally well with either hand’. He had tremendous purity in doing devoted and dedicated service; therefore, he was called Arjuna. He was the indomitable hero; therefore, he was called Jishnu, ‘the indomitable’. His skin was dark; he used to conquer the hearts of all; therefore, he was called Krishna. He conquered sleep; therefore he was called Gurakesha, ‘one who has conquered sleep’.

Arjuna was a supreme hero. Handsome he was. Generous he was. Intelligent he was. Amiable he was. Interesting he was. Inspiring he was.

His immortal bow, Gandiva, he received from Agni, the Fire-god. With Gandiva he fought against Indra and assisted Agni in burning the Khandava forest.

Yudhisthira, the eldest brother, lost in gambling. The five brothers had to go into exile for thirteen years. Arjuna went on a pilgrimage to the Himalayas in order to invoke and please the cosmic gods. He did this so that the gods would grant him celestial weapons. He needed them badly to fight against the Kauravas in later years. In the mountains Arjuna fought against Lord Shiva, who came to him in the guise of an undivine Kirata, or mountaineer. When Arjuna discovered who his foe was he immediately gave up fighting and started worshipping him. Shiva tested his valour. He was highly pleased with Arjuna. He gave Arjuna the Pasupata, one of the most powerful weapons. Indra, Varuna, Yama and Kuvera and others also came and gave Arjuna most powerful weapons.

At the end of thirteen years of exile the Pandava brothers returned to their kingdom. Preparations for the great battle now began. Arjuna chose Sri Krishna as his charioteer. They enjoyed supreme intimacy with each other. Before the great battle of Kurukshetra began, Sri Krishna related to Arjuna the Bhagavad Gita (the song celestial) and revealed to him His universal Form. Friendship was transformed into worship. Arjuna became Sri Krishna’s matchless devotee. In Arjuna Sri Krishna found his supreme satisfaction. Arjuna’s mother, Kunti, loved him most. His preceptor, Drona, loved him most. His grandfather, Vishma, loved him most. Sri Krishna, Lord of the Universe, loved him most.

The Pandavas won. The Kauravas lost. In the outer life Arjuna proved himself to be the unparalleled warrior. In the inner life his inseparable oneness with Sri Krishna on the strength of his devoted and unconditional surrender made him the supreme conqueror of ignorance-night.

Arjuna was the earth-representative of the highest order. Sri Krishna was the world-saviour. Arjuna realised his highest reality in and through Sri Krishna. Sri Krishna manifested his deepest reality in and through Arjuna. Finally, Sri Krishna sang. Arjuna became.

[to be continued]

The core of India's Light

[continued from previous issue]

15.

Abhāva

Going out of existence

Yesterday I saw God going out of my existence.
Today I see ignorance going out of my existence.
Tomorrow I shall see God alone in my awakened existence.
The day after tomorrow I shall without fail see my unconditionally surrendered presence in God’s immortalising Delight-Existence.

16.

Abhayam

Fearlessness

Man has no fear of the true truth that his body-reality is of God-Consciousness. He has fear because he is not aware of the true truth that his vital-incapacity wants to stay without God-Consciousness. He has fear because he is not aware of the true truth that his mind-concentration is not on God-Consciousness. He has fear because he is not aware of the true truth that his heart-love is not for God-Reality.

17.

Acala

Motionless

If we really need God’s infinite Love, Peace, Light and Delight, then an inner motionless life we must embody and an outer life of dynamic motion we must reveal. How can we do that? We can do it only by meditating on God in divinity and by serving God in humanity.

18.

Acārya

A spiritual Teacher

An ordinary teacher gives to his students what he has: knowledge. A spiritual Teacher gives to his disciples not only what he has but also what God has and what God is. What the Teacher has for his disciples is Concern. What God has for his disciples is Compassion-Light. What God is for his disciples is Perfection-Delight.

19.

Acyuta

Unfallen

We want always to remain unfallen from our divine and supreme nature which is God-oneness in God-Perfection; therefore, we must always remember that we are the hero-warriors of the Supreme for the Supreme. Acyuta is also an epithet of Visnu or Krsna.

20.

Âdeśa

An inner command

God’s inner Command to a supremely sincere seeker is: Son, declare to the world at large that you are not only of My transcendental Reality and for My universal Reality but you are also My eternal Partner, a co-sharer of our cosmic Dream- Reality.

[to be continued]

Religion: divinity's vision-call

[continued from previous issue]

Shinto

Shinto is Japan’s living and fond religion. It is also Japan’s national religion. Its origin nobody knows. No individual was its founder.

Worship, worship! Whom to worship? Ancestors. What to worship? Nature. Ancestors were great; therefore they must needs be worshipped. Nature is powerful; therefore it deserves human worship.

The followers of Shinto do not believe in idle theory. They have implicit faith in practice. What they want and what they get is reality’s practicality.

Shinto tells the world that Japan’s Emperor is much more than a human being; he is an illumining deity. He is at once an earthly and a heavenly ruler. He is humanity’s realisation-height and divinity’s manifestation-depth. He embodies earth’s cherished treasure: heart-cry, and Heaven’s cherished treasure: soul-smile.

What does Shinto want from a Shintoist? A clean life. What else? A pure heart. No body’s cleanliness means no divinity. No heart’s purity means no Immortality.

Shinto tells its votaries: serve, you will become. What will you become? Nation-soul, truth-illumination and oneness-perfection.

Shinto means the supernal way, the way that leads, the way that embodies, the way that is. It leads the Shintoist to the effulgence of the Light- world. It embodies the beauty of service-delight. It is a supreme recognition of divinity in humanity.

Buddhism came in. Shintoism vehemently protested. Buddhism was wise. It said to Shintoism: “All right, I shall not find fault with your ancestral worship. You follow your ancient faith, but what I am going to offer you is also of great importance. You will soon realise it. You will appreciate my heart of purity and wisdom before long.”

Shintoism said: “How strange! Yesterday I took you for my worst foe. Today I feel that you are my true friend. Let us live together.”

But unfortunately the two friends failed to live together peacefully, and they started fighting again. Buddhism won the fight. The victory of Buddhism over Shintoism lasted for some time. But the fight began again, and this time Shintoism won the victory; indeed, a decisive triumph.

Tenrikyo

Miki Nakayama, the foundress of Tenrikyo, was a simple, sincere, humble, pure and generous Japanese woman. Compared to most religions the Tenrikyo religion has a very recent origin. Only about one hundred and forty years ago it was born. Miki Nakayama received inner illumination when she was forty-one years old. After that, for half a century she offered her illumination as a devoted service to humanity. Material wealth she had in abundant measure. But she gave it away and embraced poverty, for she discovered the true truth that in order to be a real servant to poor humanity she must herself be poor. In that state she would be able to communicate much better with the poverty-stricken humanity than she could while wallowing in the pleasures of her own wealth.

She was misunderstood. She was prosecuted. She was thrown into prison quite a few times. Even after she became an octogenerian she suffered imprisonment. The civil authorities were of the opinion that she was misleading humanity and that her illumination was nothing short of a mental hallucination. These hostile authorities were considerably instigated by the votaries of the then well-established religions of Japan.

Miki Nakayama’s philosophy is: accept life. Be not complacent, but be satisfied with what you have and are; then try to improve your outer life and inner life so that you can achieve greater and more fulfilling satisfaction. Remember, you are not the real owner of your possessions. You have borrowed them from God. By yourself you have nothing and you are nothing. It is God alone who does everything in and through you and makes you everything in His divine and supreme way. God plays His role unconditionally. You play your role devotedly, at least. Try to see the Face of God in the heart of man. Try to serve God in man, for He alone has Reality’s Light and He alone is Immortality’s Life. Offer Him what you have. Become what He is. The little infinitesimal will which you proudly claim to be yours is not really yours. It is His. From Him you have borrowed. Return it to Him. He will give you this time something else. He will give you His transcendental Will. Also His universal Vision.

[to be continued]

1.

Aspiration earns the Truth.
Realisation uses the Truth.
Manifestation fulfils the Truth.

2.

The Christ told the Truth. The Truth existed before.

The Christ became the Truth. Hence, the Truth lives and breathes on earth.

Monkey-master vs. donkey-master1

There were two spiritual Masters. Each one had hundreds of disciples. Unfortunately, the disciples of each Master were very, very undivine. They used to quarrel and fight not only among themselves but also with the disciples of the other Master.

Now it happened that the undivine qualities of the disciples were like a contagious disease. These qualities entered into the Masters as well. So the Masters also began to quarrel and fight and to speak ill of each other. This went on for many, many years.

Each of the Masters was looked down upon by the disciples of the other Master, and each Master laughed at the other Master. But these two did have spiritual power and occult power, and one of them really had tremendous occult and spiritual power.

The names of the two Masters were Banar and Gadha. Banar means ‘monkey’ and Gadha means ‘donkey’. Although they were human beings, their parents had given them these names, and no doubt they rightly deserved them, for they did their best to live up to them.

One day Banar was meditating deeply when a revelation dawned. He said, “How long will my disciples fight among themselves and quarrel with the disciples of the Donkey? And how long will the Donkey and I quarrel and fight and speak ill of each other? The best thing is to put an end to it.”

So Banar wrote a confidential letter to Gadha. “Dear Gadha,” he wrote, “tomorrow I would like to meet with you. Please bring all your disciples and I shall also come with all my disciples. I have an excellent plan. If we can execute this plan, both you and I will be extremely happy. Also, your disciples will be happy and my disciples will be happy. In the park near your ashram there is a huge banyan tree. I will bring my disciples inside the park and you also bring your disciples. Let us all meet under the banyan tree and there we shall have a discussion. I have quite a few things to tell you.”

Gadha was highly pleased with the letter. The following morning he brought all his disciples, and Banar brought all his disciples, and they met beneath the banyan tree. For the time being both the parties were courteous to each other.

Banar said to Gadha, “Gadha, let us put an end to this constant quarrelling. You have a physical body, and I have a physical body. We both have physical strength. You are a spiritual Master, and I am a spiritual Master. You have occult and spiritual power, and I have occult and spiritual power. Let us do two things. Let us have a physical fight, and then let us have a spiritual fight. Whoever wins…”

Before Banar could finish his proposal, some of Gadha’s disciples immediately said, “No!”

But Gadha said, “This is an excellent idea. We shall see who is really great. On the physical plane everyone will know who is the winner as soon as the fight is over. But on the spiritual plane, how will these idiots know who has more spiritual power and occult power?”

Banar said, “It is very easy. We shall fight physically to know our physical power. Spiritually we shall both sit face to face and look at each other. With our third eye we shall try to conquer each other. By this I mean that the one who is stronger will compel the other to fall at his feet and take the very dust of the winner’s feet with his head. In that way the disciples will know who is the greater of us two.”

Then Gadha said, “I have an excellent idea. You know that one of us will win in the spiritual fight and one will win in the physical fight. Now, the one who wins spiritually will get the reward of having the other Master touch his feet. But the one who wins physically must have some reward also.”

Banar said, “That is an excellent idea.”

“Now,” Gadha said to Banar, “please write down the names of your twenty best disciples, and I shall write down the names of my twenty best disciples. Whoever is the winner of the physical fight will get the twenty best disciples of the other Master, the loser. Now let us exchange our lists and read out the names.”

When Gadha and Banar read out the names of their twenty best disciples, a terrible battle broke out. The disciples who were among the best boasted and bragged, and those who were not on the lists became terribly angry. The disciples of the Monkey fought bitterly among themselves and the disciples of the Donkey did the same. It took the Masters quite a long time to restore some kind of peace among their followers after having all kinds of insults heaped upon them by their bad disciples.

Now a new idea flashed across the Monkey’s mind. He said, “Suppose one of us wins both the spiritual fight and the physical fight?”

Gadha said, “Banar, you are a fool! You are an old man, and I am a young man. You do not expect me to lose physically, do you? When we have our spiritual fight, there is some question as to who will win. But on the physical plane I know I will beat you immediately as soon as we start wrestling or fighting. I will just throw you on the ground, and you and all your disciples will start crying. You may win on the spiritual plane, but I will easily win on the physical plane. Then we will be even.”

But Banar said, “Suppose you don’t win in the physical fight? What will happen then? Granted, you are physically strong, but what will happen if I somehow defeat you in both contests?”

“Don’t brag, don’t brag!” said Gadha. “Well, in case you win, I am going to become your disciple. What more can I say or do? I will give up my life of teaching. I will be your humble devotee along with my twenty disciples if I lose to you in both the physical and the spiritual fights. And you must also do the same if you lose to me in both the fights.” Banar gladly agreed to this proposal.

Then Gadha said, “Now let us start.”

The disciples of both parties were alarmed, eager and anxious to see who would be the winner. Each group encouraged and inspired its own Master.

Now it happened that although Banar was an old man, he defeated Gadha like anything in the physical fight, in front of everyone, and in the spiritual fight he also defeated Gadha. The monkey-master defeated the donkey-master in both cases.

Then Banar said to Gadha, “Look, you have lost to me in both the physical fight and the spiritual fight. Now you will have to be my devoted disciple, and your good disciples also have to become my disciples. But something within me is telling me that your good disciples are not going to be my good disciples. They will feel sad and depressed, and they will all the time think of the kindness, love and affection that you showed them. No matter how much love I give them, you know they will never feel that I am giving enough. It is not possible that your good disciples will become my good disciples. When one army loses to another army, the losing army does not usually go and join the army that has conquered it. I have conquered you and won your good disciples, but I am afraid they will not become my good disciples because of their sadness at your defeat and because of their loyalty to their Master. Now, Donkey, tell me what to do.”

Gadha said, “I will ask them to be good. Since I have become your very good disciple, I will ask them to be good.”

Banar said, “I will be very grateful to you if you ask them. But Gadha, some divine ideas are entering my mind. I feel awkward about having you as my disciple. After all, you were also a Master. I have a nice plan. Let me release you. I shall not take you as my disciple. You remain the Master with the rest of your disciples, and tell your twenty good disciples that if they behave well, if they listen to me devotedly, then after three years I shall return them all to you; otherwise, I shall keep them forever. If they do not become good disciples, I will compel them to stay with me. But again, if they behave well, if they become really devoted to me, I shall give them back to you in three years’ time.”

Gadha was very pleased at the generous inclinations of his conqueror. He said, “Banar, you are the conqueror. It was my suggestion that whoever lost both fights would have to give his twenty best disciples and would himself have to become a disciple of the winner. I am the loser, so I and my twenty best disciples have become your disciples. But now, if these twenty disciples stay with you and I go away with my other disciples, it won’t be proper. I can’t do that. They will be at your feet, at your beck and call, just because I lost to you. Who is responsible for this punishment? It is I who am the culprit. I am fulfilling my promise to you, but I cannot sacrifice these innocent disciples of mine in that way. No, I cannot do it. They are most precious to me. Since I have given them to you because I lost, I cannot go away and desert them. I have to stay with them. I will be devoted to you, and I will compel my disciples also to be devoted to you. But if they suffer here at your feet, if they have to accept your leadership, can I go and enjoy myself with the rest of my disciples? No, that I can’t do.

“It was I who made the proposal that the loser would have to offer his best disciples, and even himself, to the winner. Now I can’t leave these disciples to suffer for my foolishness. I am going to stay with them. If you will accept my bad disciples also, I will be very grateful. But no, I don’t want you to accept my bad disciples, because bad disciples are always bad. Let my bad disciples stay without a Master for the time being. And when you are pleased with my other disciples and with me, when you release us either in three years or in as many years as you want, then we shall go back. At that time I will again collect all my old disciples and be their leader and the leader of the disciples who are right now with you. Eventually we shall have our ashram again.

“In one simple sentence I tell you I can’t leave my good disciples. I am duty-bound to stay with them and suffer with them. I have not been as great a Master as you, but now I feel I am obliged to fulfil my promise to you and also to be one with my good disciples, who have been so kind to me and so devoted to me right from the beginning.”

At this Banar was deeply moved. He said, “You are really great, Gadha, you are really great. You have such love for your innocent disciples. I am most pleased with you, most proud of you, most grateful to you for giving me your divine wisdom.

“To love one’s spiritual children as one’s own life: this is what you have taught me. Therefore, Gadha, I am bowing down to the Divine in you, to the Supreme in you.”

Gadha said, “You are bowing down to the Divine in me, Banar, but I am bowing down to the Divine in you, plus to the human in you. The human in you is also really great; otherwise, the human in you would have enjoyed malicious pleasure in keeping me at least for a few years just because I am the vanquished. But out of your divine generosity you were willing to let me go.”

Banar said, “My dear Gadha, I am letting you go with your dear ones. You go and run your ashram, and let me run my ashram. Let us remain friendly with each other. Let the members of my family try to do the right thing. Let the members of your family also try to do the right thing. Let us not quarrel anymore. Let us not fight. Let us join together. Your group and my group must join together and always fight against one enemy: ignorance — the ignorance that we once saw and became. Now we are free from ignorance, both you and I, Gadha, so what we shall do is pray and meditate sincerely. You guide your disciples. Let your disciples pray and meditate soulfully. And let my disciples pray and meditate soulfully. Let us act like two divine armies of the Supreme for the Supreme. Let these two armies fight against ignorance and establish the kingdom of beauty, divinity and universal oneness on earth.”

Gadha said, “Banar, you are not only great; you are good.”

Banar said, “If I have any goodness, it started when you said that you did not want to leave your disciples. You wanted to be my disciple and share their suffering. This was your generous heart. It was your heart of oneness with your good disciples that made me good. Your love for your disciples and your oneness with them has taught me love and oneness with my disciples and with everybody’s disciples — in fact, with all human beings on earth. Gadha, you are great, you are good; and if you say that I am also good and great, then I wish to say that my greatness and goodness and your greatness and goodness are all unconditional gifts from the Absolute Supreme. Let us treasure these blessing-gifts from the Absolute. Greatness and goodness are the gifts which we have got from the Supreme. Let us cherish them from now on.”

Gadha said, “Certainly we shall. Right from this moment let us begin.”


27 September 1974

1.

My seeing of Truth can be an uncertain fact of life. Likewise, my feeling, too. But never, never my growing into Truth. My growing into Truth is the most certain fact of life.

2.

God has the Truth.
Man knows the Truth.
God is the Truth.
Man becomes the Truth.

Note

City of Kingston

NEW YORK 12401

OFFICE OF THE MAYOR

FRANCIS R. KOENIG
Mayor

August 12, 1974

Sol Montlack
Sri Chinmoy Centre, Inc.
85-45 149th St.
Jamaica Hills, Queens, N.Y.

Dear Mr. Montlack:

Thank you for your kind invitation to join you on August 23.

I regret that I will be unable to attend your meditation service. However, may I take this opportunity to extend my congratulations to the Guru on this most auspicious occasion.

We will always remember, with pleasure, his visit to Kingston which was so rewarding and inspirational.

Very truly yours.

Francis R. Koenig
Mayor

The way, the truth, the life2

Dear sisters and brothers, dear seekers of the infinite Truth and Light, I wish to give a short talk on “The Way, the Truth, the Life.” This is the motto of your university. It is a lofty motto; therefore, I shall speak on this subject from the spiritual point of view.

Two thousand years ago the Christ proclaimed: “I am the Way; I am the Goal.” His revealed aspiration was the Way; His manifested realisation was the Goal. Humanity’s first and foremost achievement is the Way. Humanity’s last and most glorious achievement is the Goal.

There is a method to shorten the Way. There is a method to bring the Goal closer. How to shorten the Way? Increase our receptivity. How to bring the Goal closer? Surrender our will unconditionally to God’s Will. We increase our receptivity through soulful, devoted and ceaseless self-offering. We make our surrender unconditional by realising the fact that our satisfaction lies in God alone and that God alone is our supreme satisfaction. If we have discovered this lofty truth, then only can we make an attempt to grow into unconditional surrender to God’s Will.

God has infinite children. In God’s family, Truth is the eldest son. Right after Truth is Peace. Truth and Peace are extremely close to each other; they complement each other. They are constantly trying to please each other. Truth offers its transcendental height to its brother Peace, and Peace offers its eternal depth to its brother Truth.

Their Father, the Lord Supreme, observes this act of mutual offering by His two devoted sons. God tells them that they are supremely indispensable in His creation. God says to Truth: “Truth, My son, earth succeeds because of you. If you did not exist, earth could never succeed in anything.” God says to Peace: “Peace, My son, just because of you earth is able to receive Me. If you did not remain on earth, earth could never receive or reach Me.”

Both Truth and Peace say to their almighty Father: “Father, it is true that we are of some service to You, but we are not indispensable. Never! We are Your creation. You are the Creator and You alone are indispensable. We are extremely grateful to You for granting us the opportunity to be of service to You. We wish to become; we wish to be. We wish to become Your messengers. We wish to be the carriers of earth’s sufferings to Heaven-Delight. We wish to bring down Heaven’s Delight into earth’s excruciating pangs. Please allow us to perform this task so that through us You may fulfil Yourself, Father.”

This is their hope and desire. They want to be constantly at the Feet of their Lord Supreme. They feel that if they stay at the Feet of their Supreme Beloved, then only will earth know how to value the supreme Height and the eternal Depth of the absolute Supreme. Truth and Peace feel that they can act as intermediaries or representatives to show earth who the Supreme is and how He can be approached. How can He be approached? He can be approached only through the aspirant’s devoted surrender to the transcending height of Truth and the illumining depth of Peace.

Truth is the connecting link between the Way and the Life. Truth energises and illumines the Way that the seekers of the Infinite travel: Eternity’s road. It is Truth that feeds the life divine. It is Truth that helps the life divine in its total manifestation on earth. Truth is the connecting link between the path to the Goal and the Goal itself, which is the divinely perfect life on earth.

Human life and divine life. Human life is the life of earth. What we need on earth is the transformation of our nature, the transformation of our limited consciousness, the transformation of our earth- bound necessity and reality. The divine life is the life in which we manifest the highest Reality. The Reality-Song we have already learned, but we have not yet started singing it here on earth.

The realisation of the human life is this:

A sea of Peace and Joy and Light
Beyond my reach, I know.
In me the storm-tossed weeping night
Finds room to rage and flow.

A raft am I on the sea of Time,
My oars are washed away.
How can I hope to reach the clime
Of God’s eternal Day?

But the realisation of the divine life is this:

But hark, I hear Thy golden Flute.
Its notes bring the Summit down.
Now safe am I, O Absolute!
//Gone death! Gone night’s stark frown!_ 3

Human life and responsibility need not go together; human life and duty do not want to go together. Most human beings find it very distasteful to accept responsibility and duty. They do not want to be responsible even for their own actions, let alone for others’ actions. Human life is afraid of responsibility. Human life is afraid of duty. But the divine life takes responsibility as a golden opportunity. The divine life takes duty as a golden opportunity. The divine life realises that we can expedite our Heavenward journey by fulfilling our God-ordained responsibilities, for this is what satisfies God. And the divine life knows that satisfaction can dawn in our life only when God is satisfied. If we do not satisfy God, no matter what we say, what we do or what we achieve, our true satisfaction will always remain a far cry.

The seekers who are walking along Eternity’s road always feel it is their bounden duty to do the first thing first. The first thing is God-realisation. God- satisfaction blossoms into reality only when God-realisation has taken place. If we can satisfy God even in an infinitesimal measure through our divine love, divine devotion and divine surrender, then our life of insufficiency, desire and frustration will be transformed into a life of considerable satisfaction. But if God is missing inside our achievement, there will not be an iota of satisfaction there. So seekers of the infinite Truth have come to realise that it is in God and God alone that supreme satisfaction resides.

The human truth tells us that God is in Heaven or somewhere else, but not inside us. He is a foreigner or stranger to us. He is in the highest Heaven and we are wallowing in the pleasures of ignorance on earth. How can God’s Existence loom large in our life of impurity, in our life of inconscience, in our life of death? This is what the human truth says. But the divine truth tells us in soulful and unmistakable terms that God is bound to be within us. It tells us that the Heaven we are talking about is not somewhere else, not in the highest plane of imaginary consciousness. Heaven is not a location; Heaven is a plane of consciousness inside our illumined heart. This plane of consciousness which is fully illumined lives for the illumination of earth, the illumination of human consciousness. If we know what Heaven is and where Heaven is, then it is extremely easy for us to lead a divine life for we see that Heaven is part and parcel of our own self.

God is nearer to us than our eyes and nose, only we do not have the vision to see Him. When we keep our human eyes closed, we cannot see anything; we cannot see even the things that are near us. Similarly, if we keep the inner eye shut, then we cannot see God. When we open this inner eye, this third eye, we can see the past, we can see the future, we can see God’s Height, we can see God’s Depth.

Unfortunately, our third eye is fast asleep precisely because we do not feel the need of that eye. Most human beings are afraid of seeing their past and their future because they know what they were in the past. They know what kind of animal life they led and they don’t want to see it again. Also, if they see the enormity of the future, the vastness of Infinity, Eternity and Immortality, they will be frightened to death. Again, some people are eager to open their third eye, but God’s Hour has not struck for them. They meditate for a few years to open up the third eye, yet it does not open. But if the third eye does not open in the span of five years, they should feel either that they are not praying and meditating well or that this boon is not meant for them.

In the spiritual life aspiration is of paramount importance, but patience is also of paramount importance. We have to wait for God’s Hour. Aspiration is like the starting point. A runner has to start at the starting point. Then, when the starter fires the gun, he runs at his top speed. This is his aspiration. The goal is God’s Hour. He has to run fast, very fast to reach the goal. The distance he has to run to reach the goal is fixed by God. If God wants the seeker to run one hundred metres, and if the seeker runs only seventy metres and then feels that he should have reached the goal by then, whose fault is it? The seeker has to cover the whole distance; he must run the full one hundred metres. Then only will he see God’s Hour waiting for him. In the spiritual life, aspiration is the starting point and patience is God’s Hour. If the seeker starts his journey with aspiration and continues with aspiration plus patience, then he is destined to reach his goal.

The unlit, obscure, ignorant and earth-bound human life can get its realisation, liberation and salvation only when it enters into Heaven’s conscious and constant Blessings, Love, Compassion and Concern. How do we discover Heaven? In self-offering — self-offering according to God’s Will and not our will. In the human way of life, the offering of reciprocal understanding or misunderstanding is the order of the day. I give to you and you give back to me. I strike you; you strike me. I speak well of you; you speak well of me. This is the human way. But the divine way is totally different. If it is God’s Will, without the least possible hesitation I give to you what I have and what I am. What I have is the inner cry to climb up high, higher, highest. What I am is constant dedication to you and to the world at large, without expecting anything in return. Our life of aspiration is the life of constant awareness, constant self-giving, constant feeling of inseparable oneness with God and humanity. This is the divine way.

Sometimes we give of ourselves and feel that we are most generous. But it may happen that our offering is going to the wrong person, to one who does not need it or want it right now, to one who is fast asleep. The hour has struck for us to get up and go to the inner school to learn, but our friends may still be fast asleep. We feel that we are doing them a favour by waking them, but they may not like the idea of getting up at this early hour. They may be irritated and angry. Our self-offering should be to the divinity in humanity, but not to each individual as such. We will make a Himalayan blunder if we offer our dedication to someone who is still fast asleep in the inner world. His soul does not want our help right now. If we obey God’s Will we will help the right person, the person who is ready to come out of his ignorance-sleep and run with us to the Golden Shore. When we follow the divine life, when we lead a divine life, we always place God first in all our activities. His Will we execute. It is He who chooses the person or persons in whom we shall serve Him.


AUM 1285. University of Glasgow, Glasgow, Scotland, 29 June 1974

From My Flute, © 1972 Sri Chinmoy

1.

Truth is at once inspiring and challenging. We have infinitely more latent Truth than we are using. When Truth inspires us, we challenge the teeming ignorance of life. Lo, victory is won. We free ourselves from living half a life.

Light-acceptance and night-renunciation

//[continued from previous issue]//

Question: What do we need to renounce?

Sri Chinmoy: We need to renounce our ever-binding ignorance. You may at the same time ask what we need to accept. We need to accept aspiration in the inner life and dedication in the outer life.

Question: How may we accept life totally?

Sri Chinmoy: We may accept life totally by giving proper value to life itself. In order to do that we must know what is inside life. Inside life there is one realisation: God the Dream. And what we are trying to bring to the fore and manifest is one realisation: God the Reality.

Question: How do we renounce doubt?

Sri Chinmoy: Before we renounce doubt we have to know what doubt is. Doubt is nothing short of slow poison. Do we want to take poison? No. Similarly, we must always cast aside doubt.

Question: How do we renounce temptation?

Sri Chinmoy: We renounce temptation by remembering our own personal experience that temptation gives birth to frustration and frustration gives birth to destruction. Who wants to be destroyed? Not you. Not he. Not I. We have so much to do for God. Since He is eagerly waiting for us we must not delay; we must realise Him and start manifesting Him devotedly and unconditionally in His own way.

Question: How can I accept the world's imperfections?

Sri Chinmoy: For the time being you can accept the world’s imperfections as unhealthy experiences in your life. In course of time on the strength of your own sincere, devoted and surrendered oneness with the Will of the Supreme try to transform the unhealthy experiences of the world not only into healthy experiences but also into the most powerful realisations. Try; you certainly can. Lo, you have started to succeed.

Question: How can we best accept love?

Sri Chinmoy: We can accept love in the most divine way if we know that either in Heaven or on earth there is and there can be nothing as important as love. But we have to know that this love is divine love. This love is our eternal love for our infinite life.

Question: How can I accept total surrender?

Sri Chinmoy: You can accept total surrender as the peerless gift to be placed at the Feet of the Supreme. The surrender-diamond has no parallel on earth. Needless to say, this surrender is not a forced surrender, a slave’s surrender to his master. No, this surrender is the surrender of the divine lover to his divine Beloved. This surrender recognises and becomes the universal Oneness.

Question: Should we renounce imperfection in order to transcend it?

Sri Chinmoy: First we must accept imperfection as it is and then we must transform it. Transformation is nothing short of transcendence, self-transcendence.

Question: How do we find a balance between accepting our imperfections and renouncing them?

Sri Chinmoy: There are only a few things that are past correction. Most things can be made perfect. If you are really sincere, your own aspiration will show you which are the things that you have to immediately renounce from your nature and which are the things you can and you will transform slowly, steadily and unerringly in order to become a perfect instrument of the Supreme.

Question: How do we know whether to renounce or accept?

Sri Chinmoy: We come to know whether to renounce or to accept just by listening to the dictates of our inner being. In order to listen we must have a free access to our inner being. To achieve this what we need is constant inner cry and constant outer dedication.

[to be continued]

Aphorisms on truth

1.

To choose the Truth is to gain God.
To gain God is to conquer death’s pride and Immortality’s Smile.

2.

My mind appreciates the Truth when it sees it.
My heart admires the Truth when it feels it.
My body adores the Truth when it grasps it.
My soul loves the Truth simply because the Truth exists.

3.

To understand the Truth is to achieve the Truth.
To misunderstand the Truth is to blight the Truth.

4.

The highest good is found in Truth, and Truth is the breath of Delight.

Song — Aro byatha keman kare

[Bengali Transliteration]

/Aro byatha keman kare/
/Sahi balo mago/
/Tumijadi hiya majhe/
/Kabhu nahi jago/
/Jani amar dukher nishar/
/Habe abashan/
/Twara eso mago tomai/
/Dake chapal pran/

[English Translation]

Come, Mother. Come, Mother.
How can I endure more sufferings,
Tell me, if You never awaken within my heart?
I know that one day
The night of my sorrows
Will come to an end.
O Mother, come quickly.
My restless heart is calling You.