Student: Once a seeker attains realisation, does he always have that realisation within him, or does the seeker have to experience the human aspect again?

Sri Chinmoy: Let us take realisation as a tree. If somebody can sit at the foot of the realisation-tree, then we can't deny that he is a realised soul — especially if we ourselves are hundreds of miles away from the tree. Again, there may be somebody else who has climbed up the tree a little or even reached the highest branch, but he cannot come down. Again, there will be a third person who will be able to go up and come down at his sweet will. He will go up and eat the mangoes, and then bring some down to give to his brothers and sisters. When he goes up he takes the cry of earth, and when he comes down he brings the smile of Heaven.

So we have to know how much capacity an individual has. Some can sit at the foot of the tree. Some can climb up but do not dare to come down because they are afraid they will be engulfed by earthly ignorance. Again, there are a few great Masters, like Krishna, Buddha, Christ, Sri Ramakrishna and others, who can freely go up and come down again. When they come down from the realisation-tree and enter into the earth-consciousness again, they don't lose anything. At any time they can climb up and drink Nectar-Delight, and then they can come down and offer Nectar-Delight to humanity.