Question: If we are constantly striving for a higher academic degree, does it pull us away from the heart?

Sri Chinmoy: Not necessarily. If you are striving to achieve a higher life, a higher wisdom, a higher perfection in life so that you can offer these higher qualities to the world at large, then it will not pull you away from the heart. But if you are striving for a higher degree in order to make others feel that they are inferior, then naturally it will pull you away from the heart. If your attitude is divine, then no matter what height you achieve, still your heart quality will not diminish. On the contrary, when your attitude is good, only then will your ever-transcending illumination-mind and ever-loving fulfilment-heart help you become truly happy and supremely fulfilled.