Question: Do you believe that we must always aspire towards God, or do you believe that God in some way will come down to us on His own? Will there ever be a time when all of us will be automatically aware that we are one with God?

Sri Chinmoy: It is true that each and every individual on earth will realise God someday, but that will take hundreds and thousands of incarnations. However, if one consciously aspires, one can expedite one’s journey. There is nobody on earth who will remain unrealised because we are all God’s children and God Himself will never allow us to remain unfulfilled. If we are not realised, we cannot fulfil God. If we do not fulfil God, we cannot fulfil ourselves. So God, out of His infinite Bounty, will come down. But that may take hundreds and thousands of years. If somebody consciously, soulfully and devotedly meditates every day, then naturally he will reach God sooner than those who are still slumbering. Whenever we do something consciously, we get the result sooner. We all have our oneness with God; nobody can deny it. But spiritual people who are meditating and concentrating are crying to have a conscious oneness with God.