Question: Does God need man? Did you choose your life-role? Can we draw a parallel between your life and that of the Biblical prophet Samuel and also with the Little Shepherd of Fatima?

Sri Chinmoy: Definitely God needs man. God is both the Creator and the creation. Man is nothing other than God the creation. God needs man to manifest His Light on earth, and man needs God to realise his own highest height. So God the Creator and God the creation undoubtedly need each other.

I did not choose my life-role. My Inner Pilot commanded me to serve those who want and need my inner guidance, and to be their spiritual teacher. There are many God-seekers all over the world who are searching for a spiritual teacher.

I would not compare myself with either the Biblical prophet Samuel or the Little Shepherd of Fatima. I am only a God-lover who is trying to be a soulful and perfect instrument of God’s Will. But I can tell you that God is able to bestow upon others the same great capacities and good qualities that He bestowed upon the prophet Samuel and the Little Shepherd of Fatima. God’s Blessings are infinite, and He has a special Plan to fulfil in and through each individual on earth who is ready and willing to serve Him.

Both Samuel and the Little Shepherd fulfilled God’s Vision most satisfactorily. Each human being in God’s creation should also try to fulfil God in God’s own Way. Indeed, this is precisely what God wants from us — always to please Him in His own Way. Ultimately we will discover that to please God is to fulfil ourselves.