The wisdom of Sri Chinmoy, a modern day guru

[Sasun]

Here is an enormous source of wisdom, inspiration, joy and light. If you are looking for answers, don't read tons of confusing literature. Read him instead, it is very rewarding, IMHO. He will answer most questions if not all in a simple language that is accessible for all walks of life.

www.SriChinmoy.org

[Sasun]

How to Conquer Doubt

By Sri Chinmoy

 

A great writer once said, "A philosopher is one

who doubts." Now, in my humble opinion, we are

all philosophers, for there is nobody on earth who has

not doubted at least once. So, in that respect, we are

all philosophers.

 

The Sanskrit word for philosophy is 'darshan'. Darshan

means vision, to envision the truth. Sri Ramakrishna

said, "In days of yore people used to have visions,

and now people are studying it." One thing is to

have the direct vision of the highest ultimate Truth,

another thing is to study it.

 

Now, here I am in no way throwing cold water on the

students of philosophy, far from it. I happen to be

also an insignificant philosopher. But what I wish to

say is this: philosophy leads us to spirituality, and

spirituality offers us God Realisation and self discovery.

So let us start our journey with philosophy. This is

the first rung of the spiritual ladder, and then the

next rung is spirituality, and then the final is God

Realisation.

 

Doubt. Doubt means absence of real knowledge. Real

knowledge is true light, and true light is our inseparable

oneness with the world.

 

Faith and doubt. These are like the North Pole and

the South Pole. Unfortunately, a man of faith is very

often misunderstood. We are apt to call a man of faith

a fanatic. Here we make a deplorable mistake. A fanatic

and a man of faith are two different persons. A fanatic

hates reason, ignores the reasoning mind; whereas a

man of faith, if he is really a man of faith, will welcome

and accept reason and the doubting mind. Then his faith

will help the doubting mind to transcend itself into

the infinite vast, into something eternal and immortal.

This is what faith offers to the doubting mind.

 

A man of faith is also a man of divine humility. The

farther he advances in the realm of spirituality on

the strength of his faith, the deeper he grows into

the supreme humility.

 

Here at this point I wish to quote Keats' immortal

utterance, "My greatest elevations of soul every

time make me humble."

 

Doubt is our self imposed ignorance. Faith is our

inner vision of the ultimate Truth. Again, faith is

our soul's expansion and soul's illumination.

 

We see darkness all around. We see impurity all around

and imperfection all around. Again, it is we who have

the inner inspiration, aspiration, capacity and adamantine

will to transform the very face of the earth. How? If

we conquer doubt, self doubt, if we conquer our doubt

of humanity, of Doubt. Why do we doubt? We doubt because

we do not have the conscious oneness with somebody else,

with the rest of the world. If somebody doubts me, shall

I doubt him in return? If I doubt him, then I sail in

the same boat. But if I offer him my faith, my implicit

faith, then either today or tomorrow, sooner or later

I can transform his nature.

 

What do we learn from a tree? When we vehemently and

ruthlessly shake a tree, what does the tree do? The

tree immediately offers us its flowers, its fruits.

Now, if others similarly torture us with their teeming

doubts, let us offer them our snow white faith. Then

our snow white faith will transform their life of teeming,

darkening, and darkened clouds of doubt.

 

With our eyes wide open we see that the world is ugly.

With our ears wide open we hear that the world is impure.

Now, we have the mind. Let us use our mind or compel

the mind to see only the right thing, the pure thing,

unlike the eyes. Let us use our mind or compel the mind

to hear only the right thing, the divine thing. It is

the mind, the developed mind, the conscious mind, the

illumined mind that has the capacity in abundant measure

to transport us into the highest regions of consciousness.

 

We are all under the laws of Mother Earth. Mother

Earth is under the laws of Heaven. Heaven is again under

the express law of God; and our doubt, cherished doubt,

is under its own law. Its law is frustration, and in

frustration destruction looms large.

 

Why do we doubt? Because we are wanting in proper

understanding. There was a great spiritual saint named

Kavir. He said, "Listen to me, brothers: He understands

who loves."

 

If we love, then we understand; and if we understand

the truth, then we have neither the opportunity nor

the necessity to cherish even an iota of doubt in our

day to day existence.

 

We doubt God at our sweet will. We doubt God precisely

because we think He is invisible. We doubt Him because

we think He is inaudible. We doubt God because we think

He is incomprehensible.

 

But to see Him, what have we done? To hear Him, what

have we done? To understand Him, what have we done?

 

To see Him, have we prayed soulfully daily? The answer

is in the negative, no. To hear Him, have we loved mankind

devotedly? No. To understand Him, have we served divinity

in humanity? No. We have not prayed to God. We have

not loved mankind. We have not served the divinity in

humanity. Yet we want to see God face to face. It is

impossible.

 

God can be seen on the strength of our inner cry,

which we call aspiration, the mounting flame within

us. Every moment this flame is mounting towards the

highest. If we know how to cry within, then this flame

will mount, will climb up high, higher, highest; and

while it is climbing up, it will illumine the world

around.

 

There is an Indian proverb which I am sure most of

you have heard, "A strong man fears his enemy when

the enemy is far off, but when the enemy is near, he

is no longer afraid of the enemy. " I wish to add

that when doubt attacks a spiritually strong man, he

becomes stronger, infinitely stronger. He does this

by bringing to the fore his own soul's light which energises

him to fight against doubt and conquer it.

 

There is another way to conquer doubt: If we at this

very moment feel that we are children, children of God;

and again, if we can feel that God is a Divine Child

playing with us. We are human children and He is a Divine

Child.

 

A child does not doubt. He has implicit faith in his

parents. He has implicit faith in everyone he comes

across. We also can play the same role in our day to

day life. Let us play with God, the Divine Child. There

can be no shadow of doubt in our life when we speak,

when we eat, when we move around, if we feel that we

have a Divine Child within us, sporting with us. We

are not alone. There is someone playing with us at every

moment. If we know and feel this, then doubt can never

eclipse our mind.

 

A lover of God, an adorer of God feels that deep within

him, in the inmost recesses of his heart, there is an

island of ecstasy; and this island can never be submerged

by the floods of doubt, for his love has already made

him one with this divine certitude.

 

A seeker of the highest order said, "Some say 'He

(God) is too far'. Some say, 'No. He is at home

here'. But I have found Him. He is in the cradle of

love.

 

When we love God, our problem is over. True, we all

do not see God face to face. But we can imagine for

a fleeting second that God with all His Love abides

in our dear and near ones. Let us try to see the face

of our Beloved in our dear ones. Where there is love,

true love, there is all oneness. Where there is oneness,

there can be no doubt-no darkening, no threatening,

no destructive doubt.

 

Finally, how to conquer doubt. In order to conquer

doubt, we have to be in the process of purification

of our nature constantly. This purification has to take

place in our physical. The body has to be purified constantly.

It is not by washing the body or taking six or seven

baths a day that we can purify the body. Our body will

be purified only when we feel a living shrine within

us. Then we have to install the living deity of light

and truth within us. Then the body in no time will be

purified. At that time we cannot have any doubt in the

body, or in our physical mind.

 

The vital. The vital has to play the role of dynamism.

It is the dynamic energy that we have to offer to the

vital, and not the aggressive and destructive power,

in order to conquer doubt in the vital.

 

The mind. Each moment the mind has to be flooded with

clarity and right thinking. Each moment the mind has

to consciously house divine thoughts, divine ideas,

and divine ideals. Then doubt will not be able to breathe

in the mind.

 

The heart. Each moment we have to make the heart soulful

so that we can easily conquer doubt in the heart. The

heart has to offer the message of sacrifice for others,

for the rest of the world; and while sacrificing his

very life breath, a sincere seeker feels that he is

not sacrificing anything, he is just expanding his own

inner consciousness and fulfilling himself here on earth.

 

Doubt can be conquered. It has to be conquered. How?

The only answer is constant and soulful concentration

on the mind, meditation on the heart, and contemplation

on the entire being.

[Sasun]

Sri Chinmoy on Christ & Judas

 

 

Question: What is your personal opinion of Jesus Christ? Do you

believe he achieved something?

 

Sri Chinmoy: Certainly. My personal opinion of Jesus Christ is that he

is God's Son. If you feel that he has not achieved anything,

unfortunately I cannot see eye to eye with you. On the strength of my

own realisation, I know that he is a real Son of God and a real world-

Saviour. He was God-realised and fully illumined. He had a heart full

of compassion; his heart was a flood of compassion. He was, he is and

he will always remain a Saviour to mankind.

 

But if somebody says that he is the Saviour, the only Saviour, and that

Krishna, the Buddha and others are not Saviours, then unfortunately I

cannot agree, because I know these other great Masters as well as I

know the Christ. If we say that the Christ is the only chosen Son of

God, then we are limiting God. These other Masters did exist. These are

all God's chosen children of the highest order. They are brothers and

God, the Supreme, is their Father. How do these Masters become chosen?

They are chosen because they have sacrificed their desires: they have

accepted only the life of aspiration -- divine aspiration and inner

cry.

 

The achievement of Jesus Christ is extraordinary. No spiritual seeker

of the Truth can deny it. The moment a sincere seeker enters into the

domain of spirituality, which is real reality, at that time he will

immediately see how great, how sublime, how high, how far beyond the

flight of his imagination, is the Throne of Jesus Christ. This I say on

the strength of my own inner experience and realisation.

 

I see an empty church.

Where is the Christ?

Where has he gone?

 

I see an empty temple.

Where is Sri Krishna?

Where has he gone?

 

I see an empty heart.

Where is God?

Where has He gone?

 

I saw the face

Of the suffering Christ.

I cried and cried.

 

I felt the heart

Of the forgiving Christ.

I smiled and smiled.

 

I clasped the soul

Of the illumining Christ.

I danced and danced.

 

Question: Why was a man like Judas permitted to play the role of

traitor to the Master?

 

Sri Chinmoy: It is true that a man by the name of Judas Iscariot did

exist and did betray the Christ. But if you think that this betrayal

was something that took place all of a sudden, that Judas did it on the

spur of the moment, then I wish to say that this is not correct. It was

not a sudden temptation that compelled Judas to do this unthinkable

thing. It was preordained in the inner world.

 

When a spiritual Master enters into the world, there is always a

tremendous opposition to him from the world of ignorance. Sometimes

spiritual Masters are able to overcome this opposition; at other times

they fail. In the case of Jesus, we have to remember that the

opposition of the inner world attacked him twice, not once. When Satan

attacked him on the mountain, thrusting worldly temptations upon him,

it was a tremendous attack. But Christ overcame it; otherwise, he would

not have become the Christ, but would have consented to become the

earthly king of the Jews. If he had become a victim of Satan by doing

this, he would have become an ordinary man.

 

Who is Satan? He is the embodiment of ignorance, the embodiment of the

lower forces, the vital forces. Lord Buddha was attacked by Mara, the

evil hostile force in the form of the lower vital. Lord Buddha did

conquer Mara; that is why he became the Buddha, the Enlightened One.

 

In the case of Jesus Christ, he won the battle the first time. But the

second time that ignorance, embodied by Judas, attacked him, he did not

defeat it. This was preordained in the inner world. There is a plane of

consciousness where we see that this outcome was granted by the highest

Supreme. Many circumstances in the inner world led up to this decision.

 

You have heard of our first Indian Avatar -- King Rama or, as we call

him, Ramachandra. Ramachandra was the Avatar before Lord Krishna. Rama

had an arch-enemy called Ravana, who was the absolute embodiment of

ignorance. Ravana abducted Ramachandra's wife, Sita, and stood totally

against Rama. Ravana was the greatest hostile force incarnated in that

era. You can say that Ravana came into the world specifically to harass

Ramachandra. But this is an understatement. He came into the world with

the purpose of destroying or, if that was impossible, of delaying the

divine evolution on earth. So he stood most powerfully against

Ramachandra, whose purpose was exactly the opposite. Rama did conquer

Ravana, however, and rid the world of him.

 

In the case of the Christ you may say, "Judas was his disciple. How

could his own disciple get the power to do this tremendous evil?" But

we have to understand that ignorance was able to enter and occupy the

consciousness of a human being who himself wanted to take that role.

Judas wanted, consciously and deliberately, to take that role. In the

inner world there exist some souls that have been totally enveloped by

the destructive vital. They want to become famous or well-known by any

means. In the outer world also, we see human beings who want to become

famous by any means. They want to be known throughout the world for

doing something destructive. They know that people will hate them, but

they accept that hatred as long as their notoriety brings them into the

limelight.

 

People who assassinate famous political leaders will often say that

their own party or their doctrine is very good and the dead person's is

very bad; this is why they have killed the leader. But in their hearts,

those who have killed the Kennedy brothers, Dr. Martin Luther King,

Mahatma Gandhi and other famous people simply wanted to become well-

known all over the world overnight. In order to do this they had to

kill a person who was well-known. This is how ignorance attacks the

individual. It is for their own personal sake that they do it, and not

for the sake of some belief or doctrine. If they really believed in

some other philosophy, they would work for it in an acceptable way.

When you see that people are being shot supposedly because of a

difference of opinion, it is not really because of the difference of

opinion. It is because an individual has surrendered to wild ignorance.

He opens himself to this force because he feels that this is the way to

make himself known. He realises that his victim will be known as a good

man, and he himself will be known as a bad man. But he feels that as

long as he is known, even as a murderer, that will be enough for him.

 

Judas deliberately chose to accept ignorance and fight against divine

knowledge, which was embodied in Jesus Christ. He knew that if he

became responsible for the death of the Christ, then he would be famous

and notorious. Individual weakness is such that very often we hope to

do something very great and good, but when it proves impossible, we

say, "All right, then let me do something very bad." We know inwardly

that we can conquer the world only with our love, joy, compassion and

oneness. But when we are ambitious and we see that we do not have

enough capacity, if we do not have the feeling of oneness, what

happens? We become victims of frustration, hostility and destructive

feelings. With these destructive feelings we try to attack the divine

qualities which we secretly admire but do not have.

 

Jesus as a human being was killed, but the consciousness of the Christ

can never be killed. When ignorance attacks, it kills only the human in

us, not the divine. The divine always remains. But, unfortunately, what

happens is that the divine in us does not get the chance to do its work

at the proper time. The attack delays the divine progress. If the

Christ had not been killed at that time, there would have been another

great step forward in human evolution. This progress did come later as

a result of the whole Christian spirit. But if the Christ had not been

killed, it would have taken a purer form, a more direct and powerful

form. Again, from the highest point of view, we can say that it was all

preordained. We do not blame Judas, the person, but the forces of

ignorance which he allowed to seize him most powerfully. These forces

were responsible for delaying human evolution.

[Sasun]

Fate and Free Will

 

Fate is the result of the past. Free will is the result of the present. When we look backward, we feel the blow of fate. When we look forward, we see the dance of golden and energising free will.

 

The physical consciousness or the body-consciousness is limited. When we live in the body, we experience fate. The soul is ever-free. When we live in the soul, we experience free will. It is up to us whether we live in the body-consciousness or in the soul-consciousness.

 

The moment the soul enters into the body and we see the light of day, ignorance tries to envelop us, and fate starts its play. But light is not bound by fate. Light is the embodiment of free will. For our deplorable fate, we curse our forefathers, our friends, our neighbours, ourselves and finally God. But by cursing others, by cursing ourselves, we cannot solve our problems. We can solve our problems only if we know how to live the life of aspiration.

 

We are given ample opportunity to use our free will. It is we who have to utilise the opportunity in order to be fully, totally, unreservedly free. Very often seekers tell me, “Oh, I have a very unsatisfactory background.” I tell them, “Why do you care for the past? The past is dust. But if you aspire, nobody can steal your present; nobody can steal your future. Your future can easily be golden.”

 

Our free will is a child of God’s infinite Will and at the same time it is part and parcel of God’s infinite Will. We have only to allow it to break through the wall of ignorance and make us one with the Cosmic Will. Fate is the gate which leads us to the failure of the past. Free will is our acceptance of the future that wants to transform us, mould us, guide us and liberate us from fear, doubt, ignorance and death.

 

Do not surrender your will

To your deplorable fate!

Surrender your will

Only to God’s all-loving,

All-protecting, all-illumining

And all-fulfilling Heart.

 

 

Is fate the same thing as karma?

 

There are three kinds of karma: sanchita karma, prarabdha karma and agami karma. Sanchita karma is the accumulation of acts from past lives and this life whose results have not yet borne fruit. In prarabdha karma, we are starting to reap the fruit of some of the accumulated karma. If it is bad karma, then we suffer. If it is good karma, then we enjoy it. Finally comes agami karma. When one is totally free from all ignorance, suffering and imperfection, when one has realised God and is living only for the sake of God, at that time one is enjoying the Free Will of the Supreme. This is agami karma.

 

Most of us face sanchita karma, accumulated karma which starts functioning as prarabdha karma. There is no freedom, no free will, but only fate all around us. It is like a devouring lion, striking from the past. But when we have agami karma, this devouring lion becomes a roaring lion, roaring for the divine Victory, the divine fulfilment here on earth.

 

Do we truly reap all we sow, from every thought, from every action?

 

As we sow, so we reap. This is true. But at the same time, if you pray to God, if you meditate on God, then God’s Compassion can nullify the wrong forces that come from your bad thoughts. If you touch fire, naturally the fire will burn your fingers. At the same time, there will be some protective power to prevent you from touching the fire.

 

If a child goes and strikes another child, he knows that this child will come and strike him back. So what will he do? He will immediately go to his father. The father is stronger, and he protects the child. In this case, the Father is the Supreme. If you mix with ignorance and then ignorance wants to devour you, if you run to the Father before ignorance can devour you, the Father will show His utmost Compassion and save you from ignorance. It all depends on how much Compassion you can receive from the Supreme.

 

At what point does God’s Compassion overrule the law of karma?

 

God’s Compassion always overrules the law of karma. Had it been otherwise, no human being on earth could have lasted even for a single day. Again, from the highest spiritual point of view, you have to know that the law of karma does not mean severe punishment. It is a necessary experience for the seeker; it is the only way to accelerate his progress. Therefore, the law of karma itself is another form of God’s Compassion. You may call it blessingful Love in disguise.

 

What is fate,

If not a limited reality?

A truth-seeker must always aim

At the unlimited Reality,

The infinite and immortal Supreme.

 

Is every event in our lives predestined, or is there just a general direction?

 

The most significant events in your life are predestined, but not what you are going to eat for breakfast. Again, even if it is predestined that you are going to die tomorrow, if you follow the spiritual life and God sees that you have genuine aspiration, you may not die. Instead, if it is God’s Will, you may just have a headache. Fate can be changed by the Supreme’s Will.

 

In the highest sense, the only thing that is predestined is that you are bound to realise God. Ignorance can prevent you from realising God today, but you cannot remain unrealised throughout Eternity. Let us use the term ‘predestined’ only in a good sense. If some calamity is going to take place, then you can use your will-power, your aspiration-power to change your fate. Fate can be changed by an unchanging will.

 

What is the role of man’s free will?

 

Free will is our soul’s consciousness-light. We can use the light of the soul for God-manifestation, or we may not use it at all. If we do not use it, then the aggressive part of the vital or the lethargy of the physical or the doubt of the mind comes into the picture and captures us. God does everything through the soul, which is His direct representative. God is the sun and the soul is like a lamp. This lamp embodies and represents the sun here on earth. But we usually do not remain in the soul’s light and take full advantage of it, so our free will becomes our friendship with lethargy, our friendship with the doubting mind, our oneness with the heart’s insecurity. Our free will either decides that the body, the vital and the mind have enough light to guide us, or it tells us that we are helpless without the guidance of our Lord Supreme.

 

How can we use our free will more?

 

As ordinary human beings, we have very limited free will. But if we become sincere seekers, then we will be surcharged eventually with an adamantine will. Now we are like a cow that is tied to a pole. There is a point beyond which we cannot go, but within these confines we have free will. The higher we go or the deeper we go in our meditation, the more our capacity increases.

 

When we can listen to the dictates of the soul, or when we can bring the soul forward to illumine our vital, our mind and our physical body, then our will becomes boundless. At that time, our individual will unites itself with the Universal Will within us. When the Universal Will becomes our will, at that time our freedom is infinite. Although we have free will to a very limited extent right now, this free will can be increased in infinite measure.

 

Where is your free will

If you live inside

Your binding mind?

Where is your bondage

If you live inside

Your all-encompassing heart?

 

 

Is my soul’s will the same as God’s Will?

 

Yes, God’s Will and the soul’s will are one and the same. But we have to know the difference between our soul’s will and the urges of our demanding vital. Sometimes we take the pleasure-desires of the demanding vital as the soul’s will. If we dive deep within, we are bound to know the real will of our soul, and that will and God’s Will are inseparable. When that will is the seed that germinates and becomes a plant, we call it the soul’s will. When it grows into a huge banyan tree, we call it God’s Will. This Will eventually manifests itself in and through the soul, heart, mind, vital and body.

 

Are man’s will and God’s Will always in opposition?

 

To some extent it is true. Man can unconsciously stand against God’s Will and, again, man can consciously stand against God’s Will. Sometimes our conscience tells us what God’s Will is, but we do not pay any attention to it. We feel that if we listen to the dictates of our conscience, then our ego will not be satisfied. Naturally, then we are standing against God’s Will. Again, many times it happens that we are not diametrically opposing God’s Will, but we do not know what God’s Will is. At that time, we are not consciously standing against God’s Will. We cannot say that at that time our will is in opposition to God’s Will.

 

But we have to know that if we do not fulfil God’s Will, either consciously or unconsciously, then we enter into ignorance and we delay our progress. A child may not know what fire can do to him. But if he touches fire, then the fire will burn him. I know that fire will burn me. But in spite of knowing this, I touch fire and I get burned. The result of unconscious opposition and conscious opposition is the same. But if somebody does it unconsciously, then he is helpless. In that case God’s Grace descends sooner than otherwise.

 

If somebody knows the after-effects of his action, but in spite of that he does something wrong, then God’s Grace will not come down immediately. The individual has to aspire again most sincerely and devotedly to bring down God’s Grace from Above.

 

How can anything be outside the Will of the Supreme?

 

The Will of the Supreme is in everything, true. But we have to know what His ultimate Will is, and how much of that Will we are accepting as our own. He has given us a little limited freedom, just like the father who gives a penny to his child and watches to see how he uses it. If the child uses it for a good purpose, then the father gives him more—a nickel, then a dime.

 

God has given us limited freedom in order to examine whether we really want to do the right thing. We have to be very careful. His Will is inside us, so that when He gives us a penny we will be able to use it properly. But because we develop our own ego, individuality and personality, we try to use this penny in our own way instead of going deep within to see why He has given us the money. When He gives us something, immediately we want to squander it. But if we use it in His own way, then He gives us more and more.

 

God has given us freedom so that we will get joy. If He tells us, “I have given you a dollar. Now you have to use it for this or that purpose; I am giving it to you only for that,” then we do not get joy. We feel that we are under compulsion. But when He says, “I have given you something. Now use it in your own way,” then we misuse it. If we are wise, we will know that if we use it in His way, then He will give us much more.

 

On the one hand He is giving to us, and on the other hand, He is examining us. At the same time, inwardly He is inspiring us to do the right thing. But because we want to retain our individuality and personality, we try to use it in our own way. We use our own very limited will. What can poor God do? If we offer our will to His Will, only then are we safe, only then are we fulfilled.

 

Each time

I surrender myself cheerfully

To God’s Will,

I see right in front of me

A free and fair highway

Leading to the Home

Of my Beloved Supreme.

[Sasun]

22 May

 

 

 

My evening descends,

And I ask it

Where real happiness is.

My evening tells me that real happiness

Is beyond the reach of my mind

But within easy reach of my heart.

[Sasun]

Once you have achieved

Oneness-delight

Through your meditation-light,

You become the breath and the body

Of the universe.

[Sasun]

The King's Astrologer

 

 

A king wanted to have an excellent astrologer in his court so that,

before he did anything, he could ask the astrologer's opinion and the

astrologer would be able to tell him what to do. He made an

announcement for all the excellent astrologers in his kingdom to come

to his palace. Then he would test them and he would choose one to be

his personal astrologer.

 

Many astrologers came because they wanted to be the king's astrologer.

The king himself knew quite a few astrologers. But one particular

astrologer did not come. The king said, "Practically all the

astrologers have come from all over my kingdom. How is it that this

particular one has not come? Where has Ram gone? He is also an

astrologer."

 

Ram did not come, but the others all came. They were all ready to be

examined by the king. Finally, the king sent for Ram, the great

astrologer. The king asked, "Why did you not come? All the other

astrologers have come. What is wrong with you?"

 

Ram said, "O King, forgive me, forgive me! I will say something that

will annoy you, but I am telling you anyway. You have to forgive me

first, before I say anything."

 

The king said, "I will always forgive you. Say whatever you have to

say."

 

Ram said, "These astrologers are all idiots. They have come here with

the hope of becoming your personal astrologer. I know that you are

going to ask me to take the job. You are going to appoint me because

any question you ask me, I will be able to answer. If you ask these

idiots any question, let me see if they can answer it. I was

absolutely sure that you would choose me, so I did not want to be with

these idiot-astrologers. It is beneath my dignity to mix with them. I

do not want to be examined along with them. You can examine me

privately or do anything you like. What kind of astrologers are they

if they do not know that I will get the job? If they do not know even

this much, are you going to keep them with you permanently? O King, is

it fair that you are going to keep these idiots here when they do not

even know who is going to be appointed for the post? They have come to

you for the highest post, and even this much they do not know!"

 

The king was very pleased. He threw out all the other astrologers and

appointed Ram to be his astrologer. All the others felt miserable. Ram

was such a rogue! The others all had to go home full of humiliation.

[Sasun]

You have to ask yourself what you want from the spiritual life. If you

want happiness, spirituality is the answer. But this happiness will come only if you are prepared to make the Supreme happy in His own Way. No matter how many ways God pleases you, you will not be happy if in one particular way you are still displeasing God. God is ready to make you happy in your own way over and over agai, in hundreds of ways. But your soul's love of God is such that if in even one way you fail to please Him, your soul will not be happy. You are in the spiritual life because you want happiness. If the spiritual life did not bring happiness, who would be such a fool as to practise spirituality? When you become in tune with God's living Breath, when you enter into God's Breath and become part and parcel of it, happiness becomes your inner and outer name and you get infinite ecstasy and infinite delight.

[Arshak]

Edited July 12, 2003 by Arshak

[Sasun]

Anything that binds you, unlearn it. Anything that blinds you, unlearn it. Anything that limits you, unlearn it. Anything that awakens you, learn it. Anything that liberates you, learn it. Anything that fulfils you, learn it.

[nairi]

Anything that binds you, unlearn it. Anything that blinds you, unlearn it. Anything that limits you, unlearn it. Anything that awakens you, learn it. Anything that liberates you, learn it. Anything that fulfils you, learn it.

Ooh, I like this one.

[DominO123]

I understand you can relearn something, to replace what you have learned previously. But how can you "unlearn" something?

 

If I were to come up with something like that, I would have Sasun wanting to roast me for having writen it.

[Sasun]

I understand you can relearn something, to replace what you have learned previously. But how can you "unlearn" something?

To me it seems an expression of a deep philosophical view in the language of mysticism. In this case "unlearn" means cleaning up, discarding false knowledge from your mind.

I hope you understand that in this thread I don't write my thoughts. Everything is a quote from Sri Chinmoy.

[DominO123]

Sasun, I know you are quoting from that guy. Thanks for the clarification. Edited August 16, 2003 by Fadix

[Sasun]

Can you say something about eternity and the eternal life?

 

Being a spiritual man, I can say on the strength of my own inner realization that the soul does not die. We know that we are eternal. We have come from God, we are in God, we are growing into God and we are going to fulfill God. Life and death are like two rooms; going from life to death is like going from one room to the other. Where I am now is my living room. Here I am talking to you, meditating with you, looking at you. Here I have to show my physical body; I have to work and be active and show my life. Then there is another room, my bedroom. There I take rest; I sleep. There I do not have to show my existence to anybody; I am only for myself.

 

We come from the infinite life, the life divine. This infinite life stays on earth for a short span of time, say fifty or sixty years. At that time we have within us the earthbound life. But inside this earthbound life is the boundless life. After a while this life again passes through the corridor of death for five or ten or fifteen or twenty years. When we enter this corridor, the soul leaves the body for a short or long rest and goes back to the soul's region. Here, if the person was spiritual, the soul will regain the eternal life, the life divine which existed before birth, which exists between birth and death, which exists in death and, at the same time, goes beyond death.

 

Now while we are living on earth, we can place ourselves in the realm of eternal life through our aspiration and meditation. But just by entering into the endless life, we do not possess that life; we have to grow into it consciously. When we enter into the life of meditation, we must eventually become part and parcel of meditation. And when we are able to meditate twenty-four hours a day we are constantly breathing in the endless life. In our inner consciousness we have become one with the soul.

[Sasun]

Try not to change the world. You will fail. Try to love the world. Lo, the world is changed. Changed forever.

[gamavor]

[KnightOfArmenia]

Psh. I can change the world. No problem.

 

Look at it realistically... Genghis Khan wasn't known for love. But he changed the world forever.

[Sasun]

Psh. I can change the world. No problem.

Fine, go ahead and give it a try

[Sasun]

To "change the world" usally means not a literal change. It means to change the humanity in terms of improving it. The point is you cannot change without accepting the humanity/world as it is. Many religious people simply reject and lambast the world for its sins, lack of rightousness, etc. However, Sri Chinmoy's philosophy and practice state a different path. He once said (quoting from memory) you cannot build a sculpture without touching the clay. First, you have to accept the shapeless and ugly clay as it is, then try to shape it and trasform it into a nice sculpture. The same goes with the world. First you have to accept it as your own, then try to transform it.

Once Sri Chinmoy was asked to state his philosophy in just one sentence. His answer was: "Our philosophy is the acceptance of life for the transformation of

life and also for the manifestation of God's Light here on earth, at

God's choice Hour, in God's own Way."

 

As to Genghiz Khan, he neither tried nor succeeded in improving the world or humanity. He was no more than an animal with the urge to concur the world at any cost.

[Sasun]

FAILURE INCARNATE

 

I am sorry that you cannot trust the Bible.

Do one thing:

Try to trust God.

If even that you cannot do,

Then you must dare

To trust yourself.

Here, too, if you fail,

(I definitely hope you won't),

I will have no other choice but to call you

"Failure incarnate."

[Sasun]

Donna Halper: The person who accepts the Bible as the word of God, is that person mistaken to think that the Bible is totally true in everything it says?

 

Sri Chinmoy: If a person feels that what the Bible says is absolutely true and has implicit faith in the Bible's teachings, then he should definitely continue in his life of faith. But if somebody says that there are a few things he cannot accept from the Bible, and if he wants to get some new clarification or new illumination in his life by studying something else or by diving deep within, then he is entitled to do so. God wants satisfaction in us. If someone gets satisfaction from absolute faith in the Bible, wonderful. But if he does not find satisfaction there, then let him study something else. Let him study his own life: let him dive deep within in order to find the truth which will satisfy him.

[Sasun]

Question: What is your view of the part of the Bible that says we should fear God's Justice?

 

Sri Chinmoy: You have to forgive me, but I cannot subscribe to that view. We must not fear God's Justice and we must not fear God. If we fear God, we will never be able to reach God, we will never be able to get anything from God. If a child is afraid of his father, he will not be able to receive anything from his father. He will not even go to his father. If he sees that his father is so tall and robust and powerful, then he will not go to him. But if the child loves the father, even though the father has power and strength, the child feels that the father is not going to use it to strike him. On the contrary, the child feels that the father will use that power to protect him if he is in danger. The child feels that his father's power is all for him. And he will be able to brag that he is so great, so powerful, because of his father's strength. A child does not have even a dollar, but if he knows that his father has thousands of dollars, he goes and tells his friends, "Look, I am so rich; my father has so much money." How he identifies with his father's wealth!

 

Only through love do we become one. The moment we are afraid of someone, his reality and our reality become separate. I am your spiritual leader, but how am I going to give anything to you if you are afraid that it will just burn you? Reverential awe is one thing; fear is something else. In reverential awe you feel that someone is a little higher than you, so you have to behave well. God is infinitely better than you in every way, so you feel that you must have that kind of reverence. But deeper than reverence is love, true love. A child does not need reverence; he does not have to show reverence because he knows he has love, which is infinitely more effective. A child does not have to go and touch his father's feet every second. No. The moment he shows his father his love, his heart, that is enough.

 

To approach God with fear or through fear is very unhealthy. We only love God. We feel that what our Father has, we also have. Unfortunately, we are still children; that is why our Father is unable to give it to us. The father does not give his vast wealth to a child. But when the child grows up, he gets what his father has and what his father is. If we can love God soulfully, then God will give us everything.

 

When a child is playing in the mud and then all of a sudden he is called, he is not afraid that his mother will beat him because he is dirty. He will go running to his mother and his mother will immediately take his dirt, his filth, as her very own. She will wash him in order to show others that her son is also very clean. We have to take God like that. No matter how many undivine things we do we run towards Him and feel that with His Compassion He will just clean us immediately

[axel]

God wants satisfaction in us.

 

Dear Sasun, this gratuitous statement is totally unchristian! And it is wrong, even dangerous. Think about it...

 

As far as the "fear of God" is concerned, true christians (alas, I feel obliged to say "true" for there seems to be a lot who do not understand the essence of their faith) do not do good out of fear but for the sake of God.

 

PS: READ DOSTOEVSKY!!! and the NEW TESTAMENT!!!

[Sasun]

Dear Sasun, this gratuitous statement is totally unchristian! And it is wrong, even dangerous. Think about it...

 

As far as the "fear of God" is concerned, true christians (alas, I feel obliged to say "true" for there seems to be a lot who do not understand the essence of their faith) do not do good out of fear but for the sake of God.

 

PS: READ DOSTOEVSKY!!! and the NEW TESTAMENT!!!

Dear Axel, I know exactly what you mean, believe it or not You say this statement is dangerous because you think of 'satisfaction' as the worldly satisfaction, which in fact is not satisfaction but self-deception that has very little satisfaction.

 

What Sri Chinmoy means by 'satisfaction' is the feeling of joy (and satisfaction) that someone receives through love and devotion of God. Worldly pleasures don't give satsifaction, but spiritual life gives. There is no higher satisfaction than spiritual satisfaction. I believe this is what Sri Chinmoy means.

On the other hand, all humans being children of God, God doesn't forbid people to receive worldly pleasures if they find 'satisfaction' in that. This is how much they know of satisfaction today, but they will know and aspire for more in the future. Whatever the child is, father wants satisfaction in the child. This is the truth that I understand.

 

And yes, true Christians worship God not out of fear, but for God and only for God. That is how they receive tremendous satisfaction. But franky, there are not that many true Christians.

 

Unfortunately, there are things in the Bible that try to cause fear of God and I personally do not like that. But at any rate, Bible is Bible since it contains Christ's word (and many-many other good things). Other than the Gospels, I personally don't give every single item in both testaments absolute authority.

 

As to Dostoevsky, I am planning to read but can't find in original language around me. (I have read something many years ago as part of school assignment though)