There was a time
When I loved you,
O my thought-world.
But now I love
The beauty of a silence-mind
And
The purity of a gratitude-heart.
Sri Chinmoy, Ten Thousand Flower-Flames, part 9, Agni Press, 1981
Can you speak to us about illumination?
In this world there is only one thing worth having, and that is illumination. In order to have illumination, we must have sincerity and humility. Unfortunately, in this world sincerity is long dead and humility is yet to be born. Let us try to revive our sincerity and let us try, on the strength of our aspiration, to expedite the birth of our humility. Then only will we be able to realize God.
Illumination is not something very far away. It is very close; it is just inside us. At every moment we can consciously grow into illumination through our inner progress. The highest illumination is God-realization. This illumination must take place not only in the soul, but also in the heart, mind, vital and body. God-realization is a conscious, complete and perfect union with God. When we enter into the Source of our own existence and the world's existence, we are approaching the reality. This reality is our constant Delight, and Delight is the Breath of God.
Illumination is the conscious awareness of the soul. Illumination is humanity's first realization of God's omnipotent power, boundless compassion, infinite Light and perfect Perfection. It is our illumination that makes us feel what God really is. Before illumination, God is theoretical; after illumination, God becomes practical.
When one is really illumined, one will not see others as imperfect or hopeless human beings. The moment one is illumined, he will feel his real oneness with others and he will see the so-called imperfections of others as an experience God is having in and through them.
Illumination is something which you had, but which you now have forgotten; it is not something totally new. One who really cares for illumination has to feel that he is growing from Light to more Light to abundant Light.