If you give from your heart,
Then your offering will be
Not only unimaginable
But also indisputable.
Sri Chinmoy, Twenty-Seven Thousand Aspiration-Plants, part 51, Agni Press, 1984
Dear seekers of the highest Truth, dear sisters and brothers, just because we are all seekers, we are all sailing in the boat of aspiration. At God's choice Hour we shall reach our destination: the Golden Shore.
Each human being has two teachers-desire and aspiration. Desire tells man to bind the world. It says, "You want joy; you want satisfaction. In order to achieve joy and satisfaction, you must possess the world." But alas, while you are trying to possess and bind the world, you see that the world has already bound you. Man's other teacher is aspiration. Aspiration lovingly and soulfully tells him, "My son, do not bind the world; do not try to attach it to you. Just try to free yourself and liberate the world." How can you liberate the world? You can liberate the world on the strength of the expansion of your own consciousness. When you expand your physical consciousness, vital consciousness, mental consciousness and psychic consciousness, lo and behold, the world within you is expanded and the world outside you is expanded.
The teacher aspiration tells man that when he liberates the world on the strength of his own inner expansion, God offers him His transcendental Smile. God makes him His divine instrument. God makes him His direct representative here on earth.
A human being has two other teachers: doubt and faith. Doubt tells him that there is nothing real enough. It says, "Where is the proof that God exists? It is all mental hallucination therefore, you should doubt! Doubt God, doubt yourself, doubt all human beings!" While doubting God, while doubting himself, while doubting mankind, the human being becomes one with the physical mind. First the physical mind doubts God and humanity, then it starts doubting its own capacity. If we doubt God, no harm. God does not lose His Infinity, Eternity and Immortality. If we doubt others, they also lose nothing; they maintain their capacity. But when we doubt our own existence, our own capacity, our own possibility, at that moment we dig our own grave.
The teacher faith tells the seeker in each individual, "Have faith in God, have faith in yourself." Now what is this faith? Faith is the inner light that conquers ignorance-night. Faith is the light within us that constantly reminds us of our Source. Our Source is Delight. Thousands of years ago, the Vedic seers of the hoary past offered a sublime message which I would like to share with you: Anandadd hy eva khalv imani bhutani jayante … "From Delight we came into existence. In Delight we grow. At the end of our journey's close, into Delight we retire."
Man has two more teachers: Heaven and earth. Heaven teaches us how to dream the transcendental Dream and earth teaches us how to embody, reveal and manifest the divine Reality. Heaven is the Dream boat and earth is the Reality Shore. Our inner cry is the connecting link between Heaven's Dream and earth's Reality. The inner cry is our spontaneous personal effort. Earth offers its excruciating pangs to Heaven and Heaven offers its transcendental Smile to earth. When Heaven's Smile and earth's cry meet, our imperfection becomes perfect Perfection.
We have still two other teachers: love and surrender, love divine and surrender divine. Love tells the seeker, "Love the world because the world is the real reality; the Creator and His creation cannot be separated. If you love the creation, you are loving the Creator, and if you love the Creator, you must love His creation at the same time. Love mankind and love the Inner Pilot inside mankind. When you love man in God, I will show you the Body of God. When you love God in man, I will show you the Face of God." The seeker soulfully listens to the advice of love the teacher offers and sees both the Body and the Face of God. Then surrender comes and says, "I don't want you to be satisfied with what you have already seen. I want you to see something more. I want you to see God's Heart and God's Soul. You have seen the Body and the Face; now you will see the Heart and the Soul. Then you will have seen everything. You can see God's Heart and Soul on the strength of your self-giving, on the strength of your unconditional surrender." The seeker listens to this advice and he sees the Heart and Soul of God. At that time he becomes the Heart of God and he becomes the Soul of God. Then the divine lover and the supreme Beloved are forever united.
April 24th, 1974
4:00 p.m.
University of Arizona
Tempe, Arizona