Stories by Sri Chinmoy
There once lived a spiritual Master who was very, very old. On his hundredth birthday God came to him to bless him for his many long years of service. While he was receiving God's blessing, the Master said to God, "Father, are you blessing me or cursing me?"
"Son, what is the matter? What is wrong with you?" asked God.
"Father, I am afraid of what you are doing now." "Why are you afraid of me?"
"I am not afraid of you, but I am afraid of your request and loving demand. I am afraid that you will ask me to stay on earth for another hundred years. At the age of twenty I realised you. You asked me to reveal you, manifest you and help you establish perfection on earth. Perhaps you do not know, Father, what kind of suffering I have been going through. Your earth is blind to my soul's light. Your Heaven is deaf to my inner cry. Had I known that God-manifestation is infinitely more difficult than God-realisation I would not have cared for God- manifestation at all. You want me to illumine humanity, but the power that is required to illumine humanity either you have not given me or you have given me, and I do not know how to utilise it. In any case, whether I have the power or do not have the power, all my efforts are useless unless and until the power takes effect on earth. Do you agree with me, Father?"
"To some extent I do agree with you. But I wish to tell you that it is not your fault that the world is not accepting you and listening to you. It is earth's lack of receptivity that is responsible."
"Then tell me, Father, who is responsible for earth's lack of receptivity?"
"Son, it is I who am responsible not only for earth's lack of receptivity, but also for all earth's weaknesses, imperfections and limitations. It is my Dream-boat and my Reality-shore that are responsible. My Dream-boat does not sail as fast as I want it to, and my Reality-shore does not satisfy my Dream-boat as soon as it reaches the shore; therefore, neither my Reality-shore nor my Dream-boat are happy with each other or with themselves. I try to keep the boat and the shore together. I try to feed them together, please them together and fulfil them together. But very often when earth plays the role of the Reality-shore and Heaven plays the role of the Dream-boat, earth's achievements, possessions and treasures are so limited, so insignificant, that when the Dream-boat reaches earth's shore it is frustrated. And when Heaven becomes the Reality-shore and earth the Dream-boat, when the Dream-boat reaches Heaven, either Heaven's superiority complex, its indifferent attitude, its reluctance to share its plenitude or the bewilderment created for earth by the magnificence of Heaven's treasure disappoint the Dream-boat badly. Anyway, I do not blame you, my son; I do not blame my Dream-boat or my Reality-shore; I blame myself."
"Father, I do not want to blame you, but I wish to make a suggestion, if I may."
"Son, let me hear your suggestion."
"Father, your game should be played by four separate persons. As in a relay race four runners are required to complete the race, even so in this divine race we can have four runners. The first runner will realise you; the second will reveal you; the third will manifest you; and the fourth will complete the race and establish perfection on earth. Since you are by far the fastest runner, the fourth one will be yourself."
"Son, there are some runners who feel that if they alone complete the race that will give them the most happiness. There are some students who, instead of covering a certain distance and leaving it to others to complete the course of study, want to go straight through from kindergarten to university. They feel that if they go to the end of their course, then alone will they be satisfied. Of course, I must say, my son, that there are some children of mine who make most sincere promises that they will manifest me after they have realised me. I give them realisation on that condition, but they are so clever that once they get their realisation they cry and cry for their heavenly existence. They don't want to stay on this ignorant and imperfect earth. There are also some really clever children of mine who tell the world before they die that they will come back again. They tell their disciples and the world that they will come back again and again to illumine mankind until all human beings have realised me. Of course, there are some who really mean what they say. They do try to keep their promise for earth's transformation by coming back to earth again. But unfortunately, most of them do not. Also, there are some to whom I give rest because they have worked very hard; and I know that if I want to send them into the world to work for me again, they will gladly go, not only once, but as many times as I want them to. Naturally, those children of mine are closest to me. Because they have pleased me to such an extent on earth, I feel obliged to please them in Heaven, and I do.
"Now, son, let me change the subject. Tell me, is there any special reason why today, on your birthday, you are so sad and depressed?"
"My sadness has been a daily experience since I began to accept disciples. Needless to say, I accepted disciples at your express command. Father, I tell you a supreme secret: to accept disciples is to lose one's inner freedom."
"Son, why do you say that?"
"Father, you take human incarnation and accept disciples. Then see if you have to lose your inner freedom or not."
"Son, explain to me in detail what you mean by losing your inner freedom."
"It is very simple, Father. I have thousands and thousands of disciples. Now you know it is you who asked me to take certain close disciples in whom you had faith, to work for your manifestation on earth. But you do not realise that those in whom you do not have much faith feel miserable. They feel that I do not care for them personally, and that is why they are not close to me. They feel that they can do much better than those who are close to me. They feel that it is sheer blind partiality that makes me keep some disciples closer to me than they are. Their sufferings, not to speak of their jealousy, anger and other undivine qualities, take away all my joy. Also, there are some disciples whom you wanted to be close to me for your own reasons which I do not myself understand. I keep them close to me only to please you, but they have disappointed me hundreds and thousands of times. When they disappoint me, all the joy goes out of my life. And you never listen to me. I tell you that everybody should be given an equal chance. As they fail me, all those who are close should be thrown aside, and others should get the opportunity to please me. They are also your children.
"I could keep all the work on a day-to-day basis and have new disciples do the jobs each day so that nobody will feel that he is important, not to speak of indispensable. But you tell me that each seeker is like a plant. It has to grow slowly and steadily into a huge tree. If I change the plant to a new place every day, it will not develop properly. In fact, it may totally die. But you expect much from your children, especially from your selected children, and the frustration that I go through when I see that the plants I am caring for so lovingly are not growing at all satisfactorily is beyond measure. Through my disciples you teach me the lesson of renunciation most powerfully.
"You made me the spiritual leader of thousands of people. When you ask me to tell them to do something, I do tell them. And when I see that they are not doing what they are supposed to, I feel miserable because either I have not conveyed your message to them clearly or they do not love you in me to such an extent that they will do the things you have told me to tell them. And I also feel miserable that I fail to please you because they are such imperfect instruments. Why I cannot make them more perfect I do not know. Perhaps I do not have enough concern for them."
God felt very sorry for the frustration of the poor Master. He said, "You do have concern for them. It is their own ingratitude that prevents them from giving importance to your advice at every moment, and thus becoming perfect. When you ask your dear ones to do something in front of others, they get a lion's strength. They get such joy and pride that out of thousands of people you have chosen them to do a special thing for you. But when you ask them to do the same thing privately, they feel that nobody is there to appreciate and admire them. Then they feel that it can be delayed, and even if it is not done at all, nothing will happen, for you will forgive them. Son, I now also feel that you should not keep anybody permanently close to you unless and until that person consciously, devotedly and unconditionally tries to please you at every moment. Use your occult and spiritual power and know in the inner world whether they are really trying to please you in your own way, which is my own way. In front of others they will try to please you at every moment because there are people around to see how great they are. But inwardly they are behaving in a very undivine way. Use your occult power to know what they are doing in their everyday lives, in their inner activities.
"Those who are one step behind can easily come forward if they develop real love, devotion and surrender to me in you. You have to give them the assurance that they need not always lag behind. Equal opportunity is given to everyone. The journey starts at the same point, but some walk fast and pass their fellows considerably. Alas, those fast walkers may become tired. They may become proud. Pride is one thing that makes disciples weak so that they do not work well or divinely any more. Another thing is insecurity. Although others are or were far behind in spiritual progress, they become afraid that at any moment these people will catch up with them and surpass them, and they will lose all their glory and their position. This feeling of insecurity also weakens disciples considerably. Because they think constantly of others, they cannot walk any farther. So, son, make it clear to all your spiritual children that their love, devotion and surrender to me inside you have to be replenished not only every day, not only every hour and every minute, but every second if somebody wants to be your best and most perfect instrument, your closest and most beloved child."
"Father, I am really grateful to you for granting me the inner and outer freedom for acceptance and rejection, for concern and indifference, according to each disciple's merit. Let everyone get you in me according to his or her aspiration and dedication at every second, and not like old men and women who have served the government faithfully and now receive a pension although they no longer do their jobs. There is no pension in the spiritual life. Love, devotion and surrender can and must increase every second so that divinity can manifest more perfectly and completely every second."
"Son, I fully agree with your philosophy."
"Father, this is your philosophy, and today I am telling you outwardly so that you can hear whether I have learned it correctly."
God's Light is Infinity's Life, Immortality's Soul and Eternity's Goal.
Story written on the drive from London to Brighton in England.
Published in AUM – Vol.1, No. 7, July 27, 1974
There was a spiritual Master of a very high calibre who was usually quite happy and cheerful. He always asked his disciples to be as children, telling them that if they were happy they would be able to make fast progress. According to his philosophy, this happiness had to be the happiness of the entire being. He often warned his disciples not to fool themselves and others with false happiness.
"You must pray and meditate to acquire inner happiness," he would say. "This happiness cannot be bought or sold. Inner happiness increases only through constant self-offering to God's Will and soulful gratitude to God's Compassion."
Some of the Master's disciples were successful in acquiring true inner happiness, while others were unsuccessful. Among the unsuccessful ones there were many who tried to fool themselves and others by displaying false happiness. And among those who had acquired happiness, most found it difficult to maintain their happiness because of the intervention of doubts, anxieties, jealousy and insecurity.
The spiritual Master used to tell his disciples that he was a garbage can. He said he was more than ready, more than eager to accept all their inner impurities and imperfections. These he would empty into the universal Consciousness as soon as possible so that he could also remain happy, and then he would immediately fill his inner vessel with Light and Delight from his Inner Pilot.
It happened that on a certain occasion, after the Master had received the teeming imperfections of his disciples in the form of worries, doubts, jealousy and other undivine qualities, he deliberately kept them inside himself in order to see what would happen.
In two days' time the Master found that he had become as undivine as his disciples were. Their imperfections had become part and parcel of his life, and these imperfections became so powerful that he was compelled to doubt even the very existence of God. He became depressed, destructive and doomed to disappointment because of his tremendous failure in the spiritual life.
When God finally came to him and blessed him with His infinite Love and Concern, the Master was so sad and angry that he said to God,"God, I have been fooled by you, and I have been fooled by my disciples. You promised me that you would help me to manifest you here on earth, but now it seems that you have totally forgotten your promise. And you are not the only culprit. My disciples have also promised me that they will help me in every way to manifest you. Now, either they have totally forgotten to help me, or they are deliberately avoiding me and evading their responsibility.
"I am now helpless. Both Heaven and earth are against me. What is worse is that I am always being fooled by the world's flattery and its cleverness. My disciples stand before me with folded hands. They prostrate themselves before me and take the very dust of my feet. In every way they demonstrate outwardly how spiritual they are, how humble, how devoted and how totally surrendered they are. But God, you and I know how insincere most of them are.
"It is said that the disciples have to make surrender to the Will of the Supreme inside their Master. But in my case I see that I have made practically complete surrender to the ignorant demands of my disciples. I have been asking them to be happy, and I thought that if I could add to their happiness by pleasing them they would be able to make progress. But now I see how easy it is for them to fold their hands and bow down to me with utmost hypocrisy, and how difficult it is for me to please them sincerely in their outer life.
"Lord, you have repeatedly asked me to make my disciples happy. Well, I have tried in every possible way, and the result is that now I am completely bound by their ignorance. I am totally surrendered to their ignorance. They have more freedom than I have.
"Before I realised you, Lord, I had only one possession, and that was you. Now that I have realised you, you have blessed me or cursed me with many possessions in the persons of my disciples. These possessions of mine are binding me badly. At every moment they make demands on my life, consciously or unconsciously, and all these demands I literally kill myself trying to fulfil. Yet, whenever something good happens in their lives, they feel that it is because they have worked so hard, aspired so sincerely. They feel it is themselves who are responsible for their successes. But when anything goes wrong, immediately they blame me. They feel that my inner or outer guidance was not correct, not wise, and that it came not from you, not even from my own soul, but from my vital being, from my ego-personality. They never think that perhaps they themselves have not followed my directions, or that their ideas of success and failure are not necessarily yours.
"Lord, you know I always execute your Will. It is you who give success or failure, and it is you who enjoy this so-called success or failure as an experience of yours. But my disciples never see you in me. They only see me with their earthly human eyes. Sometimes outwardly they speak ill of me; inwardly they curse me. Always I am mercilessly caught by them. I am torn to pieces between your compassion and their frustration.
"Before I realised you, Lord, I had more freedom. I used to think of you only, as the tree, the main trunk, the root. Now that I have realised you, you have asked me to pay attention to all the branches, leaves, fruits and flowers. But these branches, leaves, fruits and flowers misunderstand my self-offering constantly. I am totally helpless. Your compassion is saving my life, but I feel that I am the worst possible fool on earth. I am always at the mercy of my disciples.
"You asked me to inspire my disciples and illumine them by advising unconditional surrender. I have executed your express wish and loving demand for them. Now I wish to say that it is I who have made unconditional surrender both to you and to the ignorance-king inside my disciples. Why? Just for one reason: because you have asked me to make them happy. Unfortunately, even this tremendous sacrifice of mine has not made all my disciples happy. So you see, Lord, how love-power and compassion-power can be mercilessly exploited."
"Son, better late than never I have come to tell you that force is also a manifestation of true love. Love is force, and force can also be love. If you really love humanity, then if force is required to do what is best for humanity, you will use it. From now on your philosophy will explain love in more detail. Divine love is the most powerful force, and divine force is also the most powerful love.
"Human love and human force are the precursors of destruction. But divine love and divine force are the precursors of perfection. Divine love is inner will. Divine perfection is the perfection of one's entire being, of one's larger part, one's extended self. This self is illumined and perfected through my justice-light as well as through my compassion-height.
"My son, until now you have used only my compassion-height in accordance with my Will. But from now on I want you to use my justice-light as well. From now on I want my justice-light and my compassion-height to act in you like two complementary souls. My compassion-height will awaken the sleeping souls, and my justice-light will illumine the aspiring souls. I now entrust you with a new responsibility, a new capacity and a new opportunity to manifest me perfectly on earth."
"Lord, since you want me to play the role of your eternal server in your cosmic Game, I am more than ready to be of totally dedicated service to you."
"Son, you are more than a server, infinitely more than a server to me. You are a real partner, in whom I can have perfect faith. Together you and I shall challenge the pride of ignorance-night, conquer ignorance-night, illumine ignorance-night and make it one, inseparably one with my ever-transcending light.
"Son, give me the joy of feeling that you are my partner and my server. When you are my partner we share our experiences equally. But when one of us becomes the Master and the other one becomes the server, the experience cannot be on the same plane of consciousness. So, son of my heart and soul, son of my silence-height and sound-might, you are my eternal partner as well as my server. Do you agree with my philosophy?"
"Father, the human being in me agrees with your philosophy with all the love and gratitude which it can offer you. The divine in me is praying to you to grant me something infinitely more divine than gratitude to offer you. I feel that my gratitude is not the answer to your Infinity, Eternity and Immortality. I need something infinitely more meaningful, fruitful and significant to offer in praise at your lotus-feet."
"Son, it seems you will never understand my philosophy. Who will praise what at whose feet? Once and for all I am telling you that you and I are one. We are eternally equal. We are immortally partners."
"Lord, I wanted consolation from you. You have consoled me. Now I wish to spell the word consolation for you. Please tell me if I am correct. I-L-L-U-M-I-N-A-T-I O-N. Am I correct, Father?"
"Yes, my son, you are."
Story written in Brighton, England.
Published in AUM – Vol.1, No. 8, August 27, 1974
"Master, Master, you need material wealth for God-manifestation and I need spiritual wealth for God-realisation. I shall give you all my material wealth and place all the members of my family at your feet. I have four sons, three daughters and a devoted wife. We shall all be at your feet. But Master, please do me a favour. Make me your best disciple, your dearest disciple. I know it will take me a very long time to realise God. I am not ready for that. You and God know when I will be ready or whether I shall ever be ready. Right now God-realisation is sheer imagination for me. I want something else from you, which is nowhere near God-realisation. I just want to be your dearest disciple.
"Your dearest and best disciple right now is Rakhal. You have no idea how jealous I am of him and how I hate him. I do not drink even a glass of water without thinking of him — without feeling jealous of him and cursing him and all his forefathers. Master, you advise us that we have to conquer jealousy. I have now discovered a supreme secret: If, out of your infinite bounty, you make me dearer to you than Rakhal, then all my jealousies will vanish. You want my nature's perfection. I assure you, Master, that once I am closer to you than Rakhal, I shall be absolutely perfect and please you in every way, far more than he is doing now. Just give me a chance."
"Rohin, you think that by becoming closer to me than Rakhal you will be able to conquer your jealousy. You think that once you are at the top of the tree, you will not be jealous of others who are at the foot of the tree. But I tell you, this is not true. Jealousy has an inseparable friend named insecurity. If I make you my dearest disciple, you will all the time be thinking of the ones who are at the foot of the tree. You will be constantly plagued by the fear that at any moment they will climb up the tree and stand beside you. Then naturally your glory will disappear, and you will again be plagued by jealousy. Anyway, I wish to tell you that unless you deserve to be closest and dearest to me, I will not be able to make you closest, because you will fail me in the life-examination."
"Master, if you make me your dearest disciple, I assure you that I will not fail you. You must promise to make me your dearest disciple, and I will be ready to sit at any examination.”
"Then tomorrow I shall make you my dearest disciple under the condition that you pass my examination."
"Master, I am ready."
"All right. Tomorrow, if you can touch the feet of Rakhal in front of all my disciples, I shall immediately make you my absolutely dearest disciple."
"Master, how can I do that? He is just an ordinary human being like me. He is also full of imperfections. Even though you love him most, nobody even thinks that he is perfect. So why do you want me to touch the feet of an imperfect and ignorant person? I can touch your feet twenty-four hours a day, kiss the dust of your feet, but not his. If you change your request and ask me to bless Rakhal, that I can easily do — but never will I be able to touch his feet."
The Master said, "Tomorrow you come here with your servant. This is my express wish.”
The following day Rohin went to the Master with his servant. There were many disciples gathered together, and the Master said to his dearest disciple, "Go and touch the feet of Rohin's servant."
Rakhal immediately followed the Master's command.
Then the Master said, "Pray to Rohin's servant as you pray to me, with a devoted heart." Most soulfully Rakhal prayed to Rohin's servant.
Rohin was completely bewildered, and the admirers of Rakhal felt miserable, but they could not say anything because he was following the Master's express order. "The Master knows what is best for Rakhal and for everybody," they said to themselves.
The Master then asked Rakhal how it was possible for him to touch the feet of Rohin's servant and to pray to him.
Rakhal replied, "When I look at a person, I enter into that person and see you in him, you alone; therefore, it is so easy for me to pray to him, for I know it is you who will receive my prayer. My only desire is that one day you will grant me a boon."
"What boon is that?"
"Master, that when I look at any person on earth, I shall see only you, and not only on the inside but on the outside as well. For me I wish there to be only you and nobody else on earth — you in infinite forms. I would like to see all human beings as the manifestation of your infinite forms."
The Master gave Rakhal a soulful smile and said, "Your prayer is granted, my child." Then he turned to Rohin and said, "Rohin, you have so far been playing the role of a seeker. Today I wish you to play the role of a judge. I have fulfilled Rakhal's desire. I could not fulfil your desire, but I want to please you at least in one way. So play the role of an impartial judge and not a seeker, and then see if what I have done is right.”
There was once a well-known spiritual Master who had a few thousand disciples whom he was extremely fond of and who were also very proud of him. The Master had given talks at various places and had answered thousands of questions after his talks.
Many times the disciples of other Masters came to listen to his talks. At times they showed him tremendous respect, but at other times they created problems for him. Frequently they would deface this Master's picture or posters announcing his talk, or paste posters of their own Master right on top of his. A few times, before his talk began, they distributed pamphlets about their own Masters at the entrance. Sometimes they distributed pamphlets attacking this Master at his own talks. At times they asked him questions about their own Master, but he was wise enough to avoid such questions. He always told them that they knew more about their own Master than he did.
At one particular meeting a disciple of another Master asked this Master, What is your opinion about Master X?"
The Master replied, "I see you are wearing his picture. That means you are a member of his family; you are his son. Won't a son know more about his father than a stranger does? I am like a stranger to your family, so how can you expect me to know about its members? I do not know what you have in your house. I know only what I have in my house. Since I have not been to your house, naturally whatever I say about it will be wrong. And even if I had visited your house once or twice, my description of it still would probably be all wrong. I am the wrong person to tell you anything about your Master. You can and will have every right to challenge my knowledge of your spiritual Father."
The young seeker said to the Master, "Then why do you claim to be a God-realised soul?"
The Master asked, "When did I say I was God-realised?"
"All right," said the seeker, "you have not told anybody that you are God-realised, but all your disciples without exception claim that you are a God-realised soul of the highest order. But if you are really a God-realised soul, then you are bound to know everything about my Master — how great he is, how kind he is, how earth treasures him and how much pride Heaven has in him. All this you are bound to know if you are a real spiritual Master. If you are a fake, naturally you will not know anything about my spiritual Master, who has no equal either in Heaven or on earth."
With a broad smile, the Master said to the seeker, "I don't deny that your Master is by far the best Master on earth. I am glad that you have found such a great Master as your own. At the same time, I am very glad that you are not a disciple of mine. If I had accepted you as one of my disciples, by this time my boat would have sunk."
The young man said, "Now that you have insulted me, I wish you to be totally sincere and say that my Master is by far the best."
The Master replied, "I have no objection to saying that your Master is by far the best, and I have already done so. Why are you not satisfied?"
The seeker said, "I don't feel any conviction in your words."
The Master said, "Do you want me to act like a wise man or like a fool?"
"Since you are a spiritual Master, I do expect you to act like a wise man and not like a fool," replied the seeker.
"In that case, you must be satisfied with my answer," said the Master. "I am acting like a real wise man. You asked me about your Master, and my answer was that I do not know. If my answer had been different, if I had said that I knew all about your Master but would not tell, you would have created problems for me and for yourself. You would have immediately said to yourself, 'He does not want to tell me anything about my Master either because he knows my Master is unrealised or because he knows my Master is great and he is jealous of him.' But in either case you would have been disappointed. Doubt, suspicion and other undivine qualities would have entered into you with regard to your own Master. However, if I say I do not know about your Master, you are apt to forgive my ignorance; therefore, it is always safer and wiser for both of us if I say I do not know about your Master. In this case, ignorance is real bliss. 'I do not know' is by far the best answer."
Published in God’s New Philosophy
