From: jeffjc@cs.mcgill.ca (Jeffrey CHANCE)
Newsgroups: soc.religion.eastern
Subject: Re: Interview With Sri Chinmoy  (part 2/2)
Date: 17 Dec 92 04:17:37 GMT
Article-I.D.: ogicse.47423
Distribution: world
Organization: SOCS - Mcgill University, Montreal, Canada

Donna Halper:

Now we're going to accept calls from our listening audience. Here's
our first call. Good evening. You are on the air. 

Caller:

I am particularly interested in astral projection. I had an experience
three years ago where I left my body. I had just read about this some
time before that, but I didn't do it consciously. It just happened to
me. Since then I have been trying to do it consciously. I would like
to ask Sri Chinmoy if this is safe. Is it a safe thing to go into by
myself?

Donna Halper:

Interesting question. Astral projection, leaving the body. Can people
actually do this?

Sri Chinmoy:

People can do this, but it is advisable to have a teacher who is well
qualified in this adventure. Otherwise, it can be a very dangerous
thing. It is like learning to drive a car. One needs a teacher in the
beginning. If someone tries to learn driving by himself, he is very
likely to have an accident.

Donna Halper:

What can a teacher teach one about leaving the body?

Sri Chinmoy:

Everything can be taught by a qualified teacher. If one can learn a
language from a teacher, if one can learn music, if one can learn to
dance, one can learn this also.

Caller:

I would like to ask the Guru what kind of mental attitude one should 
have in learning to play music.

Sri Chinmoy:

There is something called mental music, something called vital music
and something called physical music. But again, there is something
called psychic music. If one want to get true delight from the heart
and from the aspiring life, then he must dedicate his music to God. 
He must play soulful, psychic music- music that will inspire his own
life of aspiration and inspire others who hear his music- not music
that will excite the vital and arouse the physical consciousness.

Donna Halper:

So spiritual music is music that makes you think more about God?

Sri Chinmoy:

Let us say, more about satisfaction, light and delight. There may 
be great musicians who do not believe in God, but they do believe
in satisfaction, joy, delight. If you play divine music, spiritual
music, then you are bound to give and get satisfaction.

Caller:

I'd like to know how much discipline is required to master meditation.

Sri Chinmoy:

All the disciple that one can muster is one's own life. Discipline
is a continuous process. In this process we make progress. It depends
on how sincerely the individual has accepted the spiritual life. If
he wants to become perfect, then he has to discipline not only his
body, vital and mind but also his entire life, totally. But if he
wants to derive only a little satisfaction from life, then he does
not have to go through this total self-discipline. It entirely
depends on how much the seeker needs from his inner life.

Donna Halper:

How does one discipline one's life? What does one have to do?

Sri Chinmoy:

He has to be very careful in every way, beginning with the mind.
He has to feel that his mind is a room that has a few doors and
windows which will let the whole world inside. The seeker has to
close the doors and windows and stand at a particular door. Then
he must allow inside only the thoughts and ideas that are going
to help him in his spiritual life. Purity, peace, harmony, and so
on- these are his friends. So he will allow them to enter into his
mind-room and he will converse only with them. This is how the
individual can practice.

Donna Halper:

Does a person have to go away somewhere? Does he have to go to an
ashram or a synagogue in order to be successful at meditating?

Sri Chinmoy:

It is not necessary to go anywhere. Meditation entirely depends on
one's inner sincerity. There are many people who have been to ashrams
and monasteries, and there they could not conquer their mind's wrong
thoughts. If you remain in a closed room, that does not mean you
will have no thoughts about the outside world. It is advisable for a
seeker to meditate at a certain place at a specific time, but
meditation does not require a life of seclusion.

Caller:

I would like to ask if he feels that a person should refrain from
physical and sexual intercourse if he wants to develop his medi-
tation. In other words, does that take anything away from spiritual
development?

Donna Halper:

Should one refrain from sex if one wants to develop in meditation?

Sri Chinmoy:

Yes, it is advisable. One has to refrain from all lower vital
movements if one wants to make the fastest progress in meditation.

Donna Halper:

What are some of the other things that one would have to give up
in order to make progress in meditation?

Sri Chinmoy:

He has to give up drugs, he has to give up smoking and he has to
give up drinking. There are quite a few other things that are
spiritually unhealthy as well, but these are the most damaging.

Donna Halper:

When one does this, then one becomes better at meditation, is
that right?

Sri Chinmoy:

One becomes a much more receptive vehicle of light.

Caller:

I was wondering if you are going to play more music and, if the
music is recorded, where we could buy it. 

Donna Halper:

If the Guru wants to play another selection it's fine with me.
Everyone here in the studio was just absolutely flipped out
when he was playing. There is a recording on the Folkways label,
called "Music for Meditation." Would you like to do another
selection before the show is over?

Sri Chinmoy:

Certainly.

Caller:

If you belong to a specific religious group, is it contradictory
to meditate? Does meditation have one specific religion, or can
anyone of any religion meditate?

Sri Chinmoy:

Meditation far surpasses the barriers of religion. One can follow
any religion. Meditation is like a school, and religion is like a
house. You can go to a school or college no matter which house you
live in. Everybody can meditate, no matter what religion he belongs
to or even if he does not belong to any religion.

Donna Halper:

So whether you call God by the name Allah or Buddha or Vishnu or 
whatever, meditation is the same?

Sri Chinmoy:

It is only a name. A child will call his father 'Daddy', but the same
man is called by a different name when he goes to the office. It is
like water. You call it `water' in English, but a French person will
call it `l'eau', and a Bengali will call it `jal'. It is the same
thing, only called by different names.

Donna Halper:

So meditation is kind of like an addition to the religious belief
that you already have.

Sri Chinmoy:

It is an addition. It is the inner essence of all religions.

Donna Halper:

Now that you mention it, isn't there some form of meditation in every
religion? They may not call it meditation, but don't all religions
have some sort of meditation?

Sri Chinmoy:

Every religion encourages some kind of inner communion with the
Highest.

Caller:

If someone was a failure at self-discipline in meditation and other
aspects of life, what is the most sincere prayer that kind of person
could make to God for guidance in meditation?

Donna Halper:

The person who has a hard time accepting the discipline, the person
who finds it really difficult to give up smoking or drinking or sex
life and yet still wants to meditate- is it hopeless for that person?

Sri Chinmoy:

It is not hopeless at all, if the person is sincere. If he prays to
God for His boundless Compassion, then God will give him the necessary
capacity to discipline his life. He has only to pray to God for God's
infinite Compassion. God's Compassion-Light will be able to illumine
him, and his weaknesses and shortcomings will not be able to remain
with him forever.

Donna Halper:

Is it possible that a person could not be ready to meditate at one
time, and yet at another time be ready to meditate?

Sri Chinmoy:

Yes, it is possible. It is like cooking food. Every day someone may
not cook the most delicious food. One day he makes delicious food;
another day he is a failure. But he does not give up cooking or 
eating just because he is not always successful.

Donna Halper:

So the person on the phone should just keep on trying, and
ultimately ...

Sri Chinmoy:

Ultimately he will become an expert. Learning meditation is like
learning anything else. One cannot become an expert overnight.
Sometimes he will do extremely well, sometimes he will do very
badly. But if he continues to study, to practise, he will become
an expert eventually.

Donna Halper:

So in meditation you have to practice?

Sri Chinmoy:

Practice is necessary in every sphere of life.

Caller:

Does Sri Chinmoy feel that meditation has really done anything
for the musicians he has dealt with, and has it helped their music?

Donna Halper:

Has meditating with you and studying with you changed the lives of
the musicians that you have had as disciples?

Sri Chinmoy:

According to my inner vision, it has definitely changed them. In the
outer life, anyone who knows them can be the judge.

Donna Halper:

How do you think it changed them?

Sri Chinmoy:

They have intensified their inner cry. Their cry for God, for
Truth, for Light has immensely increased. Also, they have simplified
and purified their outer life to some extent. They have definitely
made progress in the spiritual life.

Donna Halper:

Do you think it helped their music in any way?

Sri Chinmoy:

Yes, it has inspired their creative capacities and it has made
their music much better in whatever way they wanted.

Donna Halper:

How about their attitude towards what they did before- drugs and 
alcohol and things like that?

Sri Chinmoy:

They have given up these things.

Donna Halper:

They still refrain from all those things?

Sri Chinmoy:

Yes, as long as they remain on my path.

Caller:

I'd like to know if it is possible to be used as an instrument
in an intimate relationship with somebody.

Donna Halper:

Can a person be an instrument of God and also be an instrument
in a relationship with somebody, where God is acting through
them to help another person? For example, do you believe people
in the material world can become instruments of God?

Sri Chinmoy:

Easily. We are all instruments of God. But if we are too much
involved in the material life, then we will not be able to be
chosen instruments of God. Chosen instruments of God are those
who are constantly self-giving. They are not for themselves only
but for the entire world. The chosen instruments have a wide heart.
They don't try to confine themselves to their own reality. They try
to offer their lives to the world at large.

Donna Halper:

Can you also be an instrument of God in a relationship with another
human being? Let's say there is a person who is addicted to drugs. Do
you believe that God can perhaps bring someone- just an ordinary
person - into the life of that person to make him better?

Sri Chinmoy:

Certainly. God is inside everyone, not only the seekers. If someone
is addicted to drugs and if he has a sincere inner cry to get out of
that addiction, then God will bring someone to the rescue.

Donna Halper: 

So on a personal basis, then, our relationships are not an accident?
We don't just randomly find each other, but the people who find each
other are finding each other because God wants them to find each other?

Sri Chinmoy:

Not in every case. There is something called God's Hour. When God's
Hour strikes, the persons who are needed will come. Otherwise, every
person we meet is not sent by God. 

Caller:

If an ignorant person who hasn't had any realisation is confronted
with a situation of great physical danger, what kind of prayer could
a person make to God at that critical moment? Sudden death happens to
people in an airplane or on the street at times. 

Donna Halper:
If he finds his life in danger, can a person seriously speak to
God, even though the person has been irreligious?

Sri Chinmoy:
We are all God's children. The parents are always full of love, even
for a naughty boy who does not listen to them. When this naughty child
at times runs into difficulty, he runs to his parents to help him.
Will the parents discard him at that time? No, the parents will     
immediately embrace him and say, "At long last, my son, you have come
to me for help." Similarly, God's help is always there provided we have
a sincere cry.

Donna Halper:
So the person who has been against religion or thought religion was
silly or did not want to get involved in religion, if at a moment of
danger that person reaches out to God, God will answer him?

Sri Chinmoy:
Definitely He will answer, but in His own way, of course.

Donna Halper:
He will accept the sincerity of this person?

Sri Chinmoy:
If someone sincerely cries for God's help, God will definitely
help him. It depends on his sincerity.

Caller:
Do you believe that God is in the mind?

Sri Chinmoy:
God is not only in the mind; God is the mind itself. But we have to
know what kind of mind we are speaking of. If it is the physical mind,
the earth-bound mind, the mind that cherishes and treasures jealousy,
meanness and impurity, this is not the mind that can be of any help
in our search for God. The mind that is as wide and vast as the sky,
the mind that accepts and loves the entire world, is the real mind.
Inside that mind God functions most satisfactorily. So we have to know
which mind you are referring to.

Donna Halper:
So you're saying that the person who thinks in a positive way, the
person who thinks in a way that is honest and sincere and concerned
about all the people in the world, that person is using the mind in
a spiritual way?

Sri Chinmoy:
Yes.

Caller:
But they say that God is a jealous God.

Donna Halper:
That's a very good religious point. What about when they say that God
is a jealous God?

Sri Chinmoy:
God is jealous only for those who have not experienced God the Supreme
Beloved, God the Eternal Compassion, God the Eternal Friend.

Donna Halper:
So you're saying that God is a friend?

Sri Chinmoy:
God is our Eternal Friend and our only true friend.

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.

Donna Halper:
Sri Chinmoy will play another selection at the end of the program. I
could listen to your music all day, I really could. Why is that music
so relaxing? I've heard music before, but it didn't relax me as much
as that music. Is there something special about your music?

Sri Chinmoy:
In my case, I do not just play music. I pray, I meditate, I contemplate
while I am playing. I try to be in close communion with my Inner Pilot,
who is the Supreme Musician. And according to my capacity of
receptivity, I try to offer His Light and Peace to the world through
my music. So when I play, the esraj is not the real instrument; it is
I who am the instrument.

--
jeffjc@cs.mcgill.ca (Jeffrey CHANCE)