THE INNER VISION – OUTER MISSION; Questions from David Rowe, US Mission to UN - Historical Repository for Sri Chinmoy: The Peace Meditation at the United Nations

THE INNER VISION – OUTER MISSION; Questions from David Rowe, US Mission to UN

Filed under Questions and Answers (Q&A)

THE INNER VISION : LOVE OF GOD THE OUTER MISSION : SERVICE OF HUMANITY

PREFACE : In the spring of 1977, Mr. David Rowe, Political Advisor, United States Mission to the U.N. , submitted the following questions to Sri Chinmoy, Leader of the Meditation Group at the United Nations.

To edited to highlights of answer and link to full answers on separate posts.

check SC library site.
David Rowe: Bhaktivedanta referred to the United Nations as a “society for united animals”
where people are not interested in religious things. Could you please comment on this?

Sri Chinmoy: Dear David, it will simply be impossible for me to see eye to eye with the
statement that has been made by the spiritual leader in question. To say that the United Nations
is a society for united animals, since people at the United Nations are not interested in religious
things, is to criticise the United Nations not only mercilessly but almost unreasonably. First of all , we all know that in the name of religion and religious matters countless people have been killed since the dawn of so-called civilisation. Almost all the religions have fought at one time or another
against one another unreservedly and, what is worse , at times without any rhyme or reason.

Just to show its supremacy over other religions, each religion has swerved from the fundamental
principles of truth . Why blame the United Nations? The wisest thing for the wise man is to first solve his own personal problems, illumine his own darkness and perfect his own nature. T his is the only way
that either the united or the divided human
animals all over the world can climb to a higher
rung of evolution, which we can unmistakably call
proper human life.

David Rowe : Is the fundamental goal that the
United Na tions can aspire for no more than that of
the member states which compose it?

Sri Chinmoy: No, the United Nations can and
should aspire for a higher goal than what the
member states that compose it represent. The
mem ber states are like strong pillars of an edifice,
b u t many more things are required to b uild the
edifice . Those things are also of tremendous
necessity. When everything is in its proper place
and all things are combined to achieve a specific
goa l, at that time the body of the achievement reality
becomes divinely integral and supremely
perfect .

David Rowe : Can we hope that ind ividual
delegations of member states will work toward
higher goals than their home governments would
normally support?

Sri Chinmoy : It entirely depends on the inner
strength of the individual delegations. If an
individual delegation has received a higher call to
spread deeper reality in human life and, at that
time , if it does not get support from its home
government, then I think and feel that the
individual delegation must move forward and listen
to the inner dictates. Let us take the home
government as an old man, an old father , and the
individual delegation as a young m an. T he old
man always thinks that he knows everything far
better than his son, but sometimes it happens that
a higher truth and more illumining realities want
to express themselves in and through the young
generation. At that time, if the old generation does
not want to accept the new vision that has dawned
on the young generation, then it will be a
deplorable mistake . And this mistake may cause an
untold disaster in the minds and the hearts of both
the fearful and unwilling old generation and the
d ar ing and p ioneering new genera tion. God does
not have to speak all the time through the human
father. He can easily speak to the fa ther through
the human son as well. Therefore, as it IS
obligatory for the son to listen to his father when
the father’s advice is founded upon unmistakable
truths , even so it is equally obligatory for the father
to accept the son’s vision-reality when it is unmistakably
illumining and considerably fulfilling.

David Rowe : When a member state assumes an
“anti-United Nations attitude,” the cause would
probably be frustration or fear that the UN has
taken or may take some action against it. Does such
an attitude weaken the UN system?

Sri Chinmoy: When a member state assumes an
“anti-United Nations attitude,” it undoubtedly
weakens the United Nations system. First of all , it
violently and shamelessly goes against the United
Nations system . When a member state goes against
the United Na tions system , on the outer plane it
definitely weakens the system ; but on the inner
p lane the strength of the Uni ted Na tions system is
extremely solid and sound . As long as the inner
aspiration of the United Na tions is sincere and
strong , we do not have to worry if a member sta te
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or even if a ll the member states assume an
“anti-United Nations atti tude.” For it is not the
member states alone that can and will b r ing about
world harmony. It is the united force of all the
nations , big and small , that can and will bring
about a oneness-wor ld family.
T here can be many reasons why a member state
wants to stand against the United N ations policy.
But just by standing against United Nations policy,
a state will not be able to solve even an iota of the
world’s problems. If one sees that the United
N a tions is doing something wrong , that is no
reason why one should want to stand against the
United Nations. One has to love the United
Nations more in order to bring to the fore its
sincere aspiratiom which can and will change the
face of the entire world .
To err is human, to forgive is divine. To forget
past blunders of others, as well as one’s own , is to
make friends with satisfaction-peace and perfec tion-
bliss. Further , this is the only way to accelerate
humani ty’s oneness-vision and oneness-goal. If you
see the world ‘s imperfections, you should not
d iscard the world ; you should not consider it a
filthy object or speak ill of it in season and out of
season . No! T he wise thing is to accept and
embrace the world – the well-meaning U.N .
world – as a humble and trying instrument of an
all-embracing and all -fulfi lling supreme Reali ty.

Davz’d Rowe : Secretaries-General have conceived
their office in various ways. Is there a preferred
d efi nition of the insti tution of the Secretary-General?

Sri Chinmoy: According to my inner aspiration,
I wish to say that an ideal Secretary-General is he
who has a free access both to the inner realities and
the outer realities of life. The inner realities are
heart’s cry, heart’s oneness. The ou ter realitie~ are
life’s total and consecrated dedication. The ideal
Secretary-General is he who dives deep within in
order to quench his inner thirst , the thirst of the
oneness-world family, and then comes from within
to without to share with the rest of the world the
nectar- bliss that he has discovered and drunk
profusely in his inner life.
An ideal Secretary-General is he who at once
fulfils his inner vision and outer mission. His inner
vision is love of humanity, for huma nity’s sake, and
his outer mission is service to humanity, for
humanity’s sake. His inner life is a continuous
growth to reach the acme of per fection . His ou ter
life is dedicated to spreading his perfection, which
is illumination itself, throughout the length and
bread th of the world.

David R owe : T he style and personality of the
Secretary-General influences n umerous individuals
and na tional governments and to a degree
determines the performance of the entire U. N.
Don’t you think, then, it is essential to select a
Secretary-General who will not allow possible
wrong influences or powers to guide his actions?

Sri Chinmoy : We should always try to be true
servers and warriors of truth, for truth is life in the
purest sense of the term. Therefore, our supreme
choice and our only choice has to be an all- loving,
all -caring all-serving and all-fulfilling SecretaryGeneral,
whose love-power will transform the
domimon-power or the influence-power, and not
the other way around . Love inspires us to do the
right thmg in life . Power quite often, if not always,
influences us or, rather , not always but quite often
mstig-ates us to do the wrong th ing. Therefore, a
Secretary-General who is higher than the highest in
height i~ also expected to be wider than the widest
111 every sphere of his life.

Davza Rowe’ Is there a speClal need to promote
cooperatIOn between the newer and often poorer
countnes in the General Assembly and the older
and. in most cases, more established , wealthier
countnes? Should the latter not take the lead in
fostering gool relations?

Sn Chmmoy · We all believe in progress.
Progress is nothing but true satisfaction . If one
country is more established and more financially
secure than another country, that doesn’t mean
that this particular country is the happiest and the
most perfect country . If one country wants to
remain always at the vanguard of all the other
cou ntries, or if it wants to exercise supremacy over
the other countries, then it may be able to do so.
But true satisfaction, for which there is a common
and universal cry, will never come. Supremacy will
never be tr ansformed into either an individual or
collective smile.
Everything is relative. One country may be
poorer than another coun try in one particular
aspect of human life but it can e asily be richer in
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some other aspect of life. Outer wealth it may
lack, but inner wealth it may have in profuse
measure. Again, if one country is wanting in the
outer wealth as well as in the inner wealth, then it
will be an act not only of kindness but also of
wisdom if the superior country opens both its inner
door and outer door to help, guide and illumine
the uniIlumined, inferior one. At that time the
illumined one is only increasing its reality-existence.
The heart of love knows only how to expand,
and another name for this expansion is satisfaction.
Satisfaction-reality is the fruit of the satisfactiontree,
which comes from the perfection-seed.

Davz’d R owe.’ Cooperation of all nations IS an
ancient dream . Assuming we are building on the
past , how can we assess the outlook now?

Sri Chinmoy.’ T he ancient dream of cooperation
is not a human dream which has very little to do
with reality. T he ancient dream , to be precise, is
not a dream at all but a fa ultless and divine
vision- an unhorizoned vision-which is slowly,
steadily and unerringly shaping the in dividual and
collective destiny in humanity’s march towards the
supreme goal of universal oneness and transcendental
newness. T he world is evolving and progressing
and reaching a higher standard of life. It is not
moving in a horizonal way, bu t in a spiral. Therefore
, at times this progress is not immediately noticeable.
At t imes it confuses and baffles our hu m
an mind. But on the strength of our inner oneness
with the world situa tion and world evolution,
we see unmistakably the world’s slow and steady
progress.
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True, man-made destructive forces are to be
found here, there and everywhere. Here they may
be in small measure; somewhere else, in a large
measure. But the creator of the wrong forces , the
destructive forces, need not remain always a
creator of wrong forces. He can easily become a
creator of good forces. In spite of creating and
possessing wrong forces , if one remains silent to
catch a glimpse either consciously or unconsciously
of the divine, illumining and fulfilling light, at that
time one is taking the first step. The second step is
to create positive realities in order to accelerate
humanity’s progress towards perfection .
A negative force is not by nature negative . Only
it is a force that we use in a negative way. A knife
can be used either as a destructive force or as a
force of coopera tion and oneness-expansion. With
a knife one can stab others; with the same knife
one can cut fru its and share them with others.
T he ancient d ream , nay, the ancient vision , will
always remain a new and progressive vision , for
creat ion itself is an ever -transcending reality. We
shall have to open our heart’s door and our mind’s
windows in order to see from the body-room the
light that illumin es and fulfils the world around us.
Then only we shall discover continual progress in
humanity’s march along Eternity’s road to Infinity’s
Satisfaction -Goal.
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