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EARTH-BOUND JOURNEY AND HEAVEN-BOUND JOURNEY

Harvard University; Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA

Andover Hall, Harvard Divinity School
9 June 1975
8:00 pm

Earth-bound journey starts in Heaven and ends on earth. Heaven-bound journey
starts on earth and ends in Heaven. With earth-bound journey, the soul’s promise
to God descends. With Heaven-bound journey, the body’s aspiration for God
ascends.
Earth-bound journey is for constant God-manifestation, and Heaven-bound
journey is for conscious God-realisation. The speed of earth-bound journey is
slow. The speed of Heaven-bound journey is equally slow. The speed of earthbound
journey is slow because the soul’s promise-light is afraid of entering into
earth’s inconscience and ignorance. The speed of Heaven-bound journey is slow
because earth’s aspiration-flame is afraid of Heaven’s Beatitude and Plenitude. But
slow and steady wins the race. When the soul’s promise to God touches the earthconsciousness,
Mother Earth garlands the soul’s promise-light. When the earth’s
aspiration flame reaches Heaven, Father Heaven blesses earth’s aspiration-flame.
Earth knows how to cry. Heaven knows how to smile. This is what we all
know. This is what we all feel. But when earth-consciousness is about to reach
Heaven, earth-consciousness smiles, and when Heaven-Consciousness is about to
touch earth-reality, Heaven-Consciousness cries. Earth-consciousness smiles
because it sees that it is about to reach its Goal. Heaven-Consciousness cries
because it is afraid of the inconscience-sea. Here their roles change. The soul
accepts the body, the vital, the mind and the heart. The soul consciously and
deliberately enters into bondage with the hope that one day it will be able to take
the body, vital, mind and heart to conscious liberation.
To be transformed, earth-consciousness has to be liberated. The soul realises
that earth-consciousness can be liberated only by the soul’s acceptance of earthconsciousness.
If the soul remains always in the highest plane of God’s Silence-
Reality, then it will not be able to liberate earth’s consciousness; so the soul
descends. The earth-consciousness feels that if it does not receive the Heaven-
Consciousness, the Heaven-Consciousness will be only a dream-world or visionworld.
It will not see the face of fulfilling reality-world. Heaven needs earth for
God-manifestation. This is the only way Heaven can satisfy God. Earth needs
Heaven for God-realisation. This is the only way earth can satisfy God.
God has two special names. One is in Heaven, another is on earth. In Heaven,
God’s special name is Vision. On earth, His special name is Compassion. With his
Vision-Name He sees His Eternity’s all. With His Compassion-Name He becomes
His Infinity’s all. Eternity’s transcendence He is. Infinity’s expanse He becomes.
Eternity is His Silence-Reality. Infinity is His Sound-Reality. Eternity’s Vision
He embodies. Infinity’s Reality He reveals.
God’s Eternity-Silence makes a solemn promise to God that it will unite earth’s
fleeting life with Heaven’s undying Life. God’s Infinity-Sound promises God that
in the finite it will sing the song of the Infinite. The finite will be able to treasure
Infinity’s wealth. The finite will be transformed into Infinity’s Reality. The
individual will be able to house the universal. The universal will be able to
manifest its Divinity and Immortality in the individual.
Earth and Heaven are two great singers. They are great singers, but they are
not good singers. When Heaven sings, earth comes and offers its dedicated
presence, but Heaven deliberately ignores earth’s presence. When earth sings,
Heaven comes to listen, but earth pretends to be unconscious of Heaven’s
presence. Heaven ignores; earth remains unconscious. This is how earth and
Heaven snub each other. That is why a sad dispute reigns supreme between earth
and Heaven.
But there comes a time when earth dives deep within and Heaven dives deep
within. There earth and Heaven see and feel the Supreme Pilot’s excruciating
pangs. They want to know the reason. The Eternal Pilot tells them that they are
the culprits. They do not satisfy Him. They do not see His Divinity, His Immortality
in each other. Both earth and Heaven plead with the Eternal Pilot to sing
a song for them. God sings. At the end of the song both Heaven and earth place
their devoted heads and surrendered hearts at the Feet of the Lord Supreme. The
Lord Supreme tells them, “My son and daughter, that is not the right place for
you. Your place is inside My Heart, inside the Heart of My Pride, inside the Heart
of My blessingful Gratitude.” He places both earth and Heaven inside His Heart.
Then He asks them to sing the song with Him. They all sing together. At the end
of the song both Heaven and earth offer Him a garland of gratitude and God’s
Eternity’s Faith, God’s Immortality’s Life, offers the garland of satisfaction to
Heaven and the garland of perfection to earth. What earth needs is perfection.
What Heaven needs is satisfaction. Earth’s perfection is in the soul of Heaven,
and Heaven’s satisfaction is in the heart of Earth
When a seeker is in his earth-bound journey, he sees that today’s bondage,
ignorance and imperfection will be transformed into tomorrow’s freedom, wisdom
and perfection. The seeker who is in his Heaven-bound journey comes to realise
that today’s Heaven-bound journey, which is uncertain of God’s revelation on
earth, need not be always uncertain. No, God-realisation and God-manifestation
can easily take place on earth. God-satisfaction and God-perfection can easily take
place in Heaven. The seeker in us, when he ascends with Heaven-bound journey,
becomes the pride of humanity. The same seeker, when he descends with earthbound
journey, becomes the pride of divinity. Earth-consciousness ascends into
Heaven-Consciousness, for in Heaven-Consciousness earth’s beauty and earth’s
duty lie. Heaven-Consciousness descends into earth-consciousness, for in earthconsciousness
God’s revelation and God’s manifestation lie.
Earth has always been good. Heaven has always been great. Both greatness
and goodness must be amalgamated. With earth’s goodness, which is sacrifice for
her children, earth grows into perfection-day. Heaven’s greatness, which is
Wisdom, Heaven offers to its children and, with this wisdom-light, the children
of Heaven become God’s Satisfaction-Smile. When earth is fulfilled, earth becomes
Immortality’s Peace. When Heaven is fulfilled, Heaven becomes Immortality’s
Delight. God unites earth’s Peace and Heaven’s Delight. In the unification of
earth’s achievement and Heaven’s achievement God becomes complete, whole,
perfect and fulfilled.
Before my green-red journey’s
Earth-bound flight
My soul shook hands with God’s
Compassion-Height.
Before my blue-gold journey’s
Heaven-bound flight
My life shakes hands with God’s
Perfection-Light.
Today we complete our journey. Here we have given seven talks. I wish to
offer this series to the great soul, the devoted soul of President Kennedy, who was
a Harvard graduate, a Harvard jewel. To honour his memory in our hearts of love
and gratitude I offer this series of talks. I am extremely grateful to all the seekers
who are present today and to those who have been coming to this series of talks.
To each of you I offer my most sincere gratitude for having granted me the
opportunity to be of service to your aspiring souls and dedicated lives. Nothing
gives me greater joy than to serve. To serve is to fulfil the real in us, the divine
in us.

"The Oneness of the Eastern Heart and the Western Mind-Part II" by Sri Chinmoy
  Sri Chinmoy