Part I: Questions and answers

• Question: Each year, does the United Nations try to achieve something new and if so, what has it tried to achieve inwardly and outwardly this year?
• Question: When we invite our co-workers who are interested in meditation but know nothing about it, is it preferable to just have them come and learn through silence or is it a good idea to explain meditation as best we can beforehand?
• Question: What is the best way to unite the ways of politics and the ways of the soul of a country?
• Question: When does God want His Name spoken?
• Question: What stands between the outer goal of the United Nations and the inner goal of the United Nations?
• Question: For how long did the Supreme have the Dream of the United Nations before the soul was born and it became a reality?
• Question: What does the soul of the United Nations need most from the Member States?
• Question: What is the spiritual significance of a photograph?
• Question: How can we help the speed of the United Nations increase?
• Question: How can we awaken spirituality in the other workers at the United Nations?
• Question: As the United Nations evolves, will it become less of a political centre and more of a spiritual centre?
• Question: How can we best fulfil our roles at the United Nations?
• Question: What qualities on the material and spiritual plane can we offer to the United Nations to best fulfil the United Nations?
• Question: How can we fulfil the hearts and souls of the children of the world?
• Question: Will the Supreme send more real leaders to help support the United Nations?
• Question: When and how will the leaders and representatives of the nations of the world, especially of the developing nations, begin to seek spiritual solutions to their problems?
• Question: What is involved in establishing an inner connection with the United Nations?
• Question: What is the most important thing to remember while working at the United Nations?
• Question: What role will music play in bringing about world oneness?
• Question: How can you dedicate each task you do to the soul of the United Nations?
• Question: Are the ideals of the United Nations applicable to every area of our lives without exception?
• Question: How can I feel that my small job at the United Nations is really important to the total spirit of the United Nations?
• Question: Should the body of the United Nations remain fluid, so that the soul of the United Nations can more easily manifest?
• Question: How can we feel and show our gratitude to the United Nations?
• Question: How can I increase oneness with the soul of the United Nations?
• Question: How can I become self-giving with spontaneity and joy?
• Question: How can we see through God's Eyes?
• Question: How can we accept everyone who works at the United Nations as our very own?

Part II: BBC interview

• Mr. Saxton: Sri Chinmoy, can you explain the technique used in your Meditation Group?
• Mr. Saxton: Is this related to any particular religion?
• Mr. Saxton: What kind of people attend your meetings here at the United Nations?
• Mr. Saxton: The United Nations is, of course, a very political place. Do politics ever enter into your work?
• Mr. Saxton: And this is what you hope people will gain from your work?
• Mr. Saxton: You mentioned a few moments ago that certain delegates attend your meetings. Do you think diplomats gain anything special that is particularly useful to their own work?
• Mr. Saxton: Do you sometimes feel that despite these very high aspirations and targets, that sometimes your work is often overshadowed by politics?
• Mr. Saxton: What is your basic philosophy?
• Mr. Saxton: How would you characterise real peace of mind? How can someone really come to terms with themselves and be totally peaceful with themselves in their minds?
• Mr. Saxton: But how do you reach that state?

Part III: Questions and answers

• Question: How does one stop the mind?
• Question: What do you mean by perfection?
• Question: The Yogi believes in realisation on earth after a series of reincarnations; the Christian believes in salvation after death through Christ. How can one synthesise these two great beliefs?
• Question: At our United Nations meetings, should we meditate on specific themes related to United Nations conferences and other things, as well as on general qualities like peace and love?
• Question: If we are feeling tired, should we still come to U.N. Meditation Group meetings?

Part IV

• Mr. Robert Muller: The first three of U Thant's four categories of needs, namely physical, intellectual and moral needs, do not create any insuperable problems, but the last and most important one in his view, spirituality, gives me considerable difficulties. There are indeed so many definitions of that term. U Thant described it as "Faith in oneself, the purity of one's inner self." Suppose — as I would ardently wish — that humanity would adopt some day his four broad categories of goals. How would you define the spiritual goals?
• Mr. Robert Muller: I often think that U Thant's four categories of human qualities or needs — physical, intellectual, moral and spiritual — could well form the basis for a world agenda of human goals. From your writings, I notice that these categories are also quite fundamental to you, but you add to it a fifth which you call the "vital". Could you elaborate on it?
• Mr. Robert Muller: When I speak to audiences about U Thant's four ways to happiness, I sometimes hear the following criticism: "Life is one and cannot be artificially cut into four. Everything is interdependent and linked. We must concentrate on life as an entity and not on components which are the product of the intellect." I am not over-impressed with this argument, for I have indeed observed that life is richest when I cultivate simultaneously all four categories of needs, namely physical, mental, moral and spiritual. Nevertheless, there is some truth in that criticism and I would be grateful to learn how you would respond to it.
• Mr. Robert Muller: Do you think the U.N. exercises a real influence in the world? What is, in your view, its principal contribution? How does it appear to you in the great stream of history and human evolution?
• Mr. Robert Muller: If you were given the task of laying down the basic principles for the education of all the children of this world, what would be your recommendations?
• Mr. Robert Muller: Anthropologists have found a gradation of religious beliefs over the history of mankind: ritualism, animism, ancestor worship, polytheism, monotheism. All these forms were associated with changes in the social structure. Recently, the "age of reason" and the scientific and industrial revolution have rendered religion and spirituality obsolete — even harmful — in the eyes of many. What, in your view, is likely to be the "religion" or "spirituality" of humanity tomorrow as a satisfactory answer to man's queries about his relationships with the universe, his fellow men and the mysteries of life? Is this likely to be reflected in the United Nations as a forum where humanity is seeking new ways for its destiny and fulfilment?

Part V

• Letter from Mr. Muller to Sri Chinmoy
• Letter from Sri Chinmoy to Mr. Muller

Part VI: Questions from Mr Robert Muller — continued

• Mr. Robert Muller: Where so many humans from all over the world come together to talk to each other, to learn from each other, to heal rifts and to devise a better common destiny, isn't that the greatest place on earth? To my mind, the United Nations is no less than a miracle.
• Mr. Robert Muller: The United Nations is the incredible place where human oneness is seeking itself in the endless diversity of the prodigy of life. How is it possible, then, that so few people recognise this great new blessing?
• Mr. Robert Muller: What can we do to open the eyes and hearts of people?
• Mr. Robert Muller: I often feel that all my speaking and writing is just a drop of water on an infertile field of blindness and disbelief. What more can we do? What would you suggest?
• Sri Chinmoy Meditation at the United Nations
• Editor's preface to the first edition