The inner cry is God’s secret mechanism for our illumination and perfection.

All that we seek – peace, light, bliss, satisfaction – is already within us; there for the taking. God could give us all realisation here and now – but then there would be no game, no drama, no mystery, no suspense, no battle to be won. We tend to value something much more if we have worked hard for it, whereas things which just appear in our lap, we may take for granted.

So God devised the inner cry, and planted its seed in the depths of our being. When this seed germinates, we feel the inner cry as coming from within ourselves, arising of our own volition. When we follow our inner cry and attain some degree of peace, light and satisfaction, we are thrilled at our achievement, for we have worked to attain what we aspired for.

Sri Chinmoy writes:

“Meditation needs practice. You have to practise to become spontaneous in your meditation. Why is it that you get hungry one day and the next day you don’t get hungry? If you work hard on the outer plane, then you are bound to become hungry. If, on the physical plane, you run quite a few miles, then you are bound to feel hungry. Similarly, if you work hard on the inner plane, then you will be blessed with receptivity. In the inner plane, if you cry soulfully and devotedly, then you can create receptivity, and inside that receptivity you will feel gratitude. When you feel gratitude, at that time your meditation is bound to be spontaneous. So there are many ways to get hungry. But the ultimate cause of inner hunger, the real source of your inner cry is God and nothing else.”
– Sri Chinmoy