"There comes a time in the seeker's life when he discovers that he is at once the lover and the beloved"
About this Quote
The subtext is slyly radical. Spiritual longing is often structured like romance: the human as the yearning lover, the divine as the unattainable beloved. Chinmoy collapses that hierarchy. If you are both lover and beloved, then devotion isn’t a transaction; it’s recognition. The seeking doesn’t end because you’ve captured the object, but because you see the object was never outside you in the first place. That’s why the sentence hinges on “discovers,” not “decides.” It frames unity as experiential knowledge, not a motivational slogan.
Context matters: Chinmoy taught a devotional, heart-centered mysticism to Western audiences hungry for inwardness but wary of doctrine. This quote reads like a bridge between bhakti (love of the divine) and advaita (non-duality). It reassures the modern seeker: your longing isn’t mistaken, just mis-aimed. The beloved you’re chasing isn’t gone; it’s the self beneath the performance of seeking.
Quote Details
| Topic | Self-Love |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Chinmoy, Sri. (2026, January 18). There comes a time in the seeker's life when he discovers that he is at once the lover and the beloved. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/there-comes-a-time-in-the-seekers-life-when-he-7732/
Chicago Style
Chinmoy, Sri. "There comes a time in the seeker's life when he discovers that he is at once the lover and the beloved." FixQuotes. January 18, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/there-comes-a-time-in-the-seekers-life-when-he-7732/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"There comes a time in the seeker's life when he discovers that he is at once the lover and the beloved." FixQuotes, 18 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/there-comes-a-time-in-the-seekers-life-when-he-7732/. Accessed 12 Feb. 2026.











