Question: I find it easier the other way around.

Sri Chinmoy: Today you are seeing God in others. You feel that others are meditating twenty-four hours a day, whereas you are not meditating for even one second. Or you feel that others are doing good things which you are not doing. But once you go deep within, you will say, "Oh, I didn't know he was such a bad fellow." The deeper you go, the more you will see that the people who you think are far superior to you are not so superior. Right now, because you have not properly entered into the spiritual life, you have built up a very high opinion of others. But if you go deep within, you will see that your own Source is the same as theirs. You will see everything within you.

First you have to go deep within to reach your own Source. Then you will be able to reach the Source of others in whom you have faith. Otherwise, a day may come when you will be totally frustrated if the persons who enjoy your high opinion do something undivine. Then all your hopes in God, all your feelings towards God, will be shattered.

So it is better always to go deep within first. Then, when you solve your own problems, you will see that the problems of the world at large will also be solved. Otherwise, if you try to see the divinity in others, when inside you there are all undivine thoughts, then I tell you it will be a very, very arduous and long process. I am not saying that others do not have any divinity. No, no, they do have divinity, but the God in you wants you to feed Him first. So let your God be fed. Once your God is fed, you will look around and see that the same God has been fed in others.

From:Sri Chinmoy,Perseverance and aspiration, Agni Press, 1976
Sourced from https://srichinmoylibrary.com/pa