Question: Guru, I find it very difficult to have faith in myself. Will my faith develop as I try to lead a spiritual life?

Sri Chinmoy: Yes. You have to know that you are God's son and not God's slave. If you can call God your Father, then you can say, "My Father, He is rich. My Father, He is great. My Father, He is kind. If He is kind, then a portion of His kindness He is bound to give me. If He is great, then a portion of His greatness He will give me. If He is rich, then a portion of His wealth He will give me." This is the feeling a son will have.

But instead of that, if you feel that God is the Lord and you are His slave, then how are you going to have faith in yourself? A slave will immediately say, "Today he is my master. Tomorrow he may kick me out." A slave cannot claim his master's wealth or capacity as his very own. But a son can claim it. A little child is seven years old, but if his father is very rich, very great and very learned, then he is sure that he is going to get these qualities from his father. And the father will gladly give them to him. But if he has the attitude of a slave, then he will immediately think, "Oh, the master will only exploit me, so I won't be able to claim any of his good qualities as my own."

So if you want to have faith in yourself, first you have to feel what kind of connection or relationship you have established with your Inner Pilot. If it is the relationship of Father and son, or Mother and son, or lover and Beloved, if it is the relationship of two most intimate, absolutely closest friends, then you can expect anything from Him. But if you can't establish that kind of sweet oneness between yourself and God, then how will you have faith? If you think, "He is very aloof; He is the Lord Supreme and I am just a meaningless creature," then there is no feeling of oneness. If you think of yourself as a tiny ant and God as a huge elephant, then naturally you will say, "Oh, how can I have such strength, such capacity? I am so weak and insignificant." But if you think of God as someone who is more than eager to give you what He has, then you will feel, "The strength that that elephant has is all for me when the time comes or when I need it." When you have established that kind of feeling, when you feel that your Father is going to give you everything that you need, then automatically you will have faith.

If you have faith in yourself, then you will say, "I am God's son, so how can I do something undivine? I am His son. How can I make friends with ignorance? It is beneath my dignity." In this way you will run closer to your real divinity. So, in the spiritual life, always try to feel your oneness with God as something extremely sweet, pure and fulfilling. Then automatically you get faith. If you feel, "He is mine and I am His," then automatically you will have abundant faith in yourself.