Question: How can I be sure that I will make continuous progress in my spiritual life?

Sri Chinmoy: Pray like a child. You have just joined the spiritual life. You have to know that in spiritual terms, you are just born, you are a child. In the beginning, everything is easy. Then, afterwards, when we are relaxed, all the forces attack. When we join a path or enter into a school, if we are good students, we are eager to make progress. Here you are studying prayer and meditation. Each time a thought comes, you have to ask yourself, is this thought going to help me make progress? If the answer is yes, then immediately continue. If the answer is no, then discard that thought. Thoughts make us braver than the bravest or weaker than the weakest. If we cherish uncomely thoughts, undivine thoughts, aggressive thoughts, for a few seconds we may feel that we are very strong. Then in a few minutes we actually become weaker than the weakest human beings, because that aggression is nothing but an inner cancer. If we have a good thought, that progressive thought will help us immensely. Each good thought is a forward march. Each bad thought is a backward march. We have to know if we want to go forward or if we want to go backward.

From:Sri Chinmoy,Sri Chinmoy answers, part 20, Agni Press, 1999
Sourced from https://srichinmoylibrary.com/sca_20