Sincerity and purity

Question: How do we begin to develop sincerity?

Sri Chinmoy: One can develop true sincerity provided one starts his journey with soulful gratitude. Say that a seeker has come to attend one of our Centre meetings. His parents have not come with him, his relatives may be watching television, his acquaintances perhaps have gone to a bar or a cocktail party. He could have also done the same things that his family or acquaintances have done, but he did something different. He came to a spiritual gathering. Who has inspired him to do the needful? Someone from within him. If it was left to him alone, perhaps he would have gone the same way as his friends, relatives and acquaintances. But he knows that there is a higher Power that brought him to this place for meditation. He should come with a gratitude-heart because already he has achieved something. When he comes with a gratitude-heart, he has already established some sincerity. Gratitude is a reality, and gratitude always embodies sincerity. So a sincere heart and a gratitude-life must go together.