Question: You always ask us to claim you as our very own. Could you help me think about how to do it?

Sri Chinmoy: It is not a matter of thinking. It is not even a matter of feeling. It is a matter of becoming. In India when they chant shivaham, shivaham — “I am Shiva, I am Shiva,” millions of times, they become one with the consciousness of Lord Shiva. By claiming over and over again that you are something, you become that thing.

When I say to claim me as your own, very own, this can be done only by repeating, “I have become my Guru’s chosen instrument. Therefore, I can claim my Guru as my own, very own.” Claim me, claim me, claim me; then the very thing that you are saying becomes real. Otherwise, one moment you will try to think and the next moment you will try to feel, and you will never achieve anything. But if you can say, “I have become my Guru’s chosen instrument. Therefore, I can claim him as my own, very own,” then you can discard all the dirty, filthy blankets — fear, doubt, anxieties, worries, depression and frustration — that you have unnecessarily put on your back.

This is the only way: by claiming and becoming. Just say, “I have become pure. I have become a chosen instrument.” You are not fooling yourself, you are actually growing into that reality. If you say, “I am pure, I am pure,” outwardly if somebody hears, he may mock you. He may say, “Oh, you are such a bad fellow!” But if you keep on repeating, “I am pure, I am good, I am divine,” then a good consciousness, a God-consciousness, becomes yours, for you become what you are repeating.