Question: I'm trying to have faith in all that you are saying. But if it is true, why don't I feel light and peace inside me?

Sri Chinmoy: You are right in saying that if something is true, you will feel it within the very depths of your heart. But sometimes it may take a little time. You sow a seed. After a few months it germinates. In a year it grows into a sapling, and eventually it grows into a huge banyan tree. When you begin to take an interest in the spiritual life, you have only sown the seed. You may not see the results immediately. It takes time.

You will feel light and peace, but first you have to have faith. Inside you there are many organs: heart, lungs and so on. You believe this because doctors and others say so. Although you cannot see these things, you know that they are there. Similarly, in the inner world, if you do not see something right now, you cannot say that it does not exist. Within your inner body, there are many things which you may not feel, but which I am aware of, because I have prayed and meditated more than you have. You need to cultivate more faith in what I say and in what other Masters have said about the inner world. If you pray and meditate soulfully and cultivate more faith in what you have heard from spiritual seekers and Masters, then eventually you will see that they were right.

You have to start with faith — sincere, genuine, sublime faith. This faith is not going to mislead you. When you read a spiritual book, that book embodies light. While reading, you may not feel light inside the book right away, but still you do not discard the book. No, you have faith in the messages that the book contains. You meditate on the words and ideas that the book embodies, and eventually you do get light. Inside the book there is a hidden reality. If you believe in that hidden reality while you are reading, in the course of time you will get illumination. But you have to read the book in order to get the essence, the quintessence of the book.

Similarly, you have to pray and meditate before you will feel your own divinity. If you cannot feel your inner divinity right now, don’t be sad or upset. It takes time. Pray and meditate sincerely, and through your faith, your real divinity will one day loom large. If you do not have higher experiences or realisations as soon as you enter into the spiritual life, do not give up. Right now if you do not feel inside the very depth of your heart something divine, illumining, fulfilling and perfect, no harm. It takes time to acquire a free access to the inner world. But once you have free access to the inner world, you will see that it is flooded with light and delight.