One of the most important qualifications for the aspirant is faith. There are three kinds of faith: faith in oneself, faith in a Perfect Master, and faith in life. Faith is so indispensable to life that unless it is present in some degree, life itself would be impossible. It is because of faith that cooperative and social life becomes possible. It is faith in each other that facilitates a free give-and-take of love, a free sharing of work and its results. When life is burdened with unjustified fear of one another, it becomes cramped and restricted.
Faith and its counterpart:
Children have a natural faith in their elders. They instinctively look to them for protection and help without requiring any letters of introduction. This quality of trusting others persists in later life unless a person is rudely shocked by others who, through self-interest, deceive and exploit him. So, though faith is natural to man, it grows and flourishes in a society where people are reliable, honest, and worthy of faith; and it fades in a hostile environment. Faith in one another becomes complete and steady when it finds its counterpart in those qualities that invite and confirm faith. Being worthy of the faith others place in one and having faith in others are two complementary virtues. They are the conditions for an unhampered flow and development of individual and collective life.
-Discourses 7th Ed. p365