Significance of Faith

We have learned from Shree Maharajji that a soul needs only three graces in order to attain divine love – the human form (read our blog titled “Why is Bhakti so Rare?” to understand the importance of the human form), a Guru (read our blog explaining a few verses of the Radha Govind Geet to understand the role of a Guru), and the desire and longing to be engaged in loving devotional service of God and Guru. The desire to be engaged in devotional service is a manifestation of our love toward them. This devotional service is performed with wealth (dhan), time (volunteer work or tan), and the mind (man).

In order to attain this status where we are constantly engaged in devotional service of God, we need to surrender to the Guru. This requires immense love and complete faith in the Guru. Shree Maharajji further explained that knowledge leads to faith, faith leads to love, and love leads to surrender.

Having previously discussed the importance of the human form and the role of a Guru, we now turn our attention to the critical aspect of the third grace of loving devotional service which is faith. What exactly is faith and why is it important? Faith or Śhraddhā is an internal confidence to move forward or take action in daily life even when we don’t necessarily understand the complete picture of what’s going on. The British poet, Alfred Tennyson said, “By faith alone, embrace believing, where we cannot prove.” It is absolutely pivotal on this journey of surrender for if faith is lost, all is lost. Once we have the human form and a Guru, it is faith alone that carries us forward.

In verse 18.71 of the Bhagavad Gita, Shree Krishna explains to Arjun that “even those who only listen to this knowledge with faith and without envy will be liberated from sins and attain the auspicious abodes where the pious dwell.”

In his explanation of this verse about faith, Swamiji lists the following story related to one of the four main disciples of Jagadguru Shankaracharya called Sananda. Sananda was illiterate and could not comprehend his Guru’s teaching as the other disciples could. But when Shankaracharya delivered the discourse, he would listen with rapt attention and great faith. One day, he was washing his Guru’s clothes on the other side of the river. It became time for the class, and the other disciples requested, “Guruji, please begin the class.” Shankaracharya replied, “Let us wait; Sananda is not here.” “But Guruji, he cannot understand anything,” the disciples urged. “That is true; still, he listens with great faith and so I do not wish to disappoint him,” said Shankaracharya.

Then, to show the power of faith, Shankaracharya called out, “Sananda! Please come here.” On hearing his Guru’s words, Sananda did not hesitate. He ran on water. The story goes that wherever he placed his feet, lotus flowers sprang up to support him. He crossed over to the other bank and offered obeisance to his Guru. At that time, a stuti (verses in praise) of the Guru emanated from his mouth in sophisticated Sanskrit. The other disciples were amazed to hear this. Since, lotus flowers had bloomed under his feet, his name became “Padmapada,” meaning “the one with lotus flowers under the feet.”

In verse 17.3, Shree Krishna states that “the faith of all humans conforms to the nature of their mind. All people possess faith, and whatever the nature of their faith, that is verily what they are.” This explains why some of us have faith in a higher power, or in God, or Radha Krishna, while others amongst us have faith in material science. At work, we have faith in our innate ability to complete the task at hand, after all, we are getting paid to do it. At home, we have faith that our spouse, children, or parents will come to our rescue as and when needed.

Of those who have complete faith in material science, Swamiji, in his explanation of verse 17.2, quotes Prof. Charles H Townes, a renowned Nobel Physics Laureate. “Science itself requires faith. We don’t know if our logic is correct. I don’t know if you are there. You don’t know if I am here. We may just be imagining all this. I have a faith that the world is what it seems like, and thus I believe you are there. I can’t prove it from any fundamental point of view… Yet I have to accept a certain framework in which to operate. The idea that ‘religion is faith’ and ‘science is knowledge,’ I think, is quite wrong. We scientists believe in the existence of the external world and the validity of our own logic. We feel quite comfortable about it. Nevertheless these are acts of faith. We can’t prove them.”

The most frequently used example by Shree Maharajji was that of giving cash to the bank teller for deposit. Why is it that we do not ask the teller for the receipt before we hand over the cash? Because we have faith that the teller will give us the receipt as due based on the rules and regulations of the bank and the laws of the country. In other words, if the teller does not give us the receipt, we have a recourse – there is a process whereby we can file our complaint and trust that appropriate action will be taken resulting in justice for us i.e. we will be given the receipt due to us. However, further examination reveals that this trust itself requires faith in the proper execution of the rules of the bank and laws of the country.

If we all harbor such a deep level of faith in our inherent talent and ability, in modern day science, and in the laws of a country, why is that our faith in God and Guru is lacking? Is it because we have only have faith in what our eyes see, so if we cannot see God, we do not have faith in him? But we can see the Guru, and God and Guru are considered one, so why is the faith lacking? Is it because we do not understand the workings of God and Guru? If they are constantly working for our betterment and in our best interests, why is that insufficient? Is it because we do not understand the laws by which God metes out justice? But that’s exactly what the Guru teaches us – justice is based on our actions or karmas of prior lifetimes. Since we have the freedom to think and act, we are in control of our karmas in this lifetime, so we should take the opportunity to maximize the positive deeds in this lifetime. Is it because they make us question our faith in our sense of self that we are not as good, as beautiful, as selfless, as thoughtful or sensitive of others, as truthful, as honest, as smart, etc. as we would like to believe we are? So what? If God’s justice is based on our karmas, then how or why is this relevant? Is it because we are not perfect and are forced to deal with our shortcomings and insecurities? So what? Doing so, only makes us better, stronger individuals.

Khalil Gibran, the famous poet had said: “Doubt is a pain too lonely to know that faith is his twin brother.” One interpretation of this statement is to believe that faith and doubt are two sides of the same coin. If we flip the coin, i.e. change our thoughts or attitude, we find that doubt is transformed to faith. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu explained it as: śhraddhā śhabde viśwāsa kahe sudṛiḍha niśhchaya (Chaitanya Charitāmṛit, Madhya Leela, 2.62)[v19] “The word Śhraddhā means strong faith in God and Guru, even though we may not comprehend their message at present.”

At some point in this journey, we must get past seeking the knowledge at every turn and accept all actions as the will of God. This requires immense faith from the core of our beings and propels us to the greatest surrender to Guru and God. As Swamiji explained to an audience at Stanford University, “Decide with the intellect, this is it. This decision of the intellect is very important. This faith is a very big word. Our lives are forged by the faith we keep. We don’t realize it… So without realizing it, our faith is what forges our destiny and the direction of our life. If we can develop faith on these eternal principles, immediately our life will start shining in the proper direction.”