Miscellaneous - Religion   

Realm of faith

CHENNAI : Faith is indispensable for spiritual progress. In the 9th chapter of the Bhagavad Gita, Lord Krishna makes this very clear when He states that those who have no faith in the sacred and sovereign knowledge He imparts to Arjuna follow the cycle of birth and death without attaining Him while those who have faith in His teaching get freed from the miseries of worldly existence.

Though the human intellect is a valuable tool in one's spiritual quest, its usefulness is availed only up to a certain point, since the profound nature of spiritual matters can be realised only through absolute faith, pointed out Swami Mitrananda in a lecture.

Lord Krishna asserts His Supreme Reality when He says, "This entire universe is pervaded by Me, the unmanifest Brahman. All beings depend on (or remain in) Me but I do not depend on them." Thus, for people in general, the Supreme Being is not visible, though in reality everything exists because of Him. He is the cause of all existence, but transcends it in all aspects.

The divine paradox is that though He is the sustainer and creator of all beings, He does not remain in them. A similar situation governs human life as well. The understanding that one's thoughts or emotions are present in one's self though the self is not attached to or associated with them leads to self-knowledge and self-realisation.

Only then, the Self is able to distance itself from the body mind complex. Then emotions such as anger or desire or even one's thoughts are perceived as temporary and passing states or experiences and seen as not belonging to the Self.

Faith is the stage when one's intellect reinforces one's beliefs and understanding with clarity. Faith springs from conviction that transcends the limits of intellectual knowing.

Spiritual evolution begins with the realisation of the ephemeral nature of the world and the determination to search for means to get extricated from the wheel of Samsara.

Human birth offers a wonderful opportunity to strive for liberation. To understand this is the vital factor. This is the access code to the secret of life.

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