The world today witnesses the extermination dance by nature as humanity braces yet another wave of the novel coronavirus. Nations and individuals have to necessarily develop unflinching faith in order to survive and not capitulate.
This faith could be in path breaking developments in the field of science, age old religiosity, new fangled spirituality or merely dive deep within ourselves and the robustness of our minds for we have no other recourse to seek redemption from this virulent microorganism. The word faith finds its etymological origin in the Latin fides and in Old French fides. It is essentially the element or degree of confidence or trust in an individual, persons, things or concepts.
Aeons ago Buddha, the enlightened one proceeded to Nalanda along with monks where he stayed in a mango grove. Meanwhile his disciple Sariputta came to the place where the Blessed One was meditating and offered his salutations and uttered, “Lord! I have unflinching faith in your pristine wisdom.” Buddha smiled and asked Sariputta why he thought so.
“Lord! I do not have the knowledge of Buddha but only know the lineage of the faith.” It is akin to a powerful King who develops a border city, strong in its foundations, strong in its ramparts with only a single gate where a skilful watchman is deployed which permits only friends and no strangers or foes. The essence of the narrative is that human mind can filter and sift antipathetic and efficacious thoughts through the screen of faith.
A child who is in the womb of his or her mother finds itself in a safe sanctuary. As stock individuals we are absolutely unaware as to what the baby referred to as an embryo from conception until the eighth week of its development is thinking.
After the eighth week, this baby is termed as foetus until it arrives on planet earth. Once the umbilical cord is snapped and the baby arrives in the world it caterwauls looking perilously for the mother. In a period of nine months the child develops extraordinary faith in its benefactor.
Those who are endowed with a religious bent of mind are people who often construct faith as a confidence building measure on a perceived degree of warrant or scaffolding to which they are attached.
There are others who are atheists or agnostics who tend to debunk the concept of faith as voodoo or irrational and believe in the tenets of science and rationality. However, their logical mind too needs to dive deep into the faith of logic or scientific galley.
Humans can be broadly classified as believers, non-believers or agnostics. But they all have to necessarily trust in some kind of philosophy which acts as a lighthouse to chaperone their lives.
Faith of Hanuman in Lord Rama
Sundara Kanda by Maharishi Valmiki extols the virtues of faith with tenacity. It is the indisputable faith of wind God Hanuman in Lord Rama to upend the pyramid by scaling the summit. Hanuman assumes a gargantuan form and storms into Lanka where he discovers Goddess Sita and upon displaying the signet ring given by Lord Rama to a distraught Sita he plants the seed of faith in the desolate woman.
He thereafter vanquishes a platoon of the ten headed hydra monsterin Ravana and chars the kingdom. This singular moment of triumph was not laced with arrogance, but of his commitment and faith towards Lord Rama and signaling that Goddess Sita is returned to the scion of Ayodhya.
Faith in a Guru
Faith in a Guru is clothed in magic. Such a mind gets metamorphosed in achieving something extraordinary. Only through the grace of the Guru a person becomes truly enlightened and can separate chaff from grain.
Once upon a time, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar was providing darshan to a congregation. People were coming and bowing down, seeking blessings. Gurudev remained silent most of the time and when somebody would come and share their troubles, looking for a response, he would say only one thing – “You are very lucky”.
One person came to him and said, “I failed in my exam.” Guruji uttered, “Well, you are very lucky.” Another came and said, “My wife has left me.” “You are very lucky.” No matter what problems people...
The followers have to necessarily develop faith in the technique and the path to experience the ambrosia of quintessential truth. Gurudev has provided to the entire world the unique breathing technique of Sudarshan Kriya and powerful meditations which transfigures antipathetic thoughts into efficacious ones.
“Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment. If anything is worth doing, do it with all your heart. On life’s journey faith is nourishment, virtuous deeds are a shelter, wisdom is the light by day and right mindfulness is the protection by night,” said the prescient Buddha.
