It is impossible for humanity to exist without Faith!
Faith is the bedrock over which our lives are built. Faith or belief in
persons and things allows us to carry on our earthly existence. Faith
in one's ambitions,ideals,work or religion motivates man to achieve his
goals. The husband has faith in his spouse and the wife has implicit
faith in her husband. The child has faith in the mother who tells him
who his father, brother, and sisters are.The child does not question the
mother but believes in her words The employer has faith in his
employees and they too have faith in their employer. The devotee or
bhakta has faith in his religion,and chosen God. He believes that God
will surely come to his rescue in times of need and even grant him
emancipation if he is stesdfast in his devotion and prayer. In short,the whole universe has faith as an integral constituent of life.
Can we distinguish between people who have faith and those who do not have? According to Sri Ramakrishna the bony sort of people, the hollow eyed, and the squint eyed find it difficult to have faith. Innumerable creeds among the Hindus make it difficult for them to choose their faith. It is said that once Goddess Parvati asked Lord Siva to tell her the best way to eternal Bliss. Lord Siva replied that FIRM FAITH in God is the way to everlasting and all embracing Bliss! Man's sufferings are due to his lack of faith in God. It is faith that increases knowledge relating to God. Little faith results in little knowledge.He has everything who has faith. One who has no faith has nothing. Namasmarana or repetition of the name of God with firm faith and discrimination between the real and the unreal leads to realization of God!
What is childlike faith? It is implicit unquestioning belief in the words of the Guru or in God! The child believes in whatever the mother says and obeys her instructions. God loves that childlike,simple and unquestioning faith in man. Arjuna and Krishna were going in a chariot once. Krishna pointed to a beautiful flight of pgeons in the sky. Arjuna said that it was really beautiful! The next moment the Lord said that they were not pigeons at all! Arjuna replied that they were surely not pigeons! Is Arjuna trying to please Krishna? No. Arjuna had so much faith in Krishna that whatever the Lord said would be true! If Krishna said they are pigeons, they must be so! If he says they are not pigeons they cannot be pigeons for He is the eternal Lord!
There is the story of a manwho was given an amulet by a sage to cross a river. With faith in the amulet , he started and walked half across the river when a doubt pestered him! He wanted to know the contents of the amulet! On opening it he saw just a piece of paper with the name RAMA written on it.He was disappointed that it was after all the secret of the amulet. The moment he felt the doubt, he sank into the water and was drowned! Faith in the name of the Lord works wonders! The lives of eminent Azwars and Nayanmars are classical examples of unshakable faith in the Lord! Faith is life and want of faith is death! A disciple who had implicit faith in the words of his Guru walked across a river chanting his name! Seeing this, the Guru was puffed up with pride,vanity and egotism at the greatness and efficacy of his name! He tried to walk on the river chanting " I " and " I " but was drowned! Faith achieves miracles while vanity, egotism and pride deatroys man! It is his firm and imperturbable faith in the name of RAMA that enabled Hanuman to cross the ocean and find out Sita! Repetition of Lord's name is the panacea for all the ills of individuals and society! Repeating the Lord's name once can destroy all sins in previous births!
spiritual progress cannot be attained without this firm and unalloyed child like faith in God! Child devotees like Dhruva, Prahlada and Gajendra in in the Bhagavatha purana are the guiding spirits that beckon to us to have firm faith in the Lord irrespective of all the toils and turmois of samsara! Let us emulate those spiritual stars and cultivate firm faith in Divinity and be blessed!
Can we distinguish between people who have faith and those who do not have? According to Sri Ramakrishna the bony sort of people, the hollow eyed, and the squint eyed find it difficult to have faith. Innumerable creeds among the Hindus make it difficult for them to choose their faith. It is said that once Goddess Parvati asked Lord Siva to tell her the best way to eternal Bliss. Lord Siva replied that FIRM FAITH in God is the way to everlasting and all embracing Bliss! Man's sufferings are due to his lack of faith in God. It is faith that increases knowledge relating to God. Little faith results in little knowledge.He has everything who has faith. One who has no faith has nothing. Namasmarana or repetition of the name of God with firm faith and discrimination between the real and the unreal leads to realization of God!
What is childlike faith? It is implicit unquestioning belief in the words of the Guru or in God! The child believes in whatever the mother says and obeys her instructions. God loves that childlike,simple and unquestioning faith in man. Arjuna and Krishna were going in a chariot once. Krishna pointed to a beautiful flight of pgeons in the sky. Arjuna said that it was really beautiful! The next moment the Lord said that they were not pigeons at all! Arjuna replied that they were surely not pigeons! Is Arjuna trying to please Krishna? No. Arjuna had so much faith in Krishna that whatever the Lord said would be true! If Krishna said they are pigeons, they must be so! If he says they are not pigeons they cannot be pigeons for He is the eternal Lord!
There is the story of a manwho was given an amulet by a sage to cross a river. With faith in the amulet , he started and walked half across the river when a doubt pestered him! He wanted to know the contents of the amulet! On opening it he saw just a piece of paper with the name RAMA written on it.He was disappointed that it was after all the secret of the amulet. The moment he felt the doubt, he sank into the water and was drowned! Faith in the name of the Lord works wonders! The lives of eminent Azwars and Nayanmars are classical examples of unshakable faith in the Lord! Faith is life and want of faith is death! A disciple who had implicit faith in the words of his Guru walked across a river chanting his name! Seeing this, the Guru was puffed up with pride,vanity and egotism at the greatness and efficacy of his name! He tried to walk on the river chanting " I " and " I " but was drowned! Faith achieves miracles while vanity, egotism and pride deatroys man! It is his firm and imperturbable faith in the name of RAMA that enabled Hanuman to cross the ocean and find out Sita! Repetition of Lord's name is the panacea for all the ills of individuals and society! Repeating the Lord's name once can destroy all sins in previous births!
spiritual progress cannot be attained without this firm and unalloyed child like faith in God! Child devotees like Dhruva, Prahlada and Gajendra in in the Bhagavatha purana are the guiding spirits that beckon to us to have firm faith in the Lord irrespective of all the toils and turmois of samsara! Let us emulate those spiritual stars and cultivate firm faith in Divinity and be blessed!
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