SIGNIFICANCE OF FAITH

                                                                 

Is it possible for man to exist without faith? It is absolutely impossible. He has to repose his faith in one thing or other. Otherwise his life will be miserable. It is faith that reassures and gives him hope for the future. Lack of faith is the source of many troubles. In a family the wife should have faith in her husband and his activities. If she starts doubting his movements and actions discord sets in and increases day by day. Similarly the husband should have faith in his wife's fidelity and commitment to her family and children. Children should have total faith in their parents and understand that they are their well wishers. They should remember that at no time their parents would do anything against their welfare. Mutual trust is the foundation for any family. Apart from the faith or trust among the members in the family, one is expected to have faith in God. It is deplorable that many in this modern world do not believe in God. They fail to recognize that there is a superior power which is the cause of creation, sustenance and destruction. Man himself is the amazing creation of God and is the crown of all living beings. Entire Nature, mountains, forests, rivers, animals, insects and everything indicate the glory of the creation of God! Should we be ignorant of this knowledge and have no faith in the Providence?

“ Man suffers through lack of faith in God.” asserts Bhagawan Sri RamaKrishna. In his opinion the bony sort of fellows, the hollow eyed, the squint eyed cannot have faith easily. To acquire spiritual and self illumination firm faith  in a single  object is enough. But to teach others a thorough knowledge of scriptures and sciences is essential. According to Sri RamaKrishna, Goddess Parvati wanted know the root of ' the eternal, everlasting, all embracing Bliss'. Pat came the reply from  Maheswara, “ The root is faith.” It is immaterial whether one belongs to  a particular creed, caste or color. He should truly be a follower of devotional practices of his creed with faith. As faith in God increases  knowledge relating to God also advances.  Lack of faith stunts one's knowledge. Faith of an individual should be implicit and childlike. The child believes in the words of the mother with implicit faith! It believes the person who is pointed as its father, brother or sister. It is this chilldlike faith that brings man nearer to God. On an occasion, Krishna, pointing to the sky, said to Arjuna, “ Behold! What a nice flight of pigeons there!” The Pandava warrior looked up and said that it was really a beautiful flight of pigeons. Within moments Krishna said to Arjuna that they were not pigeons in flight! Arjuna was not surprised at all. He immediately said that they were not pigeons in flight! Arjuna had such an implicit faith in Krishna that whatever He said should be the exact truth!

A person wanted to cross a river and approached a sage. The sage gave him an amulet and said that it will carry him across. The man took it into his hands and started walking on water. But before he crossed half way he was curious to know what the amulet contained. Opening the amulet, to his surprise,  he found in it a piece of paper on which was written the sacred name of Lord Rama! He was shocked to see this and felt that it was just a piece of paper! Scepticism set in and at that very moment the man who was walking on water sank down! Faith in the name of the Lord works wonders! Faith is life but lack of it is death! An ardent disciple of a guru who had infinite faith in his power walked over a river by simply chanting the name of his Guru. Observing this the guru wondered at the efficacy of his name an its effect on water. He considered himself to be super human and started walking on water uttering “ I”, “I”. But at that very moment he sank down and was drowned as he did not know swimming! Vanity and egoism destroys man! It is through his imperturbable faith in the name of Rama that Hanuman was able to cross the ocean!!

A king had done the heinous crime of killing a Brahmin. He wanted to free himself from the sin and went to the ashram of a rishi. He wanted to know what penance has to be performed to become pure. But when he went to the ashram the sage was absent. His son was present and he heard the problem of the king and his desire to get absolved from his sinful act. The hermit's son suggested that the king should repeat the Name of Lord Rama thrice so that the sin of killing the Brahmin shall vanish! Meanwhile the sage returned to his ashram and was furious to know what had happened. He admonished his son for advising the king to repeat the sacred Name of Rama thrice. He was a fool to prescribe that remedy. Innumerable heinous crimes and sins are obliterated totally by uttering the Name of Lord Rama but once! In his anger, the sage objected to his lack of faith and cursed his son to become an outcaste! It is believed that later the sage's son became Guha the boatman in the Ramayana!  The faithful is strong in his heart and is unperturbed at all trials and tribulations. But the weak in faith is shaken by the most trifling cause!

“ Yad bhavam tad bhavathi” say the Sastras! One becomes as one thinks!  By constant thinking of the Lord with intense faith one shall surely become full of bliss! Let us not think of sin and the sufferings that we have faced in life. Let us repeat the Name of the Lord and say that we have “done things that we ought not to have done and left undone things that we ought to have done”. Praying with intense faith shall purge all our sins! If you think with full conviction that there is no illness surely there shall be no illness at all!  It is your faith in yourself and God that sustains you in the world!