Faith

In my own spiritual journey, faith has not been a strong feature. I am primarily on the path of perception, the karma yogi, with some gyan or path of understanding to guide it. In other words, a process of experience and understanding. Each persons mix is a little different.

At a certain point, I came to a place where I saw that if I didn’t deal with some of the emotional baggage, I wouldn’t make much more progress. This was stepping into the heart zone, the devotional path.

It became clear we have to walk a little on all paths to make the journey. But love and devotion brought me face to face with one of the more enduring places of resistance in my retinue. A glaring gap between my perception and my acceptance of some aspects of that. My own faith in what I knew to be.

This is not something you can tackle with concepts, understanding, perception, tapas, or any other avenues of self. Faith is unexpectedly fundamental.

The first issue to shed was concepts about faith. Like surrender, I had come to see faith as blind faith and unthought belief. Indeed, dictionaries define faith as strong belief. But also complete confidence and loyalty.

But really, it wasn’t until I experienced faith deeply that I understood it.

In the past I’ve spoken about small self (ego) and large Self (oneness). I’ve also spoken about love in a similar way, where love is the emotion, whereas Love is the divine flow that expresses the world. Big difference.

In the same way, there is faith and Faith. Small faith is belief, usually founded in emotions. This is surprisingly similar to ego. Large Faith on the other hand is founded in Large Love. When divine love is deep and full enough, it dominates our experience of the world. In the same world as everyone else, we see heaven on earth. Right here, right now.

Deep enough and another barrier falls. The lower energy rushes into the heart and a rich deep Faith opens. Not a faith of belief but a deep confidence in the reality of love and divinity. A more fundamental reality than quantum physics. Heaven celebrates when you step through that door.

“Wide opened is the door of the Immortal to all who have ears to hear; let them send forth faith [saddha] to meet it.” — Buddha

Faith is said to not be blind as it sees with a clear heart. It frees one from resistance, the source of all suffering and ignorance. And it is the root of perpetual surrender, the nature of the flow of love itself. It is founded in Love. Without love, how can there be trust?

In the Bhagavad Gita (the Song of God), Krishna says it plainly.
Those who are possessed of
faith, who do not find fault and
always follow this teaching of Mine,
They too are liberated from action.
verse 3-31

[find fault = judgment = mind]

“It is also by the power of faith that both the common and uncommon siddhis arise.” — Rinpoche

“If ye have faith as a grain of mustard-seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove” — Jesus

Love is the cause of all things. Thus, confidence in love can move mountains.

The higher energy similarly rushes into the heart as Compassion. Like Faith, Compassion is founded on divine Love. Love is the rock of our ability to give and our confidence in what is.

Don’t take my word for it. Until it’s your experience, it’s only belief. But if you allow for the possibility, it makes the path smoother.
Davidya

Last Updated on April 8, 2014 by