Does this look familiar ? =)

[Guest guest]

Greetings

 

It occurs to me, we really haven't discussed one thing here in our

wide, varied, and enjoyable discussions - the loss of faith.

 

Now this discussion may be in itself oxymoronic, considering the fact that

both bhakti and prapatti require mahaviswasa - a very great faith, and those

are the two names for this mailing list. So if you have never been troubled

by this, and don't want to be, hit 'n' now =)

 

Personally, and by proxy through people I know and love, I have experienced

loss of faith. I have feet of clay, it happens. It is worse when someone close

to you goes through this loss of faith, and you have nothing to say to them.

I am not prepared to mouth platitudes when the magnitude of the problem is

this fundamental. Somehow, quoting " sarva DHarmaan parityajya / mAm ekam

sharaNam vraja " does not quite cut it. Who said it first had a heck of a lot

more going for him than i ever will =)

 

How does one deal with this.. I ask for answers on a very real basis. I am

willing to discuss this at great length, and I promise to be short with anyone

who comes up with stock formulas =) - don't say I didn't warn you =)

 

"Transplanted" as I am, I will not deny that faith has been one of the

underpinnings that kept me connected, to myself and to my roots. However,

it is sorely tested every now and then, not by things like " why do good

things happen to bad people or vice versa" but by a fundamental nihilism.

This would not, however, interfere with my immersing myself in something

of beauty that had a relationship to faith, however - if that's a paradox, so

be it.

 

Anyway, I think that is enough of a seed for discussion. Any volunteers to

"boldly go where no one has gone before " ?

 

- Sundar

[Guest guest]

>Greetings

>I am not prepared to mouth platitudes when the magnitude of the problem is

>this fundamental. Somehow, quoting " sarva DHarmaan parityajya / mAm ekam

>sharaNam vraja " does not quite cut it. Who said it first had a heck of a lot

>more going for him than i ever will =)

>

 

I have found that it is better not to worry about the loss of faith.

 

Intense faith and an intense longing for a vision of Sri Rama may be

experienced in the presence of a great teacher who skillfully expounds the

Ramayana. However, such intense bhakti is usually short-lived and cannot

survive the pressures of day-to-day life.

 

Alternately, a callous attitude may develop in day to day life, with an

attitude such as - God is in his heaven, but is of no immediate use to me

TODAY, HERE AND NOW! Such callousness can persist for several months, and

will probably culminate in an irritable restlessness that cannot be easily

curbed.

 

I find it useful to try and remember that the restlessness is caused by a

lack of spiritual effort. It is not easy to then re-energize faith

instantaneously. I try to re-read the biographies of great saints that have

previously impressed me. Or simply study the meaning, grammar and

prose-order of great shlokas from the Gita. Over a period of a few months, a

relative calm begins to appear -- the beginning of a resurgence of faith.

 

Another note... I find that a "fall" almost always follows a period of

intense sadhana? Surprising eh?

 

Krish Chilukuri