Spiritual way of Life

[Guest guest]

The Message of the Day.

 

Dear friends and devotees,

 

Bhakti is eternal,

 

Share the wisdom from His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankarji,

 

FAITH

 

1. False securities do not allow your faith to grow. When you drop your

securities, your faith will grow. When you buffer your life with

securities, you keep faith away. It is faith that brings perfection in

you. Faith is the greatest security.

 

If you have material securities and do not have faith, you will still

reel in fear. You must let go of all possessions in the mind. False

security is keeping things where they do not belong. Having a job, a

house, friends †" these are all illusions of security.

 

Keep the house where it belongs, not in the mind. Keep the money in the

bank or in the pocket, not in the mind. Keep friends and family where

they belong, not in the mind.

 

The Divine is your only security. Faith is realizing that you always

get what you need. Faith is giving the Divine a chance to act. Your

body belongs to the world. Your spirit belongs to the Divine.

 

2. Have faith in sound and then move on to have faith in silence. Have

faith in sound when it is pleasant and have faith in silence when sound

is unpleasant.

 

People seem to have more faith is chatting and gossip rather than in

chanting and knowledge. When someone says something negative, you

immediately believe it and your mind becomes more disturbed. Believing

in an unpleasant sound creates turmoil in your mind. When this happens,

shift your faith to silences.

 

Have faith in sound like the chanting of mantras. Have faith in

knowledge. Have faith in silence.

 

3. Faith is the subject of the head; devotion is the subject of the

heart; meditation is the subject of the head and the heart, and connects

them both.

 

A mature intellect is devoted; a mature heart is full of knowledge; and

meditation matures your intellect as well as your heart. The intellect

puts more faith in matter and the heart puts more faith in the abstract.

 

It is nearly impossible for you to be in total lack of faith or total

lack of devotion. It is only a question of balance. All of your life

becomes a meditation. Whether you look at the trees or the flowers or

talk with people, you are in meditation.

 

4. In science knowledge comes first and then faith follows. In

spirituality faith comes first and then knowledge follows.

 

The knowledge that pesticides and chemical fertilizers are good for

plants came through science. Based on this knowledge, people had faith

in pesticides and fertilizers and they were used all over the world.

Then a different knowledge came and faith shifted to organic farming.

Knowledge brought faith, the knowledge changed, and then faith changed.

The knowledge and faith of science is of “happening.â€

 

In spirituality, faith is first and knowledge comes later. Just as in

Sudarshan Kriya, yoga and meditation -- first you have faith and then

knowledge follows. If you do pranayama faithfully, then you get the

knowledge of the prana -- life energy. If you do your meditation

faithfully, the knowledge of consciousness follows. Even an illiterate

person, through faith, attains deep knowledge.

 

Science regards life as matter and spirituality regards matter as life.

Science sees even human beings as matter, and spirituality considers

even the earth to be a mother; even rivers and mountains become living

beings.

 

5. If you think your faith in God does God a favor, you are mistaken.

Your faith in God or your guru does nothing for God or guru. Faith is

your wealth.

 

Faith gives you strength instantly. Faith brings you stability,

centeredness, calmness and love. Faith is your blessing. But here is a

paradox; if you lack faith, you have to pray for faith. Yet to pray,

you need faith.

 

People put their faith in the world, but the whole world is just

a soap bubble. People have faith in themselves, but they do not know who

they are. People think they have faith in God, but they do not really

know who God is.

 

There are three types of faith:

 

Faith in your self -- With out faith in yourself, you think,

“I cannot do this. This is not for me. I will never find

freedom in this life. "

Faith in the world †" You must have faith in the

world or you cannot move an inch. You deposit money in the bank with

the faith that it will be returned. If you doubt every thing, nothing

will work for you.

Faith in the Divine -- Have faith in the Divine and you will

evolve.

 

 

All these faiths are connected. You must have all three for

each to be strong. If you start doubting one, you will begin to doubt

everything.

 

Atheists seem to have faith in them and faith in the world but

not in God. Yet they do not actually have complete faith in themselves.

And their faith in the world cannot be constant because the world is

always changing. Lack of faith in God, the world or youself brings

fear. Faith makes you full -- faithful.

 

Having faith in the world without having faith in God does not

bring complete peace. If you have faith and love, you automatically

have peace and freedom. People who are extremely disturbed should only

have faith in God to help overcome their problems.

 

There is a difference between faith and confidence. Faith is

the beginning. Confidence is the result. Faith in you brings freedom.

Faith in the world brings you peace of mind. Faith in God evokes love

in you.

 

6. If you have no faith, there is no point in asking any

questions, because how can there be any faith in the answer you receive?

But if you have complete faith, then there are no questions.

 

If you have faith in God or in yourself or in your family and

friends, then questions cannot arise. When you know someone is taking

care of you, what is the need for questions? If you have taken the

Karnataka Express to Bangalore, there is no need to ask at every

station, “Where is the train going.†When someone is

taking care of your desires, why go to an astrologer?

 

7. Faith is the nature of an undivided mind, and undivided

consciousness. You have faith in God so do not try to know God. You

have faith in the Self so not try to know the Self. Do not try to make

into an object of knowing anything in which you have faith. The child

has faith in her mother, She does not try to know her mother; she simply

has faith in her mother. When you have faith, what is the need to know?

If you try to make love an object of knowing, it will disappear. God,

love, Self and sleep are all beyond knowing.

 

If you try to analyze, doubts arise and faith will disappear.

So do not attempt to know or analyze anything in which you want to have

faith. Analysis creates a distance; synthesis brings things together.

Faith is synthesis; knowing is analysis.

 

Faith and belief are different. Beliefs are diluted; faith is

stronger, more concrete. Our beliefs can change but faith is firm.

 

Consciousness cannot exist without faith. It is like the flames

of a candle. Faith is a relaxed, stable quality of consciousness.

Faith is the nature of consciousness.

 

To be continued. . . . .

 

With love and regards,

 

Sastry.