Anandhi Jayashankar, Saturday, April 30, 2016 10:12 pm

What faith can do!!

The path of a spiritual seeker is always filled with lots of tests. At various points in the journey a spiritual seeker is constantly made to prove his mettle. The path is always adventurous and filled with a lot of incidents that force us to introspect and analyze ourselves.

Over a period of time things seem to move very effectively. We are fooled into thinking that we are progressing very well. This is just a farce. The minute we become complacent we are back to square one. It takes supreme effort to see through this farce and pick ourselves again and start moving.

At this stage we are sometimes totally dejected. It is like taking a few steps on an escalator moving downwards. We keep moving up and the escalator keeps moving down. How do we progress?

Faith is the key at this point. Faith that there is light at the end of the tunnel! Neither knowledge nor a Guru’s helping hand can do the magic here. It is ‘Shraddha’ or ‘Faith’ on the path taken. Faith that you are on the right track and that you will eventually reach the goal. Faith that even though things look dismal now, it is for the better.

This ‘Faith’ is not blind though!! This ‘Faith’ is backed by knowledge of the path and the goal. It is through study and reflection that this ‘Faith’ can be sustained.

No amount of external assuages can help. The seeker has to develop this ‘Shraddha’, stand on his own and keep moving. It is an internal process to be practiced continuously.

Any amount of expertise in ‘Vedanta’ does not help. It is sheer introspection, study and reflection that helps the seeker maintain focus and ‘Faith’ on the path!

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