FAITH

To a disciple who criticised some people s faith as blind faith , the Master remarked: " Well, can you explain to me what you mean by ' blind faith' ? Is not faith wholly ' blind ? What then are its eyes ? Say either ' faith or knowledge'. Or else, what is this queer notion that faith in some instances is ' blind ' and in others is with eyes ?

Man suffers through lack of faith in God.

There are physiological signs indicating who will be endowed with faith and who not. The bony sort of fellows, the hollow-eyed, the squint-eyed—all these types cannot have faith easily.

To kill another, sword and shield are needed, whilst to kill oneself even a pin will do. So to teach others one must study many scriptures and sciences, while to acquire spiritual illumination for oneself, firm faith in a single motto will suffice.

There are various sects and creeds among the Hindus. Which of them should we adopt ? Parvati once asked Mahadeva, O Lord, what is the root of the eternal, everlasting, all-embracing Bliss ? To her Mahadeva replied, M The root is faith. So the peculiarities of creeds and sects matter little or nothing. Let every one take to devotional practices and perform the duties of his own creed with faith.

Knowledge relating to God keeps pace with faith. Where there is little faith, it is idle to look for much Knowledge. The cow which is over-nice in matters of eating is not liberal in its supply of milk. But the cow which welcomes all kinds of food—herbs, leaves, grass, husks, straw and the rest—and eats them up with great appetite, gives an abundant supply. Her milk comes down from the udder into the pail in torrents.

He who has faith has all, and he who lacks it lacks all.

If you are keen on realising God, repeat His name' with firm faith, and try to discriminate the Real from the unreal.

Unless one becomes childlike in faith, it is diffi cult to realise God. If the mother says to the child, " He is your brother,' the child fully believes that the person referred to is really its brother. If the mother says, " Don t go there, there is a bogy, the child is indeed convinced that there is a bogy. God is moved to pity when He sees in a man that kind of childlike faith. None can attain God with the calculating nature of the worldly minded.

One day, Sri Krishna, while going in a chariot along with Arjuna, looked up to the sky and said, " Behold! What a nice flight of pigeons there!" Arjuna at once turned his eyes in that direction and exclaimed, " Really, friend, very beautiful pigeons indeed!" But the very next moment Sri Krishna looked again and said, " No, friend, they are not pigeons, it seems. Arjuna, too, saw again and said, ' True, they are not pigeons. Now try to understand the meaning of this. A great adherent of truth that Arjuna was, he did not possibly assent to whatever Sri Krishna said, simply for flattering him. But he had such an unflinching faith in Sri Krishna that he perceived at once actually whatever Sri Krishna said.

Boil your sugar well over a burning fire. As long as there is dirt or impurity in it, the sweet infusion will smoke and simmer. But when all the impurity and scum are cast out, there is neither smoke nor sound; only the delicious crystalline syrup heaves in its unmixed worth. Then whether liquid or solid, it becomes the delight of men and gods. Such is the character of the man of faith.

A man wanted to cross a river. A sage gave him an amulet and said, "This will carry you across." The man, taking it in his hand, began to walk over the water. Before he had gone half the way, he was seized with curiosity, and opened the amulet to see what was in it. Therein he found, written on a piece of paper, the sacred name of Rama, the Lord. At this the man said depreciatingly, " Is this the whole secret? No sooner did this scepticism enter his mind than he sank down. It is faith in the name' of the Lord that works wonders; for faith is life and want of faith is death.

A disciple who had firm faith in the infinite power of his Guru walked over a river by simply uttering his name. Seeing this, the Guru thought, " Well, is there such a power in my mere name ? Then how much great and powerful must I be!" The next day, the Guru also tried to walk over the river uttering ' I , ' l\ ' I , but no sooner did he step into the water than he sank down and was soon drowned; for the poor man did not know how to swim even. Faith can achieve miracles while vanity or egotism brings about the destruction of man.

Sri Ramachandra, who was God incarnate, had to bridge the ocean, before he could cross over to Lanka (Ceylon). But Hanuman, his faithful monkey devotee and servant, crossed the ocean at one leap, because of his firm faith in Rama. Here the servant achieved more than the master, simply through faith.

A king guilty of the heinous sin of killing a Brahmin went to the hermitage of a Rishi to learn what penance he must perform in order to be purified. The Rishi was absent, but his son was in the hermitage. Hearing the case of the king, he said, ' Repeat the name' of God (Rama) three times, and your sin will be expiated." When the Rishi came back and heard of the penance prescribed by his son, he remarked indignantly, "Sins committed in myriads of births are purged immediately by uttering the name of the Almighty but once. How weak must be your faith, O fool, since you have ordered the holy ' name' to be repeated thrice ? For this weakness of your faith, you shall become an outcaste." And the son became Guhaka of the Ramayana.

The stone may remain in water for numberless years ; yet the water will never penetrate into it. But clay is soon soaked into mud by the contact of water. So the strong heart of the faithful does not despair in the midst of trials and persecutions, but the man of weak faith is shaken even by the most trifling cause.

One becomes as one thinks. They say that by •constantly thinking of a particular kind of insect (Bhra-marakita), a cockroach is transformed into that insect. Similarly he who constantly thinks of the Bliss Absolute, himself becomes full of bliss.

Why talk of sin and hell-fire all the days of your life ? Chant the ' name' of God. Do say but once, " I have, O Lord, done things that 1 ought not to have done, and I have left undone things that I ought to have done. O Lord, forgive me!" Saying this, have faith in Him, and you will be purged of all sins.

The faith-healers of India order their patients to-repeat with full conviction the words, ' There is no illness at all." The patients repeat them, and this mental suggestion helps to drive off the disease. So if you think yourself to be morally weak, you will actually become so in a short time. Know and believe that you are of immense power, and then power will come to you at last.

He who thinks that he is a Jiva, verily remains as a Jiva; but he who considers himself to be God, verily becomes a God. As one thinks, so does one become.