Really, can we trust God?
A group of US citizens challenged the country’s slogan — “In God, we trust”.
I was surprised to learn that this is printed on its currencies since 1984. It is unarguably a very rational question. If we ask anybody that —
“This is the slogan of your state. What do you know about God?”.
Nobody can reply. They will say,
“It is something like this, something like that.”
Some vague idea! Nobody knows. Then where is the question of trust? Therefore it has become everything humbug.
However, if we examine the lives of people who have been able to garner trust, it is not very uncommon to see several years of deep study and writing.
Srila Prabhupada, for example, was able to convince the hedonistic youth as well as the saner section of the society to chant Hare Krishna and to accept the form of Krishna as the topmost expression of Godhead. By his own example, he showed that —
Rigorous studying and practicing the principles are very much required.
People today with no iota of knowledge on theological subjects decry the endorsement of religion as a violation of their “sincere religious belief” that
There is no God!
In this, they question not the establishment of a certain practice but the very fiber of existence and purpose.
Firm faith is not won in a day.
I remember studying the Bhagavad Gita written by Srila Prabhupada and feeling the strengthening of my conviction.
Yes, Krishna is God, and yes, the soul transmigrates from one body to another.
Yes, we are eternally and constitutionally Krishna’s servants.
Then one day I read that Krishna had 16,108 wives!
That little bit of information threatened to upset my faith.
We sometimes believe only a percentage of what we read in scripture, and when we are asked to accept something outside our belief system, it may threaten our whole practice.
Faith & Knowledge
I think it is important for us to realize that actively developing faith is not inferior to cultivating knowledge. That is, having faith is not opposed to being reasonable, and it is not sentimental. Faith is a necessary part even of material life.
On a morning walk with some devotees, Srila Prabhupada showed this to be true:
Disciple: So knowledge is not necessary for faith, but faith is necessary for knowledge.
Srila Prabhupada: Yes. Therefore a devotee, without any knowledge he becomes a devotee. That faith, only faith. The devotee advances. Later on, they become automatically full of knowledge because they have strong faith.
Earlier on this walk, a devotee had asked Prabhupada, “How does one particular person come to manifest faith and others do not?”
Prabhupada replied that it is because of purity.
Another devotee volunteered, “Oh, you mean from past lives and pious activities?”
Prabhupada said that if we have purity, we acquire more faith and knowledge. We must begin, however, with faith.
“Because he is faithful, therefore I help him to get knowledge.”
Disciple: Blind faith is the belief that…
Srila Prabhupada: Blind faith — that I have already explained. Why do you forget? He shows me, “Prabhupada, come this way.” So, I have no faith. Why shall I go? If I have no faith, then I have to stop here, and my movement is finished. You have to keep faith blindly. The man is giving direction. If he’s perfect, your faith will make you advanced. But if you go to a rascal cheater, if you have blind faith then you are lost. The child has no knowledge, but he has faith in his parents, and he believes what his parents say. Then he’s making progress.Just like you go to a barber shop, and you put your neck like this and he is with the razor. So unless you have faith, “No, he’s a good man, he will not cut my throat,” how can you do so? Faith is the beginning. If you say, “No, I have no faith in you,” then you cannot be cleansed.
Disciple: Sometimes a barber looks like he could cut your throat.
Srila Prabhupada: He could do that, but you must have faith. Otherwise, no shaving. Suppose you are going to some unknown place. Now we are purchasing, paying $2,000 for a ticket, but where is the guarantee that you will go there? You are paying money first, but there’s no guarantee that you will go there. How do you get the ticket, and how do you get on the plane without faith? Without faith you cannot move an inch. It must be there.We say, “No, this ticket is issued by Pan American. They are a good company. So many people are going. I will go also.” That’s all, faith. You never went there, neither you know whether it will be possible to go there. You have to purchase the ticket. If you say, “First of all let me go there, then I shall pay,” they will say, “Get out! First of all pay. Then you come on.”Disciple: When I was first coming to this movement, Srila Prabhupada, I opened Bhagavad- gita and I said, “I don’t understand this.” I began to clean the floor, wash the dishes, cut the vegetables.Srila Prabhupada: Yes, very good. Sevonmukhe hi jihvadau. By service only. You can understand God simply by service. There is no other way, and the faith begins from the tongue.
We needn’t be intimidated by someone saying that faith is only for religionists. Everyone lives in this world on faith; it’s only a matter of where one’s faith is placed.
The difficulty for aspiring devotees is that so much of the depths of spiritual life are beyond any material experience we may have, and usually beyond our spiritual experience.
What else can we do but accept the truths on faith?
Our lack of faith, however, tends to stem from our lack of experience. For example,
We may be willing to say that we have faith in the scriptures!
But at the same time —
We may think that scriptural statements describe extremely ideal conditions we will never attain. That shows a lack of faith in ourselves and in the scriptural statements that declare that we can attain such states.
In the Gospel, Jesus says that those who have faith can move mountains. How to reach such faith?
Perhaps we think it’s a weakness, to be honest about how much faith we may not yet have.
It is a fact with all of us that our faith is not unlimited.
It can usually be measured.
That measurement becomes most obvious to us whenever our faith is tested in some way. Then we can take personal inventory.
If we refuse to be honest, we will develop an official kind of faith, a complacent faith, a thoughtless faith. We won’t feel the fervor that will drive us forward in spiritual life but will simply be going through the motions.
Cultivating Knowledge
One obvious way to combat doubt and to strengthen faith is to cultivate knowledge. Faith combined with knowledge can lift us from an unsure believer to someone fixed in his convictions.
By expressing our doubts and then opening ourselves to scripture and saintly persons, we can often find a satisfying response.
We don’t have to allow our doubts to intimidate us.
Also, we should not think that our acceptance or rejection of certain points in the scripture either validates them or invalidates them. They are true on their own merit.
Prabhupada said, “You may believe or not believe; that is a different thing.” Part of faith is recognizing our smallness in the face of truth.
Faith thrives in an environment of enthusiasm.
Without enthusiasm, we feel dull.
Our shame of devotion is low.
Faith is not simply a personal opinion about whether God exists or not. It is an active interest to hear about Him.
A pure devotee will want to hear about and serve Krishna endlessly. The more enthusiasm our faith has, the stronger it will become.
When we participate in services very nicely and receive good results from our practices, we feel the blossoming of faith, trust, and loyalty.
Experience in Krishna consciousness includes the testing of faith.
Faith, it seems, is usually tested either when we face adverse conditions —
Pain, Danger, Duress, Grief, or we are tempted by Maya.
At such times a devotee may find himself thinking —
“Krishna, why did you do this to me?”
To come out with a mood of acceptance — that Krishna is acting only for our own benefit — means we have passed the test.
Again we can turn to Prabhupada as an example:
He was such a fighter that when he went out to spread Krishna consciousness but met only resistance, he became more Krishna conscious and more determined.
His successes or failures never dampened his faith. He lived always in the reciprocation he received from Krishna, whatever that reciprocation was.
If you too are inquisitive to know actually what is God, scientifically, we invite you to read the books and join the discussions.
