The power of faith
As the first rays of the sun rise over Sangam, the confluence of the rivers, there is a confluence of cultures; it is the Kumbh Mela. Every 12 years devotees gather at Allahabad, where the rivers Ganga, Yamuna and the mystic Saraswati meet, to take a dip in those holy waters and to come out rejuvenated. But what is it that brings this multitude of people from all parts of the world to this auspicious event? It is the power of faith.
The word “faith” has become very ambiguous. In the present day, it usually refers to blind belief and is not thought of highly by “rational” people. Part of this problem is due to the difficulties of translation of words from one language to another. The Sanskrit word sraddha has been translated into English to mean faith. What does this word actually mean? Sraddha is a combination of two words: “srat” and “dha”, where srat means truth or reality, and dha is that which upholds or sustains. So sraddha is that which upholds the truth. This is the real import behind the word faith according to our scriptures.
So what is the importance of faith? To answer this, we must remember that as people, we have an insatiable thirst for knowledge. Althrough life, we gain knowledge in some form or the other. However, in order to gain knowledge — scientific, material or spiritual — there are a few prerequisites. They are:
There must be faith in the existence of the thing that we want to know;
There must be an instrument through which we can comprehend what we want to know;
There must be faith in the validity of the instrument and in one’s own ability to know.
Life is nothing but a series of perceptions and responses. We constantly perceive things, beings, events, situations, circumstances and respond to those perceptions. Our responses are our actions. We need to have faith in what we are doing; faith in the instruments being adopted or used to do a thing and finally, faith in the doer himself. Once we understand this, can there be any contradiction between thinking and believing?
We must remember that faith is not blind belief; blind belief is something for which there is no desire to confirm nor is it subject to verification. Here lies the biggest difference — true faith is open to experiment and verification and is confirmed by our knowledge of activity. On enquiry, faith does not end, only its nature changes. The display of faith that we see at the Kumbh Mela is of the nature of sattva (of noble nature) where the purpose is of inner purification. One who comes to take part in this grand commingling is able to rise above their ego, prejudices, likes and dislikes, and as a result worships righteousness, wisdom and goodness. Each dip gives a refreshing lease of life, to start a new journey that takes us to the highest realm of peace and
happiness.
Swami Tejomayananda, head of Chinmaya Mission Worldwide, is an orator, poet, singer, composer and storyteller.
Post new comment