FAITH. WE COULD not live a day without it. We cross a street corner with the faith that the stopped cars will not run over us; we submit ourselves to the surgeon's knife with the faith that he will cure our disease; we rely on our friends with the faith that they will help us in our time of need. The examples of faith as a dynamic and constructive force in our lives are limitless and they demonstrate the truth of Tolstoy's statement, "Faith is the force of life."

Yet, ironically, when it comes to having faith in God, a multitude of doubts surface. We question the validity of having faith in the unseen and unknown. When the same faith that moves our everyday life is directed toward God, it is called "blind faith." But isn't all faith blind? "Has faith an eye?" asked Sri Ramakrishna. "Speak either of faith or of direct knowledge."

Nevertheless, the label of "blind faith" remains and carries with it all sorts of undesirable connotations. The classic example of blind faith is the individual who accepts, without question, every word in the scriptures as the literal truth, even though it may directly contradict scientifically proven facts. With the mind closed to doubt and reason, faith becomes rigid, unyielding, and easily demolished. Such faith is usually a product of laziness, ignorance, or fear. This faith is indeed "blind" and is worthy of the derision it often receives.

But to cover all faith in God under a blanket of irrationality and rigidity is unjust. The implication is that reason and faith in God do not and cannot coexist, when in fact one must first open the door to doubt and reason before genuine faith in God can be cultivated. We are fools to accept whatever we read or hear as the truth without first subjecting it to critical scrutiny in the light of reason. If it passes this test, if it satisfies reason, it should be accepted and held onto with unswerving faith. If not, it should be discarded as mere superstition. Swami Vivekananda once said, "Be an atheist if you want, but do not believe in anything un-questioningly."

Although real faith is founded upon reason, it is not limited to reason. Faith often takes us where reason cannot penetrate, such as to the belief in the existence of God.

Intellectual conviction is essential, but this in itself is not faith. It is merely rational belief. When conviction in the mind is followed by a response in the heart, when our beliefs touch our hearts and change our lives, only then do we begin to have true faith.

How can we attempt to understand lofty spiritual truths with our limited intellect? The finite cannot comprehend the infinite. Reason can lead us only to a certain point after which faith must take over and carry us to the final realization of God.

Faith in God develops gradually. It often begins with a feeling of interest in an aspect of God or in a spiritual teaching we have heard or read. The idea intrigues us at first, and we inquire further into its meaning and import. After delving into it, reasoning upon it, and discovering that it satisfies reason, we reach the stage of intellectual acceptance. But this is not enough. We still feel unfulfilled and restless. When we begin to feel intuitively that the Lord is present within us, the seed of faith is beginning to mature.

Intuitive knowledge transcends intellectual knowledge. For example, someone has told you that your friend is in the next room. Upon entering the room, you find it completely dark and not a sound is heard. Since you were told your friend was there, you intellectually believe it. Yet doubt comes finding the room dark and silent. Then you begin to feel the presence of someone else in the room. The feeling is an intuitive one since you cannot see or hear anything. Yet it is strong enough to eliminate many of your doubts. Then at last, the light is turned on and you find yourself face to face with your friend. All doubts vanish with this direct perception.

Once we see the Lord, once we experience that ultimate Reality, nothing can shake our faith. If I see a table before me, nothing or no one can convince me that the table does not exist. My faith in the existence of t he table is unshakable because I directly perceive it. If my friend writes to me of a table she has bought, I accept her word, believing she now has such a table. But the table becomes truly real for me when I have seen it and touched it. This is the epitome of faith—belief based on direct perception. Complete faith in God comes only after one has directly perceived and experienced him.

But until the faith of experience comes, we need a working faith, a faith in the unseen. In the Bible we read, "Blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed." This faith, this firm belief in the living presence of God, is the essence of spiritual life. Faith is something which on the surface appears so easy to obtain. Yet as we strive to acquire it, we realize how difficult and how rare it is to have real faith in God having never seen him. After years of conditioning in a society that measures intelligence by cynicism about belief in anything outside direct sense perception, acquiring simple, childlike faith in the unseen becomes arduous.

Sri Ramakrishna once said, "Unless a man is guileless, he cannot so easily have faith in God. God is far, far away from the mind steeped in worldliness. Worldly intelligence creates many doubts and many forms of pride—pride of learning, wealth, and the rest." We find ourselves faced with the task of getting rid of the intellectual jargon in our minds and the emotional turmoil in our hearts, which only serve as breeding grounds for doubts, and replacing them with guileless, childlike faith in God. The faith of a child is such that if his mother says there is a bogeyman or a ghost, there is one. And there is no doubt in his mind that such an entity does indeed exist.

Childlike faith is different from blind faith. The faith of the child is open, spontaneous, and receptive, without motive or thought of self. In contrast, the faith of a fanatic is closed, willed, and unsympathetic. Blind faith is usually motivated by fear, a need for security, or a desire for acceptance.

Firm faith and absolute trust in the Lord within is necessary before surrender to him is possible. Would you think of resigning yourself to the will of someone you did not trust wholeheartedly? Our faith in the Lord must be so great that we are ready and willing to entrust our body, mind, and soul to him. When we reach this lofty point in spiritual life, self-surrender will follow naturally.

To have faith when everything is going well is not too difficult. But the true test of genuine faith is to have complete trust in the Lord in the midst of trials, troubles, and temptations. In the words of Sri Ramakrishna, "The stone may remain in water for numberless years and yet the water will never penetrate it. But clay is soon softened into mud by coming in contact with 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."

From time to time, through prayer and spiritual discipline, we may get glimpses of the beauty and majesty of God, and every now and then we may feel a particle of his tremendous love for us. These glimpses serve to restore and build our faith in God.

Obstructions, disappointments, and dry periods are bound to come and with them doubts creep into the mind. But in the midst of these trials, we should try to recall the glimpses we have had and try to feel again that faith and love that accompanied them. By regaining our faith through recollection, we are able to overcome or at least endure the hard blows in Iife. By exercising patience and a healthy sense of perspective, we are able to ride out the turbulent tide of events without being capsized.

Most of us have assumed since childhood that God exists. Why then do we continually allow ourselves to be caught in the clutches of the world, to be consumed by our own petty little desires, to be ruled over by the materialism of our society? Because we lack faith. Our belief in the existence of God is only in the mind and has not yet reached the heart.

If we really had faith that the very source of all love, knowledge, and joy was within us and was attainable, we would go mad to get it. Our longing would be unbearable and would know no bounds. The story is told of a thief who knows there is gold in the next room and he stays up all night thinking of nothing else but how to get it. His entire mind is riveted to the gold. So it is with faith, having which our only desire would be to see God face to face, to experience and become one with that Reality.

Source: Article by Pravrajika Bhavaprana, Living Wisdom, Published by Sri Ramakrishna Math, Chennai, 1995.