Table of Contents
The 3 Steps Towards Faith
- Faith as the foundation (seed).
- Humility and patience as the nurturing soil.
- Prayer as the sunlight that helps the soul bloom
The Three Steps to Spiritual Glory: Faith, Spiritual Growth and Spiritual Maturity
This article talks about 3 Broad Topics mutually interconnected. These concepts cement our spiritual position and help us come out from the eternal darkness that surrounds us as Material Energy.
What gets us into Spirituality is our Soul’s intrinsic Nature which is Faith and Not Belief. We shall see How these two differ and how Faith decides our spiritual position. This is the seed of Spirituality.
The Next Level of Spiritual Growth happens when we develop humility and Patience. This is the soil and manure that nurtures the sapling of Spiritual Mood to grow within our hearts.
The Third Level that makes the Sapling Grow and Flourish is the Sunlight and water that allows the Sapling of Spirituality to develop into a massive Tree. The Massive Tree of Spiritual Maturity comes into fruition through Sincere and Right Prayers directed to the Supreme Personality.
The Role of the Spiritual Gardener: The Guru
But Above All, there has to be a Gardener who helps or guides the transformation of the Seed into a Tree. He directs the seed to grow towards the Sun (The Supreme Person).
The Seed is the Individual Jiva, the disciple who surrenders himself at the feet of Guru who transforms him it into a massive powerhouse of spiritual energy that ultimately enters the Spiritual Realm of Unassailability.
The Faith V/s Belief Argument
In the arena of spirituality, we all use two words interchangeably. They are “Faith” and “Belief”. Spirituality is more or less associated with “isms” like Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, Jainism, Judaism or “itis” which is just “Christianity”.
It will be useful to understand that the great religious movements can be political movements or crusades of some kind, where the “isms” and the like use spirit as part of the movement for increasing their subscribers rather than trying to make a telling difference in the flawed inner configuration of an individual.
True Religion is For Individuals not for Society
Mind you, true religion is always individual and can never be mass in its appeal. The spirit in such movements just used as a cushion to spearhead biased purposeful motives. These movements have merely transformed themselves as the very pillars of world history, rarely bringing about any change in the animistic and compulsive nature of individuals.
True Spirituality, in my humble opinion, can never be of mass appeal. Even if a single individual transforms, I would consider it worthier than a million movements who have a billion subscribers, but all of them continuing to live in the same mess or even worse prior to their belief subscription.
The Fake Narratives of Psuedo Religions
Any religio-spiritual movement, if I may, has more to do with “survival” and “supremacy”, than anything to do with the spirit. I even know that most of my readers may disagree with me. Yet, I have stated, what is in my heart. It is here that Spirituality stands antipodal to Religion. All religious movements thrive on “Belief Systems”.
This is perhaps where the word belief finds its relevance. When the general population accept edicts or statements issued by people of some authority as “laws” and follow them strictly, over time, with little ado or humble questioning, a system emerges. This is the basis of a belief.
When general observations take the form of an undeniable law, practiced by a huge section of the population, it becomes a belief system. Now this belief system may translate into a bigger form, it may become a book. It may apparently appear as “Truth” and so on. But then, all this simply put, is “belief”.
We Live in a Make-Believe World
A person who believes that, if a cat cuts across the road, in front of him, goes back seven steps, mutters some prayer and waits. Then he takes the next step. Many call this blind belief. This also, is just a “belief”. The strange aspect of belief is that it works for most people. Almost 80% of beliefs turn out to be physical reality; so beliefs become “real”.
Having a powerful belief system, subscribing to the “isms” and the “itis” can make one’s life manifest perfectly in line with the belief system one follows. Then why is it that the “Knowers of Truth”, dump all belief systems and instead align with something which is universal?
The Blind Spots of a Belief System
For example, what tells me that something is a “belief” and something else is more fundamental to “belief”? It is also to be noted that almost all belief systems, although they manifest into reality in the domain of space and time, lack authenticity in many respects.
They have dangerous blind-spots and hence one cannot rely upon them every time. There shall be a time, either this lifetime or the next, where they shall let you down. Even if that happens, it is for the good.
It is because, the time would have come, when nature points you to something more fundamental, something which is your very core. This is when faith enters your life. That aspect that connects you to your ultimate reality. A Belief System has a road map.
But sadly, the fundamental building block of life and beyond, faith, has no access roads. It only comes to you, when you are ready. Yet, you can speed up your readiness, by relying on someone, your heart points to you, is absolutely genuine, truly naked at his very Core, the Guru.
There can be a belief system, but one cannot restrict faith to a system. Faith is not subservient to any system.
There are no pathways to faith. One can easily cultivate belief, because for belief you just have to close your eyes. When someone or some system manipulates you, owing to your ignorance, you can develop your beliefs, but the same is not true about faith.
What are the Symptoms of Faith?
Faith, you either have or you do not have. Faith develops all by itself. As you learn the lessons of Nature, during life, faith develops on its own, when you have your senses wide open and start listening intently with your heart.
It may appear that you are being influenced by some event which may pose itself as the reason for your faith. But that can never be true. Nature decides the course of faith. Grace decides it. Belief is blind and manipulated.
Faith is deep, it is perfect and no one can ever manipulate or Doctor it. Even if somebody tries to, the Superior Force, salvages you out, all by itself. Faith, is the nature of our core. It is the secret passage that connects one to the eternal.
A belief system is just skin deep. Beliefs get shattered over time; but faith only deepens in infinite magnitude as time passes by. Faith is an aspect of spirituality, genuine religion while belief belongs to the fake narratives where people weaponise religion.
Symptoms of Belief
Belief is brutal. It appears impregnable, ruthless, powerful and yet gets shattered over time, since it is illusory. Faith is humane. It is innocent. It is vulnerable, transparent, benevolent, humble and yet supremely powerful. Neither time nor lifetimes can alter faith. If it alters, then know that it was belief not faith.
Belief has the propensity to influence the world, corrupt society. It is meddlesome and obtrusive. It also works its way to sell and convert. Faith, on the contrary, is personal. It is deep, but shy. Faith is accommodating by nature.
It does not preach but becomes a practice for inner-transformation. It does not influence hearts but transforms them by its very presence. Transformation is always an aspect of silent faith.
Finally, there is no comparison between belief and faith. There can never be. When intelligence becomes corroded and has no way to go, it picks up a suitable belief system. However, the maturity of intelligence happens when faith flowers. It is faith alone that transforms intelligence into everlasting wisdom.
The grandeaur of Faith matures into humility and patience. This is a direct sign that the soul’s light is now reaching the conscious plane of the Jiva. When there is humility and patience, faith too grows and becomes a powerful cementing force of true religion.
How Can Faith Grow?
Although we may have developed some genuine faith, there are still many obstacles to overcome, before we insure the proper growth of the Faith Sapling. Let’s look at the importance of humility and patience during the most vital stages of the Jiva’s spiritual growth.
Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, the direct incarnation of Lord Krishna in this current age of Kaliyuga says,
tṛṇādapi sunīcena tarorapi sahiṣṇunā .
amāninā mānadena kīrtanīyaḥ sadā hariḥ
तृणादपि सुनीचेन तरोरपि सहिष्णुना .
अमानिना मानदेन कीर्तनीयः सदा हरिः
(श्री शिक्षाष्टकम् Shikshashtakam)
“One who is humbler than a blade of grass, more forbearing than a tree who gives due honor to others without desiring honor for himself is qualified to always chant the Holy Name of Krishna.”
Here Sriman Chaitanya Mahaprabhu reveals the secret for attaining the highest level in spirituality. The two aspects of the mind which are the greatest impediments for our spiritual progress are:
1) The desire for praise, recognition and glory from the world
2) Our aversion to personal insults and defamation.
For almost 100% of the population, it is the mind which is in charge of their lives. This means that man is the servant of the diktat of the mind. When thoughts and emotions are active, it naturally follows that awareness is low.
When this happens, we become slaves to the orders given to us, by our minds. Our inability to see our “minds” separate from the Self, introduces the two tendencies mentioned above.
All our lives, we are hankering for inner peace and happiness. However, we have mindlessly given these goals to the mind, to achieve. Mind has another name “Maya”, which means “that which is not”.
There is also another way of looking at it. Mother Nature has tuned the mind in such a way that, it hands over those things to us, which are actually opposed to what we are looking for. This arrangement is part and parcel of the Cosmic Play.
This means that if we are looking for light, the mind actually hands over darkness to us, saying that it is light and since our awareness is low, we trust the mind and take that to be true. Since we are “unaware” we accept all lies to be true. This is the very basis of material life.
How We are Fooled by the World?
The world praises us and we become happy. Somebody appreciates our work and a fake sense of achievement overtakes us. When someone insults us or puts us down we feel low and angry. We seek subtle revenge.
These two tendencies of aversion towards insults and hankering for praise are “unhealthy” by all means. This is what the Vedic scriptures and the sages say. These two tendencies are natural, but if we are happy being in such a state, then definitely spirituality is not for us. For cultivation of spirituality, the opposite has to become true in our lives. Unless this happens, spiritual life can never be a reality for us.
Symptoms of Humility
When we become restless when somebody praises or commends us and when we become intensely aware when somebody hurls insults or abuses on us, we can safely conclude that we have become humble.
These feelings have to be heartfelt and not merely remain on an intellectual platform. Intense alertness has to manifest under such occasions. Only then can true humility become a reality within us.
Usually when somebody praises us, we may say “Oh, I do not deserve this” and try to become humble, but inside, we are happy and enjoy the feeling of praise. It is then, hypocrisy.
This is a distortion of consciousness and is a poison for one’s spiritual well-being. This is even worse than a person who genuinely becomes happy hearing praises. Instead, if one is a serious spiritual practitioner, one should constantly and consistently avoid praise.
Even if someone is genuinely praising us, we need to direct that praise as “Praise of the Lord” in our hearts and redirect all the praises to Him and join our voices in His praise. That is the greatest transmutation of praise, in the positive direction. With this redirection, one can cultivate genuine humility.
Techniques to Induce Humility in the Heart
When someone is abusing or criticizing us, if we become eager to accept those hurls endearingly, it can actually make us more humble and soft. However, this strength only develops within us, as a matter of sadhana (साधना spiritual practice).
When one is eager to accept insults, one can direct those insults to puncture our own ego. We may pray thus when we get insulted “Oh Lord, I do not know how many people or beings I may have insulted or hurt. You are so kind that you have given those back to me.”
“You have done the right thing by giving me the prized possession of insults since I deserve more of these insults. No wonder, I am a fallen soul. I owe all the insults of the world and You deserve all the glory and praises.
I have bequeathed my rightful property as insults. Oh Lord, I am so thankful to You”. When one prays thus and increases one’s capacity to accept insults gracefully, the heart becomes soft and humble. We should also note that the mind may revolt and try its level best to ignite hatred and revenge.
Prayer to Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is the Most Effective Technique
This is when our hearts should go to the prayer of Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu as taught by him to the world. The Lord says that unless we become like a blade of grass inside our hearts, Grace cannot come. We can take even stones thrown on us by the people; just as a stone thrown on trees will only bring down the fruits laden on the trees.
A man who is humble thus, has the capacity not only transform oneself, but develops the wits to transform society. This is the power of humility. The Lord also says that unless a man is humble in his heart, no amount of chanting the names of the Lord can yield results. The heart which is humble can only have the power to summon the Lord.
Lord Sriman Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is the inaugurator of Yuga Dharma, which is Chanting the Holy Names of Bhagawan. Thus, through Hari Nama, one can begin the last step, which enables the first and second step to become a reality.
It is water and sunlight alone that allows the seed of Faith, the sapling of Humility and Patience to develop into the Massive Tree of Spiritual Mellows, also known as Bhakti, to become a reality. The Spiritual Tree raises its head and impinges into the skies towards Bhagawan, the Sun, who nourishes the entire Creation.
7/8 Questions from Sanatana Dharma
The scores generated in this Quiz may or may not be absolute. There may be right or wrong answers to each Question. A percentage towards 100 indicates that you are more aligned to the overall subject matter.
What is Prayer?
The greatest power that is extremely subtle, and yet more powerful than a nuclear weapon is the power of Prayer. Prayer is not a mere repetition or muttering of words. It is not a ritualistic act of worship which is aimed at getting some benefit. We shall discuss the various facets of Prayer, a process that connects the heart to the Supreme.
We live a life which is beset with so many problems. Our inner mood and disposition remains hidden or unmanifest in the normal course of existence. The hidden disposition is in reality, our authentic form, our original representation.
How Prayer helps Cure Depression?
Most of the people of the world have not yet discovered their original disposition. As a result, when they are beset with challenges or get cornered by life-challenging situations, most slump into depressive states. These depressive states signify the lack of cultivation of character and represent the weaknesses of heart.
The weaknesses of the heart result out of ignored inner-health. This also means that life has been operating at a superficial level, not cemented well at the foundation, at the level of being. Most of the human population is living through stress because the fundamental edifice is not strong.
How Prayer affects the Brain?
One needs to understand that at our very rudiments is the universal entity called consciousness. When consciousness transforms through its non-matter subtlety into gross forms, it builds as ego, intellect, mind and the physical body. Unless we awaken pure consciousness and drag it through the grosser layers of ego, intellect and the mind, one shall continue to wade through the material distortions, wallowing in the slush of Materialistic Living.
With passaging time, all that we know as alive shall degrade towards inertness and decay. Thus, if we do not bring our pure consciousness to the fore through spiritual discipline, the ego, intellect, mind and the body shall be drag the being through a state of growing stress and suffering.
How Does Prayer Work?
Prayer is one of the most potent mechanisms to summon consciousness causing huge awakening of inner faculties. As commonly misunderstood by the common folks, Prayer is not asking for or begging to the Supreme. It is to be understood as a channel for connecting through to the Supreme.
This connection has to be invoked voluntarily if at all one aims at awakening all aspects of the body-mind. Prayer is a deep intent for reliance on the Self. This reliance is not of “dependence” for anything material or support. Prayer is the invocation of the already existent pure spirit to spread its light and intelligence granting immense clarity. When we pray to the Lord, we pray to the personified Self.
This personification of the Supreme is an extremely potent method to invoke unprecedented capacities of the spirit.
How Prayer helps us?
When one interacts with the world, our limited senses, mind and other grosser faculties get tainted with the soot of matter and materialistic emotions. This soot blunts our intelligence and outlook. We become limited in our capabilities with passing time. Our so-called maturity takes a back seat and the power of illusion gets us into taking wrong decisions. Prayer reverses this condition.
How to Pray?
We close our eyes and invoke the Lord. With all straightforwardness and faith, we pray thus “Oh Supreme Lord, Protect me. I surrender unto you and accept my position at your Lotus feet. I act as if I am intelligent but I am the greatest fool. Only you can only guide me and show me the path and take me towards light. Oh Lord Save me, Protect me.”
When we render such a prayer in innocence and all humility, pure consciousness rushes to the fore. It spreads itself all-round the prayerful person and rejuvenates him at the thought and emotion level.
Effects of Sincere Prayer
A moment’s prayer can be as refreshing as taking a bath in the cool Himalayan waters or taking a bath in the warm geysers in the ice cold mountains. We cannot mimic or make an act of prayer. Prayer has its effect only when the praying person takes an extremely humble and surrendered position.
Meditation is raising one’s consciousness while prayer is invoking Pure Grace with minimum effort. It is sincerity alone that matters.
When does Prayer work?
Prayers can be most effective when the parents or guardian of a child is spiritual and takes effort to train this child to be spiritual. Best age for taking up Spirituality is the age between 5 and 14 years. A heart that is not prayerful cannot benefit from prayer. Unless there is some sense of acceptance of higher life or faith in the laws of the Supreme, Prayer cannot proceed.
Prayer is an essential aspect of spirituality. Prayer works well with people who are not overtly result oriented. People may have ambitions and goals. But, if there is no dexterity in taking a humble position of surrender, prayer cannot manifest in the heart. Prayer is a measure of one’s spiritual status. A person who constantly prays may not feel the need to meditate.
If meditation is listening to God, Praying is talking to God, sharing with Him, one’s fears, likes and dislikes.
Why do We Need to Pray?
A person who prays, befriends God simply through the act. The Lord can never be far away from such a person. He is available for help. A man who prays without expectation is a great devotee. Such a person is summoning the Lord, inviting Him to be one’s friend. Just as we need a friend to share joyful moments, a prayerful man has the Lord beside him, always.
Benefits of Praying Everyday
Stress-related ailments can never attack a prayerful person. A man who prays is well even if he may appear sick bodily. The mind of a prayerful man is always lit with the joy of the Lord. Just by praying with all of one’s heart one can unravel the mystery of nature. As we communicate with the Lord, the simple things of our heart, the Lord reciprocates with us. He too transmits the secrets of the universe unto the heart of his prayerful friend.
Just as you share your deepest human secrets with Him, He shares His greatest secrets with you. The secrets of the Universe is just a small part. This is the power of prayer.
There Can Be No Fruit Laden Tree of Spirituality without the Gardner Called The Guru
Having Covered the 3 Fundamental Steps to Massive Spiritual Growth, one should never forget that although the Spiritual Growth Occurs with the Jiva putting in so much effort, there shall be weeds during all the stages of Growth of the Spiritual Tree.
These are the Weeds of Kama(Lust), Krodha(Anger), Lobha(Greed), Moha(Illusion or the Feeling that “I am the Body”), Mada(Self-Pride) and Matsarya(Envy). These Material Elements entrench the soul like the stab of a dagger with 6 blades with a single Handle.
A Hard Handle keeps the Blades together, the 6 Vices discussed Above. This Handle represents the Hard Ego.
These 6 Dagger Blades cut and make the heart bleed. The Handle ensures that the six Blades remain lodged in the heart. The Jiva is incapable of removing this six bladed dagger. Loosening of the Blade and the cracking of the handle has to begin, right from the stage when the seed is in the soil.
This 6 bladed dagger represents the weeds that grow rapidly around the seed. One who is a Genuine Guru, the Gardner, carefully keeps removing these weeds, the greatest obstacles to the Spiritual Growth of the Jiva.
The Handle, the Nut of the Ego is the greatest challenge gives rise to the weeds. Dismantling of the handle to end the spree of new weed sprouts has to be handled from day 1. The Guru handles the tantrums, the pain and the illusions of the Jiva, enabling his growth, loosening the grip of the handle nut of the Jiva’s beginningless Ego.
The Journey is long, because care has to be taken that the Jiva allows the near painless removal of the six edged dagger. This is the challenge of the Gardner Guru, who works tirelessly to safeguard the spiritual interests of the Jiva who has surrendered himself at the feet of Guru and allowed him to operate on the primary culprit, the handle, called the Ego.
When this handle cracks open with the surrender of the Disciple and the Grace of Bhagawan operating through the Guru, the 6 edged blades just fall away and rapidly expedites the growth of the sapling, because by now, there are no weeds around that suck the life out of the growing sapling.
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