Have faith
By Neelam Luthra

MAN, the finest creation of God on this earth, is bestowed with endless potentialities to achieve greatness. He can dive deep into the unfathomable seas and soar high in the illimitable skies. Success is his prerogative in all spheres of life. The philosophies of Indian rishis repeatedly insist that man is essentially perfect as he is an inseparable part of the Puran Brahma: Puranamadah, Puranamidam. He has a source of abundant energy and power. Yet, we find millions upon millions of people suffering, in their disorganised lives, the agonies of failures. What could be the reason? An individual’s quality and disposition of faith is only responsible for this suffering.

Faith is like a seed, small, tiny, compact and with a gigantic potential within it. A thought creates feelings and those feelings gradually get settled in the conscious and sub-conscious mind of a human being and take the form of faith. Human behaviour springs from this stream of faith.

As my thoughts so my feelings,
As my feelings so my faith,
And as my faith so is my life.

Faith actually is the quintessence of the personality of a man. A famous adage goes like this: "Face is an index of mind", but we can extend it by saying "Faith is an index of the personality of man". It is only the difference of faith which distinguishes man from man. Lord Krishna has underlined this fact in the Bhagavadgita too by saying, "Shradha-maya- ayam puru shah yo yat shradha saheva sah" (Man consists of faith, whatever the nature of his faith, he is verily that).

Moreover, faith is an essential requisite in our day-to-day life also. We cannot move a step ahead if we lack faith. We have to place faith in the capability of the pilot of an aeroplane while travelling, taking it for granted that our life is safe in his hands and he would land us safely at our destination. A patient, having faith in the capability of the doctor to undertake a successful operation, hands over his precious body for operation. Faith overpowers the fear of danger and risk. It is faith only which establishes a bond of relationship between a married couple. Without it, many marriages turn unsuccessful and lead to divorces.

The quality of faith determines the quality of life. A staunch, positive and unflinching faith definitely results in fruitful and meaningful actions. In our modern world, we come across hundreds who are dejected, disappointed and completely shattered because they are devoid of faith in their own selves. In a neck-breaking race in this materialistic world, human beings are getting crushed on the grinding stone of endless competition. This catastrophe is being faced by human beings because they do not know the art of exploring their abilities and efficiencies. They have virtually no faith in their secret strengths. An example can be cited here from the animal kingdom to establish this point.Elephants usually stay together in the jungle in a herd. When the herd goes to sleep, one of the elephants stays awake to keep watch, so that a lion should not attack them and harm them. The elephants are afraid of the ferocious nature of the lion, unaware of their own physical strength. A single elephant can uproot huge trees but even a number of elephants are afraid of a single lion. On the other hand, a lion who recognises his physical strength, is filled with gushing energy, sleeps in the jungle fearlessly, like a king, unguarded by any one. The lion symbolises the gist of ‘Vedantic philosophy’ . Vedantas believe in the inner potentialities and not in the external mundane objects.

This unshakable faith in one’s self brings about a control over the scattering thoughts in the mind, giving it a specific direction.The energies of the mind which were earlier being wasted in a state of confusion and chaos, get focused in the mind and pave the way for touching higher horizons in one’s life. Hence faith checks the drainage of energy. A life with gushing currents of staunch faith, accompanied with a well-organised programme to nurture and nourish that faith, is real life in the true sense.

So, let us have positive faith in our soul, in our spiritual essence, in peace and in God. Everyday, we should habituate ourselves to sow a clean, positive seed of thought and allow it to sprout and blossom. The thought that one must achieve success today, just now, is the true positive faith which becomes a turning point to be successful in life. It annihilates the delusion that with the help of influence and favour of others one would do better and accomplish more. No adverse situations, no threats can shake a person unless he is shattered from within. If this globe of ours is to be made a decent place to live in, we must cultivate this positive faith in our lives.

Let us search the inner chamber of our heart everyday. What is stored in it? Lust, fear, worry and hatred or love, peace, trust and understanding. Let us channelise the negative thoughts in a positive and more constructive direction. Faith has miraculous powers. Many people have been cured of incurable diseases only by the power of faith, by the healing impact of prayer.