Joy of being: Faith-The Enabler

March 29, 2012 07:20 pm | Updated 07:20 pm IST

Paths to Happiness also point to the pivotal role played by Faith and Devotion to enable one pursue the Goal of True Happiness or Bliss. We can quickly experience that Faith is very much directly related to our Will Power. If the Will is in absentia, then Faith in one’s own abilities or a Superior Power or even another person is almost sure to be absent. What role does Faith play?

‘Very simply put, without Faith we cannot act – Faith in ourself first, our abilities and capabilities. Then comes Faith in others. In practical life, we will come across many organizations in which the CEO will lack Faith in his subordinates. We will see that organization will not grow or persons will not develop. Why does this happen? Faith begets Faith and therefore builds up Trust.

In relationships, Faith in each other and each other’s intentions is the basic bedrock of a successful relationship. In a spiritual path, Faith in One Self and a Higher Power is a primary requisite to progress forward. When doubts, fears assail one Faith is the boat which allows one to sail across. Faith and our Will Power are two sides of the same coin which help us act.

Faith has many components to it but primarily Trust is the essence of Faith. We see that a brand owes its success to the Trust it builds in people who associate it with a service or product. Similarly, one has to place Faith in God or Nature as the Higher Power which enables one to move forward and ever upward in Life. This Faith especially in the Highest Power and that He will lead / guide us always in the right path is the very first lesson one will experience when progressing on the spiritual path. In fact, this must become more stronger with the more adversity we seem to face, as that will only allow us to surpass all the negative forces and influences.

How does one develop Faith? It seems it is very difficult ‘to develop’ Faith but instead once a belief (the seed of Faith) arises, one must not allow doubts to prevail over that belief. The Mind must be educated / trained to reject all the negative thoughts which may disturb that Faith especially when outcomes do not seem to lead to our expectation.

Faith can be strengthened only through Love and Surrender - Love of the Lord or the person you are relating to. Surrender to the Higher Power is only possible with total Faith and vice versa. No progress on the path to Happiness is possible without the Mind even in total ignorance of the Truth of Life developing complete Trust and Faith in the Divine (any form, image or even a person whom one believes personifies the Divine becomes a substitute of the Highest Power).

What does Faith do? Is it a help? The Will impels one into action, but Faith is the enabler. Even more importantly, the more we do actions without Faith, the lesser the possibilities of success. Therefore, Faith is the enabling agent, the lubricant which enables smooth action and also enables the correct outcome (irrespective of our immediate reaction to the outcome).

Faith is the greatest help to one who wants to progress in Life, in whichever sphere it does not matter. As I have mentioned earlier, first and foremost one needs to have Faith in the Highest Power, then in the persons one interacts with and their intentions, in the organization or the institutions one is involved in and last but not the least,most important is the need to have Faith in Oneself (the True ‘I’), oneself (the individual person when in Ignorance) and especially our capacity to act.

The nature of our Faith is normally such that it gets strengthened when the outcome meets our expectation and vice versa. When not so, we lose Faith. It is no doubt very difficult in the normal context to continue to trust / have faith in another when the behaviour of another person / organization does not prove worthy of that faith or trust. This does not mean that the instinctive faith which arises should be replaced by distrust. Instead, one habit we need to cultivate is while we may lose Faith or Trust in all other persons, institutions etc. there has to be built a strong temperament to have complete Faith in the Highest Power and the certainty that He knows how and where to lead us in this glorious exploration of various experiences one has chosen. Once that stage is reached, the process of evolution will only lead to Higher planes and one would be truly in the Path to Happiness. Without Faith, nothing can be achieved and with Faith, the True Happiness becomes accessible here and now.

Feedback and questions may be emailed to joyofbeingrd@gmail.com

(The writer is the Joint Managing Director of TVS & Sons Ltd., and MD, TVS Logistics)

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