How to get faith?

How to get faith?

True faith is found in the company of the faithful. If faith is a valuable way of knowing, indeed the most valuable of epistemologies, then it is important to see how to get faith.  Śrīdhara Mahārāja explains the nature of give and take in the association of saints:

"So, awaken your consciousness. Find the real person within – the soul. Search him out and try to help him. That is possible only with help from the sadhu.The day in which we do not find any saint or have any discussion about the real purpose of life – the inner life, the inner substance – that day we are the loser. Be conscious of that. In all respects, in any way possible, mind your own lesson – mind your own interest.

"Find your own self-interest. Be unmindful towards the external world and circumstances dive deep into reality, the inner world. Find your inner self, the inner world where you really live where your inner self is living. Try to find your Home, go back to God, back to Home. Your energy must be utilized for going Home not for wandering in this land of death.

"Try to avoid the land of death at any cost. Always try to find the eternal soil, that soil to which you belong. Try to understand what is your home, why it is your home. Home comfort – what does it mean? It means our birthplace, the place where you are born. In Srimad Bhagavatam we find this verse:

satam prasangan mama virya-samvido

bhavanti hrt-karana-rasayanah kathah

taj-josanad asv apavarga-varmani

sraddha ratir bhaktir anukramisyati

(Srimad Bhagavatam 3.25.25)

“Krishna says, ‘In the association of pure devotees, discussions about Me are very pleasing and satisfying to the ear and the heart. Such talks, which are full of spiritual potency, are a source of sweetness, and by such cultivation, the path of liberation from worldly life quickly opens. Then gradually one attains firm faith which, in due course, develops into taste and then real love for Me.’

“In the progress of our contact with faith, when we come to take benefit from devotees and have faith in them, we are more safe and our progress is also tangible - it comes to reality. From a vague, abstract position, faith becomes deeper within us. We can then recognize many others with the same objective in life, and the journey becomes easier. It becomes conceivable. It comes into measurement. When we have faith in the real devotees, we can come into contact with such a tangible thing.

“Thus, the position of the devotees is very important in our journey, especially in the middle stage. In the primary stage, not much importance is given to the devotees. With only a vague conception from the scriptures and with the help of previous accumulated merits (sukrti), the journey is begun. But gradually, the beginners find that to journey onwards in the infinite is not an easy thing: "We thought that with a little progress we could attain the desired end, but now we find that it is not so." When we come to consider the real position of devotion, of what is God - He is universal, He is the ultimate goal - we may gradually become disappointed. But if along the way we take help from the devotees of similar objective, we shall feel much relief by their company, even though the destination may be far away. The difficulties of the journey are more prominent in the second stage. In the primary stage, we are not very exclusive in our objective, and so, we do not experience much difficulty. Real difficulties begin when we enter into the journey exclusively, with no other objective than to engage our whole energy towards that high and elevated path. And if we actually achieve a touch of the highest stage, the maha-bhagavata stage, the journey again becomes easier. But the middle portion is difficult, and at that stage the devotees are very important to save us. This is the period of both tangible acquisition and difficulty; our failings on the path to realization are to be rectified in this middle stage.

“The association of devotees is of ultimate importance: When we enter into war, in the beginning we have much hope. We feel confident. But the real test is when the fighting begins. And when we finally conquer, we again become very satisfied. But the middle - when the war is being conducted - that is the difficult period. At that time, our co-workers, our comrades who fight along-side us, are very, very important to us. "I am not alone, but there are many others battling alongside me in that middle fighting period of war.“ Those companions are important. Some may disappear from the field but there will be others to encourage me.

“Similarly, on this journey, we may see that many stalwarts are falling. It may discourage us to see such respected persons -going away - falling in the middle path. Nonetheless, in the midst of those unfavorable circumstances there are others who are bravely making progress with unflinching faith, and they will help us. To stick it out to the end is difficult - but important and valuable. The test comes and shows how much faith we have. Nothing comes in vain, and we must take everything that happens in that way.

“There may be so many stalwarts, like Bhisma and Drona, who fall flat in the battlefield, but still we must go on (karmany evadhikaras te, ma phalesu kadacana, Bg. 2.47). We are out to fight to the end. We must achieve our end of life, and we can imbibe such firmness from the character of the devotees. The sastra will also offer helpful advice, but the association of the devotees is nonetheless of ultimate importance.

The Success of Faith

“Bhaktivinoda Thakura says, sakala chadiya bhai sraddhadevi guna gai yanra krpa bhakti dite pare[i] "Giving up everything, let us sing in praise of Sraddha-devi - faith - whose grace can take us to Krsna."  Śraddha, faith, is the most subtle thing, and it is also the most tangible. It is not imaginary. We must realize that it is reality, it is concrete, and not merely an abstract sentiment of mere individual consciousness. Faith is universal as the most fundamental element that can connect us with the finest objective.

“Through radio we can establish communication over a long distance. The science is very subtle, and not known to everyone, yet, we cannot deny its existence; it has its tangible position. But faith is much more subtle than radio waves, and through it one can establish both higher contact and reciprocation. This subtle faith is not approachable by everyone; it has its tangible existence and it may function in any circumstance if we have its peculiar contact. We cannot give false statements that we possess it; our power and grandeur are not necessarily any proof of its presence in us. Despite great pomp and show, all we personify may be falsehood. We should be very cautious to maintain our contact with genuine faith.

“Of course, sincerity is the main requirement for faith's connection. No price, however valuable in this world, can purchase it. The qualification is laulyam - our sincere and earnest desire for the thing. No one can purchase the Absolute, and no price can purchase Him. The absolute necessity is our sincere desire and earnestness. With insincerity, we cannot make trade with Him; He is not so foolish as to become an object of trade for anybody! Sincere desire for Him is required, and that will awaken the conception to serve Him. We want Him, sincerely - through affection. We love Him, so we desire Him. And to love means to sacrifice for the object of our love.

“Srila Jiva Goswami Prabhu has given a beautiful definition of the word 'Bhagavan': bhajaniya sarva-sad-guna-visista - "The Supreme Lord, Bhagavan is of such a nature that everyone who comes in contact with Him will want to serve Him and to sacrifice themselves for His satisfaction." This is the result of faith in its developed form. He is so noble, we shall think that if we die to satisfy Him, our life's objective will be fulfilled. His noble quality is such that it draws so much sacrificing spirit for Him; it draws everything towards Him. "Die to live." Faith is such.

“We are in the ocean of faith, and the devotees are the essential agents. Each helps the other. We are much relieved from the fatigue and trials of a long journey if we have a companion or the association of a group. Similarly, in this ocean, if we obtain the help of devotees of similar nature to ours, that will be most conducive. Even our Guru Maharaja, in a speech he delivered on Vyāsa- pūja, his Holy Appearance Day, addressed his disciples, "Vipada uddharana bandhu-gana[ii]:  Oh my friends, who can give me relief from danger. To me, you are my deliverers from danger! In the ocean of faith, it is very difficult to journey onward alone, so you have come to help me in my dangerous, ambitious journey in the infinite. You have come, and you are engaging me in talking about only Him, and so, you have given me some engagement. Otherwise, to live and move alone in the infinite is very difficult, troublesome and dangerous. You have all come to hear something, and in this exchange of talks about Him the situation has been made very safe and easy to journey so far toward Vaikuntha."

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[i] সকল ছদিয ভৈ স্রদ্ধদেৱি গুন গৈ যন্র ক্র্প ভক্তি দিতে পরে sakala chadiya bhai sraddhadevi guna gai yanra krpa bhakti dite pare, Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura, Śaraṇāgati

[ii] ৱিপদ উদ্ধরন বন্ধু-গন  vipada uddharana bandhu-gana: Bhaktisiddhānta Saraswati Ṭhakura, Vyāsa-Pūja address

Proximity of Saints, con't...

(This is the continuation of the previous article on faith Proximity of Saints) I broke this into three articles since it was running a bit long.

Proximity of Saints, continued...

When I was recently in Moscow, I was asked by a Russian Orthodox Priest who attended my lecture, “How can we love God?” I told him, “I’m not sure. I don’t know God, myself. But I have been in contact with those who were God-loving souls. My advice is seek out someone who loves God and follow his path.”

We are asked to seek out God-loving souls wherever they are.  The company of such saintly persons is desirable. This is not a sectarian message. Such souls may be found in any walk of life, within or without a temple, mosque or church. This is a joyous idea. If faith functions as the eyes of the soul, where can I get faith? Find a faithful soul and try to get some light from him or her. They will lead you to a higher light, to their source. Keep going until you get to the source. This is possible through association with saints or sadhu-sanga.

The most important factor

As Śrīdhara Mahārāja has said:

 “On the whole there is only one most important factor - sadhu-sanga. So many things are all interdependent but first importance is to be given to sadhu-sanga. But sadhu-sanga is also affected by the results of so many previous events. So many things are all interdependent but still some points have been given more stress. More importance has been given to firstly sadhu-sanga, then Sastra, then Saraņagati, then prayer. Though many things are there, a complex and interdependent interhelp, but still if we are to select some principle thing for our help the first thing will be sadhu-sanga, association with those more advanced than myself, and next importance will be given to the Sastra, the advices of the great sadhus. With these two we shall take practical steps in Saraņagati. Saraņagati is real when it is sincere. And sincerity means, “I am helpless. By self-analysis I am helpless.” As much as I consider myself to be helpless my prayer to the Lord will be accordingly intense, and the help from that side will come to that degree. Sanga means serving attitude, not physical contact but serving. Higher things can be contacted only through the relationship of serving tendency, not otherwise.”

“If we get the association of a real sadhu even for a moment, then that may turn the direction of our life. A sadhu is like a very valuable gem. What he gives is far more valuable than anything in this world. One may have gems, diamonds, money or a kingdom but they are not valuable to all. This is all mortal even though they may be valuable to a particular class of human thought. There are so many things in creation that are nothing to the sadhu. But anandam, sweetness, has a general value. It is necessary even for the tree, the creeper and even the stone. In whatever position the seeker may be in, he will be highly satisfied.

Get that and get everything

Yasmin prapti sarvam idam praptam bhavati – if we get a little of that, we think that, “No other thing but this can satisfy me. This is the thing for which I have been striving for after so many lives together. Now I have found the object of my search.” We can find higher things only through the connection of service. If we want the association of things of a higher type then we must offer ourselves to their service. We must keep this broad thought always in mind. I cannot utilize it as if it is my servant. But I shall offer to be a servant of Him, if I really want His association. Only through service can I be connected with Him. I shall work for His interest. His interest will be more valuable than that of mine.”

 

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[i] সকল ছদিয ভৈ স্রদ্ধদেৱি গুন গৈ যন্র ক্র্প ভক্তি দিতে পরে sakala chadiya bhai sraddhadevi guna gai yanra krpa bhakti dite pare, Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura, Śaraṇāgati

[ii] ৱিপদ উদ্ধরন বন্ধু-গন  vipada uddharana bandhu-gana: Bhaktisiddhānta Saraswati Ṭhakura, Vyāsa-Pūja address

Online Gallery

I'm starting an online gallery with the help of a friend, Teresa Loret de Mola to promote the work of Mexican artists. You can check it out here.
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Thanksgiving Message

Thoughts on Thanksgiving

As an American living in Mexico, I don’t celebrate Thanksgiving so much. Since my mother passed away five years ago, there hasn’t been much need. My Mexican family doesn’t really get it. I try to explain, but it’s just not a Mexican thing.

When I was a kid growing up in Connecticut we did the whole Martha Stewart Thanksgiving with the turkey, dressing, and cranberry sauce. My step-father was French, and he loved the whole idea that the Indians had helped the pilgrims. The French are partial to the ideal of the noble savage first forwarded by Jean Jacques Rousseau. Rousseau, the revolutionary human rights philosopher who felt that humans in their primitive condition are generous and kind.  The American Indians were his example.

Now I’ve used the word “Indians” twice, since that was my upbringing and I was talking about the 60s when I grew up. Nobody says “Indians” any more, of course. It isn’t politically correct. In Spanish the correct nomenclature is gente indigena, which translates as indigenous people. I think this is much better than “Indians” since the native American peoples are not from India. When Colombus found himself on the island of Hispaniola, he thought that he had discovered “India” and took captives for the King of Spain, calling them “Indians.” The name stuck. But in Mexico, anyway, it’s not correct to call people indios anymore.

Squanto at the first Thanksgiving Dinner

My job at the family table every Thanksgiving was to read the story of “Squanto the Indian.” It was the start of my career as a story-teller and teacher. I would read a little book  about how the pilgrims, who had fled religious persecution in Europe, had a hard time surviving in the “New World.” After suffering a particularly bad winter they were helped by Squanto, who showed them how to plant corn and pumpkins, to fish and hunt wild turkey. In gratitude they organized a big feast, and that was the first Thanksgiving. You’ll find some details of the story of Squanto here: http://historyofmassachusetts.org/squanto-the-former-slave/

I was about 11 years old at the time, back in 1962. Since I was to read the story, I began to read everything I could about the “Indians.” I had a huge illustrated book with color paintings of the conquest of the Americas, beginning with Cortez and the Aztecs. There was the history of the Algonquins and the East Coast Indians. I read about the “French and Indian War,” and traced the gradual retreat of the indigenous American peoples to reservations in the West where they were corralled and massacred by settlers. I could understand that the treatment of the American Indians amounted to genocide. When I learned of the real fate of the American Indians, it seemed unfair that they had helped the pilgrims only to be driven away and massacred.

My fascination was heightened when we traveled west and I got to see the big Navaho reservation in Arizona and New Mexico. Here in Mexico, the Southern “Indians” were the Mayans, the Olmecs, Toltecs, Mixtecs and Aztecs who founded the Teotihuacan civilization thousands of years ago. After the conquest they remained, mixed with the Spanish conquerors and created the Criollo and Mestizo culture which served as the basis for the modern Mexican state. Still, while there is a large indigenous population here in Mexico, it’s no paradise.

The native peoples of America are also struggling. There’s not much thanks for them. The Aztecs and their cousins the Mixtecs were the first to populate the Sonoran desert back in the stone age. And yet, if they try to cross the northern border, they may be asked to prove that they did not migrate here illegally. The Aztecs created the sun calendar, used the zero, and built pyramids to the sun and the moon. But they don’t see the point in the American tradition of thanking their cousins and then driving them into the sea.

As a kid growing up in Connecticut, I loved the story of Squanto and the pilgrims and how they all sat down together and celebrated peace. My stepfather was French: he loved the idea of the Wild West, cowboys and Indians, and so did I. I used to play cowboys and Indians with my brothers. I would wear my Roy Rogers hat and chase them around the grass in the back yard with a popgun in the summer. They had bows and arrows and would usually get the best of me. We moved out west so my father could work in Hollywood. On the way we saw the Navaho reservation near the Grand Canyon and bought souvenirs. Later I had a more sobering encounter with the Native Americans of California.

When we moved to California in the 60s, my father took interest in helping the local indigenous people there. We visited the Pima Indian Reservation in Southern California every winter where my stepfather gave out sweaters and blankets. We drank hot coffee out of styrofoam cups in the bleachers as the Pima kids played basketball on a grass court against Leo Jonas High School. In their faded uniforms and sneakers they played better than the  Los Angeles Lakers.



The Pima Indians rocked.

As I grew older I never lost my fascination with the indigenous peoples of America. As the Vietnam War raged, I read “Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee,” by Dee Brown, a savage account of the genocide that wiped out the Indian tribes of the United States.

Wounded Knee Massacre

As I said, I live in Mexico, where there is a large indigenous population. Here, we don’t celebrate the famous feast of gratitude that American school-teachers love so much. Here in Mexico we don’t know much about the “pilgrims” and the “redskins.”

Today, Thanksgiving, as I write this post, Native Americans in Standing Rock, North Dakota are struggling for water rights against oil interests who are determined to take their land. In freezing weather, they’re being tear-gassed, water-cannoned, whipped, dogged, and caged. So much for gratitude. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/standing-rock-sioux-tear-gas-thanksgiving_us_583496a3e4b000af95ece35d

Police react at Standing Rock

As that great champion of the noble savage, Jean Jacques Rousseau might say, plus ça change; plus c’est la même chose...The more things change, the more they stay the same. We live in the iron age of exploitation and violence.

If gratitude to the native American people doesn’t really define Thanksgiving any more, we can still look towards the holiday as a tradition of giving thanks. Nowadays we sit around a table with friends and family and express thanks for what we have on Thursday only to race to the market on Black Friday to buy what we don’t have. A lot of people don’t even call it Thanksgiving any more: It’s “Turkey Day.”

 No one really pauses much to think about where all that turkey comes from. Apart from the violence against the Native American peoples, the American version of "Giving Thanks" has grown into a celebration of mass murder against the native American bird. Millions of turkeys are slaughtered just weeks before the festive day. The turkeys don’t have much to celebrate.

The Wednesday before Thanksgiving is the most traveled day in the United States. Airports are jammed. Back in the bad old days of the 1970s we would stay out late at the airports trying to sell books on that day.

So many people try to get home, nostalgic for the happy family they never really had, only to find quarreling and bickering over the gravy and stuffing.

"All happy families are alike," Tolstoy says. "But every unhappy family has its own story to tell." Uncle Liberty has political views he’s determined to discuss and Aunt Jesus wants to make sure everybody has made peace with the Lord. Diversity isn’t much tolerated and discourse is all but dead. The young folks sit around the cranberry sauce playing with their cell phones and don’t know how to have a conversation. And amidst the bickering there is some pious talk about “thanks.” Perhaps for these reasons, the ritualized system for giving “thanks” that has to do with Thanksgiving sometimes seems so superficial.

My Guru Mahārāja didn’t much like the idea of a “Thank you,” as a matter of formality. He found it shallow and said as much on a few occasions. He felt that to say thank you creates too much of an idea of “separate interest.” He didn’t like the idea that your interest and my interest are separate; I get something from you and go away. After I take what I want, I say “Thank you,” as a formality. I am no longer interested in you. You have satisfied my interest. So, I say thank you by way of letting you know that you have served my interest and are no longer useful.

I see his point. Many westerners would visit Śrīdhara Mahārāja hoping that he would confirm a prejudice they held and give them the authority they needed to continue with a certain orthodoxy. They wanted free information and treated him as if he were a human encyclopedia. Or they wanted entrance into an esoteric subject, or a blessing to get what they wanted. Once they had his blessing or had learned what they needed to, they would say “thank you,” and go away. Śrīdhara Mahārāja felt that a heartfelt connection involved much more than a mere thank you. He wasn’t charmed by the idea of taking something from someone and then closing the bargain with a thank you.

I have seen fanatics take their objections to this kind of formality too far. When I was in the United States recently, I visited a temple. An old friend greeted a young monk with the words “Good Morning.” The monk schooled my friend on the meaninglessness of saying “Good Morning.” He said, “What good does it do to say, ‘good morning’? What if Death comes for you when you are saying ‘good morning?’ instead of vibrating the holy name of God? What will be your destination? Better chant the holy name instead of saying ‘good morning.’”

I suppose he was doing his best to follow instructions. But the avoidance of formality can also be superficial. Govinda Mahārāja was more generous in his attitude towards such pleasantries as commonplace greetings. He would say “Please,” and “Thank you,” and “Good Morning,” with a cheerful smile. He was as joyous a man as you might ever meet in your life. He didn’t have a problem with saying “thank you,” even though his own Guru had frowned on the usage.

Govinda Mahārāja was never an imitation of Śrīdhara Mahārāja; he practiced his master’s teachings through his perfectly lived example. Instead of explaining what was meant by a “heart-to-heart relation,” or lecturing about thanksgiving, he would show us what was compassion, what was divine love, what was a dignified life of spiritual joy. He was as full of thanks for all his blessings as he was generous in giving joy to all who knew him.

I wish Thanskgiving were more of a spiritual tradition where we celebrated nonviolence with a nice vegetarian meal, instead of glorifying the mayhem of American football.



But, it's always good to take a moment and show gratitude for what we have. Having been so critical about the national holiday, it’s seems strange to add my thoughts on gratitude here. But since I grew up honoring Thanksgiving, I might as well give it a go, in spite of all the bad juju about the Native Americans and the violence against turkeys.

So here goes: I’d like to say thank you to all my friends. You know who you are. Thanks to the old and faithful and thanks to the new and untested friendships as well: “Make new friends but keep the old; one is silver and the other gold.” I give thanks to the great devotees and the small ones too. You have given me the inspiration to go on. I would name names, but someone would be left out.



You know who you are. Thanks for inviting me to your homes in Mexico, Russia, Ukraine, Thailand, and the United States.

Thanks for the memories, the good times, the work we shared together, and the laughs we had to get over the bad times. Thanks for the insights and the translations, the tea and conversations. Thanks for reading the blog, and thanks for checking in from time to time. God Bless you all, Hare Krishna, Peace and Love. Mahayogi.