No Faith? Start Here
Continuous association with a Saint will develop faith -
If you have genuine faith and receive the association of a genuine saint, you will perform true devotion and attain your ultimate goal.
Shri Krishna told Arjun -
ajñaścāśraddadhānaśca saṃśayātmā vinaśyati - Three types of people face utter downfall -
i. The one who is ignorant and does not know about God.
ii. The one who lacks faith in God, Guru, and the scriptures - yadi guru milahiṃ viraṃci sama mūrakha hṛdaya na ceta.
iii. The one who is perpetually doubtful, to the extent that they are even suspicious of God.
Faith is emphasized everywhere in the scriptures - ādau śraddhā tataḥ sadhusāṃgotha bhajanakriyā...
In other words, divine love manifests in the following sequence -
- Faith 2) Saintly association 3) Preparatory devotion 4) Removal of mayic vices such as lust, anger, and greed 5) Determination 6) Interest 7) Attachment to God 8) Development of devotional sentiments towards God 9) Love for God
Of all these, faith comes first.
However, Shri Maharaj Ji says that those who lack faith are in such a state because they lack proper knowledge. How many people truly have faith and a longing for God? And how can such longing arise? In this world, you experience tangible happiness - you practically experience it. For instance, a child derives joy from clinging to their mother, and the tongue experiences pleasure when tasting a sweet such as a rasgulla. On the other hand, talking about God seems like a mere theory. You hear statements such as "God is an ocean of bliss," yet you have no real understanding or experience of it. Therefore, most people lack faith. Hence, they, too, must have a way for their spiritual upliftment.
Shri Maharaj Ji assures you that although faith is emphasized everywhere as the first requirement, you can attain your ultimate goal even without faith.
How can you attain the goal?
Associating with a genuine saint will give rise to faith.
How does the faith arise?
It happens in this sequence: 1) Vivek and 2) Faith. In other words, 'vivek' is first needed for faith to arise.
What is 'vivek'? It is theoretical knowledge of God - tattva-gyan. Siddhāṃta baliye citta nā kara ālasa - Gaurang Mahaprabhu says, "Do not be lazy in acquiring philosophical knowledge." Āvṛtti: asakṛta - repeatedly listen to the words of a saint and understand: Who is God? What is your relation with Him? Why should you desire Him? What will you gain by attaining Him? What will you lose by neglecting Him? What is this body? Who are you? What is this material world? What are the senses? What are sense objects? What is material happiness? Only a saint can impart this knowledge to you.
Lord Ram once delivered a lecture in Ayodhya -
eka bāra raghunātha bolāe। gura dvija purabāsī saba āe॥
He said,
tyāgahiṁ karma śubhāśubha dāyaka। bhajahiṁ mohiṁ sura nara muni nāyaka॥
"O human beings! Do not perform good deeds, nor should you perform bad deeds. If you perform good deeds, you will attain heaven - but that reward is foolish, because after a short time you will again become dogs, cats, and donkeys. Do not commit evil deeds either, for you will go to hell. You should only perform devotion to Me; then you will attain My abode, which is filled with nothing but bliss - ānanda evādhastāt ānanda upariṣṭāt ānanda: purastāt ānaṁda: paścāt ānaṁda uttarata: ānaṁdo dakṣiṇata: ānaṁda evedam sarvam।"
After listening to the complete lecture, the public said -
tumha binu asa sikha dei na koū। mātu pitā svāratha rata oū॥
"No one except You can give us this spiritual knowledge. Even our parents are selfish. They will only teach us what they themselves practice."
Worldly people will only teach worldly matters. Any person will advise you according to their own preferences. For instance, worldly parents will say, "Get married like us, have four to six children, build a couple of houses, and save 10-20 crore rupees in the bank for your children before you die." Similarly, if someone is a drunkard, they will recommend drinking alcohol, claiming it will end all your sorrows and unrest. A robber would encourage robbery as a solution. The association of such worldly people will lead you to adopt the same practices. And since these people have no knowledge of God themselves, what can they possibly teach you about Him?
"Aṃdhenaiva nīyamānā yathāṃdhā:"
Just as one blind person leads another blind person and both end up dying in an accident, similarly, in this world, everyone is busy deceiving one another.
Only a genuine saint can explain philosophical knowledge to you and engage you in practical devotion. Then, you will understand the importance of the human body. You will understand that you have attained this rare human body, which is difficult even for celestial beings to attain. And you will realize what you are doing with it - you are spending your life worse than animals. When you realize this, you will wake up. When hunger arises, you will desperately search for God. You will learn that attaining God is easy. God says, "Cry out to Me just as an innocent newborn baby cries without any knowledge. Then I will come."
So, even without faith, through association of a saint, the following things will occur:
- Faith will arise.
- Divine sentiments will develop through devotional practice taught by the saint.
- Devotion to God and the Guru will manifest when preparatory devotion matures (bhāv bhakti).
Thus, you will attain your ultimate goal.
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