To: K-list
Recieved: 2003/03/17 03:36
Subject: [K-list] An exposition on faith and the Divine
From: rkshankar
On 2003/03/17 03:36, rkshankar posted thus to the K-list:
> I am also in one of those doubting periods where I think everything
originates from biology.
Biology and science are not wrong
They arrive at the unity of the Spirit in the external world
The external world too is God alone
However, to arrive at the underlying Spirit through external investigation
is tedious and uncertain
However, you do get a glimpse of the Unknowable from external pursuit
So much to the credit of science
The Kingdom of the Spirit is to be pursued with zeal inwardly
For, the Kingdom of Heaven is within as says Lord Jesus
But the passage is long and the labour arduous before we can look upon him
with eyes that see true,
and still longer and more arduous must be our endeavour if we would rebuild
ourselves in his true image.
The Master of the work does not reveal himself at once to the seeker.
Always it is his Power that acts behind the veil, but it is manifest only
when we renounce the egoism of the worker,
and its direct movement increases in proportion as that renunciation becomes
more and more concrete.
Only when our surrender to his divine shakti is absolute, shall we have the
right to live in his absolute presence.
And only then can we see our work throw itself naturally, completely and
simply into the mould of the Divine Will.
There must, therefore, be stages and gradations in our approach to this
perfection,
as there are ill the progress towards all other perfection on any plane of
Nature.
The vision of the full glory may come to us before, suddenly or slowly, once
or often,
but until the foundation is complete, it is a summary and concentrated,
not a durable and all-enveloping experience, not a lasting presence.
The amplitudes, the infinite contents of the Divine Revelation come
afterwards
and unroll gradually their power and their significance.
Or, even, the steady vision can be there on the summits of our nature,
but the perfect response of the lower members comes only by degrees.
In all Yogas the first requisites are faith and patience.
The ardours of the heart and the violences of the eager will
that seek to take the kingdom of heaven by storm
can have miserable reactions
if they disdain to support their vehemence on these humbler and quieter
auxiliaries.
And in the long and difficult integral Yoga there must be an integral faith
and an unshakable patience.
It is difficult to acquire or to practise this faith and steadfastness on
the rough and narrow path of Yoga
because of the impatience of both heart and mind and the eager but faltering
will of our rajasic nature.
The vital nature of man hungers always for the fruit of its labour and,
if the fruit appears to be denied or long delayed, he loses faith in the
ideal and in the guidance.
For his mind judges always by the appearance of things,
since that is the first ingrained habit of the intellectual reason in which
he so inordinately trusts.
Nothing is easier for us than to accuse God in our hearts
when we suffer long or stumble in the darkness or to abjure the ideal that
we have set before us.
For we say, "I have trusted to the Highest and I am betrayed into suffering
and sin and error."
Or else, "I have staked my whole life on an idea which the stern facts of
experience contradict and discourage.
It would have been better to be as other men are who accept their
limitations and walk on the firm ground of normal experience."
In such moments -- and they are sometimes frequent and long --
all the higher experience is forgotten and the heart concentrates itself in
its own bitterness.
It is in these dark passages that it is possible to fall for good or to turn
back from the divine hour.
If one has walked long arid steadily in the path,
the faith of the heart will remain under the fiercest adverse pressure;
even if it is concealed or apparently overborne, it will take the first
opportunity to re-emerge.
For something higher than either heart or intellect upholds it
in spite of the worst stumblings and through the most prolonged failure.
But even to the experienced Sadhaka such falterings or overcloudings
bring a retardation of his progress and they are exceedingly dangerous to
the novice.
It is therefore necessary from the beginning to understand and accept the
arduous difficulty of the path
and to feel the need of a faith which to the intellect may seem blind,
but yet is wiser than our reasoning intelligence.
For this faith is a support from above;
it is the brilliant shadow thrown by a secret light that exceeds the
intellect and its data;
it is the heart of a hidden knowledge that is not at the mercy of immediate
appearances.
Our faith, persevering, will be justified in its works
and will be lifted and transfigured at last into the self-revelation of a
divine knowledge.
Always we must adhere to the injunction of the Gita,
"Yoga must be continually applied with a heart free from despondent
sinking."
Always we must repeat to the doubting intellect the promise of the Master,
"I will surely deliver thee from all sin and evil; do not grieve."
At the end, the flickerings of faith will cease;
for we shall see his face and feel always the Divine Presence.
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