Of faith plus knowledge minus fear

Faith – the basics!

When I say faith, I do NOT mean ‘religion’ here ( Note that ). I would like to get as basic as ABCs when it comes to something important as ‘faith’. A section of people consider it be their privilege to comment that ‘faith’ is for the weak. They are too busy beating their own drum to discover that their own life has it; and that too in abundance! When you get out of your home in the morning and cross the road to get a milk pouch, you had faith that you won’t be run over by a vehicle. When you tell yourself that you have fallen in love with a girl in your office, you have faith that the girl is actually the right one. It was your faith that made you trust your young brother who pledged to quit drugs. If you look in and around your life, there will be several examples that establish this truth; actually an obvious one! I believe, life without faith is not possible. Absence of faith means presence of fear! Absolute state of faith is knowledge. In fact, life begins with faith. Faith is to believe when no proof of concept are around. Faith is to believe even when the rationality bends it knees. To have faith is to expect the best when you are going to pick something up from a heap. Still, people ask, does it matter at all? I believe, it’s not possible to have a compelling faith without using one’s own head! How easy is it to understand that two plus two equals four? You don’t need to have faith to have that understanding (A child in kindergarten will do, anyways) because you know it already. There are no ‘unknowns’, no ‘uncertainties’ and you have a reason to believe that. What’s the catch? To have faith is to delve into unknown territory. Faith is a trait of the strong, learned and wise.

Absence of faith and knowledge means presence of fear!

Faith is to be sure of something you don’t know. Fear is to be afraid of something you don’t know. Knowledge is to know. Does that sound a little complex to understand? Let’s consider one example. Our minds are conditioned to understand with the help of examples.

You are driving home at night on a motorcycle. If you are faithful, you will drive through the woods, without worrying about the wild animals. May be you will just plug in your earphones and listen to your favorite music. You chose the positive alternatives, although there were no rational reasons for doing so. If you are fearful, you will doubt if you can drive well at night. You will be afraid of wild animals. You will be reminded of the ditches and rocks and boulders on the way. If you are knowledgeable you are fully sure that you can drive well at night on the trek under consideration and that wild animals are not going to get close to motor vehicle making noise and emitting light. Another person with knowledge will purely concentrate his mind to his tune.

Fear can never enter the territory of ‘knowledge’. Fear will occupy your head if faith or knowledge is not around! For example, if you are appearing for an interview in faith, you will be a lot more confident. Merely a positive thought about performing well in interview will boost your morale and thus help you stay cool and consequently – act cool! (Something that matters – as realists know it). In the absence of this faith, fear will prevail. The unknown part – result of interview! A person driven by faith will perform well. A person driven by fear will perform worst. A person driven by knowledge will perform such that he does not care what the result is. Such a person will merely appear for the interview and think nothing else.

Faith, knowledge and fear go side by side. A fearless person will have a great balance of faith and knowledge. Here is a chart that depicts a great truth.

I did not know that I did not know.

In fact, the shit that you don’t know can very well result in fear if faith is not there. Ultimate goal of human life, I believe, is to reach the state of absolute knowledge. This goal, nevertheless, cannot be achieved without faith. If you have been following law of attraction, you will understand how well faith can help you to realize your dreams or lead a contented life. Students of Vedic studies will also agree that faith is absolute condition to acquire absolute knowledge.

To have faith is to play blind and play it with full confidence. Wherever mind plays a role in the universe, faith takes care of your dreams, aspirations and contentment. Its not that faith itself is ‘blind’. Faith has a basis – its just that it does not resonate with the rational logic. The basis, if you investigate, lies in the abstract knowledge or realizations of the faithful. More or on this in coming posts. If I were to set the logic and rationality aside, faith is knowledge deep inside your heart where reasons and proofs can not reach!

Let me know what you think about it.