Faith, Varieties of Faith and Doubts

Who Cannot Understand the Vedas?

Krishna says in "Bhagavad-gītā" 4.40:

"Ignorant and faithless persons who doubt the revealed scriptures do not attain God consciousness – they experience downfall. For the doubting soul there is happiness neither in this world nor in the next."

This means that three categories of people cannot receive transcendental knowledge or understanding about spiritual activity:

1. The ignorant, who have not read any scriptures and know nothing about spiritual life. They may appear very intelligent, but their knowledge does not extend beyond the material body and the activities of the senses.
2. The faithless, who know the scriptures and even quote their fragments, but they do not believe in the truths set forth in them. They examine scriptures as historical writings and look for hints about previously flourishing civilizations, but they are not at all attracted to what is taught in them. They do not believe in the existence of the spiritual soul.
3. The doubters. They know the scriptures, they use them, they seemingly engage in spiritual practices, but they do not acknowledge the existence of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

Knowledge and Faith

Vedic literature is called āstika – that which must be accepted on faith. This does not mean that we are talking about incomprehensible things that we will never be able to verify. The Vedas mean knowledge, and the word knowledge points to certain objective facts. Knowledge is related to cognition. One can know only that which actually exists. We cannot know that which does not exist.

Knowledge can be material or spiritual. However, even material knowledge we must accept on faith. When a student goes to school, he listens to the teacher explaining about the structure of the world, but he himself has no means to verify all this, so the student must accept everything with faith. The time will come when his knowledge reaches a certain limit, when he will be able to practically verify what he learned earlier. The knowledge presented in the Vedas is spiritual knowledge. It also must be accepted on faith at least in the very beginning, since we have no means to verify it ourselves. We trust the authority of ancient sages who experienced it personally. We have no other way to understand spiritual matters except by accepting them on faith. We must believe in something. Therefore the Vedas are called āstika, that which is perceived through faith.

Later, as a person progresses and engages in spiritual practice, he will be able to experience the result directly. In "Bhagavad-gītā" 9.2 Krishna says:

"This knowledge is the king of education, the most secret of all secrets. It is the purest, and because it allows one to directly perceive the self through experience, it is the perfection of religion. It is eternal and is joyfully performed."

Thus Krishna speaks of pratyakṣāvagamaṁ – experienced directly, which means vidyā – knowledge. The beginning of knowledge is faith. Faith based on experience becomes knowledge.

Varieties of Faith

Faith can be material and transcendental. In BG 17.3 Krishna says:

"O son of Bharata, governed by the various guṇas of material nature, a person's mind determines his faith. All people are full of faith, so whatever object of worship he directs his faith toward, such will his mind become."

Thus faith can be born from sattva guṇa, from rajas guṇa, and from tamas guṇa, as well as transcendental if directed toward the Supreme. Material faith in various demigods, forces of nature, ghosts, or people will hardly help a person become happy, therefore such faith is called unfounded.

Faith subject to the guṇas gives birth to a multitude of religious faiths, customs, traditions, and superstitions. All the great world religions can be boldly called religious faiths, since true devotion to God and unmotivated service to Him have been displaced by rituals, traditions, and the pursuit of benefit. Transcendental faith is a very rare gift from God, obtained only by the mercy of a pure Vaiṣṇava guru.

Caitanya Mahāprabhu taught Sanātana Gosvāmī that the level of a devotee depends on faith.

Śraddhā – Faith

Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī says that there are nine stages of devotional service. Of these, faith – śraddhā – is the first. From it spiritual life begins. Later, as devotion deepens, śraddhā also strengthens. Faith is trust in someone, belief that he will not deceive and will not leave without shelter. How to destroy faith? – by destroying trust, by deceiving.

Faith is of two kinds:

1. Abstract faith. When I believe that God exists and/or constantly demand something from Him. Such faith cannot be called śraddhā, because it is not enough to simply believe that God exists. This kind of faith differs little from atheism, because it does not obligate the believer in any way. Therefore we see that there are so many believers, but most of them commit all possible sins. This is because they believe in a certain abstract being called God, which is in no way connected with their lives. For most people, God is just an idea, a moral category, for others – it is an idealized image of man himself. The consequence of such faith is that a person continues material existence.
2. Obligating faith. When I believe in God, in what God says and promises me in the scriptures. Then a person understands how closely he is connected with God and how much he owes Him. Such faith becomes the basis of bhakti. God has given us so much of everything, therefore we must also give Him something.

True faith means that we believe in Krishna's instructions and follow them. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu states (CC Madhya 22.62):

"By performing transcendental loving service to Krishna, one automatically performs all supplementary activities. Such firm faith, favorable for performing devotional service, is called śraddhā."

In the Bhagavad-gītā, Krishna says that He is the Supreme Personality and there is nothing higher than Him. If a person believes these words, he has faith. When a person begins to perform devotional service to the Lord, it should be understood that he has already fulfilled all his duties in the material world. He has satisfied his forefathers, ordinary living beings, and demigods. Such a personality no longer needs to think about needing to do anything additionally. All this is done automatically. Karmic activity is performed to satisfy material senses, but when a person awakens his dormant love for God, he no longer needs to perform additional pious activities. The best achievement of karmic activity is renunciation of material life, and a devotee achieves this very easily. In this way he can happily perform devotional service to the Lord in the spirit of renunciation. Such is firm faith that Krishna consciousness is sufficient to achieve perfection. Firm faith means that a devotee does not grasp at additional processes to improve his devotional service or Krishna consciousness. Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 4.31.14 says:

"By watering the roots of a tree, its branches, twigs, and leaves receive water, and by supplying food to the stomach, all the senses of the body are satisfied. Similarly, by performing transcendental service to the Supreme Lord, all the demigods and other living entities are automatically satisfied."

The Sanskrit word "śraddhā" means trust in God. Śraddhā is cultivated with the help of association. "Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam" 3.25.25 says how faith is strengthened:

"In the association of pure devotees, discussions about the pastimes and activities of the Supreme Personality of Godhead are very pleasing and satisfy the ear and heart. By cultivating such knowledge, one gradually makes progress on the path toward liberation, and ultimately, upon liberation, faith and attraction become firm. Then real devotion and devotional service begin."

Even in the material sense, everything begins with faith. Even atheism is faith. Science is also faith. Theoretical knowledge means faith, and only then comes experiment. Well-founded faith is very good, but in the beginning we need at least some faith so that we can do something. Faith without knowledge can exist, but knowledge without faith cannot arise. In devotional service this manifests very clearly.

Of course, when we believe in something, we must know what we believe in. Faith in a holy personality will make a person perfect, but faith in a deceiver will lead nowhere, only to suffering. Even when going to a barber one needs to have faith that he will not cut your throat, but will calmly shave your beard.

Sources of Faith

Faith is again divided into two types:

• Śāstrīya śraddhā – faith based on scriptural injunctions.
• Laukika śraddhā – faith based on people's opinions, rumors.

If a bhakta wants to progress on the path of bhakti-yoga, he must cultivate śāstrīya śraddhā, not laukika śraddhā.

Faith is also cultivated by serving God. Faith arises through association with devotees, eating prasāda, hearing and repeating what you have heard.

Another aspect of faith: If a person says he believes in everything, it means he believes in nothing. Just believing, blindly believing is not enough. Such faith will not last long. One needs to understand why the Lord is worthy of trust. This is not just theorizing, this is practical application.

Āstika means faith: faith in the scriptures, faith in the Vedas. When faith becomes very strong and concentrated, then one can understand Krishna. Firm faith means that a person tells himself: "When I understand Krishna, all my duties and activities will reach perfection."

Attaining love for God is a gradual process, and the first stage is faith. Without faith there is no question of Krishna consciousness. Faith arises from carefully reading the Bhagavad-gītā and truly understanding what it is. Without reading the Bhagavad-gītā there is no question of faith in Krishna. One must believe Krishna's words, especially when He says: "Abandon all dharmas and simply surrender to Me. I will grant you all protection."

Most religions emphasize faith as the most important part of their practice. In the beginning we believe that God exists and He wishes us well. By practicing religion, faith only grows stronger. Krishna consciousness philosophy states that faith is especially important for spiritual perfection, but gradually faith is replaced by knowledge arising from practical experience. The Krishna consciousness process teaches not to believe in God, but to experience God, to meet Him face to face. Then there is no question of faith, just as when standing before a specific person and communicating with him we do not doubt his existence. Krishna consciousness teaches to directly experience God.

Mind and Doubts

Prabhupāda said that intelligent is one who thinks about what can be reached by thinking. One who thinks about what transcends thinking is not intelligent, he is a rebel.

One can conclude that faith lies more in the realm of emotions. We feel trust in those who attract us with their character traits or their relationship with us.

Doubt, on the contrary, arises from distrust. It is impossible to force someone to do something if that person does not trust the one who commands or asks him. Therefore doubt can be justified and unjustified.

Justified Doubts or Critical Thinking

Justified doubt arises when we have no basis to trust, that is, the personality does not attract us, he himself is not of reliable character, his goals are unknown or questionable.

Even Vedic literature and its commentaries should be viewed critically but spiritually. Relativity exists in the scriptures, and commentators' opinions also differ regarding various spiritual statements' meanings and their application. All this is difficult to sort out, so at every step a guide is needed.

However, ultimately one who practices spiritual life must learn to think critically, but nevertheless spiritually. The scriptures and the saints themselves emphasize this, and a qualified śikṣā guru can help achieve such a level of spiritual ability to discriminate.

The scriptures provide a large amount of knowledge in which the highest goal is described together with the means to achieve it. However, the scriptures also seek to guide those who are not interested in the ultimate goal of life. For this purpose, the scriptures provide relative knowledge about other possible goals that humanity can achieve, and how best for people to pursue those goals.

The scriptures provide laws that regulate the achievement of various ideals arising in the human soul, and also offer objective means to determine the hierarchy of human values. In doing this, the scriptures are not dogmatic. They invite the use of intellect, leaving each individual to decide what is important to him and corresponds to his specific ideal. Also, a person's intellect is invited to participate in understanding the Vedic conclusions, as well as defending the scriptures from opposition that may not recognize Vedic authority. Vedānta-sūtra is precisely such an example.

Thus sincere submission to spiritual authority must ultimately evoke this kind of spiritual critical thinking. Unfortunately, many people try to do this either by not submitting to supra-rational means of knowledge (guru), or in the name of submission to spiritual authority, seek to avoid the difficult task of critical spiritual thinking.

Ṭhākura Bhaktivinoda states that in a certain sense the scriptures themselves, and even more so their written commentaries, are derived from the personal discoveries of spiritually advanced souls.

It should also be emphasized that the negative side of such avoidance of thinking critically spiritually, merely hiding behind strict following of the Vedas, is immeasurable. In this way a person withdraws his own intellectual abilities from service to God, depriving such a practitioner of a sense of spiritual integrity. This also turns a vibrant spiritual tradition into an insignificant pile of religious and cultural baggage, only encouraging those who claim that religion and scriptures are for those who cannot face uncertainty or are unable to understand anything more than black and white.

Unjustified Doubts

Unjustified doubt arises when we trust some personality, but do not trust ourselves, or have no basis to distrust others. This means that even a spiritual teacher someone can doubt, even without seeing a reason for such doubts. Such a person more often doubts himself, whether he can achieve what the holy personality speaks about. Or doubt arises from envy – an unconscious desire to reject everything that is said by a person before whom you involuntarily feel inferior.

To dispel doubts there is no other way than knowledge. When we know that this person is not deceiving us and has no selfish interests, we can stop doubting him. By serving Krishna, we acquire practical knowledge, we experience the result, and this encourages us to trust the guru even more. "Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam" 11.20.30 says:

"The knot in the heart is cut, all doubts are chopped to pieces, and the chain of karmic actions is broken when one sees Me as the Supreme Personality of Godhead."

When the heart bound by stone sees Krishna as the supreme source of transcendental pleasures (akhila rasāmṛta mūrti) it itself experiences rasa and the heart melts, then all the doubts of the mind seeking to experience true pleasure are dispelled (param dṛṣṭvā nivartate), the mind finds what it truly sought, then the karma machine is immediately stopped – there is nothing more to seek, everything has already been found and is clear.

Doubt can become a devotee's enemy. When a devotee encounters difficulties, he may begin to doubt the whole process. This is material nature: the mind does not want discomfort. It wants to be satisfied. It seeks satisfaction through devotional service. However, devotional service itself is a gradual subduing of the mind, so the mind feels this sooner or later. Then it begins to resist. After that, as one of the mind's tricks, doubt begins: "Oh, what am I doing here? Why must I suffer here? Why can't I be like everyone else and live normally, do what I want, and not what the temple president or guru wants? Or maybe this guru is also not a holy personality? Maybe he is also imperfect?" All this is just the mind's tricks when it wants to free itself from the noose.

"Those who are not faithful in devotional service cannot attain Me, O conqueror of enemies. Therefore they return to the cycle of birth and death in the material world." (BG 9.3)