Message from the Gospel – 3. Faith is THE Essential thing

Throw a child into the air. It will laugh. Throw it higher. The child will laugh louder. Children consider it as fun. They firmly believe that they will be caught when they start falling down.

Let us extrapolate the analogy to our own life. When circumstances force a decent in our life, do we trust that it is a play of God, who is the Father of all fathers and Mother of all mothers, and that He will surely protect us? If we have such unshakable faith, no situation should alarm us and we should also be able to laugh like children.

Sri Ramakrishna emphasizes the importance of faith at several occasions in the Gospel. He says, “Pray to God, 'Give me faith and devotion.' Once a person has faith he has achieved everything.  There is nothing greater than faith.” 

(To Kedar) "You must have heard about the tremendous power of faith.  It is said in the purana that Rāma, who was God Himself - the embodiment of Absolute Brahman - had to build a bridge to cross the sea to Ceylon.  But Hanuman, trusting in Rama's name, cleared the sea in one jump and reached the other side.  He had no need of a bridge.  (All laugh)

"Once a man was about to cross the sea.  Bibhishana wrote Rama's name on a leaf, tied it in a corner of the man's wearing-cloth, and said to him: 'Don't be afraid.  Have faith and walk on the water.  But look here - the moment you lose faith you will be drowned.' The man was walking easily on the water.  Suddenly he had an intense desire to see what was tied in his cloth.  He opened it and found only a leaf with the name of Rāma written on it.  'What is this?' he thought.  'Just the name of Rāma!' As soon as doubt entered his mind he sank under the water. 

If a man has faith in God, then even if he has committed the most heinous sins - such as killing a cow, a brahmin, or a woman - he will certainly be saved through his faith.  Let him only say to God, 'O Lord, I will not repeat such an action', and he need not be afraid of anything."

What more assurance we need? If faith in God can save even people who had committed the most heinous crimes, will it not save us?

Sri Ramakrishna admires the extraordinary faith of one of his devotees Krishnakishore. He says, "What tremendous faith Krishnakishore had! Once, while at Vrindāvan, he felt thirsty and went to a well.  Near it he saw a man standing.  On being asked to draw a little water for him, the man said: 'I belong to a low caste, sir.  You are a brahmin.  How can I draw water for you?' Krishnakishore said: 'Take the name of Śiva.  By repeating His holy name you will make yourself pure.' The low-caste man did as he was told, and Krishnakishore, orthodox brahmin that he was, drank that water.  What tremendous faith!

"Once a holy man came to the bank of the Ganges and lived near the bathing-ghat at Ariadaha, not far from Dakshineswar.  We thought of paying him a visit.  I said to Haladhāri: 'Krishnakishore and I are going to see a holy man.  Will you come with us?' Haladhāri replied, 'What is the use of seeing a mere human body, which is no better than a cage of clay?' Haladhāri was a student of the Gita and Vedanta philosophy, and therefore referred to the holy man as a mere 'cage of clay'.  I repeated this to Krishnakishore.  With great anger he said: 'How impudent of Haladhāri to make such a remark! How can he ridicule as a "cage of clay" the body of a man who constantly thinks of God, who meditates on Rama, and has renounced all for the sake of the Lord? Doesn't he know that such a man is the embodiment of Spirit?' He was so upset by Haladhāri's remarks that he would turn his face away from him whenever he met him in the temple garden, and stopped speaking to him.

   

Faith has another positive quality. The one who has faith is fearless. Even when pushed to extreme suffering, a man/woman of faith would be able to carry on life without running to various people for help. He/she would simply believe, “No harm will ever come to me. God will never let me down.”

Sri Ramakrishna explains this through the following example: “Sambhu Mallick used to come on foot from Baghbazar to his garden house at Dakshineswar.  One day a friend said to him: 'It is risky to walk such a long distance.  Why don't you come in a carriage?' At that Sambhu's face turned red and he exclaimed: 'I set out repeating the name of God! What danger can befall me?' Through faith alone one attains everything.”

Sri Ramakrishna says further, "One must have faith in the guru's words. The guru is none other than Satchidananda. God Himself is the Guru. If you only believe his words like a child, you will realize God. What faith a child has! When a child's mother says to him about a certain man, 'He is your brother', the child believes he really is his brother. The child believes it one hundred and twenty-five percent, though he may be the son of a brahmin, and the man the son of a blacksmith. The mother says to the child, 'There is a bugaboo in that room', and the child really believes there is a bugaboo in the room. Such is the faith of a child! One must have this childlike faith in the guru's words.”

Can we trust like a child, the kind of trust that child devotee Prahlada had?