Acquiring Faith
One of the important things to understand is that we have been created, maintained, protected……. and that we are depending on the grace of the Lord. This is the case twenty- four hours a day.
Therefore it is reasonable to pray to that Divine source. Considering the degree of dependency, what else could be done? Whether we are scientists or millionaires, there’s no difference. We are all still dependent in the same way. The only difference, which may be there, is the different degree of faith we are born with. Those born in families and surroundings where there is strong faith are truly fortunate. This is of course a result of their previous lives. It is easier for them to accept this dependence on Divine grace. Nevertheless, the dependence is again the same.
Even if we were born in a different circumstance, still we can acquire faith. There are different ways. These are: the study of mystical faiths, which we make during our life; hearing from saintly people; reading from Holy Books and some extraordinary, special occurrences. The ways faith and grace can descend on us, cannot be limited in any way. Mystical studies give us the answers to our questions, and this brings about the elimination of our doubts. We acquire faith by these types of influences, which are actually also manifestations of grace. Revelations – we can say. But then as we go further ahead, and as we understand that „I’m a spirit soul”, there will be many more things revealed. We can be very much benefited by the incredible amount of information and revelation given by the Vedic scriptures. For example: the revelation about the nature of the universal form or the “virat rupa”. There we can see Divinity in the rivers, mountains, trees, in the process of creation, in time and everywhere. So we can feel an inclination towards universal love. This faith is very fulfilling and based on the Vedic revelation, we can enter into the most complete realm of faith.
It is by mercy that we meet the right people, who will tell us the right thing; that the right thing will happen, which will produce and inspire faith in us. Acquired faith, positive faith and healing faith can be judged by the effect of the healing process.
Then how can we maintain our faith? Well, not only should we maintain our faith, but we should always try to get more information in order to make our faith more complete. Obviously, we all have partial faith. We all have partial information about the transcendence and about the underlying principles of life. Therefore maintaining faith means maintaining contact with grace. In OIDA-therapy, we are studying the prescribed methods of different mystical traditions, about how to intensify, increase and maintain our particular faith, so that we can stay in a sane frame of mind, do sane things and develop further spiritual insights for our own well-being.
Maintaining faith obviously depends on our determination to stay on the right track. There will be definitely temptations. There will be trials and there may also be errors. We may slip at certain moments in order to regain more awareness of what is right and what is wrong and to realize our need for grace.