Q. Swamiji what is the role of faith or belief in the study of Vedanta?
A. The study of Vedanta generally does not involve belief or faith; what it calls for is trust or shraddha. Pujya Swamiji talks of two kinds of Faith- verifiable faith and non-verifiable faith. For instance, our faith in God or heaven is non verifiable. It is something that cannot be validated because it is beyond both sensory perception and direct experience. The same goes for the concept of rebirth our past bus and the laws of Karma or Punya papa; there is no direct proof of any of this.
Interestingly when we talk of God, everyone talks of his or her God as the creator, as benevolent and merciful. Yet this is solely a matter of Faith, because we do not always find whatever is happening in the world to be merciful. Many people do not find life to be kind, and feel punished are treated unfairly. It is not everybody is experience that the God is fair or kind. Saying that god is kind and loving is there for a matter of acceptance, a matter of Faith.
Shraddha is translated as faith with reverence. In this context, having shraddha means having faith in Vedanta as being the pramana or valid means of knowledge. For instance, our eyes are the pramana for the perception of colour and form. We do not question what the eyes reveal and accept it without reservation. We give the information revealed by the eyes the benefit of doubt even if it appears to contradict what we believe to be true. We never question its validity. In fact, we apply reasoning where necessary to comprehend what the eyes appear to tell us, rather than question its validity. For example, if you happen to see someone that you thought was elsewhere, you do not doubt that you see him. You only assume that he must have travelled to where you are for some reason. unless there is a defect in the eyes themselves, such as cataract, the information they provide is considered indisputable, nirdosham. You cannot apply reasoning to disprove the information gathered through the organs of perception. each of the five organs of perception is the sole pramana for the information it gathers, as in the ears for sound, the skin for touch, the eyes for sight, that tongue for taste, and the nose for smell. We have shraddha in the truth of the knowledge they provide.
Vedanta is also a pramana. What does it reveal? It reveals the truth of all that exists. It reveals the reality about God, about the world, and about ourselves. Why must we know this? It is because the mind comprehends something different from the true nature of things. The mind says that the 'I', the self, is a limited entity; Vedanta teaches that the self is limitless. The mind says that the world around us is different from us; Vedanta says that it is not. The mind says that God is different from us and is elsewhere; Vedanta teaches that this is not true.
This is where Shraddha in Vedanta as a pramana comes into effect. It helps us decide whether to hold on to what the mind says or believe in the teaching of Vedanta instead. The mind reveals a certain view of life and the nature of reality. However, even though Vedanta says exactly the opposite of what the mind gathers, our shraddha in Vedanta enables us to give its teaching the benefit of doubt and we accept that it is the truth. The Guru also comes into the picture here because it is through the Guru that the wisdom becomes available to us; therefore, the Guru is also a pramana for the revelation of the truth.
Shraddha is defined as the conviction that the statements of the scriptures and the words of the Guru are trustworthy. Therefore, shraddha in the Guru is also important. The thing about this shraddha is that this faith is verifiable. Just as the eyes can reveal what exists, Vedanta also reveals what exists. You can indeed discover for yourself, the truth of what Vedanta says. You can discover the truth about yourself, the truth about the world, and understand the nature of God. The nature of whatever exists can always be discovered; it is the nature of something that existd in heaven that cannot be seen or verified as long as we are alive. The truth about what you cannot perceive cannot be discovered, as you do not have the faculty to understand such a thing.
On the other hand, you are and you can know you are, and the objective world exists and you can perceive it. Therefore, you have to accept the words of Vedanta until such time as you discover what it teaches to be true. It is a verifiable truth. Shraddha in this context, is faith- pending-discovery. You can verify the wisdom of the teaching in this lifetime itself.
Generally, we are unwilling to give up any of our own beliefs or conclusions. The ego causes us to reject others opinions or conclusion if it conflicts with our own judgements. In fact, our ideas and beliefs are so entrenched and we identify with them so closely, that some people take any rejection of their ideas as a rejection of themselves.
Having Shraddha in what Vedanta says enables you to look upon it as coming from a standpoint that is greater than your own; any differences between your conclusions and the wisdom of Vedanta will cause you to scrutinize your own conclusions, not question the truth of the teaching. If Vedanta teaches that you are Brahmin, yet you feel limited and powerless, the question is not, "how can I be limitless?" but "why don't I feel limitless?". You will examine this and find that there is no justification for your belief about yourself. If you interpret shraddha as your faith, it will be no different than the faith of a Christian or Muslim follower, which is unverifiable. There is no way to either deny or accept their beliefs, of course, but one need not reject them just because they are simply different from your own.
The faith that Vedanta expects is itself different from the kind of faith that our own scriptures require. The scriptures speak of heaven and brahmaloka, Vaikuntha, and so on, which are also unverifiable and a matter of faith. We have faith in what we are told and accept it readily, when the one who is speaking inspires faith in us. When we accept that person, it becomes possible to accept everything that they say. In other words, if the person has been able to create belief and inspire faith in us, whatever he or she says will be acceptable; otherwise, what they say will not leave an impression.
Having shraddha in the words of Vedanta is different, in that it is a faith where it is up to you to analyse your present conclusions and subject your own conclusions to the scrutiny of reasoning. It gives you a certain positive approach, a receptive mindset, not a questioning mindset.
Asking questions is one thing, and questioning is something else; asking questions shows the desire to know, while questioning shows non-acceptance, doubts or lack of trust. Questioning can also show arrogance and an unwillingness to let go of one's own beliefs or conclusions. It is shraddha which enables you to listen to the teacher with an unquestioning mind. Such a mind alone is receptive. If there is no Shraddha, there will be no reverence or trust in the teaching and doubts will continue to remain. Lord Krishna says, one who is devoid of shraddha, the doubting self goes to destruction. He is destroyed, in the sense, that he cannot place his trust anywhere. He cannot achieve anything, he becomes useless. If you stop trusting your eyes, where else will you go? If you stop trusting your ears, where else can you go? You will have nowhere else to turn. This is why trust in the pramana important.
Om Tat Sat
