By His Holiness Candramauli Swami.
Whatever one does in life requires some faith. When you get on a plane after you’ve paid your money, you have faith the pilot will get you where you are going safely. You don’t even know his name yet, but there is faith. Without faith, there is no progress in anything. Spiritual life, particularly the process of bhakti-yoga, is the path of faith. This is known as sraddha or firm faith.
The different processes of yoga are characterized by certain outstanding traits. Karma-yoga is the path of sacrificing the fruits of one’s work. Jnana-yoga is the path of knowledge leading to liberation from material entanglement. Astanga-yoga is the eight-fold path of mysticism culminating in meditation on the Supreme. Bhakti-yoga is devoting all of one’s activities in loving service to the Supreme
Bhakti or the path of devotional service is centered on faith: faith in guru, faith in the revealed scriptures. That faith is not blind but develops in the association with those on the path. “[In the] beginning is faith, but faith should not be blind. Mahajano yena gatah sa pantha [Cc. Madhya 17.186]. You have to take faith from great personalities. That is faith. This is the way. But faith is the beginning. And that is quite natural. Faith means by seeing others, respectable persons following, “And why not I shall follow?” That is faith. Faith is not also blind. You can see that so many others are doing, “So why I myself?” (Srila Prabhupada, Room Conv., May 2, 1976, Fiji).
So faith is not blind. One can practically experience by observing others and following the same process. This faith is called balotpadika or coming from external sources. One will naturally observe, “These persons are progressing spiritually. They are becoming free from material activities and are exhibiting enthusiasm in serving the Lord. They are happy and have knowledge of scripture.” This will give one the faith that, if I follow these persons, then I will have the same experience.
So one may say, yes, I have faith that the process works but it may not work for me or I am differently situated, therefore it may not be effective. No, it works for everyone but what is required is faith in a spiritual guide. The guru is one who can instill faith by giving spiritual knowledge along with practical guidance. Faith in the representative of Krishna, the spiritual master, is fundamental. That faith is awaked and develops by the process of hearing from guru and Krsna:
“The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: Now hear, O son of Prtha, how by practicing yoga in full consciousness of Me, with mind attached to Me, you can know Me in full, free from doubt.” (Bhagavad-gita 7.1)
“To hear about Krsna from Vedic literatures, or to hear from Him directly through the Bhagavad-gita, is itself righteous activity. And for one who hears about Krsna, Lord Krsna, who is dwelling in everyone’s heart, acts as a best-wishing friend and purifies the devotee who constantly engages in hearing of Him. In this way, a devotee naturally develops his dormant transcendental knowledge. As he hears more about Krsna from the Bhagavatam and from the devotees, he becomes fixed in the devotional service of the Lord. By development of devotional service one becomes freed from the modes of passion and ignorance, and thus material lusts and avarice are diminished. When these impurities are wiped away, the candidate remains steady in his position of pure goodness, becomes enlivened by devotional service and understands the science of God perfectly. Thus bhakti-yoga severs the hard knot of material affection and enables one to come at once to the stage of asamsayam-samagram, understanding of the Supreme Absolute Truth Personality of Godhead.” (SB 1.2.17-21)
Therefore only by hearing from Krsna or from His devotee in Krsna consciousness can one understand the science of Krsna.
Both faith in the process of bhakti-yoga and transcendental knowledge awaken and develop by regular and systematic hearing from both guru and Krsna, especially when done in the association of devotees. Awakening and developing faith is not done whimsically or haphazardly but is an exact process of activity that results in a transformation of one consciousness from the material to the spiritual that is characterized by attachment for spiritual activities and simultaneous detachment from material activities. Initially some preliminarily faith is required but that faith then becomes sraddha or strong faith.
Now let us explore a deeper faith principle. The following verse and purport from the Caitanya-caritamrta, Madhya-lila 22.62 indicate that by serving the Lord in devotion, everything else is simultaneously and perfectly achieved:
TRANSLATION
“Sraddha is confident, firm faith that by rendering transcendental loving service to Krsna, one automatically performs all subsidiary activities. Such faith is favorable to the discharge of devotional service.”
PURPORT
Firm faith and confidence are called sraddha. When one engages in the Lord’s devotional service, he is to be understood to have performed all his responsibilities in the material world. He has satisfied his forefathers, ordinary living entities, and demigods and is free from all responsibility. Such a person does not need to take care of his responsibilities separately. It is automatically done.
Krsna further confirms this statement by explaining how devotional service to Himself satisfies everyone and everything in the Srimad-Bhagavatam 11.5.41:
TRANSLATION
O King, one who has given up all material duties and has taken full shelter of the lotus feet of Mukunda, who offers shelter to all, is not indebted to the demigods, great sages, ordinary living beings, relatives, friends, mankind or even one’s forefathers who have passed away. Since all such classes of living entities are part and parcel of the Supreme Lord, one who has surrendered to the Lord’s service has no need to serve such persons separately.
PURPORT
In fact, the members of the Krsna consciousness society are sometimes criticized by materialistic persons for giving too much attention to Krsna rather than working to fulfill all of the above-mentioned obligations. In reply to this, the Bhagavatam (4.31.14) states, yatha taror mula-nishecanena tripyanti tat-skandha-bhujopasakhah. If one waters the root of a tree, automatically all of the branches, twigs, leaves, etc., are also nourished. There is no need for, nor any effectiveness in, separately pouring water on the branches, twigs and leaves of a tree. The water has to be placed on the root. Similarly, food must be placed in the stomach, from where it is automatically distributed to all of the limbs of the body. It is foolish to try to nourish the whole body by rubbing food separately on all the bodily limbs. Similarly, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krsna, is the source of all existence. Everything is emanating from Krsna, everything is maintained by Krsna, and at the end, everything will merge to rest in Krsna. The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krsna, is the supreme benefactor, friend, protector and well-wisher of every living entity, and if He is satisfied, then automatically the whole world will become satisfied, just as all of the bodily limbs are strengthened and satisfied when food is duly remitted to the stomach.
Again it is confirmed by the Lord how faith brings one ultimately to the stage of spiritual perfection in Bhagavad-gita 3.39:
TRANSLATION
A faithful man who is dedicated to transcendental knowledge and who subdues his senses is eligible to achieve such knowledge, and having achieved it he quickly attains the supreme spiritual peace.
PURPORT
Such knowledge in Krsna consciousness, can be achieved by a faithful person who believes firmly in Krsna. One is called a faithful man who thinks that simply by acting in Krsna consciousness he can attain the highest perfection. This faith is attained by the discharge of devotional service, and by chanting Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare, which cleanses one’s heart of all material dirt. Over and above this, one should control the senses. A person who is faithful to Krsna and who controls the senses can easily attain perfection in the knowledge of Krsna consciousness without delay.
Here the process is explained simply as chant Hare Krsna and carefully controls the senses. The essence of all spiritual practices is the regular chanting of the Hare Krsna mahmantra. This is repeatedly stated throughout the revealed scriptures. The Kali-santarana Upanisad states:
hare krsna hare krsna krsna krsna hare hare
hare rama hare rama rama rama hare hare
iti sodasakam namnam kali-kalmasa nasanam
natah parataropayah sarva vedesu drsyate
The sixteen words of the Hare Krsna mantra are especially meant for counteracting the sins of the age of Kali. To save oneself from the contamination of this age there is no alternative but to chant the Hare Krsna mantra. After searching through all the Vedic literatures one cannot find a method of religion for this age so sublime as the chanting of Hare Krsna.
(Lord Brahma instructs Narada Muni) The entire process of faith is dependent on complete faith in chanting Krsna’s holy names. That is the perfection of faith. It works without a doubt. Have faith and always chant Hare Krsna Hare Krsna Krsna Krsna Hare Hare/ Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare.