Different Types of Faith

There are three modes of material nature and all the living beings are conditioned by these modes. In Vedic scriptures, these influences – ignorance, passion and goodness – are mentioned again and again. They produce all kinds of natures and behavior in man. We can compare them to three colors: red, blue and yellow. By mixing these colors, we can create innumerable other colors. The same way, by mixing the three modes of material nature, all the different types of appearances and experiences are created.

It is in the mode of goodness that a living entity can get clarity about their position in this material world. Goodness in its unadulterated form is, so to say, the healthy state. From there, by mixing with activities and influences from the lower modes (passion and ignorance), we experience diseased conditions. However, the mode of goodness as such, is also not perfect. That is why the evolution of consciousness goes far beyond that of just being a good person in this world. The healing circle is the common reservoir of all the good qualities, and everyone following a mystical path seriously, can acquire some of these qualities. (see CD13)

The more we are entangled by the modes of nature, the less is our power of free will. But even when we are in the modes of darkness and passion, still there are choices to be made. The principle choice is whether we are willing to move towards the mode of goodness or not. In the graphics, presented in the chart section (CD13, 15, 18, 24, 25, 26, 28, 29, 30, 31, 35), these three modes appear as separated, but in the practical life, obviously they intermingle.

Acquiring the appropriate faith is really our healing process

In materialism, faith in the Divine has been minimized, ridiculed and shattered by another type of faith. This materialistic faith and belief is proposing that there is no higher meaning of life and that life comes from matter. So here we have a conflict of faith. There is “reasonable” faith on one hand and then the “unreasonable” or mystical faith on the other.. In-between there are many appearances of faith. Some types of faith are opportunities for progress and recovery, whereas other types of faith demonstrate, that we are going in the wrong direction. Therefore it is important to recognize such indications and to move in the right direction.

Partial Faith

Partial faith is the condition when you have an idea, a notion and a little information, but you don’t have complete conviction. You are prone to make some errors due to this situation.. It is not because you want to make errors. It is just because your understanding is not complete. In this way, partial faith is not an obstacle on the path of development. It is rather a test. You still have all the chances. By further inquiry we can get more and more realization and reach full faith. “Full” faith, though it is a relative term here, meaning that you are fully satisfied with what you have learned and what you believe in. This should be proved by the Holy Scriptures and by saints. Then it will not be speculative.

Distorted Faith

There are certain faults and misbehaviors, caused by our conditioned nature. These faults produce some negative effects. The result of such effects is distorted faith. If we want to keep a certain lower lifestyle, being attached to habits, such as sleeping too much, intoxicating substances, stealing or any other unfavorable activity, then we are creating distorted faith. In other words it is the excuse for our behavior. In this way we are blocking ourselves on the path of progress. Distorted faith can take many forms. It can even take a form, which we would never suspect. For example: Taking shelter in the external part of a religious institution; thinking that hierarchy and achievements in a spiritual ecclesiastic system – like for example becoming an appointed in charge of a specific service in the institution – is already an indication of spiritual advancement. This is an example of distorted faith, because spiritual advancement is something totally different. It is something which has to do with surrender and spiritual realizations. We are very fortunate if we can be freed of distorted faith. This can only take place by associating with spiritually advanced persons with strong faith. We have to inquire from them and speak openly about these topics. Then some deep faith and realization can be transferred to us. Otherwise it will be very difficult to overcome distorted faith.

Healing Faith

Healing faith means that we are being connected to the truth. This type of faith is sound, healthy and solid. It is perennial. Healing faith is something which brings us to the healing circle. It brings us to the mode of goodness. It is an encouragement for certain activities, which will gradually lead us toward a higher and deeper understanding of truth.

On this path of progress, we will be put on trial. We will have to give up lower conceptions and accept higher ones. To abandon the lower to get to the higher, means in practice, to give up previous friends, conducts, habits, philosophies; anything, which is lower. Once you realize that something is lower, you should leave it behind and stick to the higher. This is one of the prices we have to pay for reaching a healthy condition.

Manipulated Faith

Another type of faith is manipulated faith. It may happen that we get misguided by people with wrong motivations. Because we are not able to recognize their motivations, we still put faith in them. The reason for that may be our destiny, which is a result of our actions in this and previous lifetimes. In this way we may have somehow come into a situation, where there are many impurities. If we put our faith in a manipulator, then we can not expect anything else but unhealthy conditions to come. We can find manipulated and blind faith manifested all around us. Therefore it is one of the crucial issues to fight against these types of faith by increased awareness through spiritual knowledge. People have faith in film stars, in musicians, football players, politicians. They believe that money can buy happiness; that pills or any other type of drugs will make them happier than they are now. They have put their blind faith in so much nonsense. All this is a result of being manipulated. So they are thinking that something will be beneficial for them, while it is actually very detrimental.

We should be very cautious. When we talk about healing faith, we are referring to a beneficial practice, which will bring good results.

Considering all these topics on faith, we should know that the most important influence on our faith comes from the inner voice. This is our inner conscience. It is the voice of the protector and benefactor of all. This inner voice is just as much a part of existence, as all the other aspects of life are part of it. The only thing is that we are not very aware of it and we do not know how to relate to it. Our mind is very much disturbed by many impressions and thoughts. We do not have the inner peace to perceive the inner voice. For that we have to take help from outside and because of that we have to understand the importance of the Holy Scriptures and Saints. They are witnesses to the truth. They are guides and inspire us on our path of recovery. In them we will find our inner voice amplified. Then the doubts will disappear and we will make progress. In this way the inner voice will be more and more perceptible to us.

When we make decisions, we should think carefully about them, but still we should believe in our intuitions. We have to pray to the Lord of the heart to guide us properly and give us intuition. We have to understand, that the mistakes, which may still come on our way, are the reactions coming from our previous mistakes. No one else is to be blamed for this. In the course of time, the influence of our previous mistakes will disappear. We just have to go on with sincerity and dedication. We will always be protected. The Supreme Controller is in charge and He is taking care of us. He is giving us all kinds of experiences in this material world, so that we can become strong and fixed on the right path.

Disheartened Faith

Blind faith is confusion. Manipulated faith means that you have lost track by being misguided by those who are not truthful. You have to give them up in order to make some real progress. Distorted faith is what you have produced
yourself by your own cheating mentality, by being too attached to matter and sense gratification. Very often the loss of superior faith takes place by being involved with activities in distorted faith, such as intoxication.

When you take intoxicants, like tobacco, marihuana, different drugs or alcohol, even your positive, constructive, reasonable faith may become shaken. But that is your mistake.

Disheartened faith is something else, which is more or less produced by having encounters with people who disheartened you. You may have trusted them, but then you got abandoned. That is of course a very painful experience. You have to go through this to realize that only the truth, and the souls who are purely dedicated to the truth, or at least those who are pure in purpose, can provide healing faith. They have real faith, positive healing transcendental faith. You will become disheartened when you put too much faith in somebody who does not have these qualifications. Having been disheartened should encourage you to find somebody appropriate to put your faith in.

We cannot walk without faith. We cannot even eat without faith. If you ate something, which gave you a lot of pain in your stomach, then next time you would not eat it. You would no longer have faith in that food. If something like this happened, you would not stop eating altogether. You would try to go somewhere else and get something else. If this something else gave you good nutrition, then you would put your faith in that type of food. Disheartened faith in that sense is an aid to finding real faith.

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.

Eliminating the false concepts of faith

There is a process for elevating faith. In the schools of the Vedas, this process is called “neti neti”. It is the elimination of false concepts and errors by declaring “neti”. “Neti” means not – I am not this, I am not that. In this way we are distancing ourselves from different identifications. At the same time, by comparing faiths, our knowledge is increasing. It is helpful to talk about the nature of faith, the elements of faith, the advantages and also the fragilities in the realm of faith. All these subjects are essential on the path of realization. When we are approaching the truth, we have to know and understand the nature of ignorance and illusion as well. Those who know both, the spiritual and material nature, can transcend the material world.

Distorted perceptions of faith

Nowadays the natural inclination towards spirituality is very often a reason for being discredited in our society. Faith in transcendence is looked upon as fantasy and life according to principles of a certain faith is considered to be outdated or simply naïve and blind.

This is one of the big reasons why people are so desperate nowadays. OIDA-therapy wants to restore the dignity and necessity of faith and help in this way to cure people’s diseased condition.

Psychiatrists and psychologists such as Stanislaw Grof and Roberto Assagioli are quite worried about the symptoms of uncontrolled ecstasy, attributed to spiritual experiences. They note that these ecstasies were often considered to be pathological manifestations of neurotic individuals.

Traditional psychoanalysis explains spirituality as a regression, or as a fixation on an infantile stage, rather than a step forward in the maturing process of a human being.

In this context the concept of God is interpreted as a projection of our infantile image of the “father in the sky”. Or even worse – writes Grof – the interest in religious ritual is seen as an analogy for obsessive, compulsive behavior of a neurotic and is explained as a regression to the libidinous anal stage.

Grof writes that a credo of each major religion is a direct spiritual experience of the founders, saints, and prophets. According to traditional psychiatry all these people would be seen as psychotics or suffering from other serious psychiatric condition.

As Grof wrote, if you look back at human history, you will find that many people have invested an enormous amount of energy in the spiritual quest. They have made a tremendous sacrifice for this purpose. They have sacrificed material possessions, professional carriers, as well as personal needs and sexual life.

In transpersonal psychology this impulse towards spirituality is viewed as a very natural and very powerful drive in human beings.
Whatever may be there, we have to judge a faith and it promoters by the amount of sacrifice which is being done for the welfare of others. Furthermore the lifestyle which is being propagated should be transparent and pure, both in words and conduct.

That should be the criteria for the authenticity and the beneficial nature of a propagated belief and life style.

OIDA NEWSLETTER