Spiritual Precepts- Swami Brahmananda

True Faith

The first stage of spiritual life is faith in God or the intense desire to know one’s real nature. The primary step in sadhana is to devote one’s heart and soul to the task of finding out the basic principle underlying this universe. Whence came this universe? What is its cause? Human birth is for the purpose of solving this problem. Having got a human birth, he who does not strive for Self-knowledge, being immersed in transient pleasures, is born in vain. He alone has realized the purpose of human birth who knows his true nature, by conquering the animal tendencies.

The majority of mankind remains immersed in the mad pursuit of sensual pleasures. Only a very few care to know about God. It would be enough if there be one such in a million. Many indeed make a display of religion by conducting elaborate worship and going round various places of pilgrimage. But there is hardly one among them who earnestly desires to know anything of true spirituality. Only that man who feels an inner urge to know the truths of religion and eagerly hankers after Self-knowledge has set his foot on the path of Sadhana. The rest only talk of religion. The real desire for spirituality has not yet dawned on their minds. Their religious observances are a mere show, an outward façade.

It is very difficult to get true faith in God. How few are those who have such faith! We cannot have true faith in God by hearing from others or reading the scriptures. It is the pure heart that can have true faith in God. It is a matter of direct realization and cannot come about by mere intellectual reasoning or discussion. We must at least feel in our soul the existence of God; then only can real faith in God dawn. Faith and devotion are internal matters. No one can put faith into you, unless your mind and heart are pure. Unless you are born with good samskaras, you cannot get true faith and devotion.

© "The Vedanta Kesari" (October, 1999) published by Sri Ramakrishna Math, Mylapore, Chennai 600 004. Website: www.sriramakrishnamath.org. Reprinted with permission.

Compiled by Sri P Seshadri Iyer of Haripad (Kerala), who was the Curator of libraries, Tranvancore and Cochin states. He was a disciple of Swami Brahmananda. He was a linguist and played a major role in the translation of Ramakrishna-Vivekananda literature into Malayalam and its spread in Kerala. This collection of spiritual precepts has been made available to The Vedanta Kesari by Prof. N S Vasudev Rao of Mumbai.

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