Theos-Talk Archives (February 2009 Message tt00278)

--- In theos-talk@yahoogroups.com, "Anand" <AnandGholap@...> wrote:


> Do you think that St. Paul was misleading people when he said " the
> righteous will live by faith" ? Do you think that Lord Jesus was
> misleading people when he asked people to believe as written
> throughout the Gospels? Do you think that Indian spiritual writings
> were misleading people when they demanded  Shraddha (faith or belief)?
> Either scriptures were wrong or J. Krishnamurti was wrong. You can not
> say both are right. This position is logically absurd.


Dear Anand,

I would like to suggest that while discussing spiritual or religious
matters, the "either/or" logic may not help. Also, there are certain
words that have become, with usage and after many cultural and
religious wars, rather loaded with deeply emotional connotations. 

Take the word faith, for example. In ordinary parlance it is widely
equated with belief. This may be a very superficial meaning of the
word but it is certainly cosy and comfortable for many people in the
world. 

However, the word "faith" comes from the Latin verb 'fidere', "to
trust". There is a great deal of difference between belief and  trust.
In many cases, belief is the result of the play of appearances, while
trust implies an inner response from one's own understanding. Both, of
course, can be proved faulty when self-interest is involved.

If the story told in the gospels is even approximately true, the faith
the apostles had in Jesus was not mere belief. Their faith was an
understanding of the heart, a conviction born of a direct and
unmediated experience of their teacher's wisdom and compassion. The
parables that he shared with them were not an emotional appeal, a
media stunt. They were challenges to their understanding of what life
is all about. 

One of the meanings of the Samskrit word "shraddha" is also trust. The
Buddha emphasized the same idea: "don't accept something just because
tradition says its true, because the scriptures say its true or even
because I say it is true. Only accept that which resonates with your
own understanding." (non verbatim)

Let me conclude with a Zen story. 

In a Zen monastery, a monk was performing his walking meditation when
he noticed a caterpillar crossing the path. He took pity on it and put
it safely in the cabbage garden.

His fellow monk, who worked in the cabbage garden, gently protested
and said that if that creature would be allowed to reproduce there it
would destroy the garden. 

As they could not settle their gently dispute they decided to approach
the abbot of the monastery.

The first monk explained his concern for the vulnerable creature and
why he had put it in the cabbage garden. "Very well, my son", said the
abbot.

The second monk pointed out the danger that the caterpillar
represented to the garden if it was allowed to remain there. "Very
well, my son", the abbot remarked.

Near the abbot there was a novice. After the abbot's last remark the
novice said: "But Master, both can't be right!" To which the abbot
replied: "Very well, my son."


Pedro