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Faith does not answer questions, it laughs at them || Acharya Prashant, on Jesus (2015)
Acharya Prashant
753 views
6 years ago
Faith
Belief
Jesus
Ego
Loyalty
Ramakrishna Paramahamsa
Kabir Saheb
Zen
Description

Acharya Prashant explains that faith is the evidence of things not seen and is fundamentally different from superstition or belief. He recounts stories of Shri Jesus to illustrate that faith is not about seeking signs or proofs through a skeptical mind. When people approached Shri Jesus with faith, miracles occurred, such as walking on water or the multiplication of bread. However, when people approached him to test him or demand signs, he refused to entertain them. The speaker emphasizes that faith does not operate on a cause-and-effect chain or the calculating brain; it is direct and from the source. He suggests that the only real proof of faith is the 'proof of John,' which involves the collapse of the ego, described as dying and coming alive. Acharya Prashant distinguishes between belief and faith by noting that belief is afraid of questions because they might shatter it, whereas faith is neither afraid of nor disturbed by questions. Faith knows a depth that questions cannot reach and often responds to them with a joke or a smile. He uses examples like Ramakrishna Paramahamsa and Bodhidharma to show that a faithful mind does not take intellectual questions seriously because words are insufficient to convey the truth. The faithful person's life and being are the only true proofs. He encourages bringing doubts into the open to expose their stupidity, as questions often lose their power when expressed in the presence of faith. Finally, the speaker clarifies the difference between loyalty and faith. Loyalty is directed toward worldly objects or persons and is conditional, fragile, and divided among many masters. In contrast, faith has no object and is absolute and undivided. He concludes by stating that faith and jokes share a common origin outside the center of logic. Through surrender to the 'One,' as Kabir Saheb suggests, one gains the essence of everything, whereas a shopping-like approach to spirituality yields nothing. Faith does not provide convoluted philosophical answers but makes the questions themselves appear trivial and unnecessary.