What is faith?
QUESTION: Masters, I have studied many books and scriptures, practiced yoga and meditation and I am very interested in my spiritual growth. Still I find it very hard sometimes to have faith. Part of me knows love is true, but big part of me cannot believe that life can be so great. How can I have more faith? ~Annika, Greece
ANSWER: Faith is a word that means many things to many people. Basically faith is having confidence in the beliefs, teachings, or doctrines of some body of people. It may be religious, societal, medical, etc. It begins for all humans in having faith that what your parents, teachers, and religious tell you is completely true. This establishes your belief systems, which you use to direct and control your daily life.
Religiously, faith is accepting, without even questioning, everything that is said by the hierarchy of the sect. This is where most humans have their first doubts about ”faith” because they just cannot believe some of the stories that form the basis of their doctrines.
In true spirituality there is no faith involved. You are not asked to believe in what someone else accepts as truth, but rather to accept only what resonates or feels right for your life. Love is true; the energy of the universe and the source of all things is unconditional love.
The Earth has a default setting of negativity, which is the opposite of love. It is so because Earth is the only place that has negativity, which allows souls to learn lessons. Each soul has freedom of choice, and that choice revolves around choosing whether to fill your life with positive or negative energy. Choose positive and you have unconditional love energy all around.
Not all lives are filled with tons of negative life lessons. Some souls come down to Earth once in a while to have a pleasant, loving life. You are experiencing one of these lives right now. You may choose to fill it with love only, or allow some negative fear and hatred to intrude—the decision is yours.
Have faith in yourself. Create the world you wish to enjoy. Your life can be as great and wonderful as you alone permit.