George Michael (oh Wham!) was soooo right..."you gotta have faith, faith, faith...baby!" It's clichéd but it's true...Faith CAN move mountains. Bottom line is we all need to believe in something. This is not about religion, not about spirituality, not about any rituals that we follow. Just the fact that we are not alone is the kind of faith that we all need. Every person, old or young, educated or uneducated, rich or poor, successful or unsuccessful, man or woman, we all have the same basic needs. How much we believe in something is what makes us the people we are.
It's heartening to watch people who have successfully made faith work for them (i'm talking in a purely non-materialistic way) and to learn from them. To achieve the impossible is a big thing. Just to watch people accept life and live it on their own terms is what i'm talking about. To not have a complaining attitude and to not compare her/his good fortune with one's own misfortune. In my book, that itself is equal to moving mountains! How does that work? How does one reach that place?
I have seen my Mom hyperventilating almost all her adult life about things she could or couldn't control (in her book it's the same!)...this while she was extremely religious and sometimes superstitious & ritualistic. We would go along with the harmless ones like "No non-veg on Tuesday", "Fasting on Fridays" etc. and protest against the others which didn't suit us. A great day for the entire family when she found her calling, her unshakeable "Faith" in the Buddhist Lotus Sutra. How we rejoiced, albeit in a very selfish way! Slowly we started noticing changes in Mom, changes which were small and some changes which were mega. She noticed small signs that Faith was working and went on to deepen her Faith through actually practising what she was studying. Mom was in good hands. She decided to trust and give up her worries and work on herself to be strong enough to weather the storms that life inevitably brings. She brings about change & stability to many lives that she touches. With my Dad's support she actually looks after many students that she comes into contact with. Taking her teaching vocation forward even after retirement, Mom impacts many an impressionable minds through her Faith!
My sister followed down the same path and discovered new found patience and confidence to face tough situations in her life. Her story reads like a handbook about the absence & presence of Faith in one's life. I hang to the very same faith, sometimes with all my strength & sometimes by a thin thread. One feels that one has just overcome small problems or sometimes not found any solutions to vexing questions. But when one looks back, one realises that having faith helped in the most trying times of one's lives. My mentor, Sensei Ikeda says, "Faith does not mean sailing in an ocean with no storms. Faith means having a boat which no storm can sink!"
With Faith & Wisdom beneath your wings, the world is yours for the taking! Handling the storms of life with wisdom, clarity & courage is what makes us women/men of substance. Hey, will the ups & downs of life ever stop? Never! Is it going to get more difficult before it gets easier to accept Faith and the changes that it brings? Maybe! Can we try & embrace the Faith that works for us and lead happier & more meaningful lives? Most definitely Yes!
Move mountains with faith? Piece of cake!
It's heartening to watch people who have successfully made faith work for them (i'm talking in a purely non-materialistic way) and to learn from them. To achieve the impossible is a big thing. Just to watch people accept life and live it on their own terms is what i'm talking about. To not have a complaining attitude and to not compare her/his good fortune with one's own misfortune. In my book, that itself is equal to moving mountains! How does that work? How does one reach that place?
I have seen my Mom hyperventilating almost all her adult life about things she could or couldn't control (in her book it's the same!)...this while she was extremely religious and sometimes superstitious & ritualistic. We would go along with the harmless ones like "No non-veg on Tuesday", "Fasting on Fridays" etc. and protest against the others which didn't suit us. A great day for the entire family when she found her calling, her unshakeable "Faith" in the Buddhist Lotus Sutra. How we rejoiced, albeit in a very selfish way! Slowly we started noticing changes in Mom, changes which were small and some changes which were mega. She noticed small signs that Faith was working and went on to deepen her Faith through actually practising what she was studying. Mom was in good hands. She decided to trust and give up her worries and work on herself to be strong enough to weather the storms that life inevitably brings. She brings about change & stability to many lives that she touches. With my Dad's support she actually looks after many students that she comes into contact with. Taking her teaching vocation forward even after retirement, Mom impacts many an impressionable minds through her Faith!
My sister followed down the same path and discovered new found patience and confidence to face tough situations in her life. Her story reads like a handbook about the absence & presence of Faith in one's life. I hang to the very same faith, sometimes with all my strength & sometimes by a thin thread. One feels that one has just overcome small problems or sometimes not found any solutions to vexing questions. But when one looks back, one realises that having faith helped in the most trying times of one's lives. My mentor, Sensei Ikeda says, "Faith does not mean sailing in an ocean with no storms. Faith means having a boat which no storm can sink!"
With Faith & Wisdom beneath your wings, the world is yours for the taking! Handling the storms of life with wisdom, clarity & courage is what makes us women/men of substance. Hey, will the ups & downs of life ever stop? Never! Is it going to get more difficult before it gets easier to accept Faith and the changes that it brings? Maybe! Can we try & embrace the Faith that works for us and lead happier & more meaningful lives? Most definitely Yes!
Move mountains with faith? Piece of cake!
No comments:
Post a Comment