What is Faith?

Faith is the instrument that takes us from birth to death.

Do we question the fact that we draw breath? No. We have implicit faith that we are going to draw breath, so much so that we are not even aware of it. We take it for granted, and that is faith. Like a child who takes its parents for granted. Because it knows that despite all the mischief it does, it will still be loved by the parents. Not just that, the child also has absolute faith that the parents will do what is best for it, without it having to ask.

To understand what faith is, let’s understand what faith is not. When all else fails, when the doctor has given up on us, when we’ve tried alternative medicine and it hasn’t worked, that is when we say let’s pray, or let’s go to the Divine. It is our last resort. When we are just one step away from the grave, that’s when we turn to faith. However, that is not faith; that is desperation.

Faith is that the step we take in any direction, that is the only direction there is; there is no other direction or option. Because we only walk in the direction in which the Universe guides us. The options come from the mind, and then we make wrong decisions. Like a child who has absolute—and not blind—faith in its parents’ decisions, the moment we say we go wherever the Universe guides us, that is faith: leading our lives without making any decisions.

One doesn’t build up faith; we either have it or we don’t. And there are no levels of faith that we gather along the way. Faith is also not lost; we may forget it or may be weaned away from it, but it can never be lost.

The first step towards realizing faith is to not even be aware of it; to take it for granted. The second step is to eliminate the concept of faith from our thought process, because it simply is.

Faith is the teacher that makes us complete. And when faith makes us complete, we need it no longer. Because nothing can be added, nothing can be taken away. Just like a teacher is needed until we graduate. Once that is accomplished, we don’t go back to the teacher for advice for it is no longer needed.