Re: On Faith
hariḥ oṁ
~~~~~~
namasté Cytosine,
You mention the following:
Why do you believe? Or do you know? What reason do you have for your beliefs?
I think your question is well-founded and deserves a thoughtful repsonse. Many HDF members have offered valuable responses and if I may I'd like to add one more.
You are talking of śraddhā and this is defined as faith , trust , confidence , trustfulness , faithfulness , belief in , but it is so much more. The key to this śraddhā that we find in sanātana¹ dharma is predicated upon ārṣa jñāna. Many know this but thought it was worthy to repeat what this is.
- ārṣa - relating or belonging to or derived from ṛṣi-s (some spell rishi's) seers of truth, of Reality;
- and we know jñāna is knowledge.
So sanātana dharma is anchored upon, founded in, and supported by the knowledge of the seers of Reality. This is why sanātana dharma is so profound, so insightful. It comes to us via the seers that know, the exponents of Reality. That is, those seers that are exponents of this Infinite Being of Intelligence and can speak from direct personal experience.
That is why this śraddhā is strong. There are those that are amongst us ( or have been here) on this good earth that are exponents of Reality.
Some of us have or had the opportunity to be with these beings and are blessed for that time spent. This strengthens this śraddhā because we see these beings that are the exponents of this Being while on earth.
Now that said this next part ( IMHO) is the cream. This experience of Reality can be had by all . That is, Reality, expansion of consciousness, Being is svatāsiddha. The notion of Being is self-revealed, self-known on a personal -subjective -intimate level. It is svatā +siddha
- svatā = the state of belonging to one's self , ownership as sva स्व = one's own , my own.
- siddha = accomplished , fulfilled , effected , gained , acquired, well-known
This is the beauty of śraddhā in sanātana dharma , it can be self-proved. One can take to a technique or find the right teacher and begin to unfold this Reality within themselves.
Hence the upaniṣad-s, the ved, various āgama's give us knowledge , then we ourselves can have the practical experience ourselves - this is the notion of svatāsiddha. If we just read about all the saints and ṛṣi-s their experinces remain on the page and not in our own being.
This faith is to be practiced, experienced, that is why it is so grand , so profund a view of the Truth. It needn't stay dormant within a book, but can be lively within ourselves, personal, real, direct.
praṇām
words
sanātana is defined as eternal , perpetual , permanent , everlasting , primeval , ancient
- With the long ā this word could be looked as as sanā-atana or sana-atana or sana-ātan-a
- sanā is defined as 'of old' and we can quickly see the connection to 'eternal'.
- sana - is defined as 'lasting long' , again the connection to 'everlasting'
- atana is a passer on, or the act of passing on
- ātan is to extend or stretch over , penetrate , spread , overspread (said of the light) , illuminate
dharma is from dhṛ - that which upholds, preserves , keeps ; and dharma then is defined as that which is established or firm , steadfast
So this sanātana dharma is that which upholds (dhṛ), establishes firm that which ancient ( sanā ) and ever lasting (sana) that spreads over (ātan) and is passed on (atana).
यतस्त्वं शिवसमोऽसि
yatastvaṁ śivasamo'si
because you are identical with śiva
_
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