Faith vs Fanaticism
It was a serene gentle morning in the holy town of Vrindavan.I was extremely awestruck with the uplifting and cheerful atmosphere of the town.Every soul seems to be immersed in the holy chant of Radhe Radhe!!!I couldn't stop myself experiencing the unconditional love a Gopi feels for the Lord.Every inch of the town has a tale of Krishna's pastime.And I felt lucky enough to experience the aura of this place.
I remember as a kid I would enthusiastically listened to Krishna's pastime tales from my father.I grew up with the thought that my miseries and pain if any would be eased up by chanting krishna's name.This childhood thought was strong enough to give me a Faith that his name is enough to keep us floating in this Ocean of Samsara.
Yes FAITH is trust or confidence in someone or something. Someone has rightly said,"faith is seeing light with your heart when all your eyes see is darkness." Faith is the most important constituent of the spiritual journey by anyone.It is the strength of will and determination that leads to spiritual enlightenment.Faith keeps us going even in the harshest of circumstances. The very bond that binds the creation to the Creator is the reason for existence. A person lacking in faith grows to be anxious and unhappy.
FANATICISM on the other hand is a belief or behaviour involving obsessive enthusiasm.Fanaticism is an abnormal or irrational involvement of a person in a belief.
Many people misguide others citing fanaticism as faith.This is happening on a large scale in today's times.Political fanaticism and Religious fanaticism is a commonly occurring phenomenon.It is a form of fundamentalism where the belief is highly self-confirming that people go to any extent to corroborate their belief. The very concept of superiority of one belief system over other has lead to an increase in fanatics all around the world. They go to any extent to prove their superiority over other's faith. The modern day extremism in the name of God poses some blatant questions to us. Are we, the human race not capable of keeping the light alive in us and not swayed by some irrational prejudiced and harmful thoughts.
As I stroll along the sacred path I was deeply poignant by the fact that so much degradation of society is being done by fanatics in the name of faith.Faith can never infuse hatred.It rather evokes love and peace.I recalled a famous quote,
"All things are inconstant except the faith in the soul,which changes all things and fill their inconstancy with light."
I remember as a kid I would enthusiastically listened to Krishna's pastime tales from my father.I grew up with the thought that my miseries and pain if any would be eased up by chanting krishna's name.This childhood thought was strong enough to give me a Faith that his name is enough to keep us floating in this Ocean of Samsara.
Yes FAITH is trust or confidence in someone or something. Someone has rightly said,"faith is seeing light with your heart when all your eyes see is darkness." Faith is the most important constituent of the spiritual journey by anyone.It is the strength of will and determination that leads to spiritual enlightenment.Faith keeps us going even in the harshest of circumstances. The very bond that binds the creation to the Creator is the reason for existence. A person lacking in faith grows to be anxious and unhappy.
FANATICISM on the other hand is a belief or behaviour involving obsessive enthusiasm.Fanaticism is an abnormal or irrational involvement of a person in a belief.
Many people misguide others citing fanaticism as faith.This is happening on a large scale in today's times.Political fanaticism and Religious fanaticism is a commonly occurring phenomenon.It is a form of fundamentalism where the belief is highly self-confirming that people go to any extent to corroborate their belief. The very concept of superiority of one belief system over other has lead to an increase in fanatics all around the world. They go to any extent to prove their superiority over other's faith. The modern day extremism in the name of God poses some blatant questions to us. Are we, the human race not capable of keeping the light alive in us and not swayed by some irrational prejudiced and harmful thoughts.
As I stroll along the sacred path I was deeply poignant by the fact that so much degradation of society is being done by fanatics in the name of faith.Faith can never infuse hatred.It rather evokes love and peace.I recalled a famous quote,
"All things are inconstant except the faith in the soul,which changes all things and fill their inconstancy with light."
Dear Vaishali I congratulate and appreciate for your new posting. Going through, I guess you are blending spiritual faith with faith on a person. As far as spiritual faith is concerned I think your view is fine. But for faith in any one I think a examination is must at every stage of incremental faith.
ReplyDeleteIf we don't test someone before devotion it may went wrong and hurt us in future.
And baby blind faith is the fuel of fanaticism!!!!!!!!!!!!!!