Evolution of love

Why is Faith in the Master

ONE of the most important qualifications for the aspirant is Faith. There are three kinds of faith: (i) faith in oneself, (ii) faith in the Master and (iii) faith in life.

Faith is so indispensable to life that unless it is present in some degree, life itself would be impossible. It is faith in each other that facilitates a free give and take of love, a free sharing of work and its results. Being worthy of the faith which others place in us and having faith in others are two complementary virtues. They are the conditions for an unhampered flow and development of individual and collective life.

But these qualities which foster mutual faith remain undeveloped unless one has supreme faith in oneself. If a man has no faith in himself, he cannot develop those qualities which invite and foster faith from others.

The self-confidence which is in perpetual danger of being shattered, can be securely established only when the man has before him the vision of the Living example of Perfection, and has faith in it. Thus Faith in the Master / Guru becomes all-important because it nourishes and sustains faith in oneself and faith in life in the very teeth of set-backs and failures, handicaps and difficulties, limitations and failings.

In the Master, man sees his own ideal realized; the Master is what his own deeper self would rather be. He sees in the Master the reflection of the best in himself which is yet to be, but which he will surely one day attain. Faith in the Master therefore becomes the chief motive-power for realizing the divinity which is latent in man.