Faith

During her childhood, Mother and the children from the nearby houses used to play a game. Everyone would hit one person's palm and then run. The person who comes to catch us cannot do anything if we reach a certain coconut tree and stand there touching it. He can catch us only when we stand away from the coconut tree. The one who comes to catch us will stand waiting for us to let go of the coconut tree. Now and then, we will run, leaving the tree to be chased by the person who comes to catch us. But again, if we hold on to the coconut tree, he cannot catch us. In the same manner, nobody can do anything to us if we keep holding on to God. Then there is nothing to fear. But if we let go of God, then the objects of the world will haunt us.”

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“A person endowed with real faith will be steadfast. A person who has religion can find peace. The source of this peace is the heart, not the head. A person with faith believes in unity, love and peace, not in division and disharmony. Mother is not talking about religion in the narrow sense, but in the broader sense.”

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“A person endowed with faith in the Supreme holds on to that principle when a crisis occurs. It is this faith, which gives him or her a strong and balanced mind to enable him or her to confront any trying situation.”

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“Beauty lies in the heart. Beauty lies in faith, and faith dwells in the heart. Intellect or reasoning is necessary, but we should not let it swallow the faith in us. We should not allow the intellect to eat up our heart.”

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Both Faith and Effort Are Needed

“Both faith and effort are needed. If you plant a seed, it will sprout, but for it to grow properly, it needs water and fertiliser. Faith will make us aware of our true nature; but to experience it directly, we need to put forth the effort.”

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First Have Faith in Yourself

“It does not really matter whether you are a believer or a nonbeliever or a sceptic. You can be a nonbeliever, but at the same time lead a happy and successful life, if you have faith in you. You do not have to believe in Amma, or in a God who resides up above in the sky on a golden throne. It is enough if you have faith in yourself. If you don't have faith in yourself, then there is not much to gain even if you believe in God. Faith in God is to strengthen your faith in you, the faith in your own Self. This is, in other words, called Self-confidence, confidence in your own Self. If that is not there you cannot succeed in life, whatever your field may be. Self-confidence is nothing but mental balance, courage and control over your own mind to confront the problems of life. You cannot escape from the problems of life; they are inevitable, unavoidable. How are you going to face them if you do not have faith in yourself? You cannot.”

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Always Be Optimistic

“My child, never lose courage. Never lose your trust in God or in life. Always be optimistic, no matter what situations you find yourself in. It's very important to be optimistic. Pessimism is a form of darkness, a form of ignorance that prevents God's light from entering into your life. Pessimism is like a curse, an illusory curse created by the illusory mind. Life is filled with God's light, but only by being optimistic will you experience that light.”

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“Trials and tribulations, ups and downs are the nature of life. They are unavoidable. When such experiences come, if you leave God, denying Him, then you alone and not God are responsible for the consequences that follow. Whereas, if you hold onto His feet at all times in all circumstances, then He will take care of you.”

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Wait Faithfully for God

“You may be waiting for God or God's grace, but the thought of God occurs in you only once in a blue moon or on Sundays or at best two or three times a day. Furthermore, those few occasions on which you may think of God are very dull and lacking in intensity, because you are preoccupied with so many other supposedly important things. It is all right if you faithfully wait for Him to come, but be sure you are attentive in your waiting. If you are preoccupied with other things, how can God come? How can His grace flow? The Guru is there. His ever-flowing grace is there; it is always present. But you want Him to come uninvited, without any effort on your part. In the name of waiting you idle away your time. You do not consider it an intrinsic part of your life to wait faithfully. You do not take this period of waiting seriously and sincerely. You say, 'I am waiting for God, for His grace to come. He is all-compassionate, so He will come. Until then, let me engage in other important matters.' This is foolishness. You will neither receive grace nor will you have the power to overcome difficult situations with this kind of faith.”

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On Losing Faith

“Suppose you were to suffer a great loss in your business. Would you give up hope and stay idle for the rest of your life? No, you'd somehow try to make up for the loss by adopting more effective methods in your business. You may feel disappointed to begin with, but then you'll pick yourself up and start again. You have to, because it's a question of survival, a very real need. So you regain your faith and resume your work. One may ask why people don't have the same attitude towards spirituality and the spiritual masters. If they happen to experience a disappointment on the spiritual path, why don't they feel the urge to continue their pursuit? The answer is that they don't really believe spirituality is an existential problem. The general feeling is that if we lose faith in the spiritual principles, we can live without them, because it won't raise any serious challenge to our lives.”

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“Even in the case of people who have been deceived by a false Guru and react by turning away from the spiritual path, their faith has not been totally destroyed. Their thirst to know God and to be with a true master still exists deep within them. It may stay hidden for a while, but it is bound to resurface when the time is ripe. Sometimes this happens when they hear about or see a picture of a great Satguru, or if they happen to meet a Self-realized soul. They must have tasted the bliss of God somewhere, either in this or a previous life, and the memory of that experience remains within them, ready to express itself when the proper time comes.”

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Question: "What should a person do if they lose faith in the Guru who has given them a mantra?"

Amma: "They should try as much as they can to keep their faith; but if they find it impossible, then it's useless to remain with the Guru. Trying to revive lost faith is like trying to grow hair on a bald head. Once your faith is lost, it's extremely difficult to regain. So, before accepting a person as your Guru, you should observe him carefully."

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Faith in the Guru

“Children, faith in God or in a Satguru is the only way to make you truly happy and contented; to make your life a festive celebration.”

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“The Guru will be with you to show you the way through any struggle or crisis; you should have that faith and surrender. So why struggle unnecessarily? But don't sit idly just because there is someone there to guide you and take you to the other shore. You have to work hard.”

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“Faith and obedience in the Satguru will give us self-confidence. Obedience to the Guru is very important. The Guru is the all-pervading Parabrahman (Absolute Self) in human form; therefore, he is immanent. He is the Self of you and of the whole creation. Having faith in him is equal to having faith in your Self.”

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“Children, innocent faith means doubtless faith. It means you have no doubts about what you feel and that you have no questions. You simply accept the Guru's words as truth. Just like a child. You tell a child as you point to a closed door, ''There is a goddess in that room." The child will have no questions; he will accept it as 100-percent true. This kind of faith towards God or the Guru is innocent faith. Faith endowed with the innocence of a child is what we need.”

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“Never become weak-minded. Do not see Mother only as this body. Sorrow will be the result if you children think that Mother is limited to this body. Always know that Mother is all-pervading. Have faith that Mother's Self and your Self are one.”