Unsent Letter #16: Qualifications of the Aspirant: Faith

June, 2007

Dear Friend

Why is it that spiritual teachers say such different things? Even teachers who are grounded in non-duality have diverse approaches and express themselves very differently. This is before you take into account other schools of Vedanta such as Visishtadvaita (qualified non-dualism) or Dwaita (dualism). Under the broad umbrella of Vedanta teachings, there are those who say that the world is Maya and has no connection with the Absolute, some say that it is nothing but the manifestation of the Absolute, some say that the individual soul (jiva) is both one with and at the same time eternally separate from the Absolute. Some think of the Absolute as being without attributes, some worship the Absolute in the form of the guru, some worship Him in the form of a particular God or Goddess, and some worship Him in all forms. Other religious systems, such as Buddhism, don't even have the concept of an Absolute reality. (Nevertheless, some Buddhists do become enlightened!)

What should we conclude from all this? It seems to me that the bottom line is that we have to understand and accept that whatever we say about the Absolute is our own concept. We can think essentially whatever we like--God has created this drama for this reason or that reason, He is not involved in the drama, He is involved, God is good, God is bad, God exists, does not exist. Between whatever Reality is and our minds there is a gap that the mind cannot cross. No thoughts reach That. So argument and discussion come to an end, without reaching any definite conclusion.

Understanding this, the great Masters of the past put together their systems of thought and taught them to the willing and qualified. Through faith and effort some of those disciples realized Truth for themselves by becoming That. They were then free to attempt to formulate their knowledge in their own way, as they saw fit. In this way, in every generation, there are always new and fresh ways of approaching the inexpressible.

The moral that I have always drawn from this story is that I had better become one of those willing and qualified disciples. Then I have a chance. Otherwise, I would be wasting my life trying to come to a conclusion that doesn't exist.

What is important is to find the teaching that appeals to you both logically and emotionally and then commit to it with full faith. It isn't going to be the Absolute Truth--any teaching is, ultimately, just a set of concepts that you can use to make sense of your experiences. However, if you give yourself to it wholeheartedly, you can get the understanding of your true nature. When that happens, you won't need any teaching from outside--you will understand everything for yourself, and then people will start to come to you.

Best wishes to you in your search,

A.