In my last post I talked about one of the dimensions of faith – a dimension which is based on experience and analysis, a dimension where I see what me believe and hence each such experience makes me stronger. As I delved in on this idea, I discovered some more dimensions of faith.
At numerous occasions in my day to day life I believe in different people / situations without any proof or logic.
For example, I am not feeling well and I go to a doctor. The doctor diagnoses and writes a prescription, even though I neither completely understand the diagnosis nor understand a single damn thing written in the prescription, I still believe in my doctor and take the medicine. I do not ask for logic of how the medicine would affect different parts of my body, what change would it bring different glands in the body and how the anomaly in my body will be cured. Is it not an unwarranted assumption that I would be just fine?
I travel by airplane or train but I hardly bother questioning who is really driving the airplane? I mean, I would never have perfect judgment whether the pilot has enough flying experience so that I can trust him. I just somehow assume that I would have a safe journey. Why then I do not ask about the logic and proof of having a safe journey?
This earth is moving at tremendous velocity around its own axis and at the same time it’s orbiting around the sun, on top of that hundreds of earth like planets are present in the galaxy and they are related to each other with an unknown equation. The slightest of error in that equation can result in complete destruction of the Earth, still every night I sleep with one assumption that I will get up tomorrow morning alive. Why do I not ask for logic in this case?
In pithy, unconsciously, I come across myriad situations in my life in which I make unwarranted assumptions.
As I am becoming aware of reality with Vipassana, I am becoming aware of the these assumptions and as a result I am becoming increasingly compassionate of every thing that is offered to me. I am becoming aware of the things that are by default available to me.
So, when I get up the morning. I am aware and thankful to an unknown (some people call it God but as a Vipassana students its still an unknown energy to me) that I am still alive.
When I eat, I am thankful to hundreds of people who contributed to giving this food to me – this includes the farmer who sowed the grain to the trader from whom I bought the grain to my wife who made that food for me and so on. I am becoming more generous to the things offered to me.
I came across this dimension of faith – a dimension in which I was living in complete faith but still I was not aware of it. I believe this awareness developed through Vipassana has made me more generous, more compassionate. Now, I am not taking things for granted but am duly thankful to every person who contributed in making that thing happening for me. My mind is filled with generosity and munificence.