We need Shraddhā, Faith in the Self - Swami Vivekananda

'Let a man go down as low as possible, there must be a time when out of sheer desperation he will take an upward curve and will learn to have faith in himself.’

‘But it is better for us that we should know it from the very first. Why should we have all these bitter experiences in order to gain faith in ourselves.’ 

-Swami Vivekananda 

A lot of human misery and mental suffering comes from an ego which yearns for people's praises. It cannot help but compare, envy, stress out and be negative-minded. That mental handicap is very harmful.

In presence of others, the individual with this type of ego, can never live freely, but constantly struggle to prove its existence to others.

Letting society's pressure not supress our creative abilities and having unflinching peace and belief with the inner self is a must-have art nowadays.

Muhammad Ali, The GOAT Boxer, was once asked:

“What’s the central part of your training?”

He said,

“Dodging the nightclubs and the party’s and the girls. And being in bed by yourself at 9 o’clock at night.”

Sometimes the hardest thing isn’t doing the right actions, it’s avoiding the wrong ones.

If we take a glimpse into the lives of the greatest humans that have ever walked the earth, no matter whatever field they mastered, we can notice an extraordinary mindset behind their making.

One of such Supreme qualities of one's mind is Shraddhā - Natural and Effortless Self Confidence. 

Hence, let's hear about Shraddhā today from entire Impulsum's Guru, aye, the life pulse of Impulsum - Swamiji.

Question: How did we come to lose this Shraddha?

Swami Vivekananda: We have had a negative education all along from our boyhood. We have only learnt that we are nobodies. Seldom are we given to understand that great men were ever born in our country. Nothing positive has been taught to us. We do not even know how to use our hands and feet! We master all the facts and figures concerning the ancestors of the English, but we are sadly unmindful about our own. We have learnt only weakness. Being a conquered race, we have brought ourselves to believe that we are weak and have no independence in anything. So, how can it be but that the Shraddha is lost? The idea of true Shraddha must be brought back once more to us, the faith in our own selves must be reawakened, and, then only, all the problems which face our country will gradually be solved by ourselves.

In one of his lectures, he said:-

"What we want is Shraddhā. Unfortunately, it has nearly vanished from India, and this is why we are in our present state. What makes the difference between man and man is the difference in this Shraddha and nothing else. What make one man great and another weak and low is this Shraddha. My Master used to say, he who thinks himself weak will become weak, and that is true. This Shraddha must enter into you.”

What exactly is Shraddhā and how to develop it?

What is Shraddha? What is its English translation? Says Swami Vivekananda, while narrating the story of Nachiketa in the Kathopanishad:

"I would not translate this word Shraddha to you, it would be a mistake; it is a wonderful word to understand, and much depends on it; we will see how it works, for immediately we find Nachiketa telling himself, ‘I am superior to many, I am inferior to few, but nowhere am I the last, I can also do something.’ And this boldness increased, and the boy wanted to solve the problem which was in his mind, the problem of death. The solution could only be got by going to the house of Death, and the boy went. There he was, brave Nachiketa, waiting at the house of Death for three days, and you know how he obtained what he desired. What we want is this Shraddha.

Nachiketa had both—faith in himself and boldness. Hence Shraddha is faith plus boldness."

At the end of today's blog, let's see what Robert Frost, arguably the best Western poet says about the essence of Education :-

"Education is the ability to listen to almost anything without losing your temper or your self-confidence."

Let's end this blog here, and take a moment to deeply reflect on our lives, and keep striving to be bold, brave and courageous - with the power of the blessings of our Gurus.

Thanks,

Daksh Parekh.