In Ramayana, a great crisis of faith is unfolded when the Vaanara army led by Angada and Hanuman reaches the southernmost point of the Indian subcontinent, failing to find any trace of Sita in their long search. They had run out of the allocated time and nothing but a vast ocean was left in front of them. Failure was not an option for two reasons. First of all they couldn't imagine seeing a crest-fallen Rama who had become so beloved to them and secondly they knew nothing less than death awaited them from Sugriva if they went back with no news on Sita. In his desperation, Angada resolves to fast unto death and advices his fellow soldiers to do so too.
At this time of utmost desperation, an old eagle, Sampaathi, arrives on the scene with help. Sampaathi had seen Ravana carry Sita and fly over the ocean towards Lanka. In his young days, Sampaathi had flown over Lanka and had seen the city from air. He tells the Vaanaras about the magnificent city in the island of Lanka, about 100 yojanas away. Could someone make the leap over there? Here comes the greatest dilemma of religious faith. For the religious, 'to be or not to be' is not the question but 'to believe or not to believe' is. Why would anyone want to believe an old eagle's words and take that leap on to the ocean? What if there was no island ? Fortunately for everyone in the epic, Hanuman takes on the mission and makes the greatest leap of faith ever made in history.
It is also interesting to note what happens during Hanuman's flight over the sea. First, he is tested by the celestial Gods who send in a demon. This demon, Surasa, rises up in front of Hanuman blocking his path. Surasa tells Hanuman that she has a boon from Brahma that anything that comes in her way will have to enter her mouth. Hanuman, who was looking enormous at the time , asks Surasa to open her moth real wide so that he could enter. And, then he makes him extremely tiny and enters and leaves her mouth between the teeth, fulfilling the condition. Surasa, impressed by Hanuman's quick wit, appreciates and lets him pass. It is a well known fact that faith invariably gets tested for its genuineness, whether that is Hanuman in Ramayana or Job in Old Testament. When Hanuman continues his flight, he now gets pulled down to the waters by another demon, Simhika, who could pull down flying things by grabbing their shadow. Shadow, or self-doubt is the other great obstacle in the path of the faithful. There is no alternative other than to face it courageously and tear it apart as Hanuman does with Simhika.
Shraddha or faith is an integral part of spiritual saadhana. Sankaracharya defines shraddha in his text of Viveka choodaamani as the conviction that words of scriptures and the Guru contain truth. This is not a call to swallow these words without examining, but to examine them xwith a positive mind and the intention of finding their true meaning. In the Bhagawad Gita, Krishna says ,"shraddhaavaan labhate gnaaanam' - the one with faith obtains the ultimate knowledge. And, he follows up with 'samsayaatma vinasyati" - the skeptical one will perish. Again, here by skepticism is meant the self-doubting, negative attitude that is disastrous.
It is extremely important to keep in mind that faith is not an end in itself but provides a beginning as well as foundation. Going back to the Ramayana story, when Hanuman offers to carry Sita back to Rama, she declines even though Raavana had threatened to have her served for his meal if she continued to disobey him. She tells Hanuman that it will only be proper if Rama comes in person and liberates her. Ultimate knowledge has to be gained permanently by direct experience, though glimpses of it is possible to be attained through arduous faith. Ultimately, it will be up to us to build that bridge, with reason, experience and practice, to cross over and gain the right knowledge.
As much as it is the corner stone of every religion, faith is also the cause of downfall for many who take it to its extreme. While riding the slippery slope of faith, watch for not falling into the trap of blindly believing anything and everything passed in the name of religion. In fact, there are more spurious goods than genuine ones available in the religious world today. Remember that the discriminative faculty, viveka, is as much important as shraddha for any saadhaka!
