Faith is like the sun, doubt is like a cloud. Despite cloudy days, the sun shines.
Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
Doubt is a grey area. Grey is something that is neither white nor black. Now, how to solve the doubt? An event, knowledge, or convention cannot help. Then what can help?
Accept it either as black or white. See it either as black and accept it or as white and accept it, whether or not it is black or white! And see the grey as a shade of black or white. Either way, you accept it. Honest or dishonest accept it. Then the mind is quiet. You are not in the grey area. See, the eyes are dark, eyebrows are dark, and the thymus the most powerful organ of the body is black. Haemoglobin the main force of the body is black. You cannot survive without black. It is part of you. Or see it as white. The eye is also white. Bones are white; the structure on which the whole body stands is white. Put your doubt in the category of black. No problem, just accept. Put it in a category of white. No problem, the doubt is not there. Have conviction, “I accept. They are dishonest and still part of me.” That’s it. Finished.
Doubt cannot come where there is a sense of closeness. Doubt needs a distance to appear. You never doubt something dear to you, close to you. The moment you doubt, it is no longer dear to you; a distance has come. You may doubt yourself, but you do not doubt that which is yours. Self-doubt is a lack of closeness to oneself, a sense of belongingness, closeness, and intimacy are all the antidotes for doubt.
Your faith & love are 100 times more powerful than doubt.
Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
Doubt Is About the Positive
Doubt is always about something positive. You always doubt the honesty of a person and never the dishonesty. When someone tells you, “I love you”, you ask, “Really?” When someone tells you, “I hate you”, you never doubt that. Isn’t it? You are not sure about your happiness. When someone asks about our happiness, we say, “Well, I am not sure.” But we are so sure of our depression. We never doubt our weaknesses, we always doubt our capabilities. If you observe, all good things like love, happiness, honesty, sincerity and virtues are being doubted. So, any doubt must be good.
A Little Bit of Doubt Is Good But…
Doubts are good to have. You should have doubts, no doubt. But if doubt enters your heart and it remains like your nature, it is a disease. It is called ‘paranoia’. If you doubt everything, doubt yourself, that is called a lack of self-confidence. If you doubt everybody around you, it is called ‘paranoia’. If you don’t doubt the existence of a supernatural power, or a divine power or some higher Consciousness, higher self, then you are called an atheist. So, atheists don’t have doubts about the supernatural. He thinks there is nothing beyond what he knows. Now he has some faith. And people of paranoia, don’t believe anybody, don’t trust anybody and then they don’t trust themself. That is another mental illness. So a little bit of doubt is good but doubt becomes your nature, you will have neither success in the world nor spirituality.
‘Faith brings totality in you. It pulls together the loose ends of your consciousness. Doubt scatters and destroys you.’
Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
Trust and Doubt
So, the whole world runs on some degree of trust. Isn’t it? You keep money in the bank, you trust the bank. And the electricity board gives you electricity, trusting you’re going to pay the bill. The phone connection they gave you, trusting you are going to pay the phone bill at the end of the month. Right. If nobody trusts anybody, how will any business happen on the planet? Can it happen? You want to go and buy a house, before buying a house you give the money to the buyer, to the seller. And he takes money and then he gives you a house. If you tell him, you first give the house, then I’ll give you money. He tells you, you first give the money and then he will give you a house. And if both say, first I want, I don’t trust you, I don’t trust, no transaction will happen. Right? So, you know this person is going to give you the house, and then you give them money. And he knows you’re going to pay the money, so he gives you the key to a house. Right? The whole world runs on mutual trust. Isn’t it? And all your activity happens with self-confidence. That is trust in yourself.
In the journey of self-discovery, doubt plays a crucial role. It is through doubt that we challenge our beliefs, explore new perspectives, and ultimately find clarity and self-trust. Embracing doubt allows us to delve into the grey areas of life, where neither black nor white exists, and to accept that uncertainty is a natural part of the human experience.
However, a healthy dose of doubt keeps us questioning, seeking answers, and growing intellectually and spiritually. If you are seeking guidance and support in navigating doubt and embracing self-discovery, consider exploring the Sudarshan KriyaTM which is taught in the Happiness Program offered by the Art of Living. The Sudarshan KriyaTM will help you to cultivate inner clarity, overcome doubt, and find peace and fulfilment in life.
