The Incredible Power of Faith

When the disciples asked Jesus why they were unable to cast out the demon from a boy, He said to them, 'Because of the littleness of your faith; for truly I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you shall say to this mountain, "Move from here to there,” and it shall move; and nothing shall be impossible to you’ ” (Matt. 17:20).

Does faith really have the power to move mountains?  Well, haven't you read or heard of miracles taking place because of the power of faith in the Almighty (or the Unknown)?

According to our ancient scriptures:

Young Prahlada, the son of King Hiranyakashipu, could not be killed even through the most brutal methods because of his unshakeable faith in Lord Narayana; 

Young Krishna lifted the mighty Govardhana mountain to protect the people from torrential rains caused by Lord Indra (see picture);

The mighty Hanuman is said to have carried the huge Sanjeevi mountain with medicinal plants to revive Lakshmana in Lanka

There are many such miracles powered by faith in the current Kali Yuga. Here are some examples:

The massive Nandi (bull) installed in front of Lord Shiva in Chidambaram temple in Tamil Nadu is said to have moved to provide unobstructed Darshan (view) to faithful Devotee Nandanar from the low caste.

A Jain King sought to punish Appar (Tirunavukkarasar) for being a devotee of Lord Shiva. He tied Appar to a huge stone and threw him in deep waters. Appar floated because of his absolute faith in the efficacy of ‘Nama Sivaya’ manthram.

Oh…I can hear some of you say, “What you quote are all some age-old stories. How can we believe them?  Do you know of any such faith-driven miracles in recent times?”

Yes, positively yes! I know of people who have experienced the vanishing of ‘mountain-like’ huge problems because of the incredible power of faith - and people includes me too. Faith provided me the hope to survive amidst heavy odds in life and spring back. Just google - you will find countless stories of personal experiences narrated in the internet media.

Is there any scientific proof to uphold the power of faith? After all, what is science? It is simply accumulated knowledge based on human observation. No one observed the creation of the universe. It is simply a matter of implicit faith.

Want to know more on how scientific research has given the faithful reasons to rejoice? Take a look at Ari N. Schulman's article titled, “Does Faith Make You Healthier?” in the Wall Street Journal of August 9, 2013. I hope the following link works. If it does not, try cutting and pasting it on your browser.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324328904578622481104499620.html?mod=ITP_opinion_0#articleTabs%3Darticle

In my May 2006 posting, I had quoted Sri Sri Ravishankar describing Faith or shraddha as one of the six types of wealth. He said, "Faith is needed when you have found the limit of your knowing... Your willingness to know the unknown is shraddha." It would be fanaticism to think there is nothing beyond. Absence of faith is doubt -- in yourself, others, or the whole. Ninety nine per cent of people doubt the whole, because they do not believe that there is a whole that is functioning."   

One has to really experience the incredible power of faith. Try building faith in the Unknown!