Recently, I got to read quite a few blogs on faith, the power of prayer and such topics and I liked each one of these blogs. How can faith be defined? The presence of a higher power, that drive to live every minute. I wanted to share a simple incident or two of the power of faith - nothing too significant, but it is the thinking process behind it that counts.
In between, I had gotten addicted to playing darts (along with compulsions like watching that crappy serial Seinfeld, bowling and so on). P and I would love to have mock competitions. We even took a dartboard with us, on a trip 'home'. There I was, practising the triple points one morning, when one of THE Grandmas of our family walked into the room. She wanted to know more about the game and I explained the basics and also told her about the math of getting the exact score in the last throw. 'Focus on scoring triple and bullseye points!'. Then I demonstrated a few shots.
'Let me try now!' she said and took a few of the darts. The first few throws ricochetted off the wall. Then she started getting the hang of it. "Ok, now why don't you try the triple 20 score?' I suggested her. A few throws and she did not get it. "Yeah, it needs a bit of practice." I said.
"Not really! If you convince your mind that you want a triple 20 score, you can get it! You could even get it with your eyes closed - just have complete faith and tell your mind that you want a triple 20 score!" We decided to try this out. She was sure she would get it. "Ok, try the bullseye!", I said. She closed her eyes and said, "Dear Mind, I want a bullseye score!" and she threw the dart. Whizz.....the bullseye chime sounded! Just a bit of luck, I thought. "Try a double 8 now!" She closed her eyes and said, "Mind, a double 8 now!!" and there was a double 8. I made her try a few more numbers and she got every single one of them! It was like magic. "Have faith, kid!" she said and gave me the darts, hastening to the kitchen to make the mid-day meal. Tomorrow, she could well fly a plane if she wanted to, blindfolded!
After she left the room, I closed my eyes, deciding to try the bullseye. "Mind, a bullseye!" I said to myself, feeling foolish and even while I said those words, in my mind I was not convinced that it was going to work. And obviously it did not! Although I believe in God, miracles and magic, somewhere something was lacking. 'We are always paid for our suspicion by finding what we suspect.' - a famous quote from Henry David Thoreau, that I believe in - very true indeed!
Yes, this idea of blind faith did work for me for small things, but it was still a seed of an idea - not powerful enough for me to try a bungee jump because of my fear of heights, forget about moving mountains! Like I had gone for a business trip and had an early morning flight back. I set up the alarm clock in the hotel, for four am and still not convinced, I also set the wakeup alarm phone call. Before retiring to sleep, I said, "Mind, wake me up at three-thirty am tomorrow!". Let us see if it works, I said to myself, before crashing on the bed. The next morning, I woke up to see the led display on the alarm clock showing three-thirtyfive am! It was magic and when the guest services called later for the wakeup call, I nonchalantly said, "Yes, I am up already. Thanks!"
Ofcourse, there is a difference between faith and asking for something, in my opinion. I usually would not want to ask the higher powers for something because more than often, it happens at the expense of something else (good or bad), like that 'Monkeys Paw' tale - or again, it is because of my lack of complete faith. But yes, it is the positive outlook that counts. If I meet a person for the first time and form an opinion that (s)he does not like me, obviously my suspicions would be well rewarded.
All one needs is faith. All around, for every person who believes something would work, there are equal or more who are not convinced. I wonder what goes on in the minds of babies. Would a baby be thinking, "Oh no! I hope this tall guy does not drop me.....hey, hold me tight!" Or that puppy who allows himself to be handled anyhow, by his owner. Do they have faith?
Thinking about all this, I feel that it could be entirely true - all those tales of the great saints, the Alandi wall flying, the bull chanting Sanskrit prayers, the tale of the poor boy and a glass of milk, etc. It is no magic - just pure, unadulterated faith!
In between, I had gotten addicted to playing darts (along with compulsions like watching that crappy serial Seinfeld, bowling and so on). P and I would love to have mock competitions. We even took a dartboard with us, on a trip 'home'. There I was, practising the triple points one morning, when one of THE Grandmas of our family walked into the room. She wanted to know more about the game and I explained the basics and also told her about the math of getting the exact score in the last throw. 'Focus on scoring triple and bullseye points!'. Then I demonstrated a few shots.
'Let me try now!' she said and took a few of the darts. The first few throws ricochetted off the wall. Then she started getting the hang of it. "Ok, now why don't you try the triple 20 score?' I suggested her. A few throws and she did not get it. "Yeah, it needs a bit of practice." I said.
"Not really! If you convince your mind that you want a triple 20 score, you can get it! You could even get it with your eyes closed - just have complete faith and tell your mind that you want a triple 20 score!" We decided to try this out. She was sure she would get it. "Ok, try the bullseye!", I said. She closed her eyes and said, "Dear Mind, I want a bullseye score!" and she threw the dart. Whizz.....the bullseye chime sounded! Just a bit of luck, I thought. "Try a double 8 now!" She closed her eyes and said, "Mind, a double 8 now!!" and there was a double 8. I made her try a few more numbers and she got every single one of them! It was like magic. "Have faith, kid!" she said and gave me the darts, hastening to the kitchen to make the mid-day meal. Tomorrow, she could well fly a plane if she wanted to, blindfolded!
After she left the room, I closed my eyes, deciding to try the bullseye. "Mind, a bullseye!" I said to myself, feeling foolish and even while I said those words, in my mind I was not convinced that it was going to work. And obviously it did not! Although I believe in God, miracles and magic, somewhere something was lacking. 'We are always paid for our suspicion by finding what we suspect.' - a famous quote from Henry David Thoreau, that I believe in - very true indeed!
Yes, this idea of blind faith did work for me for small things, but it was still a seed of an idea - not powerful enough for me to try a bungee jump because of my fear of heights, forget about moving mountains! Like I had gone for a business trip and had an early morning flight back. I set up the alarm clock in the hotel, for four am and still not convinced, I also set the wakeup alarm phone call. Before retiring to sleep, I said, "Mind, wake me up at three-thirty am tomorrow!". Let us see if it works, I said to myself, before crashing on the bed. The next morning, I woke up to see the led display on the alarm clock showing three-thirtyfive am! It was magic and when the guest services called later for the wakeup call, I nonchalantly said, "Yes, I am up already. Thanks!"
Ofcourse, there is a difference between faith and asking for something, in my opinion. I usually would not want to ask the higher powers for something because more than often, it happens at the expense of something else (good or bad), like that 'Monkeys Paw' tale - or again, it is because of my lack of complete faith. But yes, it is the positive outlook that counts. If I meet a person for the first time and form an opinion that (s)he does not like me, obviously my suspicions would be well rewarded.
All one needs is faith. All around, for every person who believes something would work, there are equal or more who are not convinced. I wonder what goes on in the minds of babies. Would a baby be thinking, "Oh no! I hope this tall guy does not drop me.....hey, hold me tight!" Or that puppy who allows himself to be handled anyhow, by his owner. Do they have faith?
Thinking about all this, I feel that it could be entirely true - all those tales of the great saints, the Alandi wall flying, the bull chanting Sanskrit prayers, the tale of the poor boy and a glass of milk, etc. It is no magic - just pure, unadulterated faith!
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