The Reiki Cafe 

I don't know how to have faith, I think that's my greatest problem.

How do you do it?

Blessings,
Whatever

whatever,

/*\ Namaste :-}}

- so, you want to have "complete confidence in something for which no proofs exist"??

- for, that is one definition of "faith"

>:-}}

- why would you wish to generate more illusion in your life than already exists??

- why would anyone??

- well, it seems that some seem to find hope in illusion

- but, hopefully (bagl), not me!

>:-}}

Reiki All Around,

All Blessings,

Firekeeper

Firekeeper, I don't understand your post. How do you know what I place my faith in is an illusion? If anything, that is the problem, one does not know in advance whether what one believes is the Truth. But it could well be.

Blessings,
Whatever

P.S: Everybody needs some kind of faith, even as basic as going to sleep at night believing they will be waking up in the morning.

whatever,

/*\ Namaste :-}}

- first off, I am not sure why you are bogged down in the faith thing

- irregardless, Samsara is Illusion; therefore faith is irrelevant.

- one view is: if one lives a compassionate life faith is also irrelevant

>:-}}

Reiki All Around,

All Blessings,

Firekeeper

Hmmm...I get you now. But sometimes, depending on your life script faith can be very relevant. Just imagine being a prisoner of war, being tortured etc...Or losing your loved ones in a war...wondering whether they are alive somewhere or not...or having an illness of some kind...so many examples...know what I 'm saying?

Blessings,
Whatever

whatever,

/*\ Namaste :-}}

- life script?? We write our own script.

>:-}}

- and it sounds as if you refer to hope, rather than faith

- hope is really only the dynamics of the probabilities of uncertainty - most people, understandably, being more discomforted by greater uncertainty

Reiki All Around,

All Blessings,

Firekeeper

Hi Whatever,

Faith is a difficult one, as in a way I guess it is a belief and trust in something that you cannot prove one way or another.

Maybe hope and ultimately acceptance would be a different way of looking at it. Faith can be kind of 'blind' and ultimately keep us blinkered or give us tunnel vision and at the same time when things happen beyond our control, we end up feeling let down and it shakes both our faith and/or belief system. Hoping for the best outcome in any given situation, positive thinking, changing what is within our capability to change and an acceptance of what we cannot change seem somehow to give us more control over situations that blind faith does not. I hope this somehow makes sense, it's kind of hard to put into words :)

Gentle Blessings
Helen

Otoharo!

I have looked around for my faith. I do not seem to have any. I have experience with things that gives me a knowing about them, but not faith. For instance, I have had feed back from talks with God so that I do not have faith, I have knowings. Perhaps it is only that I have lived so long, I have no need of faith in anything. I either know or find out. No sense in guessing which is what faith seems to be.

finality

I believe in predestination, Firekeeper. Free Will to me is all about the way we use Time- either to delay or speed up. Seems sometimes we delay for many lifetimes. In that sense, our lifescript has been written in advance but we keep revising bits on the way.

Thank you, Rainbow, that's a lovely way of seeing it. :) It's just that I 've always felt faith was more powerful esp when you wish to move mountains and other *heavy objects*
;-)

Knowings...If you get to that stage, regarding any matter, you 've tanscended faith. That's a cool stage to be at, Finality. Wish I were there with all that's causing me anxiety right now.

Blessings,
Whatever

Dear Whatever,
One can have no faith if one is afraid that their faith may prove false in the future. Fear of being wrong or foolish blocks the experience of faith but can also lock us into our beliefs without rational examination. Many atrocities have been committed under the banner of faith. If one has faith, one eventually has to accept that one can be wrong in their faith. Life goes on anyway.
It might be easier to have faith if one is married to a faithful spouse rather than a cheating spouse or is blessed with continued good fortune. However, for those who have very little, faith may help them when there is nothing left to hold onto. That is powerful stuff!

peace & joy,
holobon

whatever,

/*\ Namaste :-}}

- the effects of our thoughts, actions, re-actions, etc that accumulate as Karma cannot be predicted

- thus, the habitual patterns we get into across lifetimes cannot be predicted just as the manner in which we break these patterns with which we keep ourselves in the cycle of death and re-birth also cannot be predicted

- thus, presdestination is an Illusion

Reiki All Around,

All Blessings,

Firekeeper

Firekeeper, with all due respect, that is just a theory(not sure which spiritual tradition you are quoting). Can you prove it?

Blessings,
Whatever

Holobon,

You 've just hit the nail on the head. As you say, you can't have faith if you are afraid it may prove false in the future. That's it, I have this extreme fear of being wrong. Infact, I did place my faith for years in a certain idea/situation. The way things have turned out so far has depressed me and caused me all this anxiety I was talking about on the other thread.

And another point, can you truly love someone if you don't trust them? I think you can't...another depressing fact in my life...

Blessings,
Whatever

whatever,

/*\ Namaste :-}}

- proofs are an Illusion as well

bagl

- that's the beauty of Samsara

>:-}}

Reiki All Around,

All Blessings,

Firekeeper

Firekeeper, you are bad, very very bad. No illusion in that.

^.^

Blessings,
Whatever

Hello whatever, *hugs**
what a great question.
My journey was quite a revelation to me as I had wishy washy faith. I had to go through alot to understand first that there was truly no judgement in any of the decsions I made for myself, even if it hurt another.
I tested the theory out alot and did alot of meditating and praying and connecting with Spirit to find my way home.
I also read some of Donald Neale Walsh's stuff and then experimented with the big guy myself to find out whether this "Spirit" we call God or any other name could really be trusted.
One of my favorites was asking directly if God ( my choice of name, all are good) really loved us all the same.
When I asked from my heart and truly wanted te answer, it came rather sweetly and about knocked me to my knees. :}

So, first you have to find a way to understand there is no judgment and there is no hell that you will go to for misbehaving. What kind of deity would that be anyway?
Free will and then you do it wrong and boom, off you go to the flame of everlasting whatever.
So, no judgement.. Test the theory..
The question is though, if there is no judgement and you feel you haven't lived up to whomever is out there judging all this time, then who is judging you?
Creator spoke with me at length about this subject and the finger pointed right back at me. It had been me who judged myself and me who had hurt myself with my worthiness.
So the challenge for me was to identify my judgements, place them where they belonged ( WITH ME!!) and then forgive myself for being so unkind to me and let it go.
Lots of crying and self forgivness..
Trust in Creators Goodness and Love for you. Trust there is some amazing Divine being and purpose out there that is guiding your steps ever so gently and always, always for the highest purpose of teaching you abou the true meaning of love.

Develop a relationship with whomever you call Great Spirit. Talk to It.. Laugh with It, Cry with It. Let it into your life, like a best friend you can tell anything.

I promise Spirit( our Mother/Father) will never let you down, nor abandon you in your time of need and greatest trial.

If you want some reading materials, please feel free to write me and I'll give you some wonderful reading materials that really helped me trust in the power of Love.

Bless you and good luck in whatever you want to choose..Remember when it comes down to you there are only two choices.. Love or Fear. :}

Jahnavi

Otoharo!

I just now really read what you are saying, Can you really love someone if you don't trust them. I married someone I did not trust. It was a horrible situation. I say, no. It is impossible. trust comes first. With children, it is the opposite. you can not love a child if that child can not trust you. You must be trustworthy for love to be true.

finality

Dear Whatever,

It is not impossible to continue to love someone whom you do not trust, but it creates a difficult relationship. When you can not have faith in another, maybe that is the time to have faith in yourself. It seems to me that it is our expectations surrounding love that cause us the greatest distress. Several weeks ago I broke up with my boyfriend and last week I had to put my 13 year old dog to sleep. My pain is real but it is attached to some very unrealistic ideas on my part. I have faith that I will get through it. So will you. :)
peace & joy,
holobon

Namaste all

The terms faith, optimism, hope and positive attitude have all been used here in an interchangeable manner. To me, I think of faith when I believe that the person that I love is worthy of it no matter what their actions are. Unconditional love is based on faith. But this does not mean that you become a doormat to anybody.
I think of faith when I do reiki practice believing that a system of healing exists in this world. I have faith that there are things that happen beyond our understanding of the five senses.

Mal

Mal,
Language is a challenge!Many words share meanings that are very similiar. Faith obviously refers to religous belief but also represents trust and loyalty. The nature of faith embraces hope, positive attitude and optimism. It is all related. Faith is one of those experiences that opens the heart to a wider universe. :)

peace & joy,
holobon

Beautiful posts all of you. Thank you :)

Since I last posted I 've been reading again this book called The Disappearance Of the Universe, has anyone heard of it? It expands on the teachings of A Course In Miracles. I must admit, of all spiritual teachings that have come my way, it is the one that resonates with me the most. In the Course, it explains how and why Faith is important for a Teacher Of God-naturally, we are all Teachers the minute we decide to walk with God.

The tough part: knowing all the theory doesn't make you an expert in practice.

But practice makes perfect. So yeah, I 'm practising right now. And yes, jahnavi, in the end self-forgiveness is the key- esp as we are all One. :)

Blessings,
Whatever

holobon,

Hi,

So, one cannot have faith that the worst is likely to happen? Murphy's Law, for example, postulates that if something can go wrong it will. Sounds like 'faith' to me.

LOL

Or, as I heard not so long ago: as one door closes another will surely slam in your face.

LOL

Cheers,

RC

I like what Finality said about "knowing." That rings true for me. Why would I believe in something I have no evidence for? So, today I have "faith", which means REALLY, I have a "knowing" that there is something more than this physical world, that we have helpers and that we have a divine essence at our core that is our real selves.
How did I come to "know" this? My way of "knowing" will be different than your way, or Finality's way, etc. We all come to learn and know in different ways. How do we learn? We take risks and learn the outcome. For example, we express our deep love for someone, without attachments, and see where it takes us. We journal. We read. We come to learn that fear is our greatest enemy. The beginning of my own "knowing " was in college, when I studied Transcendental Meditation. I experienced in this my divine core....the essence that glowed within...such bliss, and it had nothing to do with who I was with, where I was, what I had, etc....it was just there at the center of my being...an unspeakable feeling of bliss and joy. Then I began to study life itself.....for me, the "knowing" has been a long process of study. Reiki has helped alot, as it brought me back to the core I found in TM years ago, a core that was buried and forgotten in long work hours, diapers and the whirlwind of family life. I also was helped by reading alot of books years ago about near death experiences and past lives....just finished Journey of Souls, by Newton. Awesome book. Pay attention to nature. It speaks to us. Pay attention to synchronicity. Good luck with the learning!
Much Love,
Feather

Whatever,

I am posting a link in Resources that may be of some help to you.

Best wishes,
Roxy

Dear Reikicurmudgeon,
Ah, semantics! Actually faith applies to religous convictions as well as loyalty to any ideal. So, hey, if one is loyal Murphy's Law, I have to think it is because it rang true at the time. But those that are loyal to that Law frequently do not see good fortune when it manifests. So, yeah, they only see the doors slamming & miss the ones that open. Been there, done that. Likely to visit there again, based on personality, but darn well refuse to live there!

peace & joy,
holobon