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Metaphysics, Ethics and Spiritual Development
261
At this juncture, it is useful to note that for all-round development of man, balancing of head (reason, intellect) and heart (faith) is necessary and essential. They are complementary to each other. Intellect shows us the path of purification and goodness, and faith inspires us to walk on that path. Futile indeed is intellect without faith. Even so is faith futile without intellect. Without faith intellect is inactive; and without intellect faith is blind, and mistakes the wrong path for the right one and vice versa. A chariot of life moves on the two wheels of faith and intellect. For human progress their mutual cooperation is extremely necessary.
Man can progress on the path of purification by supplementing faith to knowledge to remedy the deficiency of the latter. As the field of experience expands more and more, the field of faith becomes narrower and narrower; of course, the intensity of faith increases. And when the experiential knowledge attains its perfection, faith loses its independent identity and gets merged in the experiential knowledge.
If there is any scope for doubt regarding the existence of anything or regarding the cause-effect relation between any two things or events, then there arises the question as to whether or not we should have faith in the existence of that thing or in the cause-effect relation between those two things or events. But when there is the experiential knowledge of those matters experimentally and directly, then there arises no question at all of having faith in them.
Feeling of non-attachment (Vairāgya) Worldly existence (samsāra) is not a house made up of bricks and chunam; nor is it father, mother, brother or friend; nor is it gardens, orchards or fields; nor is it wealth; nor is it industry or business; it is not constituted of any one or all of them. So renunciation of them is not to be understood as the true renunciation of worldly existence. The true worldly existence is there in the mind of man. Man with such mind-be he in the city or in the jungle—is in the worldly existence. Desire for worldly pleasures (which is due to moha, i.e., ignorance, delusion, nescience; or due to attachment and aversion) is worldly existence. So long as man is under its sway, he remains caught up in the transmigratory cycle—be he in the state of a layman or a monk. He car renounce the gross objects and run away from them; but how can he run away from his own mind fraught with desires? He remains entangled in the worldly existence as long as his mind is afflicted with desires. Real play of worldly existence
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