Faith

[tides2dust]

I have to really think on this one. In a recent discussion titled, "Instant Healing" the word Faith was brought up.

Yesterday, someone defined Faith for me quoting the bible.

This morning, a channeled message on another forum was randomly selected defining Faith.

I have Faith that there is a guiding Spirit bringing this energy and contemplation to my awareness.

Now I find myself questioning whether I agree with the definitions brought to me, how I understand it, what I think it means.

I'm curious how others experience and define Faith???

[LightBeam]

It appears that you are experiencing a synchronicity with that word, Tides! Keep exploring deeper

In my opinion there can be as many definitions of Faith as there are people on the planet. And each definition would form that person's personal reality. It would make it true for them in their current focus of now. I am saying this because our perceptions and definitions change, and in another now our definitions may be different. There is not one right answer. Each answer is right for their owner. And when they wish to change their experiences, they need to change their definitions, and by extension that will change their perceived realities. And that applies not only for the definition of faith but for everything.

To me faith is the absolute trust in something or someone. And that something or someone can be many things in various situations. Faith in myself as a personality, higher self as an oversoul, All That Is, my parents, my sister, friends, guides, abundance, health, synchronicities, manifestations, etc. The absolute belief that something will happen.

[Adrian]

On a day to day basis, Faith is an implicit knowing that something is so without question, for example:

You have Faith when going for a meal at restaurant, the chef will not poison your food.
You have Faith that  your employer will pay your wages each week or month.
You have Faith when using public transport or driving your car, you will arrive safely at your destination.

Ultimately the highest form of Faith is knowing that, beyond doubt, with absolute that Faith we ARE God, Source, and the power that created the universe is within and available to us all. Absolute Faith IN God, AS God. Then all things are possible. As Jesus said - "according to your Faith, be it to you". This is the Faith Jesus spoke of.

Another bible quote - "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen". ~ Hebrews 11:1

In other words we have the power within us to have or be anything, subject only to the degree of Faith behind it.

Imagination backed by unwavering Faith is the most powerful creative force in the Universe - it is the power behind All That Is. That same force, power, knowledge is within every person, without exception to the extent it can be realised. An important aspect of Spiritual Evolution towards becoming fully God, Source Realised, is to find that power, knowledge etc. within, which can only be found in the Heart, never the rational mind.

Faith need not be categorised as religious or Spiritual - Faith is Faith, and its power is always the same no matter the object of the Faith. Also, our personal Faith is also God's Faith, just as our thoughts are also God's thoughts, because they are One and the Same. Therefore all healing is of God, no matter its apparent origin. I understand it can be a stretch for some to fully accept and know beyond doubt that we ARE God, Source, but equally to doubt we are in fact God, Source is to doubt God in absolute terms Consider, for example, these words of Jesus:

Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? The words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works. Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works' sake. Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father. ~ John 14:10-12

So Jesus was saying that if people believe what he is saying, with enough Faith, all the things Jesus did, everyone can also do, and even greater. Yes - Faith is a most valuable subject for discussion, and thanks Tides for raising it.

[LightBeam]

the works that I do shall he do also

I think this is the most critical aspect of Jesus' teaching, but twisted by the church to disempower instead of empower. The correct interpretation indicates equality of power to all, but only if fully realized and embodied. 

[tides2dust]

Hi guys,

Thank you for taking the time to share your personal insights, interest and experiences. It may be that one day we are with limited faculties and unable to consciously express ourselves. I am grateful this place exist, and allows us to explore these spaces together.

One might ask why, at the astral pulse forum, is there so much talk about God and Faith coming from this guy tides? Well, I believe the astral and spiritual concepts we share belong together like grapes to wine. And I agree with you, Adrian- one needn't be 'religious' or 'spiritual' to attain or experience either/or. And I agree with you- LightBeam that even specific words can have different meaning depending on the individual. Like how my understanding and use of the word Religion is completely different from the conventional and often negative association ordinarily ascribed with the word. Not that I don't understand the underlying disagreeing energy people feel when they think of 'Religion'. And there are words that we are so attached to, that have a potential to create sparks where firm or rigid personalities find themselves rubbing together. 

I have many points of interest that spurred during my morning walk through the bayou that I'd like to share, but for now I will try to keep it most relevant to the thread and the direction we take it- together. Perhaps that my mind was in this space, with both of you, means we were together at this time.

The text I presently find myself engaged in also mirrors the sentiments you two are sharing. While I can not deny this important aspect, I believe just as critical- what should always be remembered, is the personal/experiential relationship with God. We humans of Earth crave Experiential Wisdom.

The text I am reading, and find very interesting at this time- explains God as both impersonal and personal. And, that we have the opportunity to fuse with God. This fusion is experienced by degrees of both realization and actualization. It is an evolution that continues even after the attachment to our mortal body is released. It goes on to say that we will even meet God, as a personality, and even after- go on to provide acts of service in systems our finite and mortal minds can not yet comprehend. This acknowledges God, again, as all that is(from no thing to every thing). For simplicities sake, it may be better to allow paradox since linear reasoning is not enough to conceptualize the infinite I-AM.

The text does say that fusion with God is possible in the present incarnation we find ourselves. This is where words may begin to constrict, even if we are ultimately saying the same thing. For clarification, others call this fusion a shift in identity. We may even achieve amazing God-like abilities once we actualize and fuse with the fragment of God within ourselves and with God all around us. There are two masters that I know of who, by their understanding of God within and all around could not only materialize and de-materialize their physical entity by Will... They could teleport their followers. Babaji is one such Master Personality who could teleport a handful of his disciples from one geographic location to another. Jesus could walk on water and even raise the dead. 

There are also many great Saints, hermits, and even ordinary people who make no claim of Godship, religious path or spiritual discipline that are worthy of our respect and admiration. Nothing is impossible. I suppose believing that is a great leap of Faith. And the acts we find worthy were actualizations accomplished by fellow mortals, human beings of Earth. The other day, I tried to Will that a friend/acquaintance get hired on the spot. I prayed to Father God to make it so. It didn't happen. But, there was a very unique energy in the air. A stillness like no other as if I were discovering a new space/plane as I made my plea to God and tried placing my Faith in this exchange. Perhaps, Faith is a practice that requires a bit of training. That I became aware of something tangible, something new- maybe this is an introductory towards that experiential wisdom we so often crave. 

I think I realize now, the degree of my actualization of God within/God around. I notice it in moments people call synchronicity, but for me, these synchronicities are more than just some cool alignment. They are the works of something so powerful that space-time will bend and distort in order to acknowledge what is happening within, undisclosed to my fellows, as a way to further encourage and propel me towards my Hearts desire/Fusion with God.

The text coins the phrase, "Eternal Career" but I do not think of God Actualization as a daunting task- especially once we understand the varying degrees of Love, and many potentials ahead- such an endeavor is instead taken and shared with the greatest Joy. Eternal-Joy. And who else do I know, in their capacity to know God, has said similar? Paramahansa Yogananda. His phrase: "Ever-New Bliss" was born from peering into and experiencing the nature of God.

This morning I experienced the outside again speaking to me internally, where engravings in the cement came with whispered ideas and phrases. When I looked at the light reflecting off the tinted building across the street, the windows slowly started to move, swirl and stretch and a feeling inside of me started to match. As if everything around me, within me, was in slow motion moving to a point of collapse. At the same time, my Heart felt expanded and the very nature of reality- expounded. I'm not sure how much I understood, but that I received this lesson I do consider a blessing and am grateful for the Divine assistance.

Yesterday, just after-noon... A woman whispered my name. She was not visible... There was no physical body around. But she came into my left ear- I could feel her, and tried to welcome her by opening up the energy in my back along my spine. She came over the left side- and the way she said it, there was so much love coming from her voice. Her voice was not interpreted at the thought level. It was an audible whisper, external. It immediately placed me, "in a state." My heart longed. I want to know you.

This morning- WBTB... From 6AM-7AM, I can't remember the dream details that much... Only that there was a woman gifting me these gems. I think they were blue and green. She placed them in my hand. The feeling is, whoever she is- she is trying to help me wake up. She was trying to wake me up from my dream. The gems were somehow a way to pull me out from being unaware during the dreaming state. Well... That's as far as I got.

It feels the degree I have actualized is not even an inch on a ruler compared to the Master-Personalities who have walked this Earth. But I do have Faith that I have one foot in, whatever door is opened. I do feel and believe I am being guided and helped. And I excitedly draw ever-closer, as a burning desire to do so. And still more, I have Faith that the degrees of my actualization will continue even after this Life.