Namaste. Faith in me greets faith in you. It’s not an irrational faith in unbelievable gods and miracles. The faith I greet has little to do with belief. It’s not a superstitious faith that compromises your self responsibility. The faith I greet is not blind faith. It’s not an elitist faith that thinks itself superior to others. The faith I greet could never be confined to any one religion. No, the faith that I greet is universal. It is faith matured and shaped by life experience, for you are up to your elbows in the flow of a life-force to which you are intimately related. When you live this faith, every perceived letdown is an opportunity in disguise. Every imagined disappointment is a new possibility awaiting your attention. When you live this faith, there is only one life. When we greet each other with this level of forgiving, compassionate faith, there is only one humanity, living and learning as we go. Is that a faith you aspire to? Here’s the good news. George Michael got it partially right when he said “You’ve got to have faith.” Actually, you already have it.

Faith Down a Rabbit Hole

This is good news, because the world needs your most mature faith so acutely right now. It feels like the world is falling down a rabbit hole with no end in sight. The global economy spirals. The earth groans. Conflict between Israel and Palestine balances on the pin of a grenade. Innocent civilians suffer and die. Your own life feels like it is in free fall some days. Relationships falter. Dreams are lost. Plans change. Even your theology keeps changing.

Your faith in the midst of this free fall is a little like Alice in Wonderland. When Alice falls down the rabbit hole, her dress poofs up like a parachute and she says, “Well after this I should think nothing of falling down stairs.” Alice careers down the hole and wonders to herself “Do cats eat bats?”, and then “Do bats eat cats?” She couldn’t answer either question, but it didn’t seem to matter. She teetered between imagining and dreaming, wondering if she fell far enough whether she would burst through the centre of the earth. If she did, where would it be (maybe Australia), and would the people all be upside down from her perspective?

Think about it. After all the change and upheaval you have experienced, you will think nothing of future life challenges. It is as if your clothes are poofed up and protecting you from the fall. You are learning to see life from a new perspective, maybe even upside down.

There is a lot to be said for a new perspective. Before we left New Zealand five years ago, I jumped off a cliff in Queenstown. You will be glad to know I had a bungee chord attached. I wanted to do a bungee jump as a symbol of the new challenges that lay ahead. I stood 130 meters above the Nevis River, with chord attached. There was barely time to get nervous, as several pairs of hands pressed persuasively on my back. They weren’t going to let me back out. I launched myself into the air and surrendered to the free fall. My head touched water and I bounced up and back three times. I gained an upside down perspective on my own fear. I realized that the fall itself is not frightening. It’s the possibility of a harsh landing that scares me. The fall itself is liberating, exhilarating. The landing wasn’t bad either, in water, and how symbolic, merging my nervous sweat with the river water. The bungee jump was my symbolic leap of faith. Moving to America was a leap of faith. Your life is a leap of faith, but faith in who or what?

Faith In What?

A Buddhist and a Christian went skydiving together. As they prepared to jump, the Buddhist said, "If anything should go wrong…..-"

"Nothing will go wrong," said the Christian. "But if it does, I have faith that God will save me."

The Buddhist replied, "There IS no God. There is only your Essential Buddha Nature. If anything should go wrong, call on your own Buddha Nature." The Christian stored the thought away in his mind.

The pair leaped out of the plane. Halfway down, they discovered that their parachutes wouldn't open.

The Christian remembered the advice of his friend and cried out, "I call upon my Essential Buddha Nature." Immediately, a giant hand came out of nowhere, cradled the Christian in its palm and gently began lowering him to earth.

"Whew! That was a close one!" said the Christian, wiping the sweat from his brow. "Thank God!" whereupon the giant hand said, “God! God! You ungrateful sod!” and crushed him into the ground.

Well, you know the saying, “Jesus saves, but Buddha recycles.”

God! Essential Buddha Nature! Life-force! They are all names that describe some sense of ultimate reality. Your life is a leap of faith, but not faith in the guiding hand of any external God. Your life is an act of surrender to a universal reality to which your life is intimately related. It is a faith that you are a part of life, and that whatever changes life brings, you can flow with the change. It is a faith in your own ability to survive and shift with the tide, knowing that when you get to the bottom of the rabbit hole, a key awaits you. It opens the door to the next journey of your life. You will be wiser for the experience, and more aware for the free fall. You can call this life process “God” or not, but that’s just a name. Either way, it is not something that you are separate from.

A woman is out hiking when she stumbles and falls over a 500-foot cliff to the ocean below. A few feet down, she catches a shrub and clings on for dear life. Dangling precariously, her palms begin to sweat. Realizing she has only seconds to spare, she calls out, “Is there anybody up there?”
A deep, booming voice answers: “Let go of the branch. Have faith. This is God speaking. I will catch you and set you down safely. Trust me.”
The woman looks down at the sea far below crashing against the jagged rocks and then looks up to the lip of the cliff just out of reach. She then looks at the shrub. She looks down and up several times, then calls out, “Is there anyone else up there?”

How the World Religions Describe Faith

Maybe that’s a sentiment that the ancient Hebrew people would relate to, as they languished in the wilderness all those years. I can imagine when Moses came down from Mt Sinai with the commandments that they would have liked to send him back. “Can you get us some other commandments, maybe a little more liberal?” Moses might have replied, “The good news is that I got him down to ten. The bad news is that adultery is still in.”

Faith for the Hebrew people wasn’t so much faith in an external savior God. It was faith in the word or law of God, which is the cosmic story. It was faith in the ever evolving ebb and flow of life, full of mystery, change and survival against all odds. They took many leaps of faith. They gained wisdom and courage. They kept moving.

Faith in Jesus’ teaching starts small and grows, always grows. It is like a seed. It grows and it matures. The New Testament says that when combined with works, faith is perfected. To me that means that when your life actions match your highest purpose, your deepest belief in the flow and connectedness of life, you are living by faith.

Sharon Salzberg has a nice way of describing the maturing of faith. Sharon is one of the leading teachers of eastern meditation in the world today. She differentiates between bright faith, verified faith and abiding faith.

Bright faith beams at the possibilities of life. It is pure optimism. Many children have bright faith. It is beyond their comprehension that life will not bend to their will. We get jaded and lose it at some point. Bright faith is appropriate for children. For adults, bright faith can come close to blind faith. Mature faith is never blind. The problem with blind faith is that even though faith can move mountains, you need to see which mountain needs to be moved.

Verified faith includes a memory of past survival and achievement. It is learned wisdom. Verified faith works closely with doubt. Doubt is not the opposite of faith. They are two sides of one coin. Doubt sharpens faith, and faith affirms doubt.

The Buddha told a story that showed the movement from bright faith to verified faith. He compared faith to a blind giant who meets up with a very sharp-eyed cripple, called wisdom. The blind giant, called faith, says to the sharp-eyed cripple, "I am very strong, but I can't see; you are very weak, but you have sharp eyes. Come and ride on my shoulders. Together we will go far."

Abiding faith is unwavering in the face of change. Abiding faith doesn’t expect life to remain stagnant. It is in tune with a purpose that doesn’t depend on circumstances. It is one with the flow of life. It manifests in whatever way is effective in the changing circumstance.

Abiding faith can leap into a new relationship, knowing that there may be someone more ‘perfect’ out there, but this relationship feels good and right.

Abiding faith can leap out of a relationship, knowing that the grief and heartache is necessary to manifest a higher purpose.

Abiding faith can leap into a new job or new career, knowing that the time is right.

Abiding faith can leap out of a career knowing that the grief will eventually give way to new opportunities.

Whatever your circumstance, take the advice of Joseph Campbell- “Jump. The chasm is not as wide as you think.”

Practicing Abiding Faith

Of course, if you are anything like me, abiding faith is hard. I move in and out of abiding faith. Just do the best you can, take time to honor yourself for the moments of great faith in your life, and keep moving towards the light.

Let me end with a short practice that you can do on your own. If you are comfortable, close your eyes and picture your current faith challenge as a chasm between two cliffs. It’s challenging and intimidating, but it’s a jumpable chasm. Say these words (from Psalm 46:10) to yourself-

Be still and know that I am God.
Be still and know that I am.
Be still and know.
Be still.
Be.

Be still my heart, even here I am at home.
Be still my heart, even here I am.
Be still my heart.
Be still.
Be.

Now jump. The chasm is not nearly as wide as you think.