Perhaps because
of people’s inherited religious background, they have a tendency to regard
doubt as almost as an enemy because religion is based on blind belief. People
feel that if they have doubts, it means that they are denying the teachings and
that they should really have unquestioning faith. In organized religion,
unquestioning faith is considered a desirable quality.
In pursuit of
truth is pursuit of verification of facts. One has to Investigate,” not “blindly believe.” An
inquiring mind is not regarded as a drawback in pursuit of truth. However, one
who says, “This is not part of my mental framework, therefore I don’t believe
it,” is not a receptive to self-knowledge, and such an attitude is a great
disadvantage for those who aspire to follow any spiritual path. But one who is
receptive, and questions and doesn’t accept things simply because they are
said, but he uses his own reason and investigates on his own till he finds the
un-contradictable truth.
Many teachers
have their own doctrine. Each claims that his particular philosophy and
practice is the truth, but they all contradict each other. Thus they put
everyone in total confusion. Many people are confused. This confusing situation
is the starting point of pursuit of truth. One should not take anything on
trust merely because it has passed down through tradition, or because his teachers
say it, or because his elders have taught him, or because it’s written in some
famous scripture. When he has verified the validity of his belief on his own
and found to be right and true, then he can accept it.”
All through the
ages it has been understood that the doctrine is there to be investigated and
experienced by each individual. So one should not be afraid to doubt, it is
right for one to inquire. But he needs to inquire with all receptiveness, not
with the idea that everything that fits our preconceived notions is right and
anything that does not is automatically wrong. One must have courage to accept
the truth and reject untruth in pursuit of truth. If one has a set pattern in
place, and everything he comes across must either be stretched out or cut down
to fit it. This just distorts everything and prevents from grasping and
assimilating the truth. Thus, noting has to be accepted as truth without
verification of the facts.
If we come across
certain things that we find difficult to accept even after careful
investigation, that doesn’t mean the whole investigation has to be thrown
overboard. Even after many years of
investigation, one may still find certain things that they are not sure about
it. People to go to some guru and ask him about some of these unsolved queries
which they did not find proper answers, and he may say some answers based on
the some doctrine, which also is inadequate and not satisfying answer.
When Arjuna says in Verse 63, Chap.18, Gita, that all his doubts
are cleared, he means his doubts on every question. But this happy state could
not have been reached if he had not begun by having doubts and asking questions
and demanding proofs.
When Krishna tells Arjuna to overcome doubt by the sword of
wisdom, he does not mean that Arjuna should give up his doubt and believe, as
the Pundits interpret it, but that he should keep on thinking about his doubts
until they are solved; that he should not stop until this point is reached.
