The Bhagavad-gita could be called the Book of Doubts. From the early chapters, Arjuna, the protagonist, is worried. He doubts the purpose of the war he is about to fight, he doubts his ability, his own heart, and at first he is even unsure about Krishna’s answers to his doubts.
To openly express doubts takes courage. We fear being seen as a fool, or as an ‘unbeliever’. Generally it’s hard to speak of them unless we are so broken and unsure we don’t care anymore. This was Arjuna – overcome with lamentation, fear, and confusion. He spilled his doubts before his best friend, Krishna, who listened and cared.
The Gita says “our doubts should be slashed with the weapon of knowledge”. That is true for anything – the more you know about something the more you trust it (or not). But first you have to see your doubts before you slash them. You have to bring them into the open, you have to have a conversation with them, and you have to size them up. We shouldn’t fear our doubts. We should say “Hi there, I’ve been expecting you. Now what is it you want to tell me?”
Doubts can be tricky. Best is to take them to someone older and wiser than us. That’s what a mentor is for, and everyone on the spiritual path should have a mentor – someone they trust to answer their questions, respond to their doubts, and offer guidance and support as they wrestle with them.
Sometimes a doubt cannot be resolved right away. Sometime we have to sit with it for a while, having patience with our practice, until we feel a shift. If we are sincere in our effort to truly understand Krishna, the world, and our purpose within it, resolving our doubts will help us get there.
Like clouds gathering in the sky that seem to cover the sun, doubts can cover our sense of Krishna. In reality a cloud can never cover the sun – it only looks like that from our small perspective. In the same way, Krishna is everywhere just like the sun – bigger, brighter, bolder than us all. Our doubts cannot affect the reality of what is, the reality of Krishna. When we stand under that sun, the loving affection of Lord Krishna, then we will truly, definitively, and completely become free of doubts – forever.
Comments