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January 30th, 2002
Received by H.R.
Cuenca, Ecuador.
Faith means knowledge, inner knowledge. It is our share of God’s
holistic vision. It is a quick, partial glance, that is true, but
it is a glance at what really is.
My dear brother, we have already explained that previously. We
have also pointed out that faith does not mean understanding. Knowledge
and understanding are two different things, although knowledge certainly
is the basis for later understanding. If you have faith in God and
in His Love, it does not mean that you understand God or His Love.
You also know that you need faith to obtain the Love of God, and
the attainment of this Love, in turn, increases your faith. And
the starting point for this circular or reciprocal movement, for
this spiral where our soul soars always higher to the summit where
He lives, is this primitive faith, innate in the soul, that God
exists, that He is Love, and that He wants us to turn to Him.
There is another factor to this process: the soul longings. They
are necessary to obtain our Heavenly Father's Love, and they are
born of faith. We can say that a primitive form of these longings
is also implanted in the soul, together with the primitive faith.
Initially, the soul is aware of itself, and it is aware of the existence
of the Great Soul of God, and it longs to communicate with this
Soul, and even more, to become at-one with It.
In moments of despair, the soul longings break through and soar
high to God. And God sends His answer, He sends His Love. Unfortunately,
this flash of the soul often fades away and falls back into oblivion,
when the situation changes.
Faith is knowledge, but not only knowledge of God and the universe,
but also of ourselves, about our condition. When faith awakes, it
usually manifests itself through a general uneasiness, dissatisfaction,
through longings for something that we cannot identify with our
mind. We feel the void in ourselves. It is then when our quest starts,
but not in Nepal or in Goa, but in ourselves, and it is there where
we find peace, a peace which we sought in vain in the different
parts of the earth.
Faith teaches us our current condition, and it teaches us how we
could or should be. Faith creates humility.
However, in order to receive God’s Love, our soul needs some
preparation. It needs to open up. But how does it open up?
It is hope, which achieves the opening up. And that is exactly
where we can help a little through our small contribution. We cannot
give you faith, we cannot give you the Love of God, but we can give
you hope, or strengthen it in case it already exists.
Hope is a human attribute, and like all human things, it constantly
changes. It grows as faith becomes stronger, until it finally acquires
the character of certainty. Then we call it trust. True faith and
trust walk hand in hand.
The hope can also be born of belief, but then it will never become
trust. True faith and true trust do not belong to the imaginary
world, where men live their supposed reality.
Always trust in God, and so your souls will always be open for
the inflowing of His Love.
We have written a little about faith, but faith and love have something
in common: If you do not experience them, you will never know them.
Now, my dear H___, in the morning you wrote a letter to M___, and
you mentioned a work of Khalil Gibran. I want you to write it down
here.
[H.R.: I quoted the following:
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You ask me how I became a madman. It
happened thus: One day, long before many gods were born, I
woke from a deep sleep and found all my masks were stolen
— the seven masks I have fashioned and worn in seven
lives — I ran maskless through the crowded streets shouting,
"Thieves, thieves, the cursed thieves."
Men and women laughed at me and some
ran to their houses in fear of me.
And when I reached the market place,
a youth standing on a house-top cried, "He is a madman."
I looked up to behold him; the sun kissed my own naked face
for the first time. For the first time the sun kissed my own
naked face and my soul was inflamed with love for the sun,
and I wanted my masks no more. And as if in a trance I cried,
"Blessed, blessed are the thieves who stole my masks."
Thus I became a madman.
And I have found both freedom and safety
in my madness; the freedom of loneliness and the safety from
being understood, for those who understand us enslave something
in us.
But let me not be too proud of my safety.
Even a Thief in a jail is safe from another thief.]
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On the occasion of this wonderful description, my dear M___ and
H___, I would like to suggest that perhaps it may be worthwhile
highlighting at the very beginning of the planned book that you
do not expect the reader to say, “I believe what I have just
read" or "I don't believe what I have just read",
but rather that he may say, "now for me it is no longer a question
of believing or not believing, now I simply know. I have felt the
sunbeams of God’s Love on the naked skin of my soul."
With all my love, you can always count on my support.
Judas
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