Faith and dogma – how close are they to each other? Actually, they are miles apart. Dogma follows from a belief-system; faith is deeper-seated.

Of course we very easily say, ‘I have faith in you’ – and next moment we lose all faith! It is a very commonly used word, rather it would be more appropriate to use the word ‘belief’; and therefore from a system of beliefs could follow dogma. But faith is much more deep-seated. One would say faith is an unwavering belief in something deeper that is unshakable under any circumstances.

Faith comes from a different region: it is more of the heart – deeper heart, not an emotional feeling; because the emotional feeling changes – very easily at times. Faith is of the soul, a trust that abides in the soul; while dogma follows out of a belief-system: something that is not at all understood really, and is yet accepted in Toto as a belief-system, and can become a dogmatic pursuit.

Of course, faith is a commonly used word, isn’t it? – The ‘calling of the faithful’… But really what is meant is the following of a belief-system. Faith is actually a deeper knowing: something you know in your soul for certainty before it becomes experience – and therefore it is close to the soul. It is the soul’s knowing, not a system that is handed down as a belief.

So when one has faith, under any circumstances, it does not change. Dogma has a tendency to be conceited; they are for oneself, because of one’s identification and association with a certain system. It is two different worlds altogether: a world of difference. And you will see: dogma has a vested interest; faith does not. Faith will stand the test of time; dogma will not.

And you can see very clearly: where there is dogma and where there is faith; there is a whole difference in terms of the energy, the very nature of the energy. In faith you will find the strength of calm; in dogma the tendency to violence. And it is for that very reason that faith is unshakable: it is tranquil. And yet there could be intensity, powerful intensity – but it is not like dogma, which can be rigid, violent, shallow, and temperamental.

With faith even though on the surface there will be lots of strong winds and hurricanes, yet something deep in you holds to this kind of knowing, this kind of faith – something deeper, something solid, because it is closer to the soul, it is closer to home… Dogma is just beliefs, handed-down systems, and have a tendency toward barbarism.

So one can say: faith is of the soul.

Faith will stand by you through thick and thin, under any circumstances. Dogma has no basis in the truth, no depth; just belief-systems one attaches oneself to, or finds oneself with, and therefore identifies with, and for one’s vested interest, for survival, propagates. There is no experience behind it, no deeper experience, but mere belief and egoism.

When you have arrived at faith you have arrived in God; when you go about with dogma you live in ignorance – and yet you further it as truth, even though you have no experience! It is purely belief.

In faith there is a surety that is unshakable; in dogma you put out that you are sure. The quality lies in the state of being – it is very visible. One is without agitation; the other is all agitation: violent, aggressive, and excessively assertive.

Faith is a calm repose – which is why faith knows really – and therefore unshakable. With dogma you do not know – therefore you are agitated – but want to express that you know. That is how it is done. And therefore dogma seeks conversion with great aggressiveness. Faith never seeks conversion: by its very presence it converts! Dogma is enforced.

Wherever you find there is agitation, aggressiveness, know this: there is no faith. Where there is faith there will be calm – and yet there will be a power behind it, a great dynamism: intense, but not agitated. Faith has a stable plank; dogma has an unstable one. Faith has refinement; dogma has brute force.

And yet in history you will see, irony of ironies – ‘faith’ has been enforced through dogma, with brute violence and aggressiveness… what they call ‘faith’, that is – what is actually meant is conversion. And conversion only creates an external façade; it never reaches within. Dogma does not have the power to reach deep into the soul.

It is faith that carries one, and carries through. So faith is a power unshakable and dogma a crude attempt at enforcing a belief-system, which coerces conversion without any transformation.

Dogma is very immature; it usually ends up with people belonging to uneducated societies – uneducated in the very topic they would like to enforce, or they believe in, or they are told to believe in. And it is usually handed down as something to believe in – it is not a dialogue, it is not a debate. It is a very interesting word, this ‘dogma’: it has ‘dog’ in it!  They can be pretty dogged about enforcing their beliefs! And the fallout of dogma is superstition and stuck conventions.

Faith always gives of its eternal waters – that is the quality of faith. Dogma – they push their beliefs down your throat, even though you have no intention of digesting them! That is why they have always enforced them with the sword.

They always profess to know what they do not know. It is something that is handed down as a lineage, a system, and a belief-system. It is amazing how strongly they can pursue it, even though it is pretty obvious that what they are enforcing has no significance and meaning left. With dogma no room is given for enquiry.

And if it were to be taken away from them, they would lose their identity; and in that they have fear, in that they fear the punishment – that they will be punished somewhere up there, they will be denied entry into heaven or whatever it may be; or the ancestors will be unhappy with them; or they will go to hell… It is again a belief-system. And usually dogma ends up as superstitions.

Faith is something so deep: something in you knows – although on the surface you may not know.  Something deep in you knows before it is known as an experience and becomes completely visible; something you know for sure and keeps you totally with it; something so solid – and you will feel it deep in the heart.

You may feel this, ‘I have to do this – I know’. You do not know why, but something deep in you knows that you have to do this. ‘I have to be there’ – something deep in you knows. And you do not know why – and you will know why once you carry it out – but something deep in you knows. It is not a belief, it is something deep – something connected with your soul.

So there may be all these strong winds on the surface raging, but faith remains solidly there.

Arya Vihar

14 May 1998

Evening