Faith and Spiritual Practice

Krishna Das – Ep. 44 – Faith and Spiritual Practice

Krishna Das shares his wisdom on faith and spiritual practice.

Spiritual practice is not an end in itself, it is a way to develop the strength to live a good life. KD gives a lesson on cultivating strength through spiritual practice.

Show Notes

All the Lights Went On (Opening) – Krishna Das talks about his time in India learning to chant. He shares his first time hearing kirtan. At that moment, all the lights went on and Krishna Das realized that chanting was what he was looking for.

Over the years, the power of the practice helped to separate KD from his own story has deepened. Krishna Das talks about the power and importance of attention in practice.

Faith and Spiritual Path (9:30) – In the spiritual path, progress happens very slowly and under the radar. We may have some peak moments, but we shouldn’t try to hang on to them. What we can do is maintain our practice. Through trial, error, and faith we move along the path.

Krishna Das talks about the importance of faith in our spiritual practice. Not faith in something outside of ourselves, but faith in ourselves and our practice.

“That belief, that will happen to each one of us, from the inside. One day you just go ‘oh.’ Somebody will say something, you will meet somebody, read it in a book and all of a sudden, the doubt you have just float away. It is not like you figured anything out, but the doubt disappears and that is a very big, very blessed occurrence.”

Happiness and Suffering (18:05) – Spiritual practice is not an end in itself. We are not trying to develop our egos into a new form, but get rid of them all together. KD emphasizes the time needed for spiritual practice to ripen. The practice is not an instant one-shot solution, but a cultivation of qualities.

KD talks about the quality of happiness. The Buddha said that life is suffering. This discontentment and suffering are what brings us to the to path; which in itself is liberation.

“Whatever gets you through the night is what you have to do. Nobody can tell you what is going to work for you is. Who can tell you? Think about it. A liberated being might be able to tell you, but they usually don’t. They usually make you find it yourself, which is how you learn.”

For more from Krishna Das on spiritual practice, check out this episode of Pilgrim Heart.

One Comment

  • Deborah Robinson says:

    Enjoyed listening to you – joyful life
    Ram das – Mark Epstein – Sharon Saltzberg
    When I have a trigger – I let it go but I also understand my childhood. If you don’t understand your past – how can you meditate to let go!

    Krishna das – I think you are ‘right on’ – chanting – and the West now just coming into
    Understating the East
    Thank you

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