Faith Starts Where You Stop Thinking?

Yesterday I was stopped in front of Namasthe Plaza (Indian Grocery Store in Sunnyvale) by an ISKON volunteer. She was a dimunitive white lady of 52 (her information). She started off trying to get us to pick up a book on Krishna (and offer a "donation" in return.) Another volunteer saw my pregnant wife and swooped in on her with a couple of Baby Krishna books.

After we had brushed off the initial baits, the little old lady went to the next gear, and produced a thicker, more serious looking book titled Krsna. She declared it was a required book for any one who wants to combat the stresses of materialistic existence and wants to go beyond the cycle of life, and stuff like that.

At that point, I lost a bit of my patience, and started off saying "You should realize that, being from India, we have been exposed to this stuff a lot...." And so started a short debate that quickly accelerated in full fledged battle of beliefs.

At some point she said something like "you are going to be a father, and you would be failing in your duty if you do not equip your child with this knowledge of life and the soul...". I got ticked off and told her I disagreed, and that it's good for someone only if they buy into it. It boils down to "faith", I said. She agreed, but went on to say, thousands are benefitting from the knowledge of Krishna all over the world; this is being taught in leading universities all over the world; people who have a higher taste seek this.

Wow, wait a minute! Higher Taste?

I was tempted to say, people of lower intelligence seek this stuff, but that would have been foolishness.

Anyway, I said, faith is that point where you choose not to think anymore, or you can't think anymore. (Implying, I have some distance to go before I give up thinking and trying to figure 'it' out.) I don't think she understood. But, I think I was on to something there.

Got to think about that one!