Faith & Rationality

Both are needed. Those who lean only on one miss the point.

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I am not a keen follower of prayers, rituals, or other elements of faith, which leads some of my friends to believe that I am a rationalist. Well, it is complicated.

Hinduism allows for both

Most religions are based on faith. Thus, leaning on rationality means giving up faith. That leads to atheism pushing them away from religion.

Sanatan Dharma (i.e. Hinduism), however, notes rationalism as one of the several paths to knowing the divine. Sanatan Dharma has a rich tradition of non-believers. It fits in easily, as Sanatan Dharma is about seeking, not believing. Therefore rationalists are not pushed away from Dharma.

Sanatan Dharma also has a rich tradition of faith. And there is a reason.

Both are necessary.

I am reminded of a scene from the movie The Da Vinci Code in which a rationalist symbologist, played by Tom Hanks, talks about the necessity of faith.

Hanks’ character, Dr. Robert Langdon, is trapped as a child in a well, and so he prays and believes that he is not alone in the well. In a way, faith helps him survive. And this leads us to the importance of faith.

Faith is a device to help the rational mind deal with chance.

Our life is governed by chance or probabilities.

The probability that we are alive and that I write this post and you read it is so infinitesimal that you would bet against this happenstance every single time. And yet, here we are!

A rational mind cannot wrap itself around these miracles of chance. It mostly ignores it. But, sometimes, one rational mind takes a leap and asks a question - if this miracle happened once, why can’t it happen again? Thus is born Hope. And we need faith to keep Hope alive.

In Sum

A famous credit card company said there are things money can’t buy. In the same vein, there are some things the mind cannot comprehend; for everything else, there is rationalism.

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