Radhanath Swami on Doubt – The Worst Enemy or The Best Friend?

For a spiritualist doubt could either be the worst enemy or be the best friend. How? This is because doubt could either force the spiritualist to go deeper into spirituality or force the spiritualist to fall away from the spiritual path. That doubt won’t allow the spiritualist to remain on the same spiritual level that he/she is on.

When we have doubts, we must take shelter of the scriptures, we must take shelter of the words of guru and sadhu, trying to really understand what they mean, and we must take inventory of our own consciousness. It’s the time when we must question our own sincerity, our own dedication and our own commitments; it’s the time when we must fight against all obstacles to improve ourselves. But if at that time we do not do these essential procedures we will fall away from the spiritual path.

For example, sometimes we read something in the scriptures that does not make sense and does not seem logical. Or sometimes we hear something based on scriptures that contradicts all technological and scientific discoveries and so creates doubts. Is this just symbolism? Is this mythology? What is happening?!!

We are sometimes lost in bewilderment, “Should I just pretend as if I did not hear it, go on with my service, and blank it out of my mind? I already tried that, but the doubt keeps coming back. If I cannot accept this part of the scriptures, how can I accept the rest? Then, how will I go on with my spiritual life?”

This is our situation when serious doubts come in to our mind. Actually, it can be a benediction. Why? In that condition, if we are sincere, we will go very deeply in to the scriptures and will thus get a deeper realization of what true spirituality is. But simultaneously we have to question our own conditionings and our own motivations for being a spiritualist, and we should strive to improve and purify ourselves. And thus we make great spiritual advancement and our realizations go deeper and deeper and deeper.

But in that doubtful condition if we are not sincere we will use our good intelligence to rationalize and justify a material life of sense gratification and go back to living according to your own independent whims. “After all, what is given in the scriptures is not true. Then, why should I go on like this? Why should I give up so much for something I do not even believe? So let me enjoy material pleasures while I have the opportunity. While I am a little bit young let me utilize my mind and senses to find the pleasures that the whole world is seeking.” So that justification to leave the spiritual path is also facilitated by that doubt. Therefore, doubt is a test.