Unshakeable Faith in the Presence of Love

When there is a pull or a draw towards awakening, usually stemming from "spiritual" experiences and practices, existential crises, or the accumulation of past merit, one enters a transformative phase. Having tasted something sublime, lesser tastes no longer quench the thirst in the same way. Satisfaction breeds a sharper sense of dissatisfaction, true joy deepens sadness, and it marks a point of no return. 

Once one has crossed the Rubicon, so to speak, turning around becomes much more difficult than continuing. Suppressing suffering becomes more challenging than facing it head-on. When the pull towards truth takes root within you, it often feels as though one enters a type of spiritual warfare, where the call to harmony is met with an equal pull of chaos. As the light grows, so does the shadow. Latent impressions, desires, and cravings can seem to rear their heads with renewed vengeance, necessitating vigilance and testing our resolve.

Latent impressions, when not rooted out, grow like weeds through the cracks in the mind, manifesting in sneaky, self-deceptive ways. In Christianity, this is akin to the temptation of the devil, a temptation by forces within us that are played out by external factors and triggers. These forces are visible because one has awoken from the hypnotic spell of being pawned by these forces. Left unchecked, they will drag us through eternity. 

There is a hymn we sing from Brazil that says, "In every moment you have to choose which path to take: towards the eternal stairs of suffering or on the wings of love to fly." The awakening experience sheds light on the darkness, on the dream, seeking to shake us from our slumber.

Throughout history, the journey toward truth has often been marked by trials and temptations, testing the resolve of even the greatest spiritual masters. Their stories reveal the challenges we face as the light grows brighter and shadows deepen, and can perhaps offer a lens through which to view and understand our own path.

For instance, in the moments before the Buddha's historical awakening, it is said he was assailed by all kinds of fear, temptation, and desire; by demons, wrathful entities, and tormentors trying to sway him from his resolve. Sometimes, embarking on the path feels daunting, with the craving to turn around and dissolve into blissful ignorance of the world seems more tempting. But deep down, you know it is not true. The way may seem narrow and difficult, but wandering in samsara for an eternity would be far more difficult. 

When the Buddha was assailed, he touched his hand to the earth; likewise, when realisation is destabilised, your task is to turn to what is stable in the spirit. In times of great darkness, hold an even greater light within. Because time and again we forget, and under this spell, we are dull and disillusioned. That is why there is so much emphasis on recognition, remembering, and realisation. In realisation, there is clarity, and in that clarity, there is a confidence and firmness that lets the assailants come and go, for the awareness that is awoken cannot be shaken.

Another example can be found in the Bible when Jesus—alone in the wilderness, after forty days of fasting—met Satan’s cunning with unshakable clarity. The first temptation came in regards to his hunger. Satan urged him to turn stones into bread, to feed the body, at the expense of the spirit. But Jesus answered, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.” The second was a dare cloaked in scripture: throw yourself from the temple, Satan whispered, and let the angels prove your divinity. Jesus refused, saying, “Do not put the Lord your God to the test.” Then came the seduction of power, the kingdoms of the world laid bare before him, if only he would bow and worship. Jesus rejected it outright: “Worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only.”

These temptations were meant to test his weakness, but instead, they became a furnace that revealed the testament of his firmness. Each response was a return to the source and a refusal to stray from the ground of truth into the distractions of spectacle, doubt, and dominion.

Similarly, in Zoroastrianism, the spiritual struggle is rooted in the firm conviction that truth will ultimately prevail. At the heart of its cosmic dualism lies a faith in the inevitable triumph of Asha, truth, righteousness, and divine order, over Druj, the lie and deception. The spiritual path often feels like a battleground where light contends with darkness, and good faces evil. Each moment calls for choices that resemble an inner warfare, as worldly concerns and spiritual truths vie for dominance. Temptations, moral dilemmas, and the weight of external pressures test the soul’s resolve, turning every thought, word, and deed into a battlefield for righteousness.

Yet, beyond this daily struggle, Zoroastrianism envisions a profound culmination: the Frashokereti, a time when all division dissolves, and the cosmos is restored to its original state of perfection. In this final harmony, all beings are purified, and the forces of deceit and darkness are no more. What once appeared as a battle will be seen as the movement toward a greater unity, where Asha is no longer opposed but fully realised in the divine presence of Ahura Mazda. In the end, opposition dissolves into harmony. Truth is not won but revealed as the essence of all. Light triumphs, struggle ends, and the dream of separation fades into the reality of eternal life.

On one side, there will be times when it feels like we are thrown into this spiritual warfare of good and evil, of light and dark, and of worldly concerns and spiritual truths. On the other side, there will be times when it all rests in itself without opposition, without war, as one, as love.

The key is to have unshakeable faith in the presence of love. 

Unshakeable. 

Where is the ground that is unshakeable? What is the root that endures? How is this space that prevails? Whatever comes to pass, the universe will endure. Nature will always prevail. Human arrogance is no match for this, but our humility can fall in line with it. The presence of Love is the presence of God, and it is this very presence you become aware of when your thoughts about it cease.

That which has been put behind us might linger on our shoulder for sometime, rearing its head, disturbing our thoughts. But if the conviction is there, if the direction is there, then that thing behind you spurs you forwards and you take it with you into the light. By overcoming your demons, you metaphorically baptise them and initiate them into the light of the good work.

If you take on the garb of the ultimate truth, you come naked and without a shield, because that which cannot be taken from you cannot be lost. If a force that could be considered evil comes near that fearless light, then it is fundamentally changed. 

It is like the wandering Tibetan tantric Buddhists indoctrinating elemental spirits into walking the path of the Dharma, or the church fathers baptising and anointing the beings and suffering spirits exorcised in the name of the Living Father.

It is easy to lose one’s way. That is why the light is a metaphor for illuminating, guiding, and revealing the way to return. But as Padrinho Jonathan Goldman likes to say: calling on light is not a metaphor. Light is a metaphor for truth, and, at the same time, it is not a metaphor. It is the real thing. It does not matter how long you have wandered in the darkness. When you return to the light, you are home. That is the destination of all things. Unshakeable faith in the presence of love is to say, “As I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me. Your rod and staff comfort me.”

Or, there is that wonderful line that Rumi did not say: If there is light in your heart, you will find your way home.

Remember this mantra, take it with you in your heart, and have unshakeable faith in the presence of love.