The importance of Faith [Wokies need not enter]

[SwiftQuill]

Now I'm aware most of you dismiss Jordan Peterson as a stage blue right wing grifter, "the king of incels". I won't entertain such low IQ comments here.

Let me tell you about the time I saw JP live in 2023. At the end of the presentation he said this (paraphrasing):

"The most important aspect of personal development is faith. Even if you are an atheist, faith remains essential. Every sacrifice you make in life, every long-term plan, is fundamentally an act of faith. You can never predict the outcome of your sacrifices with certainty. Even with statistics and studies, you cannot guarantee that a college degree will pay off, that a business idea will succeed, or that the major sacrifices you make will lead to the desired results. These decisions are rooted in faith, not in scientific certainty. Faith is what empowers you to endure hardship and to persevere, even when there is no clear evidence that you will succeed."

This lesson isn't obvious. It seems obvious but it isn't. It surely wasn't obvious to me. For a long time I held a Buddhist perspective of things. I used to think faith = expectation = attachment = suffering. But that perspective doesn't empower you.

I noticed the areas in my life where I succeeded the most (finances and LP) were the ones I had most faith in. Conversely, in dating, I always had very little faith, and that's the area I struggle with the most.

The correlation between faith and success in a domain in life, to me is incredible. It changed my attitude in life, and it gave me an inner locus of control when I started having more faith.

Faith is one of those concepts that can seem like a cliché. Something everyone knows but few truly understand. There's a difference between intellectually recognizing the importance of faith and genuinely absorbing and embodying it. If you find yourself rolling your eyes, dismissing it as obvious, that's a sign you may not fully grasp its significance. I encourage you to reflect on the areas of your life where you lack faith. What would change if you truly believed in your ability to succeed there?

[Puer Aeternus]

Yup, to have faith is to trust the process. To be okay with failure, taking on the pain without such unnecessary suffering. When you don't have faith, you're just stuck in your head and in worry more. Catastophizing and nervously trying to plan for a future that will probably not come.

 

Faith in trusting the process allows you to flow through obstacles more quickly, thus you get to success faster than if you were stuck in that resistance. The only issue is you can't really "choose" to have faith, at least immediately. Faith is something that is developed in time spent with yourself and lived experience. Intellectual understanding of faith is a beginning but not enough.

[SwiftQuill]

@Puer Aeternus it's hard to gain faith. Especially if you've been in a shitty life situation for a very long time.

In my case, the moments that made me gain faith were those when I had small wins.

- Managed to write my first novel => I gained faith in my creativity and persistence 

- Managed to get a 100% remote job (after 100 job rejections) => I gained faith in my career, professional competence, and ability to thrive in late stage capitalism 

- Managed to overcome victim mindset through a lot of reflection and journaling => gained faith in my ability to improve myself

 

[Terell Kirby]

Wokies need not enter? What’s that about ?

[SwiftQuill]

@Terell Kirby read literally the first sentence of the post.

[Salvijus]

Faith makes your heart open and receptive. Without faith there is no access to love. Without love your life is a 404 error. 

Edited May 18 by Salvijus

[Schizophonia]

21 hours ago, SwiftQuill said:

I won't entertain such low IQ comments here.

You’re agressive because you know deep down it’s true.

 

[koops]

Of course faith is important.

But one thing is having faith in a better future (dating, business, family life, good health...), and other thing is having religious faith.

 

[Aaron p]

I think the word hope is probably better less religious connotations.

[SwiftQuill]

1 hour ago, Schizophonia said:

You’re agressive because you know deep down it’s true.

 

Low IQ response

[integration journey]

👍👍

[SwiftQuill]

@koops @Aaron p

JP mentioned that. Yes people feel an aversion to faith because of its connotation. But faith is different than hope. And it's hard to explain. I don't recall too well the way he explained the difference.

The way I see it, it's hoe the bible puts it.

"Faith is to believe even without having seen evidence."

Faith comes from within.

Hope is more of a flimsy temporary emotion. Like "motivation". You can't rely on motivation to go to the gym. And you can't rely on hope in life.

It's difficult to explain.

[Salvijus]

Faith is putting your trust in something. You can also invest your faith in a wrong thing. But putting your faith in love is wisdom. Faith in God is wisdom. Faith will save you. 

Edited May 18 by Salvijus

[Schizophonia]

23 minutes ago, SwiftQuill said:

Low IQ response

No it’s logical. 🤔

You stupidly defend Peterson because it's about paranoid egotistical issues; you're afraid to admit he's wrong, but you see it.

And obviously because of the mirror effect this is projected onto others

Why don't you give a damn about Jehovah's Witnesses? Whether you're for or against them? Because you're authentically for or against them, there are no paranoid affects involved that will be projected.

[Salvijus]

Hope means you're expecting a positive outcome. 

Faith means you're in surrender to love regardless of the outcome. 

Edited May 18 by Salvijus

[Salvijus]

"For in The Way of Knowing, it must come to pass that the mind is converted from fear to Love, from doubt to perfect faith. And perfect faith is not that beginning and intermediate stage, in which one is choosing to have faith in things unseen in the hope that they might materialize, for perfect faith casts out all fear. Faith, then, when purified, when matured, when totally realized, is the same as complete forgiveness, the return to peace, and the Knowledge that only Love is Real."

[Oppositionless]

Faith is very important but can also be corrupted. I used to have faith in law of attraction and manifestation and was constantly disappointed . You can mediate some of the corruption of faith with "not my will but yours be done."

[Aaron p]

2 hours ago, SwiftQuill said:

@koops @Aaron p

JP mentioned that. Yes people feel an aversion to faith because of its connotation. But faith is different than hope. And it's hard to explain. I don't recall too well the way he explained the difference.

The way I see it, it's hoe the bible puts it.

"Faith is to believe even without having seen evidence."

Faith comes from within.

Hope is more of a flimsy temporary emotion. Like "motivation". You can't rely on motivation to go to the gym. And you can't rely on hope in life.

It's difficult to explain.

Yeah fair. I suppose in the context of having it towards a person, hope is a desire or wish where faith is nearly like you believe it's going to happen or has already happened. Faith is to believe/expect it will happen, hope is the desire for it to happen.

Your right. Faith is very central. I suppose there are different forms of faith with different degrees of solidity and flavour. I suppose faith is the stronger precursor, embedded in a deeper place than hope. Faith is perhaps built on foundations of logic, historical success and intuitive assuredness. This is at least the better form of faith over blind faith.

[Basman]

Maybe your conflating faith with confidence a bit (which I define as surviving failure). You don't need to have confidence to have faith, but I digress.

In my personal experience, having a very clear picture of what you want and moving towards your goals is essentially what life is all about. Once you have clear and strong goals, it should be simple.

It's important to have faith in yourself if nothing else, I'd say. Perhaps just in your ability to handle what life throws at you. If you fall down you just get up.

[SwiftQuill]

5 hours ago, Aaron p said:

Yeah fair. I suppose in the context of having it towards a person, hope is a desire or wish where faith is nearly like you believe it's going to happen or has already happened. Faith is to believe/expect it will happen, hope is the desire for it to happen.

Your right. Faith is very central. I suppose there are different forms of faith with different degrees of solidity and flavour. I suppose faith is the stronger precursor, embedded in a deeper place than hope. Faith is perhaps built on foundations of logic, historical success and intuitive assuredness. This is at least the better form of faith over blind faith.

I think you misunderstood my initial post. This is precisely my point. Faith is specifically when you believe in something while lacking evidence. Especially if you don't have historical success or sufficient data to believe in it.

Think about it, how am I supposed to have faith in getting a girlfriend, if I've never had one? If there's no history of success. If there's insufficient data (contradictory information on the topic given to me all the time, whether it's possible or impossible or probable or improbable).

How am I supposed to start a revolutionary business idea if by its nature, it's revolutionary, it's too new, there isn't data on it. I absolutely don't know if it will work.

You absolutely don't know. And you don't have assurance.

These are examples of critical points in life, critical decisions to make.

And I think for these types of decisions, faith is mandatory. Which isn't to say you are delusional about it. It's not to say you are 100% attached to the idea, 100% convinced. It's not blind faith in the same way dogmatic fundamentalist theists apply it. And sometimes you have faith in something that doesn't fit neatly in what is considered scientific or logical.