Gita 3.31

Sadhak: "Krishna says faith is essential, but how can I have faith in something I haven't yet experienced? Faith seems like believing without evidence."

Guru: "Consider how you learned anything significant. Did you have evidence that mathematics would prove useful before studying it? Did you know meditation's benefits before practicing? You trusted enough to try, and understanding followed practice. That's śraddhā—not belief without evidence but willingness to test before concluding. It's the faith of a scientist conducting an experiment, not the faith of a gambler."

Sadhak: "But I've tried before and haven't experienced liberation. Doesn't that justify doubt?"

Guru: "Did you try with both qualities Krishna mentions—faith AND freedom from fault-finding? Often we sabotage our own experiments. We practice while simultaneously criticizing: 'This probably won't work,' 'I'm not doing it right,' 'Others might benefit but not me.' That critical running commentary is asūya—the envy and fault-finding that blocks reception. A half-hearted, self-doubting trial isn't a fair experiment."

Sadhak: "What exactly am I supposed to be free from criticizing? The teaching itself? Krishna? Myself?"

Guru: "All of these. Anasūya is a general orientation of goodwill. Don't criticize the teaching while supposedly practicing it—that's like exercising while telling yourself exercise is useless. Don't criticize Krishna or any authentic teacher as a way of excusing yourself from practice. And don't criticize yourself so harshly that you abandon the path before giving it time to work. Approach with supportive openness rather than hostile skepticism."

Sadhak: "Krishna says even those who follow this teaching are liberated. Doesn't liberation require more—renunciation, austerities, special knowledge?"

Guru: "The word 'api'—even, also—is Krishna's grace. He's saying: even without perfect understanding, even without extraordinary capacities, even while still engaged in worldly action—liberation is possible. The essential requirement isn't renunciation or scholarship but orientation: practicing consistently, with trust, without internal sabotage. This is radical inclusion. Liberation isn't reserved for specialists."

Sadhak: "What does it mean to be freed 'from karma'? I still have to act, still have to face consequences of past actions."

Guru: "Freedom from karma isn't freedom from action or its natural results. It's freedom from the binding quality of action—the way actions normally create chains of attachment, identity, and compulsive repetition. When you act with faith and without fault-finding, actions pass through you without leaving residue. You still experience consequences, but they don't define you or drag you into further entanglement. It's like walking through rain with an umbrella: you're in the rain but not getting soaked."

Sadhak: "The word 'nityam'—constantly—troubles me. I can't maintain perfect practice all the time. Life intervenes."

Guru: "Nityam means regularity, not perfection. It's about orientation and consistency, not continuous flawlessness. If you practice with faith daily, that's nityam even if individual moments include forgetfulness. What Krishna warns against is treating the teaching as occasional inspiration rather than ongoing discipline. A few moments of detached action per month won't transform you. Regular, sincere practice—even imperfect—will."

Sadhak: "I notice I often criticize spiritual teachings as impractical or out of touch with modern life. Is that the asūya Krishna means?"

Guru: "Exactly. That critical reflex—'this is outdated,' 'this works for monks, not busy people,' 'Krishna didn't have to deal with email'—is the mind's resistance disguised as discernment. It protects the ego from having to actually change. True discernment evaluates after genuine practice; asūya rejects before trying. Notice: when you criticize the teaching, do you feel relief? That relief reveals the real function of the criticism—it's an escape hatch, not an insight."