Faith

General forum on the teachings of all schools of Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism. Topics specific to one school are best posted in the appropriate sub-forum.
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Jechan
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Re: Faith

Post by Jechan »

Faith is like driving over a bridge to cross a long stretch of water. We don't question whether or not the bridge can hold us up and keep us from falling, we just drive onto it knowing we will cross to the other side safely.
Faith is assurance of the outcome and that what the Buddha teaches is true, not false.
Namu Myoho Renge Kyo
南無妙法蓮華経
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Ambrosius80
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Re: Faith

Post by Ambrosius80 »

This is a very good reason to like Buddhism. Unlike other religions, where you either believe everything as it is written/said or you go to Hell, for example, Buddhism actually invites you to ponder on things, think on your own and use logic. In my opinion, this is why Dharma is the truth. Even though it has a solid core that tells how everything is, there are a great many ways to approach this core. There are no dogmas; my way is as correct as yours, so to speak.

In the end, we all save ourselves, and can't expect anyone else to do it for us.
"What we have now is the best. He who can never be satisfied is a poor man, no matter how much he owns.

What you have results from karmic causes that you created, and what you'll gain hinges on karmic causes that you're creating."
-Master Sheng Yen
Schrödinger’s Yidam
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Re: Faith

Post by Schrödinger’s Yidam »

Ambrosius80 wrote:In the end, we all save ourselves, and can't expect anyone else to do it for us.
Nobody can do it for us, we've got to do our part. But if a little help shows up here and there, are you going to turn it down just to make a point?
1.The problem isn’t ‘ignorance’. The problem is the mind you have right now. (H.H. Karmapa XVII @NYC 2/4/18)
2. I support Mingyur R and HHDL in their positions against lama abuse.
3. Student: Lama, I thought I might die but then I realized that the 3 Jewels would protect me.
Lama: Even If you had died the 3 Jewels would still have protected you. (DW post by Fortyeightvows)
Nicholas Weeks
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Re: Faith

Post by Nicholas Weeks »

Bodhisattvas, due to their benevolent intent, are present here to mature all beings. No father, mother or friend is so kind... Those who embody love pursue benefit and happiness with affectionate care for other beings. People do not even love themselves this much...
Sutralamkara 9:14-15
May all seek, find & follow the Path of Buddhas.
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Ambrosius80
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Re: Faith

Post by Ambrosius80 »

smcj wrote:
Ambrosius80 wrote:In the end, we all save ourselves, and can't expect anyone else to do it for us.
Nobody can do it for us, we've got to do our part. But if a little help shows up here and there, are you going to turn it down just to make a point?
Of course not. Buddha himself helped people on their pursuit of enlightenment. But it is up to us to recognize the help we are offered and make full use of it in our daily lives.
What I meant was that we cannot simply put ourselves and our lives on "auto pilot", thinking that a soul or a god is acting as our shepherd and doing decisions for us, believing that we cannot go the wrong way even if we tried.
"What we have now is the best. He who can never be satisfied is a poor man, no matter how much he owns.

What you have results from karmic causes that you created, and what you'll gain hinges on karmic causes that you're creating."
-Master Sheng Yen
Nicholas Weeks
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Re: Faith

Post by Nicholas Weeks »

Faith means belief without doubt, faith in the
existence of the Buddha, of the Buddha’s Dharma
and of the bhiksu sangha; faith in the existence
of arhats, of the present world, of the next world
and of filial piety towards parents; faith in good
remuneration for good action, bad remuneration
for bad actions. If one has such faith, his mind
is serene and clear and the five hindrances are
eradicated.
What are the five? The first is lustful craving,
the second is hatred, the third is mental sloth, the
fourth is sports and enjoyment, the fifth is doubt.119
If a person has not removed these five hindrances,
his mind is not calm and tranquil.
Nagasena Sutra
May all seek, find & follow the Path of Buddhas.
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Wayfarer
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Re: Faith

Post by Wayfarer »

Sport and enjoyment? :shrug:
'Only practice with no gaining idea' ~ Suzuki Roshi
Nicholas Weeks
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Re: Faith

Post by Nicholas Weeks »

Wayfarer wrote: Thu Jan 11, 2018 12:53 am Sports and enjoyment? :shrug:
That was from the Chinese version, but the notes like 119 were not in the pdf. Horner's translation from the Pali does not seem to have such a passage. But maybe I missed it in a word search of that version.

It could be referring to any sort of entertainment like gambling, theater plays, wrestling matches etc.
May all seek, find & follow the Path of Buddhas.
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Re: Faith

Post by Nicholas Weeks »

Root verse:
[2] Someone who wishes to end suffering
And go to the utmost limit of happiness
Should securely plant the root of faith,
And then fix the mind unwaveringly on Awakening.


“For the Precious Lamp Dhāraṇī (Ratna-ulka-dhāraṇī) says:

Because of having faith in the Victorious Ones and their teachings,
And by having faith in the practice of the Buddha’s heirs,
Because of having faith in the highest Awakening,
The mind of a great person is born.
Faith, coming first, is the mother,
Giving birth to all abilities, protecting them and helping them to grow.
It drives away doubts and carries you over the flood;
[3] Faith shows you the city of peace.
Faith makes the mind pure and clear;
Free from conceit, it is the root of respect.
Faith is a storehouse of wealth; it is your best foot.
Like a hand, it is the source of all good karma.
Faith leads to joy in giving
And brings delight in the teachings of the Victorious Ones.
Faith makes you distinguished in abilities and pristine awareness,
Shows you the state of a Buddha and helps you attain it.
Excerpt From: Charles Goodman; The Training Anthology of Santideva.
May all seek, find & follow the Path of Buddhas.
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Wayfarer
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Re: Faith

Post by Wayfarer »

Thanks, Nicholas. So I will presume ‘sport’ as in ‘physical culture’ is OK. And I don’t care for gambling. :smile:
'Only practice with no gaining idea' ~ Suzuki Roshi
Nicholas Weeks
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Re: Faith

Post by Nicholas Weeks »

Precious Lamp Dharani continues:
It clarifies your faculties and makes them sharper.
The power of faith cannot be overcome.
It is the basis of eliminating the reactive emotions.
Faith seeks out your natural abilities.
Those who have faith are not attached to the pleasures of contact.
It wards off unfavorable circumstances and is itself the single best opportunity.
Faith takes you beyond Māra’s path
And shows you the highest path of freedom.
It is the unspoiled seed, the cause of abilities;
Faith grows into the tree of Awakening.
It increases the special bliss of pristine awareness;
Faith shows you all the Victorious Ones.
Those who always have faith and devotion to the Buddha
Don’t give up on moral discipline and their training.
Those who don’t give up on moral discipline and their training
Are praised as having abilities by those with abilities.
Those who always have faith and devotion to the Teachings
Insatiably study the Dharma of the Victorious Ones.
Those who insatiably study the Dharma of the Victorious Ones
Have inconceivable confidence in the Dharma.
Those who always have faith and devotion to the religious community
[4] Have irreversible confidence in the religious community.
Those who have irreversible confidence in the religious community
Become irreversible by the power of faith.
Those who become irreversible by the power of faith
Have faculties that are sharp and very clear.
Those who have faculties that are sharp and very clear
Have completely given up bad friends.
Those who have completely given up bad friends
Are surrounded by religious friends.
Those who are surrounded by religious friends
Gather a huge quantity of what is wholesome.
Those who gather a huge quantity of what is wholesome
Are great beings who have the power of causes.
Those great beings who have the power of causes
Have vast confidence of a special kind.
Those who have vast confidence of a special kind
Always receive energy from all the Victorious Ones.
Those who always receive energy from all the Victorious Ones—
Awakening Mind arises in them.
May all seek, find & follow the Path of Buddhas.
Simon E.
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Re: Faith

Post by Simon E. »

The word 'faith' has little purchase in Buddhadharma.

Better to internalise the term 'shraddha'.
Faith is as partial and misleading a translation of shraddha as 'suffering' is of dukkha imo.
“You don’t know it. You just know about it. That is not the same thing.”

Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche to me.
Nicholas Weeks
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Re: Faith

Post by Nicholas Weeks »

The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism has much to say about sraddha, here is how the main entry begins:
śraddhā. (P. saddhā; T. dad pa; C. xin; J. shin; K. sin 信). In Sanskrit, “faith” or “confidence,” a term that encompasses also the sense of “belief.” Faith has a wide range of meanings in Buddhism, ranging from a kind of mental clarity and positive disposition toward the Buddha (which is often attributed to an encounter with a buddha or with the bodhisattva in a former life), to a sense of conviction about the efficacy of the Buddhist path (MĀRGA), to a commitment to follow that path. In addition to its cognitive dimensions, which will be described more fully below, faith also has important conative and affective dimensions that are frequently recounted in Buddhist literature.
May all seek, find & follow the Path of Buddhas.
Simon E.
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Re: Faith

Post by Simon E. »

Which sidesteps the issue at hand by positing meanings of the word 'faith' which do not naturally occur in English. In other words, positing interpretations rather than translation.
Internalising 'shraddha' is more efficient and less convoluted.
Most of us no longer have to search for translations of 'karma' or 'dukkha' we have internalised their meanings.
That should in my view be a general principle.
“You don’t know it. You just know about it. That is not the same thing.”

Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche to me.
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PuerAzaelis
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Re: Faith

Post by PuerAzaelis »

It’s a positive mental factor, the “mother of all that is positive”, and is described as necessary for cultivating motivation.

Faith is born from having grasped preciousness. Kun dga’ bstan ’dzin, 1974, quoted in Brown, 2006.

It is necessary to generate a faithful mind. Kun dga’ bstan ’dzin, 1974, quoted in Brown, 2006.

You must have the support of unwavering faith in the root lineage and in the complete teachings. Without that, you come to amass all the evils and harms of saṃsāra. Without faith, there is no chance of finding bliss, like being thrown naked into a deep well. Without faith, practice fails to come forth. You grieve, as if you were clinging to the edge of a deep abyss. Without faith, you fail to see the gods’ blissful faces. Without faith, emotions become your enemy. Without faith you are vulnerable to Māra’s evils. In short, you will come to know and experience all the miseries of saṃsāra’s realms from the harm of having no faith. Now, faith is like a wish-granting gem; the numerous desired benefits come from it. If you have faith, you eradicate the five poisons, like curing a sickness. If you have faith, you walk the narrow path of deliverance from saṃsāra, like a mountain goat. If you have faith, you amass the root of all virtues, like the newborn’s first grasp. If you have faith, you increase the benefit that comes from letting go of defects, like a fatherly benefactor. If you have faith, you remove the blocks to self-awareness, like the sun and moon after an eclipse. If you have faith, you are guided on the path of liberation, like a ship. If you have faith, you are born and live as a virtuous being, [whose mind is] like a great ocean. If you have faith, you sow [the seeds of] advice like plants in a burying-ground. If you have faith, awareness-itself reveals the sense objects as virtuous, and the five sense gates manifest the enjoyment body. If you have faith, whatever arises becomes bliss, like a newborn’s wonder of the truth. In short, you will come to know the benefit of faith, the perfection of [direct] experience, the bliss of attainment, which transforms you from an [ordinary] sentient being into a buddha. Kun dga’ bstan ’dzin, 1974, quoted in Brown, 2006.

Adhimoksa [faith] is defined as “having the nature of determination, the function of not dawdling along, the actuality of decidedness, and the basis on which it functions is the object that has been decided upon. Owing to the unshakableness in relation to this object it should be regarded as a stone pillar." Guenther, 1974.
Generally, enjoyment of speech is the gateway to poor [results]. So it becomes the foundation for generating all negative emotional states. Jampel Pawo, The Certainty of the Diamond Mind

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Nicholas Weeks
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Re: Faith

Post by Nicholas Weeks »

Among the mental factors here is Asanga's definition:
8. What is faith (śraddhā)? It is complete and firm conviction (abhisampratyaya) with respect to what exists (astitva), serene joy (prasāda) relative to good qualities (guṇavatna) and the aspiration (abhilāṣa) for capability (śakyatva). Its function is to provide a basis for will.
As for a lack of faith:
43. What is lack of faith (āśraddhya)? It is the absence of strong complete conviction; it is the lack of serenity and aspiration for the good. It belongs to delusion. Its function is to provide a basis for laziness.
May all seek, find & follow the Path of Buddhas.
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Re: Faith

Post by Nicholas Weeks »

The delight and respect that all feel for someone who merely has faith in genuine Dharma, or interest in it, or liking for it, or merely retains the costume of it, is a quality of genuine Dharma.
Gampopa in Precious Garland.
May all seek, find & follow the Path of Buddhas.
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Re: Faith

Post by Schrödinger’s Yidam »

Faith and hope are unawareness formulated in such a way so it most easily can become aware.
George Teng. (May not be a verbatim quote.)
1.The problem isn’t ‘ignorance’. The problem is the mind you have right now. (H.H. Karmapa XVII @NYC 2/4/18)
2. I support Mingyur R and HHDL in their positions against lama abuse.
3. Student: Lama, I thought I might die but then I realized that the 3 Jewels would protect me.
Lama: Even If you had died the 3 Jewels would still have protected you. (DW post by Fortyeightvows)
Nicholas Weeks
Posts: 4209
Joined: Mon Apr 06, 2009 4:21 am
Location: California

Re: Faith

Post by Nicholas Weeks »

Considering this physical existence as a servant, make it do wholesome tasks. Thus it says:

This human existence should be employed in service [of others]. BCA 5:66 [Shantideva]

The three types of faith: In order to act in such a way, faith is needed. It is said that without faith,
noble qualities will not develop in a person. Thus the Ten Dharmas Sutra says:
The noble qualities will not arise in someone without faith,
just as a green shoot will not emerge from a scorched seed.

The Flower Ornament Sutra also says:
Those of worldly disposition with little faith
will be unable to know the buddhas’ enlightenment.

Therefore, you should cultivate faith. As the Buddha teaches in the Vast Manifestation Sutra:
Ananda, cultivate faith; this is what the Tathāgata asks of you.

What exactly does faith mean? When analyzed, it has three aspects: faith as conviction, faith as
aspiration, and faith as clear joy.
Gampopa, Ornament of Precious Liberation
May all seek, find & follow the Path of Buddhas.
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