Primacy of Faith
Sung Bae Park, a Korean son/Zen monk of the Chogye order, has written:
“Traditional Buddhist literature is filled with references to a “primacy of
faith” in religious life. Nagarjuna’s encyclopedic Ta-chih-tu lun, or Treatise
on the Perfection of Great Wisdom, for which he is often called the
Patriarch of Eight Schools, expresses this primacy of faith as follows:
“In the great sea of Buddha’s teaching, Faith is that by which one can
enter;
Wisdom is that by which one can be saved…” (1)
In
the Record of Mind’s Journey in the
Dharma Realm of Hua-yen, Fa-tsang (643-712), the third patriarch of the
Hua-yen (Avatamsaka or Garland) school, elaborates:
“For those who wish to now enter the unobstructed dharma realm, it is
essential first
to
arouse a resolute faith. Why is it so? Because faith is the primary foundation
for
all kinds of practices. All practices arise from faith. Therefore, faith
is listed first
and is made the departure point.”
(2)
Nishida Kitaro (1870-1945), a visionary Japanese Zen monk and
philosopher as well as founder of The Kyoto School of philosophy, has advised
the people of the world to return to faith as the ultimate solution to humanity’s
sufferings. “Faith is the depth of the self, at the foundation of ourselves,”
he said. (3)
In
a sermon delivered at Savatthi about 2,500 years ago, the Buddha Shakyamuni
said that a true man has seven good qualities: “Here a true man has faith,
shame, and fear of wrongdoing; he is learned, energetic, mindful, and
wise…” (4)
Speaking on behalf of the Buddha at the Nigrodha’s Park in Kapilavatthu,
Ananda repeated his Master’s words when he said that a noble disciple who
possesses the seven good qualities, including faith in the Tathagata’s
enlightenment, is “capable of enlightenment, capable of attaining the supreme
security from bondage.” (5)
What Faith can do
What is faith? And what can it do for us? In Ways of Enlightenment, a Tibetan Buddhist manual prepared for
Western readers and based on the Khenjug,
the encyclopedic Gateway to Knowledge
of Lama Mipham (1846-1912), the Berkeley-based Nyingma Institute clarifies the
nature of faith and its role in spiritual development, the move toward higher
consciousness, and pursuit of truth:
“The faith that supports progress in the Dharma is steady, free from the
shifting realm
of
likes and dislikes. It opens and surrenders to truth with no expectation and no
conditions, based on knowledge that truth is deeply precious and worth
the time and
effort necessary to develop and protect it. Absolute truth, the Lord
Buddha explained
to
Ananda, can only be understood through faith that becomes heartfelt certainty.
(6a)
“While doubt is always dualistic and tends to fragment knowledge, faith
is inherently
non-dualistic and expands
knowledge. When we awaken faith in the Dharma, this faith is not opposed to
faith in ourselves. If we understand that faith is a unifying force, the
basis for doubt and fear disappears, and the gates to knowledge open of
their own
accord.
“We cannot create faith from logic alone, but neither are faith and
logic contradictory.
Logic is a tool of the mind that can be used to prove or disprove almost
anything,
depending on what assumptions one begins with. Faith is a faculty,
almost like one of
the senses. It allows us to see through the elaborate network of self,
to perceive the
potential for greater knowledge, and to awaken our ability to attain it.
Faith opens a
new channel of receptivity, so that teachings, teacher, and one being
taught are
recognized as a continuum.
“Like an advance guard, faith goes before us, encourages us to enter an
even broader
realm of experience and knowledge. Once we have reached this broader
realm, we see
from our new perspective that we were guided along this unknown path by
a
beautiful and multifaceted logic. Through such experience and insights,
we learn to
trust the teachings of the Dharma and become more willing to pass beyond
the
boundaries enforced by doubt, fears, and emotionality. (6b)
“When life is lived in faith, the quality of life grows rich and
creative. Abandoning
doubt and opinionatedness allows the mind to settle into deepening certainty.
Based
in
certainty, we become strong and confident, standing for what we know, and
experience becomes meaningful and joyful. We are able to give ourselves
openly and
completely to what we love, which guarantees that we will accomplish
something of
value.
“Such confident love supports inner realization that moves toward higher
consciousness and the highest goals of completion. The deep certainty of
the
spiritual path is unknown to us until we are completely in love,
surrendering
our heart to truth…” (6c)
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Longchenpa (1308-1363), regarded as the most brilliant Nyingma teacher,
has expressed the importance of faith as the ground or basis of all virtue and
accomplishment:
“When the soil of faith, which is the pure mind, is well watered
by the rain of merit and
wisdom,
virtue springs forth and grows, and the harvest of the
excellent Buddha qualities
ripens.” (7)
The Lam-rim tradition in Tibet was established by the great Indian
master Atisha (982-1054), One of its most outstanding teachers, Pabongka
Rinpoche (1878-1941) has taught that “Faith is generally the basis or root for
the development of all positive things. The Lamp on the Three Jewels Sutra
says:
‘Faith is the preparation, it gives birth like a mother:
It
nurtures all good qualities and increases them…’
“Once a man asked Atisha twice, ‘Atisha, please give me instruction.
Atisha said absolutely nothing and the man made his request yet again – this
time by shouting it.
“’He! He!’ said Atisha. ‘I’m afraid my hearing is sound, quite sound.
Here is my instruction: Have faith! Faith! Faith!’
“The great Gyaelwa Eusapa said:
In brief:
Your experiences and realizations will be great or small
Just as your familiarity with faith is great or small…
“In other words, your developing realizations depends on whether you
have faith and on whether your faith is great or small…” (8)
Tripitaka Master Hsuan Hua (1918-1995) has taught that faith is the key
to spiritual liberation and enlightenment. He said “Faith is the foundation of
cultivation of the Way, and the mother of merit and virtue, because it is
capable of nourishing wholesome roots.
“The Buddhadharma is like a vast sea; only by faith can it be entered.
“Therefore the single word, faith, is the essence of escape from birth
and death, and is the wonderful means of returning to the source
(Buddha-nature, essence of Buddhahood) …
“Faith cannot be ignored. An author of ancient times said, ‘If a man has
no faith, I do not know what can be made of him’.” (9)
Kinds of Faith
According to the Abhidharma
(the Buddha’s profound teachings on metaphysics, psychology and mental
culture), there are three main kinds of faith. As outlined by the Nyingma
Institute, they are: “admiring faith, longing faith, and trusting faith.
Admiring faith comes from seeing the value of the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha.
Longing faith arises from the desire for freedom from suffering and the desire
to obtain the benefits of Dharma practice. Trusting faith is based on
conviction and leads to complete reliance on the Dharma.”
Nyingma adds: “A fourth type is irreversible
faith, which arises at the beginning of the Bodhisattva path, upon the first
glimpse of enlightenment.” (10)
Comments Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche (born 1951), a superior incarnate lama,
meditation master and scholar of the Kagyu lineage: “The fourth, an irreversible
faith, is unshakeable confidence, complete trust that arises only after the
practitioner has attained some degree of realization of the awakened state of
mind.
“Unless we are like Naropa, this type of faith is not easy to possess.
If his master, Tilopa, said “Jump” he would jump; if Tilopa said “Die,” Naropa
would have done so. Without the confidence of realization such total trust does
not genuinely happen…” (11)
In
the Theravada tradition, the “faith-followers” (saddhinusarin) are disciples in whom the faculty of faith (saddhindriya) is predominant; they tread
the Noble Eightfold Path with faith in the lead. And when they attain the fruit
of spiritual liberation, they are known to be “liberated-by-faith” (saddhavimutta). (12)
Faith in Buddha
In
the closing verse (47) of the Alagaddupama Sutta, the Buddha said:
“In the Dhamma well proclaimed by me thus, which is clear, open, evident, and
free of patchwork, those bhikkhus who have sufficient faith in me, sufficient
love for me, are all headed for heaven.”
(13)
Earlier (verse 46), the Buddha said that the faith-followers are all
headed for enlightenment.
In
the Surangama
Sutra, Shakyamuni has taught that “people are emancipated and
enlightened simply by having faith in the Buddha… Buddha is the perfectly
Enlightened One and He loves everyone as though each were His only child. So if
anyone regards Buddha as his own parent, he identifies himself with Buddha and
attains Enlightenment.
“Those who thus regard Buddha will be supported by His Wisdom and
perfumed by His grace.” (14)
Heinrich Dumoulin, one of the world’s foremost scholars on Zen Buddhism,
has written: “…Throughout Buddhism the powerful confession of faith of his
disciple Sariputra (the chief disciple of the Master) resounds like “the roar
of a lion”:
“Lord! Such faith have I in the Exalted One, that methinks there never
has been,
nor will there be, nor is there now any other, whether wanderer or
Brahmin, who
is
greater and wiser than the Exalted One, that is to say, as regards the higher
wisdom”.” (15)
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Ananda, a cousin of the Buddha Shakyamuni and the closest of his senior
disciples, said: “…Here a noble disciple has faith; he places his faith in the
Tathagata’s enlightenment thus: ‘The Blessed One is accomplished, fully
enlightened, perfect in true knowledge and conduct, sublime, knower of worlds,
incomparable leader of persons to be tamed, teacher of gods and humans,
enlightened, blessed’…” (16)
The Buddha used the same words when he taught Prince Bodhi of Bhagga
after a meal in the Kokanada Palace in Kotagari, a town in the Kasi country.
Here the Blessed One instructed the prince on the five factors of striving,
including faith, honesty, sincerity, energy, and wisdom, leading to the
complete destruction of suffering. (17)
“The nature of faith is to trust in sublime beings in order to receive
the blessings of wisdom energy that benefit oneself and others. True faith
creates the vast love of compassion that benefits countless beings,” Thinley
Norby Rinpoche, a highly regarded Nyingma teacher, has written in a recent
essay. (18)
Dr.J. C. Cleary, a noted American Pure Land specialist and scholar, has
written: “Pure Land Buddhism is a religion of faith, of faith in Amitabha
Buddha (as well as faith in one’s Buddha-nature and inherent capacity to
achieve Buddhahood)…
“The immediate goal of Pure Land believers is to be reborn in Amitabha’s
Pure Land. There in more favorable surroundings, in the presence of Amitabha,
they will eventually attain complete enlightenment…
“The present life takes on value chiefly as an opportunity to
concentrate one’s awareness on Amitabha, and purify one’s mind accordingly (by
reciting or chanting Amitabha’s Name)…” (19)
Dr
Hisao Inagaki, a distinguished Japanese Pure Land practitioner and historian,
has written: “…When we come to take refuge in Amida (Japanese for Amitabha),
our eyes are opened to his boundless Wisdom, Compassion, and Power. Then we
will see that there is nothing in the world that is not pervaded by
Amida…” (20)
Faith as Amitabha’s gift
“Sentient beings are foolish and ignorant as though blind and deaf,
They are shrouded by all kinds of obstructing veils;
Buddha’s light penetrates them, making them open up…” (21)
Faith comes from the Buddha’s great compassion and infinite wisdom.
Shakyamuni has explained in the Sukhavativyuha Sutra: “The
beginnings of faith were long ago planted by the compassion of Buddha. When one
has faith one should realize this fact and be very grateful to Buddha for His
goodness.
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“One should never forget that it is not because of one’s own compassion
that one has awakened faith, but because of the Buddha’s compassion which long
ago threw its pure light of faith into human minds, and dispelled the darkness
of their ignorance. He who enjoys the present faith has entered into their
heritage.
“Even living an ordinary life, one can be born in the Pure Land, because
one awakens faith through the Buddha’s long continued compassion…” (22)
In
the Avatamsaka
Sutra, Shakyamuni has reiterated: “He (a lay follower) will come to
realize that his faith is Buddha’s compassion itself, and that it has been
bestowed upon him by Buddha.” (23)
That one’s faith has actually come from the Buddha, is further clarified
in the Mahaparinirvana Sutra: “…There are no seeds of faith in the
mind of worldly passion but, because of Buddha’s compassion, the seeds of faith
may be sown there, and they will purify the mind until it has faith to believe
in Buddha.
“As has been said, the fragrant Chandana tree can not grow in a forest
of Eranda trees (which are poisonous). In like manner, the seeds of faith in
Buddha can not be in the bosom of delusion.
“But actually, the flower of joy is blooming there, so we must conclude
that while its blossoms are in the bosom of delusion, its roots are elsewhere,
namely, its roots are in the bosom of Buddha.”
(24)
Shakyamuni has described the faith to believe
in Buddha as a “rootless” faith: “That is,” he said, “it has no root by which
it can grow in the human mind, but it has a root to grow in the compassionate
mind of Buddha.” (25)
Shakyamuni has also described such a faith as a miracle in the human
heart.
“In Pure Land Buddhism, faith is the sole cause of salvation, but only
because it is a gift of Amitabha’s grace and universal compassion,” Sung Bae
Park has written. “Faith cannot be acquired by human effort but is implanted in
one’s heart by Amitabha when one recites his name …” (26)
As
interpreted by Japanese Pure Land Master Shinran (1173-1262), faith is
Amitabha’s gift to save all human beings. True faith is endowed by Amitabha,
and Shinran has called all those who entrust themselves wholly to this Buddha
of boundless great compassion, in the light of his 18th Vow, as the
true disciples of all the Buddhas.
Inagaki has written: “Amida comes to us in the form of the Name, and his
heart directly enters ours to establish in us the unshakeable faith. This faith
is the cause of Birth in the Pure Land and of subsequent attainment of
Enlightenment…” (27)
“Shinran Shonin explained that the Faith given by Amida is the
Bodhi-Mind containing the Buddha’s Wisdom and Compassion,” Inagaki wrote.
John Snelling, a world-renowned Buddhist scholar and writer, has
commented that for Shinran (also a Tendai monk, like his great master, Honen)
“the actual recitation of the Nembutsu (Reciting the Buddha’s Name) is not as
important as the underlying quality of faith, which he equated with the
Buddha-nature (essence of Buddhahood) itself.
“Faith cannot, however, be contrived by an effort of will but by pure
grace – a gift bestowed by Amida, whom Shinran regarded as the ultimate Buddha.
In receiving this gift of faith, one feels enormous gratitude and can accept
oneself totally, vices and all, for one is saved in spite of them…’ (28)
Honen has pointed out, however, that the Nembutsu (reciting/chanting the
Name of Amitabha Buddha) is the only practice cited and supported in the 18th
(Primal) Vow. And to Honen who attained enlightenment through the Nembutsu,
it’s the supreme practice.
Shinran has described the Nembutsu as a joyous response to the assurance
of universal enlightenment given in the Primal Vow. Amitabha Buddha has vowed
to save every sentient being who has faith in him, and chanting/reciting His Name
arises like a song of spontaneous acceptance and acknowledgement from the
heart.
Sounding the Name with clarity, sincerity and zeal expresses faith in
Amitabha, the Buddha of Infinite Light and Infinite Life, from the depths of
the heart and mind.
And, through the passage of countless eons, has this simple act of
faith, mindfulness, and piety come down to us, from Mahasthama (Great Strength)
Bodhisattva.
Mahasthama is the first enlightened being to have made it a practice of
faithfully and religiously reciting the Name of Amitabha to evoke its ineffable
spiritual power, in order to attain samadhi (total mindfulness/concentration
and imperturbability), to attain rebirth in the Pure Land which is the ideal training
ground of innumerable bodhisattvas, and then ultimately to achieve the complete
and perfect enlightenment of Buddhahood.
NAMO
AMITABHA BUDDHA
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