“Faith is sensitiveness to what transcends nature, knowledge, and will, awareness of the ultimate, alertness to the holy dimension of all reality. Faith is a force in man, lying deeper than the stratum of reason and its nature cannot be defined in abstract, static terms. To have faith is not to infer the beyond from the wretched here, but to perceive the wonder that is here and to be stirred by the desire to integrate the self into the holy order of living. It is not a deduction but an intuition, not a form of knowledge, of being convinced without proof, but the attitude of mind toward ideas whose scope is wider than its own capacity to grasp.”
“In the light of faith we do not seek to unveil or to explain but to perceive and to absorb the rarities of mystery that are gleaming softly from all things; not to know more, but to know what is more than anything we can grasp. How can our soul be insensitive to the fragrance of the unknown that is bestowed upon our life? What is most dear and real is neither known nor knowable.”
“Faith does not spring out of nothing. It comes with the discovery of the holy dimension of our existence. Suddenly we become aware that our lips touch the veil that hangs before the Holy of Holies. Our face is lit up for a time with the light from behind the veil. Faith opens our hearts for the entrance of the holy. It is almost as though God were thinking for us.”
Dr. Heschel born in 1907 was a theologian, scholar and activist who fled Nazi Germany, and later marched for civil rights alongside Martin Luther King, Jr. The reading was from a collection of his essays titled, Moral Grandeur and Spiritual Audacity.
Faith is a mysterious force, seemingly at odds with our scientific culture. From a Zen perspective, the teachings on great faith can be a lifeline, because they have a medicinal quality when applied in the context of our cynicism, anxiety, and doubt. Many of us start out on the Buddhist path perceiving a huge gap between our doubts … Who is this person in the mirror? Is it really possible to be content?.... and the tender, inexplicable knowledge that our lives could be vast and fearless, in perfect harmony with all things. Roshi continually stresses that we need to have faith in our Buddha nature, and then to act out of it. He reminds us that we are perfect and complete just as we are. Faith, according to Heschel is not hoping for a better moment, not waiting for some other time, place, or person to save us. Faith is in the Now!
There are many people of faith in the world. We see them everywhere. Yet there is no one for whom faith is automatic and immediate; it doesn’t always come easy. Faith has to be worked on. Of course there are those who find it easier to embrace a believe system than others. But many people simply don’t have it in them to believe in something they haven’t experienced personally. In fact, as we all know, there are those who make fun of faith, likening it to superstition. But the truth is that faith is good for us. Medical studies have shown that people of faith live longer and recover from illnesses more quickly. If you have been attending the Abbesses monthly course Living a Zen Inspired Life – The Neuroscience of Buddha Brain, it’s pretty convincing that meditation can have positive psychological, emotional, and physical effects. It’s becoming increasingly clear that Zen training in meditation and mindfulness living can bring profound healing and transformation to your body and your entire life. I think it could even be said that deep faith wipes away fear and gives us a sense of one’s place in the universe.
If you think about it, almost everything that we do requires some degree of faith. In general, life requires faith. For example, when we come to a green traffic light and mindlessly pass through a busy intersection we place great faith that a tractor trailer will not be barreling through the intersection and hit us broadside. When we order things through the internet there is faith involved, because there is a period of time, usually a few days, between when we have given sensitive information, our credit card number, and when we actually have the goods that we ordered in our hands. As students of Zen, we also know that life is impermanent. So when we tuck ourselves in at night and set the snooze button on our alarm clock, we believe in something. And that something that we believe in is a tomorrow that we haven’t seen yet. There is no guarantee that we will see tomorrow, however, we trust that we will. This is faith.
It seems next to impossible to discuss any type of contemporary spirituality without talking about the implication of faith. Almost every religion or belief system calls for a leap of faith of some sort, usually, in the form of belief in a God or gods. In other words, believing in something external to us. Not that there is anything wrong with this, just that since Buddhism is not really a religion in the traditional theistic sense, and is more of a way of life, faith takes on a different role. It takes on the role of practice. The Buddha himself took a very pragmatic approach to spiritual practice. He recommended that his followers should try what he has discovered worked for him. It may work for them as well, and then again, it may not. However, stressing the practical only would be a mistake. The role that faith plays in Buddhist practice should not be underestimated. Faith and devotion are a major part of the path.
If there is any one aspect of faith that is common to all Buddhist traditions, it is that we have faith that we can find a safe place to take refuge during life’s difficult and troubling times. We find this sanctuary in what is known as the Three Jewels: the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha. Here at Jizo-an Monastery, and in probably all monasteries of the various Buddhist traditions, a new practitioner becomes a member of the community by taking part in an ancient rite known as the refuge ceremony. The refuge prayer or vow simply states:
I take refuge in the Buddha, the enlightened teacher
I take refuge in the Dharma, the spiritual teachings
I take refuge in the Sangha, the spiritual community
Taking refuge in the Three Jewels means that we trust and have faith in Buddha, as an awakened teacher, and in Buddha hood – the possibility of enlightenment for each and every one of us. It means that we have faith in the Dharma, the enlightened spiritual teachings and the reality of truth itself. It means that we have faith in the Sangha, the possibility that we can heal and be healed by the love and compassion found within the spiritual community. This belief has subtle and far-reaching implications. If for example, we are able to believe in, or even just be open to, the possibility for enlightenment, or our own innate Buddha-nature – we will, by definition, have faith in our own basic worthiness, in our own potential and innate capacity for goodness. So we chant during Sutra Services…Atta Dippa;
Dwell!
You are the light itself;
Rely on your original self;
Do not rely on others!
The Dharma is the light!
Rely on the Dharma!
Do not rely on anything
Other than the Dharma!
Whenever we seek spiritual comfort and something we can rely on, we turn to the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha. We affirm this also during Sutra Services when we chant Tisarana – I take refuge in the Buddha, I take refuge in the Dharma; I take refuge in the Sangha.
The fact that we come to the monastery to sit on zafu’s is visual confirmation that we have faith in something here at the monastery. Why else would we be here! Nobody is forcing us to be here, and as far as I am aware, no one is here sitting as part of research for a Ph.D. thesis. So why are we here? Perhaps it is because…. maybe…just maybe we will be touched by something at a deeper and more profound level. And that requires faith.
When the Buddha gave up his lavish lifestyle and set out on his spiritual journey, he did not know what was going to happen. He certainly didn’t know that he was going to be the Awakened One, that he was going to be the leading, guiding teacher of a large, influential community. He couldn’t have known that he would be respected by people around the country in his own lifetime, and that he would start a tradition that would last for 2,500 plus years and have profound impact on people around the world. He simply set out on a personal spiritual journey, to resolve the question, How can I live fully today that culminated with his enlightenment under the bodi tree. His quest started out based in Great Faith and Great Doubt, and was only realized through Great Perseverance.
We all enter practice complete in our capacity, but limited in our ability. Or another way of saying this, something that I heard over 25 years ago when I first became interested in Buddhism, is that, Only You Can Do This, But You Can’t Do it Alone. I mentioned this during our September retreat when Roshi asked everyone, “What did we learn today.” For me it was after sitting alone at home for some five weeks during our summer break, a greater appreciation of sitting with all of you….the Sangha. This is where faith in the spiritual community or Sangha, and faith in Roshi our teacher comes in.
I think I can speak for all of us when I say that in the beginning, we enter practice with some trust… some faith, in the Dharma, and in ourselves. But we also enter with doubts. We’re not sure that we can do this. It’s hard to undertake anything of meaning without some doubt or uncertainty. Even zazen (meditation) brings a certain amount of doubt. As we sit we say to ourselves, “I can’t do this, my mind is wandering again….my left leg is going numb….it’s twenty minutes and I am dozing off again, when is the jikijitsu going to hit the bell, perhaps he is falling asleep also. O my God, I am never going to make it through O-Rohatsu Sesshin.” Eventually we learn to expect the mind to wander, and to have periods when doubt and confusion will set in. It’s just part of the learning process. But we also become better prepared to cope with it. Faith is what helps us continue on despite our doubts. And then we recite the Bodhisattva Vows;
However, Innumerable All Beings Are, I Vow to Love Them All
However, Inexhaustible Desires Are, I Vow to Extinguish Them All
However Immeasurable the Truth Is, I Vow to Master It
However Endless the Way Is, I Vow to Follow It
Talk about doubt! The Vows seem so vast, impossible, and perhaps intimidating. When I first read these Vows years ago, I thought … now that takes chutzpa to think that anyone could ever master these Vows. It would be a daunting task to master just one, let alone all four. However, I now view them differently. Maybe…just maybe they can be realized. And if more people became aware of the Vows, and placed greater faith in them, and then changed that faith into responsibility, I can’t help but think that the world would be a different place. Naïve….perhaps, I look at it as Great Faith.
I like what Thomas Merton said about faith,
“Faith is not expected to give complete satisfaction to the intellect. It leaves the intellect suspended in obscurity, without a light proper to its own mode of knowing. Yet it does not frustrate the intellect, or deny it, or destroy it. It pacifies it with a conviction which it knows it can accept quite rationally under the guidance of love.”
“….faith is the opening of an inward eye, the eye of the heart, to be filled with the presence of Divine light. Ultimately faith is the only key to the universe. The final meaning of human existence, and the answer to questions on which all our happiness depend cannot be reached in any other way.”
In summary, Great Faith really comes down to becoming aware of our own potential, and trusting ourselves. Sometimes all we can do is summon enough faith to hang on realizing that everything is in transition and therefore, anything…anything is possible. This is where Great Faith and Great Doubt converge. We’re not sure, but we press on.
Rev. Richard Emyo Bizub is an ordained Zen priest at Pine Wind Zen Center and Tanto (Training Leader) of the 2011-2012 Ango (Training Period).
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