Like I said many times, in Buddhism, faith is required but not
blind faith.
Originally posted by An Eternal Now:
http://www.buddhanet.net/cbp2_f5.htm
[b]The Unification of Faith (s. sraddha) and Wisdom (s.
prajna)
People are of varying natures and types and thus have different
temperaments, worries, demands and passions. In general, one who
has stronger feeling and sentiment is more likely to be
compassionate and is more capable of developing strong faith in
ones belief; while an intellectual person tends to have greater
powers of discernment and lucid comprehension. The biased
development of either faith or intellect results in protracted,
cumulative, negative and harmful effects. For example, if an
emotional person has strong faith without counter-balancing wisdom,
he may sink into ignorance and superstition due to his fanatical
faith. The lop-sided attitude of discriminating against rationality
and wisdom is not acceptable in Buddhism. On the other hand, if we
over-emphasize rationality and doubting everything, we will lose
our faith and belief. This induces us to ignore moral values and to
deny the existence of Universal Truth, saints and sages. One would
thereby finally become anti-religious. Such perversity would lead
us astray and prevent us from establishing truly moral behavior,
eventually threatening the very fabric of our society! Thus, there
is a saying in Buddhism,
"Faith without wisdom will develop ignorance;
wisdom without faith will develop a perverted view."
Buddhism advocates the unification of faith and wisdom. How can we
bring faith and wisdom together? Is it possible to unify them? In
the first place, we need to understand the Buddhist perspective of
faith and wisdom. Faith is characterized by the sentiments of
respect and of inspiration by an ideal. Faith is a common
experience amongst the followers of any religion. Faith without
intellectual comprehension and discrimination cannot be regarded as
a rational faith. Faith in Buddhism is developed through
contemplation and investigation so that the characteristics of
truthfulness, righteousness, and efficacy of the ideal in which one
develops faith, can be understood and revealed. This is the way a
Buddhist develops faith and respect toward Sakyamuni Buddha.
Sakyamuni is understood rationally to have existed in this world as
a historical figure. He has supreme wisdom and great virtues and he
has boundless compassion working towards the liberation of sentient
beings. In Buddhism, faith is rooted in rational intellectual
comprehension. As faith is strengthened and sharpened by the
assessment of the intellect, it is further confirmed by the direct
insight of wisdom. When understanding of the Buddha Dharma is
developed further, faith becomes more intense. This faith will
motivate us to elevate ourselves and ground our lives in true
morality. It will enable our lives, guided by the ideals to which
we have responded with faith. Faith is not merely an appreciation
of the ideal but a desire to move towards it.
Although some intellectuals possess a vast knowledge of Buddhism,
and have strong reasoning ability, they commonly lack faith in
Buddhism. Therefore, Dharma can not take firm root and grow in
their hearts. Because of this, Dharma cannot really benefit them.
Studying Buddhism in this barren manner contradicts the teaching of
Buddhism because the Buddhist way of life necessarily contains the
element of faith. When we have confidence, we will be able to
purify our minds and free them from defilements i.e. greed (s.
raga), hatred (s. pratigha) and ego-conceptualization (s.
atmamana). Confidence is like an alum; it purifies muddy water.
Similarly, a strong faith will purify your mind. The reality of
life is full of distress and misery, but faith can transform a
mental state of emptiness and anguish into joy, peace, calm and
contentment. This is like an innocent child who wanders around the
streets, lost, hungry, thirsty, cold, worried and not knowing what
to do. While he is anxious and filled with despair, he suddenly
finds his mother. He will immediately feel secure and happy because
he deeply believes that he will obtain food, warm clothes and the
consolation of his mothers love. Similarly, a life of faith is
filled with joy, peace, security and contentment.
If our faith is not developed through open thinking and reasoning,
then we are just following what others lead us to believe. A blind
religious faith becomes fanatical when it is carried away by wild
enthusiasm and the deprecation of wisdom. Buddhist faith develops
through the cultivation of wisdom. Since it espouses a faith wedded
to wisdom, Buddhism avoids the viciousness of that religious
fanaticism which espouses faith devoid of deeper understanding and
divorced from wisdom. The development of Buddhist faith involves
several stages. The evolving faith displayed by some Buddhists does
not therefore necessarily reveal the true, ultimate meaning of
faith in the Buddha Dharma.
The most outstanding characteristic of wisdom is free thought and
its operative functions include understanding and cognition. The
wisdom of humanity extends through space to the farthest reaches of
the Universe. Our knowledge is continuously changing, improving and
progressing. Therefore traditions may not necessarily be reliable.
This is due to the fact that when humans develop knowledge acquired
through their own perceptions of the external world, much
unreliable information is accumulated in the process. Such
empirical knowledge is vitiated because the pieces of information
from which it is derived are in turn derived from sensory
perceptions of the external world, and both the ordinary mind and
the external world are comprised of, and compromised by, a certain
degree of illusion. For example, when we are perceiving the
external world we cannot know our minds at the same moment.
Therefore, we are tempted by the external world and our minds are
controlled by the material world. Since we lose control of our
minds, greed, hatred and ignorance arise. In Buddhism it is
acknowledged that the knowledge gained by human beings is far
superior to that gained by other beings. We humans almost try to
know everything, yet we do not know ourselves. This is a cognitive
bias of ours. When we try to understand the external world we lack
the ability to have a complete overview of it. Everything in the
phenomenal world is impermanent and constantly changing, but we are
always subjectively inferring about the nature of objects that this
is their absolute existence and that they will be as they are
forever. As a result, human knowledge generally harbors many
illusions.
Some people think that Truth lies outside the mind, and they
therefore seek it in the external world. Others consider that there
is an external metaphysical entity which properly serves as their
religious ideal, and the focus of their faith. In fact, all the
external worlds are like mirages, unreal and constantly changing.
The wisdom which Buddhism teaches starts with self-contemplation
and an experience of insight. Truth cannot be simplistically
derived from observation of the external world. Rather, Truth
requires us to understand ourselves and to grasp our inner nature.
Just as a person who has sharp senses and a bright and discerning
mind does not need to seek help from others in order to clearly
comprehend Truth, we should develop from the inside out so that we
can project this luminous understanding and contemplation of
ourselves into the dimness of the external world. This is the only
way to unify wisdom and faith.
In fact, wisdom and faith are not really in opposition to one
another. Conflict will only arise if we practice prejudice against
either wisdom or faith. Wisdom without faith is biased towards that
which is material. This positivistic emphasis is inimical to
religion. Faith without wisdom is biased towards a sentimental
faith which is inimical to reason. Buddha Dharma is a unification
of wisdom and faith; a faith which is grounded in wisdom, and a
wisdom which emphasizes human life and self-effort. Faith is
thereby kept away from illusion. Wisdom and faith are mutually
grounded. If we can understand, experience and practice this path,
life will be filled with infinite brightness and cheer.[/b]
