'Faith' in Buddhism? (Bhikkhu Bodhi)

American Theravada scholar-monk Bhikkhu Bodhi

This is a beautifully written declaration of Buddhist confidence (saddha, faith, conviction) by our American Theravada Buddhist teacher and prolific translator of the Pali canon Bhikkhu Bodhi, founder of Buddhist Global Relief.

It speaks to the quiet, yet transformative work of the Dharma (Truth) the historical Buddha discovered and taught.

“We rely on the faith that a law, a principle, an inner truth is silently at work behind the field of phenomena, supporting generosity [letting go] over miserliness [clinging], compassion over apathy, and altruism [founded on the right view of not-self, the impersonal nature of all phenomena, correctly grasped] over selfishness.

Social Communal Harmony: Anthology

“Hidden by the face of appearances, it’s always there, as integral to the working of the universe as the dance of electrons, the binding of atoms into molecules, and the ceaseless pulsing of the stars.

“When we place trust in this law, we find that devoting ourselves to the good of others casts our own lives in a new light.

“It expands our sense of shared identity until it encompasses the whole, turning labor into love and self-sacrifice into ultimate self-fulfillment.

“And with that we acquire an enriching sense of purpose, a fountain of meaning more rewarding than all the petty trophies of the narrow ego-self.”

• Bhikkhu Bodhi translations (amazon.com)
• Bhikkhu Bodhi, BAUS.org (Chuang Yen)

"Faith" in what?

In Buddhism, "faith" (Pali saddhā, Sanskrit śraddhā) refers to a confident, serene commitment to the practice of the Buddha's Teaching (Dhamma, Dharma, Doctrine), and to trust in enlightened or highly developed beings, such as the noble ones (those along the four stages of enlightenment).

Buddhists usually recognize multiple objects of this sort of confidence or conviction, but many are especially devoted to one in particular, such as one particular buddha or disciple.

Faith may not only be devotion to a person but exists in relation to Buddhist concepts like the efficacy of karma (confidence that intentional action produce results) and the possibility of enlightenment for those who put into practice what the Buddha taught.

Who are the "noble ones," the real Aryan Sangha?

Faith in Early Buddhism focused on going for guidance the Triple Gem, namely: Buddha (Teacher), Dharma (Teaching), and the successfully Taught (the Noble Saṅgha, the "spiritual community" of developed cultivators of the path).

Compassion and wisdom go hand in hand.

A faithful devotee was called an upāsaka or upāsika, a status for which no formal initiation is required.

Early Buddhism valued personal verification of the truth of the Buddha's Teachings as the best way to confirm what is true. By comparison, it considered sacred texts (scriptures), mere reason, or faith in a teacher to be far less valuable sources of authority. See the Kalama Sutta.

As important as faith is to initiate action along the path-of-practice, it is merely a first step on the path of compassion and wisdom to awakening (full enlightenment).

Faith becomes obsolete or is redefined at the final stage of the path as it converts to gnosis (direct experience). More

• Bhikkhu Bodhi (president of the Buddhist Association of the United States at Chuang Yen Monastery); Dhr. Seven, Ananda (Dharma Buddhist Meditation), Pat Macpherson (eds.), Wiki edit saddha