my buddhist blog number 150

Hi Everybody,
Hope all is well with you. We're in the middle of a discussion about the meaning of the word ' faith ' in Buddhism, that is to say how is it different from the use of the same word in say Christianity or Islam. And right from the start we learn that the fundamental difference in Nichiren Buddhism is that faith is not in any way to be equated with belief in something external, something outside of oneself. The word only has meaning in relation to a quality or a resource that we are seeking  within. As Nichiren Daishonin expresses on so many occasions,

' ...perceive the true nature of your life...if you seek enlightenment outside yourself then your performing even ten thousand practices and ten thousand good deeds will be in vain. It is like the case of the poor man who spends night and day counting his neighbour's wealth but gains not even half a coin..'

So what must faith mean then in this context...if we are to perceive the true nature of our lives?

The somewhat surprising answer is that faith in Buddhism is essentially about belief in oneself, self belief. And it is related directly to the strength of the desire or the determination that we can summon up within our own life to act or to live in accord with Buddhist values and principles. it means going into battle if you like against our own inner weakness or lack of self-confidence or self-belief, so that we can create for ourselves a life that is overwhelmingly resilient and positive and optimistic and compassionate, and always concerned with creating value out of whatever circumstances we might encounter.

Faith in Buddhist terms then is not all that different from the sheer determination or the self-belief we work hard to summon up to pursue any major goal or objective in our lives. We find that we have to learn how to dig deep within ourselves to achieve success in a chosen career, or to turn a crisis situation around, or to overcome a life-threatening illness, or create a lasting and fulfilling relationship. The fundamental difference, and of course it is fundamental, is that in this case the self-belief is anchored firmly in the powerful humanistic philosophy introduced into the world by Shakyamuni, and developed and amplified by  a series of remarkable thinkers and teachers over the past two and and a half thousand years.

So faith in Buddhism is also very much about method; about how we can develop such a life, such an enduring self-belief.
Enough said for today.
Hope you enjoyed it.
See you next time.
William
PS The Case for Buddhism is available on Amazon and as a download on Kindle.