DiscussWorldIssues - Socio-Economic Religion and Political Uncensored Debate - View Single Post - What is the role of faith in Buddhism? Do we need blind faith ?

**Phlkxkbh** · 09-01-2010, 01:26 AM

I know what stuka's gonna post to this, so consider this me pre-emptively cosigning it. =P

Defining "faith" here as "the belief in something without needing or even in spite of a persuasive empirical case." Therefore believing in Germ Theory is not an article of faith, but believing in a God, or ghosts, or reincarnation, or heaven, or karma, is.

Dharma practice is good, because it's a set of tools to accomplish certain things. It's a process that can do some good for just about anybody. However, the things that Buddha taught which are actually tools to advance and improve oneself don't require the practitioner to believe anything that flies in the face of evidence.

Lots of Buddhists say that Buddhism doesn't require blind faith, but frankly I've heard the same statement from followers of the big monotheist traditions which nevertheless require adherents to build their lives around assertions like "there's a wish-granting moody man in the sky who likes you best." People who believe this don't believe they're being irrational or believing things which fly in the face of evidence, and I don't see the people who believe in things like karma or rebirth to be all that much different.

Not everybody who has an opinion about a subject has an opinion because of "faith," but everybody who believes something supernatural, superstitious, or otherwise metaphysical most certainly does, because there's no empirical support for the existence of those things. As a result, "faith" (which is always blind, imo) plays a large role in a lot of people's dharma practice, but not in mine.

09-01-2010, 01:26 AM	#9
Phlkxkbh Join Date Oct 2005 Posts 406 Senior Member	I know what stuka's gonna post to this, so consider this me pre-emptively cosigning it. =P Defining "faith" here as "the belief in something without needing or even in spite of a persuasive empirical case." Therefore believing in Germ Theory is not an article of faith, but believing in a God, or ghosts, or reincarnation, or heaven, or karma, is. Dharma practice is good, because it's a set of tools to accomplish certain things. It's a process that can do some good for just about anybody. However, the things that Buddha taught which are actually tools to advance and improve oneself don't require the practitioner to believe anything that flies in the face of evidence. Lots of Buddhists say that Buddhism doesn't require blind faith, but frankly I've heard the same statement from followers of the big monotheist traditions which nevertheless require adherents to build their lives around assertions like "there's a wish-granting moody man in the sky who likes you best." People who believe this don't believe they're being irrational or believing things which fly in the face of evidence, and I don't see the people who believe in things like karma or rebirth to be all that much different. Not everybody who has an opinion about a subject has an opinion because of "faith," but everybody who believes something supernatural, superstitious, or otherwise metaphysical most certainly does, because there's no empirical support for the existence of those things. As a result, "faith" (which is always blind, imo) plays a large role in a lot of people's dharma practice, but not in mine.
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