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

**cestsennY** · 09-01-2010, 10:10 AM

KoolAid900:

It's occasionally an interesting thought experiment to say "nothing is objectively true, there is no reality outside of our perception of it, and there's no such thing as truth," but it's not particularly useful in the here and now. When I ask my doctor whether I'm sick because of a bacterium or a virus, this viewpoint is not useful. When I ask my partner whether we have enough money to cover our expenses, this viewpoint is not useful. Why? Because these are practical questions.

Questions of suffering are practical questions. This is why I often refer to my particular path as "dharma practice" and not "Buddhism." I've seen too much suffering caused by belief systems that come packaged with beliefs that must be taken on faith for it to seem plausible that yet another one is the solution.

(stuka edit:When) Until anybody who believes in karma or rebirth fulfils their burden of proof and persuades me, I'm not going to live as though they're true. Why? Because I have actual problems to solve in my actual life, and I can't do this unless I'm only factoring in things which are likely to be true. Considering that the tools of dharma practice that Buddha laid out deal with actual problems for my actual life, I see no reason to distract myself by clinging to past lives or yearning for future ones. I see no reason to worry about them at all. Aren't we supposed to be living in the present and aware of what's going on around us now?

It's my opinion that if I'm willingly making decisions based on less than accurate information, I am less able to find practical and effective solutions to my problems, with suffering being a big one. So again, no, I don't see any reason to include faith in dharma practice. There are Buddhists who find it expedient to play around with hypotheticals that don't have evidence behind them, but once again... I am not among them. I have too many things on my hands and too many problems to solve here to make decisions based on legends and fears which may not even have any basis in reality.

(stuka: edit to change "When" to "Until" per poster's wishes)

09-01-2010, 10:10 AM	#26
cestsennY Join Date Oct 2005 Posts 390 Senior Member	KoolAid900: It's occasionally an interesting thought experiment to say "nothing is objectively true, there is no reality outside of our perception of it, and there's no such thing as truth," but it's not particularly useful in the here and now. When I ask my doctor whether I'm sick because of a bacterium or a virus, this viewpoint is not useful. When I ask my partner whether we have enough money to cover our expenses, this viewpoint is not useful. Why? Because these are practical questions. Questions of suffering are practical questions. This is why I often refer to my particular path as "dharma practice" and not "Buddhism." I've seen too much suffering caused by belief systems that come packaged with beliefs that must be taken on faith for it to seem plausible that yet another one is the solution. (stuka edit:When) Until anybody who believes in karma or rebirth fulfils their burden of proof and persuades me, I'm not going to live as though they're true. Why? Because I have actual problems to solve in my actual life, and I can't do this unless I'm only factoring in things which are likely to be true. Considering that the tools of dharma practice that Buddha laid out deal with actual problems for my actual life, I see no reason to distract myself by clinging to past lives or yearning for future ones. I see no reason to worry about them at all. Aren't we supposed to be living in the present and aware of what's going on around us now? It's my opinion that if I'm willingly making decisions based on less than accurate information, I am less able to find practical and effective solutions to my problems, with suffering being a big one. So again, no, I don't see any reason to include faith in dharma practice. There are Buddhists who find it expedient to play around with hypotheticals that don't have evidence behind them, but once again... I am not among them. I have too many things on my hands and too many problems to solve here to make decisions based on legends and fears which may not even have any basis in reality. (stuka: edit to change "When" to "Until" per poster's wishes)
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