Faith and Refuge

• An Eternal Now

  27 Oct 12, 17:21

  Geoff:

  It’s worthwhile being intellectually honest and vigorous enough to look at how often our motivation is influenced by our beliefs. In the context of practice, first of all, one has be motivated to actually engage in the Buddha’s ethical and contemplative training, and then choose to go for refuge in the three jewels instead of one’s own delusional thoughts and emotions. And as a part of this refuge

  , one needs to tacitly accept the premise that craving sensual pleasure, craving existence, and craving non-existence is the origin of suffering, in order to be willing to begin to abandon habitual actions, and so on. This is no small thing. Thus, without developing faith and going for refuge in the three jewels there is no connection with the noble eightfold path. SN 48. 44 Pubbakoá¹­á¹­haka Sutta:
  
  “Good, good SÄ�riputta! Those who have not known, seen, understood, realized, and contacted with discernment, they would have to go by faith in others that the faculty of faith ... the faculty of energy ... the faculty of mindfulness ... the faculty of meditative composure ... the faculty of discernment, when developed and cultivated, has the death-free as its ground, the death-free as its destination, the death-free as its final goal.”

• 2009novice

  28 Oct 12, 14:00

  yes... agreed.

  it takes faith to believe what Buddha teaches. Faith also mean confidence in the teachings.

  not sure if people view Buddhism as something melancholic... but if they acknowledge that cravings lead to suffering, then Buddhism should be realistic instead lol