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<\/a>Changsha had a monk ask Master Hui, \u201cWhat about before you saw Nanquan?\u201d <\/span> Hui sat still for a little while.<\/span> \u201cWhat about after seeing him?\u201d<\/span> \u201cNothing special.\u201d<\/span> The monk returned and told Changsha this. Changsha said:<\/span> \u201cThe enlightened person sits on the top of a hundred-foot pole;<\/span> She has entered the way but is not yet genuine.<\/span> She must take a step from the top of the pole,<\/span> And worlds in the ten directions will be her complete body.\u201d<\/span> The monk asked, \u201cHow shall I step from the top of a hundred-foot pole?\u201d<\/span> \u201cMountains of Lang; waters of Li.\u201d<\/span> \u201cI don\u2019t understand.\u201d<\/span> \u201cFour seas and five lakes are all under the reign of the monarch.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n
The Book of Serenity, Case 79<\/span> I\u2019ve mentioned some of the listservs to which I belong on occasion. One I\u2019ve belonged to since its inception is the Unitarian Universalist Buddhist<\/a> Fellowship<\/a> list. It has gone through various incarnations over the years. Never heavy traffic, more episodic, lying fallow for considerable time, then bursts of energy. It has had its share of trolls and other fantastic creatures for various periods of time, but on balance has tended to self-regulate rather well, and for the most part I\u2019ve been glad to be part of the \u201ccommunity,\u201d if mostly as a lurker.<\/p>\n I\u2019m particularly impressed with the current roster of contributers which now numbers a couple of scholars who contribute regularly enough to help keep it on track, as well as enthusiasts standing in various disciplines or none. Each, I feel, has something to offer, and frequently does\u2026<\/p>\n A recent thread has addressed the issue of faith, and particularly faith within Buddhism<\/a>.<\/p>\n Faith.<\/p>\n That thread immediately fired off a memory of my asking Jiyu Kennett Roshi, oh, maybe a hundred years ago, just exactly how much faith did I have to have to become a Zen student? As I had already been sitting for a year or two, I\u2019m not sure what my motive was. Maybe I was asking how much faith I needed to continue? I\u2019m sure the three or so times Jesus rebuked his followers with the words \u201coh ye of little faith,\u201d couldn\u2019t have been far from my mind\u2026<\/p>\n She suggested to practice Zen one probably needed to believe there was a reasonable chance it would be better than not practicing Zen.<\/p>\n I was relieved as that level of faith only stretched my credulity a bit\u2026<\/p>\n As the contributors to the UUBF list are either Unitarian Universalists or people who like to hang out with Unitarian Universalists, first everyone had to argue over how to define the word faith. For at least one contributor the word has been so contaminated by the way it seems most Christians use the word, that is to stand for belief in something in spite of a lack of convincing evidence, that it should have no place in Buddhist thought, conservative or liberal.<\/p>\n I personally would demure here. It was at a Christian seminary that I was schooled to use the word \u201cbelief\u201d for that \u201cability to believe what you know ain\u2019t so.\u201d (Thank you Dayamati<\/a>, for reminding me of that line\u2026) and that faith should be seen as confidence or trust and also that this faith was dynamic, a verb, as it were: so, faith really is faithing\u2026 Engage, reflect, re-engage. For me Christian faith at its best is that, not the mental gymnastic that always leads me to wonder how orthodox Christians often think we religious liberals are the ones who believe anything we want\u2026<\/p>\n
(translated by Joan Sutherland<\/a> & John Tarrant<\/a>)
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Faith.<\/p>\n