Faith, Doubt and Certainty

[Guest guest]

Hello All,

 

I would suggest that a difference between faith and belief is that belief is

often propositional

i.e. 'we hold these propositions to be self-evident'. Faith tends to be a more

amorphous,

developing thing. It's a pervasive, permeating force. We can alter our

beliefs without losing

our faith. For example few Christians believe that there was actually a

Garden of Eden. It is

probably the case that there many people who while having great religious faith

would not be

able to enumerate the articles of that faith i.e. its core beliefs.

 

Scientists have faith in the general orderliness of the universe or that under

the same

conditions the same things will happen. Religions can be tied to a core of

beliefs which leave

you in or out. You can't be a pukka X unless you hold this or that. Diputes

occur at boundries

and it might be well possible for two people to disagree about a belief and

share the same

religious faith.

 

Shankara went to great lengths to demonstrate that Buddhism was not the same as

Advaita.

Clearly there were doubters who thought that you could jump down from the fence

and land on

both sides.

 

We got into this discussion via the assertion that the hearing of shruti from a

living teacher

was a necessary preamble to liberation i.e. not possible otherwise. That

didn't sound right to

me and it seems that this is true for some good Hindus as well. Not only do

you not need to

hear the shruti from a living master but you may not even need a living

master. But you do

need faith - the inner view not the interview!

 

Best Wishes, Michael.

Put beautifully by Madathil-ji:

"I would, therefore, venture to say, with trepidation of course, that purity of

mind (antahkaraNa

suddhi) is the deciding factor. With that purity, the Truth simply and

inevitably dawns without

the need for mediation by external agencies, like the shine of a cloudless

spring morn."