Many Christians make a great production of faith in the unknowable. This is not what faith means in Buddhism. We must bring forth faith in the evidence of those who have passed through Mumon’s Doorless Gate into selflessness and the rest of what makes no sense to the deluded. At the same time we must deepen our practice and raise the great doubt that leads to real awakening.
Shakyamuni Buddha’s great doubt was about the nature of birth, old age, disease, and death. Dogen Zenji’s was why training is necessary given that we all are of the same Buddha Nature. But they persisted.
Several koans have the form
It does you no good to say so if you don’t know why it is so.
You must find your own doubt, and you must pass through it.
The Five Roots of Training
- First, the root of faith in the Dharma
- Second, the root of zealous spiritual endeavor
- Third, the root of mindfulness
- Fourth, the root of concentration
- Fifth, the root of wise discernment
Keep in mind that the root of faith in the Dharma is beyond self, beyond other, beyond any forcing of oneself, beyond anything contrived, beyond anything others have hauled up in their minds, beyond any objective rules or standards, and therefore it was Transmitted, unseen, from West to East.
What we call ‘faith’ is a faith that is forged with one’s whole being. It is invariably following where faith goes from the perspective of Buddhahood, which is following our Self where It goes. Were it not based upon the perspective of Buddhahood, there would be no manifestation of faith.
This is why it is said that we can enter the great ocean of Buddha Dharma by means of our faith. In sum, the place where faith manifests is the place where Buddhas and Ancestors appear.
Dogen Zenji, Shobogenzo
We begin by hearing some part of the Dharma, the words of the Buddha, from some member of the Sangha. So the first level of faith is
I take refuge in Buddha/Dharma/Sangha or Homage to Buddha/Dharma/Sangha
These first words are likely to be about the Four Noble Truths, or possibly about faith in Amitabha Buddha (Pure Land) or the Lotus Sutra (Nichiren). Each of these is skill in means to attract people to what cannot be explained directly, but can be penetrated by straightening out your life and fixing your mind on the offered key.
I originally came from the West to save all sentient beings.
Bodhidharma
Thus the koan
Why did Bodhidharma come from the West?
as a target of both faith and doubt.
The Lotus Sutra tells us about Buddha Nature. So
Does a dog (one who rejects karma as applied to himself) have the Buddha Nature?
No such thing.
If we are all of the same nature as Buddhas,
This mind is Buddha.
then
Why do we need to train?
Just train. Let go of body and mind.
We must learn to be unselfish.
Who or what are we then, if not a self?
We must give up the opposites.
If two hands brought together make a noise, what is the sound of one hand?