"You yourself should walk the path”
“Buddha merely shows the way."Confidence
No blind faith is necessary to understand the
Dhamma. The Buddha Dhamma is built on a bed
rock of facts and realizations. The truths that
arc expounded can be tested and verified by
personal experience.
Faith in the theistic sense is not found in
Buddhism. Referring to the 'blind' nature of
faith, Voltaire said, "Faith is to believe in
something which your reasons tells you cannot
be true; for if your reason approved of it, there
is no question of blind faith."
Confidence is the product of reason,
knowledge and experience. When it is
developed, confidence can never be blind.
Confidence born of knowledge need not
necessarily be confidence born of one's
personal experience only. That is why people
pay big fees to doctors, to people who have
acquired specialized medical knowledge.
We need not undergo a medical and a
pharmaceutical course before accepting the
doctor's prescription. He has made it his
business to acquire the necessary experience
and knowledge to cure others. Being confident
of his competence, we accept and act on his
advice.
To the Buddhist, the Buddha is the greatest
instructor of all time. In the Dhamma, there is
nothing that is impractical or irrational. The
Buddha practiced what he taught, and he
taught what he practiced.
4.Come and See
The teaching of the Buddha is qualified as ehi-
passiko, inviting you to 'come and see' but not
to come and believe. The question of belief
arises when there is no seeing. The moment
you see,the question of belief disappears.If I tell you that I have a gem hidden in the
folded palm of my handthe question of belief
arises. As you do not see the gem yourself,your
belief will be based on how well I am able to
convince you. But if I unclench my fist, the
question of belief does not arise as you can
judge for yourself whetherthe gem is there.A phrase in the Buddhist texts read: "Realizing,
as one sees a gem in the palm."Practicethe Dhamma
The Buddha's teaching shows a unique path of
enlightenment and is not a subject to be
studied from a mere academic standpoint. The
doctrine must be studied first, then practiced
and finally realized.Mere learning is of no avail without practice.
According to the Buddha, the learned man who
does notpracticethe Dhamma,is like acolorful
flower without scent.Even if a person is located far away from the
Buddha but if hepracticesthe Dhamma, is calm,
composed and restrained then that person is
close to the Master. He who sees the Dhamma,
saidthe Buddha, sees him. This is the advice the
Buddha gave to a monk who followed the
Blessed One like a shadow but did notpractice
the Dhamma.