Is Faith a Part of Buddhism?

Buddhism is often identified with personal effort. I would go so far as saying that the attractiveness of moving Buddhism out of the supernatural and into the natural has more to do with the secularization of the West then with the factual nature of the development of Buddhism narratives, which, like their Western counterparts, are diversified by various beliefs and opinions.

I certainly understand the need for spiritualism. We hypothesize root causes. Personal effort appeals to a certain type of spiritual person who does not identify with naming a God and all the baggage this carries. It removes the responsibility of defending doctrinaire accounts of the faith and allows them to move fluidly through the tradition without having to deal with what they dislike. I get it.

Buddhism, at least in the form it is often received in the West, may siphon out factors that are not necessarily testaments to human effort. However, it is important to note that other forms of Buddhism do not. I was reminded of this in an exchange I had at the regional American Academy of Religions meeting. As I was speaking with Dr. John Thatamanil (Union Theological Seminary), he spoke of a kind of “protestant reformation” that occurs in Buddhism in about 9^th-12^th century and becomes the standard expression in Japanese Buddhism. It was something that I have been connecting now for some time. By "protestant reformation," we were of course thinking of the move from a works-based form of religious expression to one of confessional form. This is perhaps not the greatest expression of all the reformation addressed and leaves room for expansion, but it does get at a similar concept in Shin Buddhism: the ordering of jiriki and tariki.

There are three narratives that come to mind that suggest Buddhism is not consigned to the bank of merit it has often been romanticized in.

Shin Buddhism is the most obvious expression here. Here, the name of Amida Buddha is venerated. By recitation of the name, strength is found in the other (the practice known as tariki) as opposed to jiriki, the practice of inner-self concentration.

A second example is the story of the Buddha who comes to his friend Gopala. The latter begs the Buddha not to leave him for fear he will fail in his sadhana (spiritual exercises) and return to adharma. So the Buddha leaves the imprint of his shadow on a cave wall. This is supposed to infuse righteousness that makes Gopala’s ability to keep dharma possible.

A third form found in Tibetan Buddhism is the Sutra Pagpa Chulung Rolyay Do. It is a mantra that was written by Lama Zopa Rinpoche, and it is thought that merely casting one’s gaze upon it purifies one of negativity for many eons. There is a resemblance to the nehushtan in this manner of “faith” (the story of Moses and the bronze serpent). Certainly John thought it a faith-act, as the gospel writer records, “just as Moses lifted up the serpent, Jesus was also to be lifted up.” (John 3:14)