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 othershave hauled up in their minds, beyond any objective rules or standards, andtherefore it was Transmitted, unseen, from West to East.
What we call ‘faith’ is afaith that is forged with one’s whole being. It is invariably following where faithgoes from the perspective of Buddhahood, which is following our Self where Itgoes. 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 ofBuddha Dharma by means of our faith. In sum, the place where faith manifests isthe place where Buddhas and Ancestors appear.
Dogen Zenji, Shobogenzo