Belief and Faith

However, we must discriminate between belief and faith, which are not the same thing. Belief is the identification of God or truth with a book, person, church or religion. Faith in the true sense is an openness of the heart to truth, which looks beyond belief to communion with That which transcends names and forms. True faith is the same in all beings, it is the aspiration to the Divine or Truth. Belief can be in any number of things and has no finality.

To have true faith we must give up our beliefs. Faith is to accept the Divine nature of all beings and to be open to Divine grace in all places. It is to orient the mind not in its own conclusions and beliefs, but in a recognition that Truth transcends all human opinions. Dharmic traditions recognize the importance of faith over belief. Whereas the articles of belief are particular, faith itself is universal. We should all have faith in the Divine or Truth and our ability to realize it, but when we believe in someone or something as the truth, rather seeking ourselves to discover the truth, we are breeding illusion.

True faith is in the Dharma, in the nature of things, which is self-evident, and in the understanding that the nature of things is beneficent and sacred, blissful and liberating. True faith is not in an external formulation but in the perception of inner reality. It does not arise from wishful thinking but from an openness to the Self-existent Truth.

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